Best Home Inventory App: 7 Picks, Judged on the Day You File a Claim

The best home inventory app is the one whose list survives the same fire, flood or storm as your house, opens for whoever in your family has to file the claim, and exports a list an adjuster can work from. For most iPhone owners who just want claim paperwork, that is the free Itemized Home, as long as you export a copy off the phone. Below are seven options, checked on October 19, 2026, against the four tests that matter on the worst day.

TL;DR: the best home inventory app for your situation

Short on time? Here is the whole page in one table. Every price and feature below comes from the maker's own website or app store listing, read on October 19, 2026. Apps change their prices and features often, so check the listing before you commit hours of photos to one.

Seven home inventory apps compared (checked October 19, 2026)
App	Best for	Price	Where your list lives	Export
Itemized Home	Free claim paperwork on iPhone	Free	Only on your phone	CSV, Excel, PDF with photos
NAIC Home Inventory	Free on iPhone and Android	Free	Not stated	Yes, format not stated
Nest Egg	Paying once, no subscription	$6.99 once	On your device, backup to iCloud or Dropbox	CSV, HTML with photos
HomeZada	Running the whole house	Free plan; Premium $99 a year	Online account	Not checked
Manifest	Filming a room instead of typing	Vault $11.99 a year	Online account	Claims PDF
Sortly	Small business stock, not homes	Free to 100 items	Online account	Not checked
Beacon3	A shared plan for leaving, with the inventory inside it	$49.95 a year, 14 days free	Online, shared with your household	None yet

The four tests that matter more than barcode scanning

A home inventory app earns its keep on one day: the day after a total loss, when you sit down to list everything you owned. So we judged each app on what happens that day, not on how slick it looks on a Tuesday. Here are the four tests:

Does the list survive the disaster? If the only copy is on a phone, and the phone is lost, broken or left behind, so is the list.
Can someone else open it? The person who built the inventory is not always the person who files the claim.
Does it export something an adjuster can use? A line-by-line list with values and photos, not a pretty screen you can only scroll.
Will the app still be around in five years? You build an inventory once and need it years later.

What the top results miss (and why it costs you)

We observed this on October 19, 2026, when we read the pages ranking highest in Google for "best home inventory app". Four of the nine were written by app makers ranking their own app first. The rest were a Reddit thread, a forum post, and blog posts from a restoration company, a storage company and an IT shop. They compare barcode scanners, AI photo tagging and recall alerts. Not one asks whether the list will still exist after the fire, or whether your spouse could open it if you are the one in the hospital.

Here's the thing: the advice to check this is not new. The Insurance Information Institute tells app users to be sure the information you input is backed up by the app developer and that you know how to access information when you need it. It also says to keep a digital copy on an external drive or online storage account.

And app longevity is not a theory. One of the top-ranking articles still recommends the Insurance Information Institute's old Know Your Stuff inventory software. When we tried its old web address on October 19, 2026, it sent us to an unrelated website. If your inventory had lived only there, you would be starting over.

1. Itemized Home: the best free app for claim paperwork (iPhone)

Itemized Home is the best free pick if your goal is a claim, not a hobby. You work room by room with photos, receipts and serial numbers, and its makers say it exports CSV, Excel or a PDF with photos included. It can also draft a Proof of Loss from the items you mark as lost, which is the sworn statement of what you lost and what it was worth that insurers ask for after a loss. It needs no account and works with no signal.

The catch is the same thing that makes it private: its site says the inventory lives on your phone, with no backend and no cloud sync. So it fails test one unless you export a copy and keep it somewhere else after every big session. Its terms also say it is "currently offered free" and may change. It is for iPhone and iPad only.

2. NAIC Home Inventory: the free option that also runs on Android

The NAIC Home Inventory app comes from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the organization of state insurance regulators. It is free on iPhone and iPad and on Google Play. You group items by room and category, take photos, scan barcodes and export your inventory at any time, and it adds claim-filing tips.

