The Best Home Inventory Apps for Insurance (2026)
Almost everyone agrees a home inventory is a good idea. Almost nobody has one. The reason is simple: documenting a whole house, item by item, with photos and values, is tedious enough to keep putting off forever.
A good app removes that friction. The best one for you depends on whether you want a quick free list, a whole home-management platform, a flexible catalogue, or a private record built specifically to stand up at claim time.
Here is an honest comparison of the apps people actually use in 2026, and where each one fits.
The short answer
- Best for a private, insurance-ready record: WHIG
- Best AI inventory for US homeowners: Bevel (paid yearly)
- Best all-in-one home platform: HomeZada
- Best flexible catalogue: Sortly
- Best for restoration pros (not homeowners): Encircle
What actually matters
When you are choosing, it is easy to focus on how fast the app builds a list. That matters, but the things that decide whether the record is worth anything come up later, at claim time:
- Privacy. A full inventory is a map of everything valuable you own. Where does it live, and who can read it?
- Proof. A list you typed yourself is easy to dispute. Can the record be verified independently?
- Price. Is it a one-time cost, or a subscription you pay forever to keep your own data?
- Fit. Is it built for your country, your currency, and the homeowner use case?
WHIG
WHIG turns a short video walkthrough into a complete, valued contents inventory. You walk through your home and talk about what is there. WHIG identifies the items, estimates replacement cost from current pricing data, captures a timestamped frame for each one, and builds a sealed Evidence Package.
Two things set it apart. First, it is zero-knowledge: your inventory is encrypted on your device and delivered to your own Google Drive, and your items never touch WHIG servers. Second, the Evidence Package is cryptographically sealed, so anyone can verify it has not been altered at whig.app/verify. It is free to start and $38 one-time for the permanent record, with no subscription. Estimated values are exactly that, not a professional valuation.
Bevel
Bevel is a web-based tool, built after the Los Angeles wildfires, that uses AI to turn videos and photos into an insurance-ready inventory with replacement-cost price checks. It is genuinely fast and clearly insurance-focused, which is a real strength. The trade-offs: it is a paid yearly subscription ($60 a year for a single property, $250 a year for the Estate plan), US-focused, processes your footage in its cloud, and produces exportable reports rather than a sealed, independently verifiable record.
Read the full breakdown: WHIG vs Bevel.
HomeZada
HomeZada is a full home-management platform: maintenance, projects, budgets, documents, and inventory, with AI video recognition added recently. If you want one app to run your whole home, it offers a lot. For insurance specifically, it is a yearly subscription, US-focused, and stores your inventory in its cloud. See WHIG vs HomeZada.
Sortly
Sortly is a polished, flexible inventory app with QR codes, barcodes, and custom fields. It is popular for businesses and collections as much as homes. The catch for insurance use is that you enter and value every item by hand, it is a subscription, and your catalogue lives in Sortly's cloud. See WHIG vs Sortly.
Encircle
Encircle is trusted by restoration contractors and insurance adjusters to document losses on-site. Its free consumer inventory app was a useful side product, but the company has shifted its focus to its paid professional tools, leaving homeowners as an afterthought. See WHIG vs Encircle.
How to choose
If you want an AI-built insurance inventory and you are in the US, Bevel is worth a look, as long as you are happy with a yearly subscription. If you want to manage your whole home, HomeZada is broad. If you like cataloguing by hand, Sortly is flexible.
If you want a private record that is built for insurance evidence, that you own outright, and that anyone can verify, that is exactly what WHIG is for.
You can compare them all side by side on the comparisons page.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best home inventory app for insurance?
- It depends on what you need. For an AI-built insurance inventory in the US, Bevel is strong, though it is a paid yearly subscription. For an all-in-one home-management platform, HomeZada is broad. For a flexible barcode catalogue, Sortly works well. For anyone who wants a private, sealed, verifiable record built specifically for insurance evidence, WHIG is purpose-built for the job.
- Do I really need a home inventory for contents insurance?
- You are not required to have one, but at claim time the burden of proof is on you. A documented inventory with values and evidence makes the difference between a smooth claim and arguing over what you owned. It also helps you set a sum insured that is not quietly too low.
- Are home inventory apps private?
- It varies a lot. Most apps store your inventory in their cloud. WHIG is zero-knowledge: your items are encrypted on your device and delivered to your own Google Drive, and never stored on WHIG servers.
Keep reading
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