Sortly tracks your items. Stores need to track their batches.
Sortly is genuinely good visual inventory software — folders, photos, QR labels, date reminders. But if what you sell expires, the unit that matters is the batch, not the item. ShelfLifePro is built batch-first: multiple expiry dates per product, first-expired-first-out at the register, and the money at risk computed daily.
14-day trial, no credit card. The audit needs no signup at all.
Why stores go looking for a Sortly alternative
If more than two of these sound familiar, you're the person this page was written for.
- You hold the same product in more than one batch with different expiry dates — and in Sortly that means cloning items and maintaining custom fields by hand
- Reminders tell you a date is coming, but not what it costs you or what to do about it
- Nothing stops the register selling the newer batch while the older one quietly expires at the back
- You want markdown suggestions, supplier-return windows, and a morning to-do list — not just a calendar ping
- Receiving is manual: no scan-the-invoice, no supplier-file import that fills batches and dates for you
Where Sortly is genuinely good
Sortly deserves its reputation: it is one of the easiest inventory apps ever made. Photo-first item records, drag-and-drop folders, QR and barcode labels, and date-based reminders that genuinely fire. For tools, equipment, supplies, and asset-style inventory, it is an excellent choice.
It also does have expiration-date reminders — you can put a date on an item and get alerted before it arrives. For a small catalog where each product has one date at a time, that can be enough.
If that's all you need, stay — switching software you don't need to switch is a tax. The rest of this page is for stores where expiry is real money.
ShelfLifePro vs Sortly on the things that expire
The snapshot version — expiry-critical capabilities only.
| Capability | ShelfLifePro | Sortly |
|---|---|---|
| Expiry date reminders | ||
| Batches as first-class data (many dates per product) | Via cloned items + custom fields | |
| FEFO enforced at the point of sale | ||
| Value at risk computed daily (what won’t sell in time) | Not advertised | |
| Near-expiry markdown automation | ||
| Invoice OCR (photo → receiving) | ||
| GS1 2D barcode scan fills batch + expiry | Not advertised | |
| Supplier return workflow with deadline awareness | Not advertised | |
| Visual folders, photos, QR labels | Basic |
ShelfLifePro starts at $49/month with unlimited users on every tier. Sortly has a free tier and paid plans — check sortly.com for current pricing; the practical difference isn’t price, it’s whether batches are the unit of tracking.
How switching actually goes
No big-bang cutover. Your old system keeps running until you trust the new one.
Export from Sortly, run the free audit
Export your items to CSV, add expiry dates where they live in your custom fields, and upload it to the free 60-second audit. You see the value at risk before you commit to anything.
Import into ShelfLifePro
The same CSV imports your catalog. From your first delivery onward, dates are captured at receiving — scan the GS1 barcode or photograph the invoice — so batch tracking starts clean instead of backfilled.
Run both for two weeks, then decide
Keep Sortly until you trust the new numbers. Most stores stop updating the old system the first time a morning alert catches a batch they would have binned.
Starting at ₹1,999/month. No credit card for the trial.
Frequently asked questions
Still comparing vendors? The expiration date tracking software buyer's guide has the full checklist to run against every demo — ours included.
See your own numbers before you decide
Export your stock from Sortly, upload it to the free audit, and see the value at risk in about 60 seconds — no signup, no sales call.
Run the free audit