Our honest read: it passes the longevity test better than most, because a regulators' group is not chasing a funding round. But its store ratings were low when we looked: 2.1 stars from 14 ratings on the App Store and 2.1 stars from 52 reviews on Google Play, with reviewers complaining about photo saving and PDF export. Its listings do not say where the data is stored, so export a copy and keep it somewhere else.

3. Nest Egg: the best one-time purchase, no subscription

Nest Egg costs $6.99 once on iPhone and iPad and has been around since 2011, which is a good sign for test four. It scans a barcode and fills in the product name and photo, and it exports to CSV for Excel or Numbers, or to HTML with photos. It had 4.4 stars from 617 ratings on the App Store when we checked.

Your data stays on your device, and you can back it up to iCloud or Dropbox. Do that, because it is what turns a phone-only list into one that survives. One limit for families: copies on two phones do not sync. Shared, automatic sync needs Nest Egg Cloud, which is a separate subscription.

4. HomeZada: the best pick if you want to run the whole house

HomeZada is a home management tool with an inventory inside it, alongside home documents and a contact list. Its pricing page lists a free Essentials plan with the home inventory, a Premium plan at $99 a year or $15.95 a month, and Deluxe at $189 a year. It also says you can invite as many family members as you like, free, each with their own login, which passes test two cleanly.

Who it is not for: anyone who wants one job done fast. More features means more screens between you and the camera, and the people who finish an inventory are the ones who keep it simple.

5. Manifest: the best pick if you would rather film than type

Manifest is built around walking a room with the camera rolling, forwarding receipts, or just saying what you bought. Its pitch for claims is a one-tap PDF with serials, photos and prices. Pricing on its site: a 7-day free trial, then Vault at $11.99 a year or $1.99 a month, with an Unlimited plan at $39 a year.

The bottom line? If typing is why your inventory never got past the living room, filming is the fix, whether you use Manifest or just your phone's camera. Every app that reads your photos for you still needs a human to check the labels, so budget a few minutes per room for that.

6. Sortly: skip it unless you run a business

Sortly shows up on many home inventory lists, but its pricing page tells you who it is for: the free plan covers 100 unique items and one user, and the paid plans talk about bringing in employees. The next tier was $49 a month, or $288 a year billed yearly, when we checked. A three-bedroom home easily runs past 100 items, and one user fails test two. It is a fine tool for a shop. It is the wrong one for a house.

7. Beacon3: the pick if your inventory is also your plan for leaving

We make Beacon3, so weigh this one accordingly. It is not the best pure inventory app on this list. It has no barcode scanner, and it does not export a claim spreadsheet yet. If a claim file is all you want, take Itemized Home or Nest Egg and keep an exported copy somewhere safe.

Beacon3 is for households who want the inventory and the evacuation plan in one place. You list what is in each room, photograph each item, tag what to grab first, and share it with everyone in your house. They read the list and mark things grabbed for free. Photos are stored online in a space only your household can reach, not on the phone you would be carrying out of the house. It runs in any phone or laptop browser, so there is nothing to install. If you stop paying after the 14-day trial, your lists and photos stay readable; only adding and editing stops.

See how Beacon3 works or check the plans and pricing: $49.95 a year for a household, with 5 GB of photos.

What is the best free home inventory app?

On iPhone, Itemized Home is the best free home inventory app for claims, because it exports a PDF with photos and drafts a Proof of Loss. On Android, the NAIC Home Inventory app is the free choice from a source that will not disappear. HomeZada's free Essentials plan is the free option for a family that wants shared logins.

Don't want an app at all? A spreadsheet is free forever and opens on any device. Our free home inventory template has the rooms and columns an adjuster asks about already laid out.

Should your inventory live on your phone or online?

Online, or at least backed up online. A phone-only app protects your privacy and works with no signal, which is real value after a storm. But the whole point of an inventory is to outlast a bad day, and phones get lost, cracked and left on the nightstand during an evacuation.

Our rule: whatever app you choose, make sure a full copy, photos included, lives somewhere other than your phone and your house. That is a backup to iCloud or Dropbox, an export emailed to yourself, or an app that stores it online. The Insurance Information Institute says the same thing in plainer words: keep it backed up and in a safe place.

