[ Comparison ]
Moving box inventory: app vs pen and paper.
Pen and paper is free, familiar, and needs no setup. For a handful of boxes it’s genuinely fine. Here’s the honest version of where it holds up and where a searchable inventory starts to earn its keep.
Already decided you want an app? Here is how BoxLister compares to the other moving apps, with prices and platforms for six of them.
Or if you want to try the spreadsheet properly first, there is a free moving inventory template as a printable sheet, an Excel file and a CSV.
| Pen & paper | Notes / spreadsheet |  BoxLister | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find one item | Read the whole list | Search, if you kept it updated | Instant search |
| Works with no signal | Yes | On your phone, usually | Yes, built for it |
| If you lose it | It’s gone | Safe if you backed it up | Backed up with Cloud Sync |
| Box status at a glance | Track it yourself | Track it yourself | Built in, four states |
| Share with the family | One copy, one person | Share the file | Share a move on two devices |
| Setup | None | Build your own columns | Ready to go |
| Cost | Free | Free | $4.99 AUD, once |
Prices in AUD. No subscription: Pro Offline is paid once, Cloud Sync covers twelve months.
When paper is the right call
A small move, ten or fifteen boxes, done in a weekend. If you can keep the whole thing in your head and the list never leaves your hand, a marker and the side of the box are hard to beat. No app needed.
When search earns its keep
A whole house, dozens of boxes, weeks between packing and unpacking, and more than one person needing the list. That’s where “which box was the drill in?” stops being a memory test and starts being a search.
Try the searchable version free.
Five boxes on the house, so you can see how it feels before a single dollar. No card, no password.
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