Portable Inventory vs MerchCount
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Portable Inventory
Easily track the quantity of any items, from personal belongings to business inventory. Set warning levels and organize items into groups for quick visual identification. Monitor item changes and view detailed statistics and rankings.
- Track item counts
- Set warning levels
- Organize items by groups
- Visual item status indicators
- View item statistics and rankings
- Change log for items and groups
- iCloud synchronization
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Portable Inventory helps you to keep track of the count of anything you want. Personal stuff, office supplies, product storage, etc. You can add different items into the app, set its initial count, warning count, and separate items by groups. Each item will be displayed as different colors on the main page, so that you can add or reduce the count. When an item’s count is equal or less than the warning count, a little yellow triangle with an excalmatory mark will be display on the item, and the group it belongs to. In addition, the app provided various functions to see statistics for your items or groups. You can check out the increasing, or decreasing ranking list of your items or groups in a specified time period. You can also see the change logs for all items and groups. The app works both on iPhone and iPad, and fully supports iCloud. You may edit your items across all your devices and your data will be safely stored in iCloud. And of course you can wipe out all data as you need.
MerchCount
Manage your small business inventory, sales, and transaction history with this streamlined app. Track stock levels, receive restock alerts, and generate professional invoices. Your data is stored locally for speed and privacy, with optional iCloud sync.
- Track stock, sales, and history
- Low-stock alerts
- Barcode/QR code scanning
- Generate PDF invoices
- CSV export/import
- Local data storage with iCloud sync
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MerchCount is the inventory app for small businesses that want clarity, not clutter. Track stock, sales, and history in one place-without the bloat of big POS systems. Everything lives on your device (with optional iCloud sync), so your data stays yours and stays fast. See your business in one place • Recently sold items, revenue, and units sold • Total inventory value and low-stock alerts • Bar chart analytics that update as you filter • Week, month, or custom date ranges Inventory that actually helps you • Name, quantity, price, total value calculated for you • Restock alerts and notes per item • Link existing codes or generate barcodes/QR codes per item; scan to jump straight to it. • Every change is logged on the item’s history Transactions that tell the full story • Sold, returned, restocked, damaged, lost, or manual adjustments • Full history per item plus an overview of all activity • Clean, filterable analytics: units sold and revenue for any period Find anything, fast • Search items, transactions, notes, folders, and dates • Scan a barcode to open the matching item instantly Professional invoices • Create PDF invoices from any sale • Add your logo, business info, and customer details • Line items, tax, discount, and payment notes • Print or share straight from the app Your data, your way • Export and import CSV for backups, tax prep, or moving to another system MerchCount keeps you in control of your stock without the complexity. Built for small business!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MerchCount at none against Portable Inventory's 3. MerchCount also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (100% vs 72%). Portable Inventory's advantage is ratings volume (226 vs 6) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Portable Inventory sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. MerchCount asks for nothing beyond the download.
MerchCount holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Portable Inventory has 226 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Portable Inventory's written reviews are positive against 100% of MerchCount's.
Portable Inventory ships an update every 3 weeks, MerchCount weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Portable Inventory | MerchCount |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (226 ratings) | 4.5 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 226 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chengdu Wangqi03 Technology Ltd. | Amil Kolontarov |
Customer experience
Portable Inventory
MerchCount
Bugs and requests
Portable Inventory
Reported bugs
3 issues- Inventory counts resetting to zero unexpectedly
- Inability to edit item names after creation
- Issues with importing large inventory lists
Requested features
6 requests- Add photo support for inventory items
- Ability to set minimum stock levels
- Option to sort and rearrange inventory lists
- Implement a reset function to reset all counts to zero
- Add push notifications for low stock items
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- Improve sharing and collaboration features
MerchCount
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Portable Inventory
- Complete Version$1.99
- Pro Version$7.29
- Pro Version$9.99
MerchCount
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Portable Inventory free?
Is MerchCount free?
Which has better reviews, Portable Inventory or MerchCount?
Do Portable Inventory or MerchCount have ads?
Which is updated more often, Portable Inventory or MerchCount?
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