Can everyone in your house open the same inventory?

Only if the app is built for it, and most are not. Of the seven here, HomeZada says family members can join free with their own logins, and Beacon3 shares the whole list with your household. Nest Egg's free copies do not sync, and Itemized Home has no accounts at all.

Why it matters: claims are filed by whoever is standing. If the person who built the inventory is injured, traveling or simply the one who handles nothing else in the house, a list only they can open is a list nobody can use.

What should a home inventory app export for an adjuster?

A line-by-line list with the room, a description, the brand and model, the quantity, roughly when you bought it, what you paid or what it costs to replace, and a photo. The Insurance Information Institute also suggests keeping receipts, purchase contracts and appraisals with your list, and noting serial numbers, which are usually on the back or bottom of appliances and electronics.

A spreadsheet is the format most adjusters can sort and price fastest, and a PDF with photos is the proof behind it. Our guide to building a home inventory for insurance explains what the adjuster does with each column, and why the burden of listing what you owned sits with you.

App, spreadsheet or video walkthrough: pick the one you will finish

The best home inventory method is the one you finish, and the fastest one to finish is a video. Walk each room slowly with your phone, open every closet and drawer, and say what things are as you go. The Insurance Information Institute suggests exactly this, down to narrating the contents of a kitchen cabinet.

Then decide where it lives. An app turns the video into a searchable list. A spreadsheet does the same with more typing and no subscription. Either way, an unfinished app beats no inventory, and the Insurance Information Institute puts it plainly: an incomplete inventory is better than nothing at all.

Not sure which rooms hide the most value? Our home inventory checklist goes room by room, down to the garage drawers and closet shelves people skip.

Is there a good home inventory app for Android?

Yes, though the choice is smaller. Itemized Home and Nest Egg are iPhone and iPad only. NAIC Home Inventory is free on Google Play. Beacon3 runs in the browser on any Android phone, and you can add it to your home screen so it opens like an app.

Do this tonight, whichever app you choose

The bottom line? Do not spend another week comparing apps. Pick one from the table, do one room tonight, and export or back up a copy before you go to bed. Then do the next room on the weekend.

If the worst does happen, the order of what to do in the first days matters as much as the list. Our what to do after a house fire checklist walks through it, including when the adjuster will ask for your inventory.

Questions people ask

What is the best home inventory app?

For free claim paperwork on iPhone, Itemized Home: it exports CSV, Excel or a PDF with photos and drafts a Proof of Loss. Its list lives only on your phone, so export a copy and keep it elsewhere. For a one-time price, Nest Egg ($6.99). For a whole family on one account, HomeZada.

What is the best free home inventory app?

Itemized Home on iPhone and iPad, and the NAIC Home Inventory app on Android, iPhone and iPad. Both were free when we checked on October 19, 2026. A free spreadsheet template also works on any device.

Is a home inventory app safer than a spreadsheet?

Only if its data is backed up off your phone. A spreadsheet saved to cloud storage can be safer than an app that keeps everything on one device. What matters is that a full copy, photos included, lives outside your house.

Can my spouse access our home inventory app?

It depends on the app. HomeZada lets you invite family members free with their own logins, and Beacon3 shares the list with your whole household. Phone-only apps such as Itemized Home have no accounts, so share an exported copy instead.

How long does it take to do a home inventory with an app?

In our experience the first room takes about ten minutes if you film first and label later. Do the rooms with the most value first, usually the kitchen and the main bedroom. An incomplete inventory still beats none.

Does Beacon3 replace a home inventory app?

For many households, yes: it keeps a photo of each item, room by room, shared with your household. It does not scan barcodes or export a claim spreadsheet yet, so if those matter most, pair it with a dedicated app.

Keep the inventory where the whole house can reach it.

Beacon3 keeps a photo of every item, room by room, with what to grab first, shared with everyone you live with and stored off your phone. Save this list in Beacon3. Room by room, on every phone in your house. Free for 14 days.