FlowNext vs. Sortly
A Sortly alternative for crews that are bigger than the license count
Sortly is a well-made inventory app: photos, folders, quantities, low-stock alerts. It counts user licenses — two on Advanced, five on Ultra, eight on Premium — and crews scan with its mobile app. FlowNext is narrower: it tracks individual tools and machines, who has them and when they're due for inspection, with no limit on users and no app to install. Which fits depends mostly on how many people need to scan, and whether you count stock or track serial-numbered gear.
No card for the FlowNext trial.
Side by side
| Sortly | FlowNext | |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | Inventory: items with quantities, folders, low-stock alerts | Equipment: each tool or machine tagged, located and inspected |
| Users | 1 (Free), 2 (Advanced), 5 (Ultra), 8 (Premium), 12+ (Enterprise, quote) | Unlimited office and field users on every plan |
| Item limits | 100 / 500 / 2,000 / 5,000 unique items; quantities don't count | 200 / 500 / 2,000 items; each tagged piece counts |
| Price | Advanced $49/mo list; first year shown at $24/mo billed yearly. Ultra $149 list ($74). Premium $299 list ($149) | $39 / $89 / $199 a month, billed monthly |
| Scanning in the field | Sortly mobile app (camera), or a Bluetooth scanner on the web app | The phone's camera opens the tag in the browser — nothing to install |
| Check in / check out by scan | In the mobile app; not by scanning on the web app | From the tag page: move it, log hours or report a problem |
| Inspection due dates | Date-based alerts | Due dates from inspection certificates, morning reminders and a compliance report (PDF) |
| Reading documents | — | AI reads dates, inspector and result from certificates (Pro and Business) |
| Purchase orders, QuickBooks | Purchase orders (Ultra), QuickBooks Online (Premium) | Not offered |
| API and webhooks | Enterprise | Not offered yet |
| Free plan / trial | Free plan (1 user, 100 items); 14-day trial, card required | 14-day trial, no card; no free plan |
Sortly figures from its pricing page and help center, checked October 2026. Its discounted prices apply to the first year of a new yearly subscription; after that, yearly plans are 20% off list. Confirm on sortly.com/pricing.
Counting stock or tracking gear?
Sortly's unit is an item with a quantity: 40 boxes of anchors, 12 rolls of wire, 3 drills in a bin. You add and subtract, and it warns you when a count runs low. That's exactly right for a supply room, a parts shelf or a van's consumables.
FlowNext's unit is one piece of equipment with its own tag, serial number and history: the Hilti with serial 4471 went to Van 3 on Tuesday with Luis, its last inspection passed in March, and the next is due in 18 days. There's no quantity to count, so FlowNext is the wrong tool for consumables. It's built for the gear that walks, breaks and needs a certificate.
Plenty of contractors need both. If most of what you track is serial-numbered tools and machines that move between jobs, start there.
What a crew actually costs
With Sortly, everyone who scans needs a user license and the app. Three real-world sizes, at Sortly's published prices:
| Who scans | Sortly, first year | FlowNext |
|---|---|---|
| Owner + 1 office, 150 items | Advanced, $288/yr — cheaper | Starter, $468/yr |
| 5 people, 300 items | Ultra, $888/yr — cheaper in year one | Pro, $1,068/yr (AI reading and maintenance logs included) |
| 2 office + 10 crew, 300 items | 12 users is past Premium's 8 — Enterprise, by quote | Pro, $1,068/yr — the same as for 5 people |
Sortly's first-year prices billed yearly. From year two, its yearly plans are list price less 20% (Ultra: about $1,430/yr by that arithmetic). FlowNext is monthly; the yearly figure is twelve months.
The honest summary: for one or two people, Sortly costs less. The gap closes at five, and once the crew itself should be scanning, FlowNext's price doesn't move while Sortly's moves into a quote.
When Sortly is the better choice
- You track quantities — consumables, parts, stock — and want low-stock alerts.
- Only one or two people manage it, and the free plan or first-year price fits.
- You want purchase orders or a QuickBooks Online connection.
- You need an API or webhooks and can go to Enterprise.
When FlowNext is the better choice
- The crew should scan — temps and subs included — without buying licenses.
- Crew members won't install a work app on their own phones.
- You keep inspection certificates and need due dates, reminders and a report an auditor accepts.
- You need a chain of custody: who had which serial-numbered tool, when.
Which one should you pick?
- If what you track has a quantity you count down → Sortly.
- If more than five people need to scan → FlowNext (Sortly needs a license each, and Enterprise past eight).
- If inspection certificates are part of the job → FlowNext.
- If it's just you and a few hundred items → Sortly's free or Advanced plan is hard to beat on price.
Switching questions
Can I move my Sortly items to FlowNext?+
Yes, without renaming a column. Run Sortly's Inventory Summary export as CSV and upload the file as it is: FlowNext recognises Sortly's layout, skips the folder rows, turns each item's folder into its location, links the barcode stored on the item, and keeps tags and other fields it has no place for in the item's notes. If any row has a problem, every one is listed by line number and nothing is saved.
Do Sortly's QR labels work with FlowNext?+
FlowNext's in-browser scanner can read the codes already on your gear and link each one to its item. A phone's own camera won't open FlowNext from a Sortly label, so most teams print FlowNext labels for the items crews scan often.
Does FlowNext track quantities?+
No. Each item is one piece of equipment with its own tag. For consumables and stock counts, an inventory app is the better tool.
Does my crew need an app?+
No. Scanning a FlowNext tag opens a page in the phone's browser. Field users sign in once from an emailed link and stay signed in.
Bring your whole crew, not just the licensed few
14-day free trial, no card. Unlimited users on every plan, from $39/month.