# Encircle Alternative for Home Inventory: Hoardo vs Encircle > Encircle's public site is restoration field software for shops, from $285 a month. Hoardo is a free Encircle alternative for rooms, numbered boxes, photos and QR labels at home. Published 2026-10-08 by Hoardo. Original: https://www.hoardo.com/articles/hoardo-vs-encircle Looking for an Encircle alternative for a house full of boxes, rather than a restoration shop? **Hoardo** is a free home inventory app: rooms, numbered boxes, photos, QR labels and search. [Encircle](https://www.getencircle.com/) (checked 8 October 2026) is restoration field documentation software. Its public site sells plans to shops, starting at $285 a month, not a consumer home inventory product. This is Hoardo vs Encircle, from Encircle's own website. --- ## TL;DR: why Hoardo is a free Encircle alternative for home storage | Feature | Hoardo | Encircle | | --- | --- | --- | | Price | 100% free, no paid plan | Field Documentation from $285 a month (USD), on a 12-month term. Annual billing is offered. Volume above 600 jobs a year is custom. | | Users | Free | Unlimited users and storage on every plan | | Items | Free | Not published as a household item cap. Contents inventories are a job-site workflow. | | Photos | Yes | Unlimited photos, video and 360 imagery, organised by room on a job | | QR labels | Yes, you print them for your boxes | QR codes are part of contents pack-out and Scan-to-Track for restoration boxes | | Rooms and numbered boxes | Yes | Rooms on a job, plus pack-out boxes and vault locations | | Image recognition | Yes | AI Item Descriptions, a paid add-on sold as an annual package to restoration shops | | Voice recognition | Yes | Not listed as a household voice-add feature | | AI chat | Yes | AI for scopes, estimates and item descriptions, for restoration crews | | MCP | Yes, free, for Claude and ChatGPT | Not listed | | Platforms | Web, on phone, tablet or computer | The public site describes a field app that works offline, plus web tools for shops | | Ideal for | Households, moving, storage rooms | Restoration shops documenting losses, pack-outs and Xactimate estimates | ## What is Encircle? On [getencircle.com](https://www.getencircle.com/) Encircle is "the most trusted way to document a job" for restoration: photos, moisture readings, floor plans, contents pack-outs, then an IICRC-aligned scope and a path into Xactimate. It says it is trusted by 3,000+ restoration shops. The [pricing page](https://www.getencircle.com/pricing/) (checked 8 October 2026) lists: - Field Documentation from **$285 per month**, billed monthly, on a **12-month contract** - Unlimited users (including sharing) and unlimited storage - Onboarding, a dedicated account manager and help desk - Optional Scope to Estimate, Floor Plan, AI item descriptions and Encircle Edge - Pricing that scales with jobs per year. Above 600 jobs, they ask you to talk to sales. Their contents product is for documenting damaged personal property on a claim: pack-out, vault, schedule of loss. That is a real inventory workflow. It is built for a shop on a job, not for a family's garage. We did not find a consumer home inventory plan, a free household tier or a public "home inventory app" product on getencircle.com in October 2026. If you used an older Encircle household app, their current public site does not describe that product. --- ## Meet Hoardo: the household Encircle alternative If you searched "Encircle alternative" because you want a list of what is in your boxes, Hoardo is built for that job and it is free. ### 100% free (no $285 shop plan) No contract and no per-job pricing. Rooms, boxes, items and users stay free. AI is included. You can also ask about your boxes from Claude or ChatGPT with the free [Hoardo MCP server](https://www.hoardo.com/connect). ### Numbered boxes and QR labels at home Pack a box, give it a number, list what went in, print a QR label. Later, search "tent" or scan the label. You do not need a claim file or an adjuster. *The Prints screen in Hoardo: pick your sticker sheet, then print a QR label for every box in the room.* ### Share with the people in the house Invite family to a room. History shows who moved what. There is no restoration crew, Xactimate export or moisture map. ### What Hoardo does not do Hoardo is not restoration software. It does not write scopes, talk to Xactimate, log psychrometric readings or produce a schedule of loss. If you run a contents job for a carrier, Encircle is in that category. If you live in the house, you probably want something else. --- ## When to choose Hoardo over Encircle | If you… | Then choose… | | --- | --- | | Want a free list of household boxes | Hoardo | | Need pack-out, vault tracking and a schedule of loss for a claim | Encircle | | Need Xactimate estimates from field photos | Encircle | | Do not want a 12-month shop contract | Hoardo | | Need photos of your own stuff, with QR labels you print | Hoardo | | Run a restoration company | Encircle | New to household inventory? Start with [what an inventory app actually is](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/what-is-an-inventory-app). ## Final verdict: Hoardo is the free Encircle alternative for home boxes Encircle's own site is restoration software, from $285 a month, with unlimited shop users and serious contents tools for claims. Hoardo is the Encircle alternative for people who are not running a shop: 100% free, with rooms, numbered boxes, items, users, photos and QR labels. If you document losses for a living, Encircle is aimed at you. If you want to find the winter coats, Hoardo is the free one. [Get started free](https://www.hoardo.com/)