Neatkept
Home inventory spreadsheet or app? Neatkept vs Excel and Google Sheets
Many home inventories start as a spreadsheet in Excel or Google Sheets. It is a fair choice. Here is what it does well, and what Neatkept adds.
Facts checked on
| Neatkept | A spreadsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iPhone and iPad (iOS 18 or later), Mac (Apple silicon), Android 14 or later and the web | Google Sheets and Excel both have apps for iPhone, iPad and Android |
| Setting it up | Homes, rooms, shelves and boxes are built in; you add your places | You choose the columns and the layout |
| Adding things | Photograph an open box or a shelf and AI proposes the list; or scan a product's barcode | You type each row |
| Photos | Every thing keeps the photo it came from | A picture can go in a cell (Google Sheets on computer, Android and iPhone; a cell with a picture holds no text). Excel's Place in Cell is listed for Microsoft 365 and Excel 2024 |
| Labels on boxes | Print QR labels from the app or the browser; scanning one opens the box and shows what is inside | You find a box's rows by searching the sheet |
| Moving a box | Two label scans or a few taps; everything inside goes with it, with Undo | You edit the rows by hand |
| Finding things | Ask in your own words and get the home, room, box and a photo | Search or filter the cells |
| Offline | Search, label scans, adding and moving work offline; changes sync later | Yes: both apps create and edit offline on mobile and sync later (in Excel, a cloud file must have been opened online once) |
| Sharing | Owner, editors and viewers, invited with a one-time link | Google Sheets has viewer, commenter and editor; Excel has can edit or view only, per person or by link |
Why people start with a spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is the obvious first try, and a good one. You already know how it works. You choose the columns: name, room, box, value, date bought. Google Sheets and Excel both have phone apps, both let you create and edit files offline on your phone, and both let you share a file so others can edit it or only look. You can even put a picture in a cell.
Where a spreadsheet fits better
- Total freedom. Any column, any formula, any layout. You shape it around what you want to track.
- Comments. In Google Sheets someone can comment without editing.
- Familiar. Most people already know how a spreadsheet works, and a short list stays short.
If your list is a few dozen things that rarely move, a spreadsheet may be all you need.
Where Neatkept fits better
A spreadsheet holds what you type. Neatkept is built for the work around the list.
- A box in one photo. Open the box, take one photo, and Neatkept proposes everything it sees, with names, categories and tags. You keep, edit or drop each thing. Things in retail boxes can be added by scanning the barcode.
- Labels that open the box. In Places, Print labels makes an A4 sheet of QR labels. Scan one and the box opens with everything inside. Each label also shows its code in letters, so the box can be found without the app.
- Moves in two scans. Scan the box, then the shelf it goes to. Everything inside moves with it, and every move is recorded with who made it and when.
- Ask, don't scroll. Type "where are the kids' skis?" and get the home, the room, the box and a photo. Search also finds things across languages.
- Several homes in one tree. A flat, a garden plot and a storeroom are each a property, with rooms, shelves and boxes inside.
- A report for your insurer. Insurance report makes a PDF with photos and a CSV that opens in your spreadsheet, so you keep both.
Neatkept is free to start. Paid plans are for households that scan a lot with AI or have more members.
Questions and answers
Is a spreadsheet good enough for a home inventory?
For a short list, often yes. It is flexible, works offline on a phone and can be shared. It gets harder with many boxes that move: every move is an edit by hand, and finding what is in a box means searching the sheet.
Can I get my data out of Neatkept into a spreadsheet?
Yes. The insurance report saves a CSV of a home's things that opens in a spreadsheet, and Settings → Your data → Export my data gives you everything as JSON plus your photos. See your data.
Do I need a printer for the labels?
It helps, but it is not required. Neatkept prints A4 QR label sheets from the phone or the browser, or shares them as a PDF. Without a printer, write a short code like W01 on the box with a marker and give the box that code in the app. See labels and box codes.
Sources
- https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6000292?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS
- https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6000292?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid
- https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6388102?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS
- https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6388102?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid
- https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2494822?hl=en
- https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9224754?hl=en
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-for-iphone-help-b367819b-05b4-4a56-ab1c-678da62e1fd3
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-for-android-phones-help-f818cb37-bfac-485d-8480-363b3da40596
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/can-i-work-offline-3cdc0690-7332-4d4b-8884-ba2a353a42d8
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/collaborate-on-excel-workbooks-at-the-same-time-with-co-authoring-7152aa8b-b791-414c-a3bb-3024e46fb104
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/insert-picture-in-cell-in-excel-e9317aee-4294-49a3-875c-9dd95845bab0
Neatkept for this
One photo of a shelf
The office rack holds bins, boxes, chargers and stands. You don't want to type twenty names, so you take one photo.
Seasonal swap
Winter is coming. The box with the ski clothes is in the house's attic, and you live in the city flat.
A list for the insurer
You're renewing the home insurance, and the insurer asks what's in the house and what it's worth. The list is already in your phone.
Capture from a photo
Photograph an open box or a shelf. Neatkept lists what it sees, and you decide what to keep.
Labels and box codes
A QR label or a code written with a marker. Either one opens the box in Neatkept.
Moves
Tell Neatkept where a box or a thing went, and its place is right for everyone in your household.
Search in your own words
Ask the way you'd ask a person. Neatkept answers with the home, the room, the box and a photo.