# Portable Inventory vs MerchCount

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.

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.

## The numbers

| Metric | Portable Inventory | MerchCount |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.1 (226 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/portable-inventory/id1440455104/reviews) | **[4.5 (6 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/merchcount-inventory-tracker/id6755251004/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **226** | 6 |
| Positive reviews | 72.3% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 4 MB | 9 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 18.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Chengdu Wangqi03 Technology Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/706772908) | [Amil Kolontarov](https://appshunter.io/developer/1794029445) |

## What reviewers say

### Portable Inventory

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/portable-inventory/id1440455104)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Complete Version | $1.99 | one-time |
| Pro Version | $7.29 | one-time |
| Pro Version | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 🚀 Efficient inventory tracking
- 💡 Customizable color coding
- 👍 Clean and intuitive UI

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes and data loss
- 🔀 Difficulty in reorganizing inventory
- 💡 Limited color options
- 🔀 Issues with syncing across devices

**Reported bugs**

- Inventory counts resetting to zero unexpectedly
- Inability to edit item names after creation
- Issues with importing large inventory lists

**Requested features**

- 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


### MerchCount

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/merchcount-inventory-tracker/id6755251004)

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.

**Highlights:** Track stock, sales, and history, Low-stock alerts, Barcode/QR code scanning, Generate PDF invoices, CSV export/import, Local data storage with iCloud sync

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Portable Inventory free?

Portable Inventory is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is MerchCount free?

MerchCount is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Portable Inventory or MerchCount?

MerchCount is rated higher. Portable Inventory averages 4.1 out of 5 from 226 ratings, while MerchCount averages 4.5 from 6 ratings.

### Do Portable Inventory or MerchCount have ads?

Neither Portable Inventory nor MerchCount shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Portable Inventory or MerchCount?

Portable Inventory ships an update every 3 weeks, and MerchCount weekly. Most recently, Portable Inventory was updated on October 21, 2026 and MerchCount on October 16, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*