ItemTally vs a spreadsheet
Plenty of teams run inventory on a spreadsheet, and it's a sensible choice. It's free, it's yours, and it almost works. If yours is working, keep it. This page is for the day it stops.
Choose a spreadsheet if
- One person updates it, and it's under a hundred or so rows.
- Nothing leaves with people, or when it does, everyone is in the same room.
- You need a layout no app would give you, and you're happy to maintain it.
Choose ItemTally if
- Several people change it, from phones, in places without a laptop.
- Things go out to people and you keep asking "who has it?"
- Your counts drift and nobody can say when or why.
Where a spreadsheet is better
Every tool has a reason people pick it. These are a spreadsheet's.
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It costs nothing extra
Most teams already have Excel or Google Sheets. That's the bar every free tier has to clear, and the reason ours doesn't cap items.
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It's completely yours
No vendor and no terms of service between you and your data.
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It bends to anything
A column for "ask Maria", a tab for the van, a colour code only Petra understands. No app is that flexible.
The structural difference
The spreadsheet’s limits are physical. It can’t scan a barcode in a basement or hold a signature when someone borrows the drill. It lives in one file, and it drifts: a cell edited is not a movement recorded.
ItemTally does the same job with a logbook underneath. Every change is a dated line with a name, made from any phone on the team, in the browser. People can take and return things themselves with a scan, and reminders carry a Return button. “Who has the drill?” stops being a group chat.
Switching is one CSV import and an afternoon, and the exit is the same door: full CSV export, free, on every plan.
The part a price cut can't copy: ItemTally never meters items, on any plan, and that is a signed, dated promise. Read the pledge →
Side by side
The "The spreadsheet" column was checked on 16 October 2026. Numbers in brackets link to the sources at the end of the page.
| The moment | The spreadsheet | ItemTally |
|---|---|---|
| Where it lives | One file, and someone's memory of which tab is current | Every phone on the team, in the browser. Native apps with offline are in testing |
| Someone takes a drill | A cell gets edited, if they remember | A name, a due date, a signature, and a reminder with a Return button if Friday passes |
| Two people edit at once | The last save wins, or a merge conflict | Each change is its own dated line in the logbook, and the numbers add up |
| Counts drift | Nobody knows until the year-end count | Scan a shelf, review only the differences, post them to the logbook |
| "Which one is it?" | Row 214, probably. No photo | Photographed and labelled: scan the box, see the item |
| What it costs | Nothing on top of the office software you already pay for [1] | €0 to start, flat plans after, and your CSV comes back out free, always |
What it costs at real team sizes
A spreadsheet costs nothing beyond the office software you already have. The real cost is the time spent chasing and correcting it.
| Team | a spreadsheet | ItemTally |
|---|---|---|
| 5 people 500 items | €0 extra Fine if one person keeps it up to date. | €19/mo Stockroom: 5 editors. |
| 15 people 500 items | €0 extra This is usually where edits start to collide. | €19/mo Stockroom: 5 editors, 10 borrowers. Warehouse (€49/mo) if all 15 edit. |
| 40 people 500 items | €0 extra Most people can't edit it from where the things are. | €19/mo Stockroom: 5 editors, 35 borrowers. Warehouse (€49/mo) if all 40 edit. |
ItemTally prices exclude VAT and are billed monthly. Items are never metered, and people who only look are free on every plan.
Switching from a spreadsheet takes an afternoon
Nothing is written to your new register until you've seen the preview.
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Save your sheet as CSV. One row per item, or one row per stock line. Extra columns are fine.
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Import into ItemTally. The importer guesses which column is which, and anything it doesn't recognise can become a custom field. Folder paths like
Store / Shelf 3become nested folders, and photo URLs are fetched. -
Preview the dry run. You see every item, folder and field before anything is written.
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Keep editing in the sheet if you like. Re-import the same file later and matching rows update in place instead of making duplicates, so the sheet and the register can live side by side while you switch.
Questions about switching from a spreadsheet
How do I move my data from a spreadsheet to ItemTally?
Save it as CSV and import it. The importer maps your columns, previews everything as a dry run and writes nothing until you confirm. A typical register moves in an afternoon.
Can I keep using my spreadsheet during the switch?
Yes. Re-importing the same sheet updates the items that already exist instead of creating duplicates. Items are matched by code first, then serial, then exact name and unit.
Is there really a free plan, or is it a trial?
Free forever: the Shelf plan covers one editor and ten borrowers, with unlimited items and every feature. No card, no trial clock.
Can I get my data back out?
Full CSV export on every plan, any day. ItemTally's own export re-imports cleanly, and that round trip is tested.
Sources
- ItemTally pricing checked 16 October 2026
Prices and plans change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we'll correct it with a new date.
Try it on your own list before you decide.
Import a CSV export from a spreadsheet and see exactly what ItemTally would create before anything is saved.
Free for one editor and ten borrowers, with unlimited items. No card needed.