GearDex vs Sortly for camera gear inventory.
Sortly is visual inventory for any small business: its free plan holds 100 items and paid plans run $49 to $299 a month billed monthly. GearDex is built for camera gear: it knows bodies, lenses and mounts, tracks value and documents for insurance, and plans shoots and loans, with unlimited items for $4 a month.
- GearDex Pro, unlimited items
- $4/mo
- Sortly Advanced, 500 items, billed monthly
- $49/mo
- Free items: Sortly vs GearDex
- 100 vs 25
Sortly counts things. GearDex knows what they are.
Sortly is a good general inventory: photos, folders, barcodes and low-stock alerts for supplies, tools and stock. GearDex is narrower on purpose. It's built for the gear a photographer owns, what it's worth, where it is, and which shoot it's going on.
Checked against each vendor's public pages.
Choose GearDex if
- Most of what you track is cameras, lenses, lights and audio
- You want value, receipts and warranties ready for insurance
- You plan shoots and lend gear from the same records
- You have more than 100 items and don't want to pay $49 a month
Choose Sortly if
- You track supplies, stock or tools as much as camera gear
- You need native iPhone and Android apps that work offline
- You have under 100 items and want them free
- You count consumables and want low-stock alerts across many SKUs
GearDex and Sortly, feature by feature
| Capability |  GearDex | Sortly |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Photographers, videographers and studios | Small businesses tracking supplies, tools and equipment |
| Free plan | 25 items | 100 items, 1 user |
| Price for unlimited items | $4/mo (Pro) | No unlimited plan; 5,000 items on Premium at $299/mo |
| Platforms | Any browser on phone, tablet or computer; Mac app | iOS, Android and web; offline mobile access |
| Camera and lens data | Specs, mounts, filter sizes, lens fit | No |
| Serial numbers and photos | Yes | Yes |
| QR labels | Every plan | Advanced plan and up |
| Check-out and check-in | Scan loans from Pro | Higher plans |
| Value and depreciation | Portfolio value and trends (Pro) | Not listed |
| Receipts, warranties and insurance export | Pro | Not listed |
| Shoot planning and packing lists | Yes | No |
| Low-stock alerts | Consumables (Pro) | Yes |
| CSV import | Yes | Yes |
| API | Studio | Enterprise plan |
Checked . Plans and features change; confirm on each vendor's site before you buy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Sources: Sortly pricing · GearDex pricing
Add a lens by typing its name.
In Sortly you build each item by hand with custom fields. In GearDex you type a model and the specs, mount and filter thread are filled in for you to check.
- Specs filled in from the model name
- Serial, purchase date and price on every item
- CSV import with a template for each gear type
Know what your kit is worth.
GearDex tracks the value of every item and builds an insurance-ready inventory with photos, serials and receipts attached. Sortly lists what you have; GearDex adds what it's worth today.
- Portfolio value with six-month trends
- Receipts and warranty cards on the item
- One-click insurance export
Plan the shoot from the same list.
Assign gear to a shoot, pack it from a checklist and count it back afterwards. Inventory that only counts items can't tell you whether the bag is complete.
- Packing lists built from the shoot plan
- Readiness score before you leave
- Wrap check counts it all back in
Every plan, side by side
GearDex
- StarterUp to 25 items, QR labels, shoot plansFree
- ProUnlimited items, documents, reports, 3 open loans$4/mo
- StudioUnlimited loans, availability board, maintenance, 10 team seats$19/mo
Prices in USD. Annual plans: Pro $39/yr, Studio $179/yr.
Sortly
- Free100 items, 1 user$0
- Advanced500 items, 2 users. $24/mo billed yearly, first year$49/mo
- Ultra2,000 items, 5 users. $74/mo billed yearly, first year$149/mo
- Premium5,000 items, 8 users. $149/mo billed yearly, first year$299/mo
- Enterprise10,000+ items, 12+ usersQuote
Sortly's yearly plans are 50% off for the first year, then 20% off. Paid plans have a 14-day trial with a card on file.
Where Sortly is the better choice
Native apps and offline
Sortly has iPhone and Android apps with offline access. GearDex runs in the browser on any phone and has a Mac app, but no native phone app yet.
Beyond camera gear
Retail stock, supplies and tools fit Sortly's folders and custom fields better than GearDex's gear-first records.
Bigger free plan
Sortly's free plan holds 100 items to GearDex's 25. If you have under 100 items and need nothing else, it costs nothing.
Track record
Sortly has thousands of public reviews on Capterra and G2. GearDex is newer.
Bring your Sortly list over in minutes.
Export from Sortly to a spreadsheet, map the columns, and GearDex checks every row before it saves.
- 01
Export your list
Download your items as a CSV or spreadsheet. Names, serial numbers, purchase dates and prices are all GearDex needs to start.
- 02
Import it into GearDex
CSV import has a template for each gear type and checks every row before anything is saved. Or type a model name and Smart Add fills in the specs.
- 03
Print labels and go
Print a sheet of QR labels, stick them on, and scan with your phone's camera. No scanner hardware needed.
Common questions
More questions? Visit support or contact us.
Sortly works for any physical item, so it can hold cameras and lenses, but it has no camera-specific fields such as lens mounts or filter sizes, and no value tracking or shoot planning. GearDex is built for photo and video gear and includes those.
Sortly's pricing page lists Free (100 items), Advanced at $49 a month, Ultra at $149 and Premium at $299 when billed monthly, with yearly plans 50% off the first year. Enterprise is quoted. Checked October 9, 2026.
GearDex is a web app built for phones and tablets that you can add to your home screen, plus a Mac app. Scanning uses your phone's camera in the browser. There's no native iPhone or Android app yet.
Yes. Export your Sortly items to a spreadsheet, save it as CSV and import it with GearDex's per-type templates. Every row is checked before anything is saved.
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Unlimited camera gear for $4 a month.
Join 900+ photographers, studios, and rental houses who already run their kit on GearDex.
- Free forever plan
- No credit card
- Import from CSV
- Mac & web