Best Equipment Checkout Software (2026): 8 Tools Compared

The short answer

Equipment checkout software records each item a desk hands out: who has it, when it is due back and how it came back. Many tools also take reservations and send reminders. This guide compares eight tools: Cheqroom, Sortly, Snipe-IT, Reftab, EZO (EZOfficeInventory), Asset Panda, Shelf and vFound Equipment.

We make vFound, so weigh what we say about it with that in mind. Every fact about the other seven comes from their own websites, checked on 27 September 2026, and each name in the table links to a side-by-side comparison that sources every fact. The biggest differences are what you pay for (administrators, items, users or a venue), whether staff use a mobile app, and whether you need a checkout desk or a full asset management system.

The tools at a glance

Prices are shown as each company publishes them, in its own currency and unit.

Each vendor’s entry was checked against its own website on 27 September 2026. Features and prices change: confirm them with the vendor before deciding.

What drives the cost

The unit you pay for. Cheqroom charges per administrator: Core is $184 per administrator a month, billed annually, with minimum administrator counts. EZO’s monthly prices ($63.55, $85.51 and $100.88 as shown on its pricing page) depend on the number of items you track. Sortly’s Advanced plan covers 500 items and 2 users, and Reftab’s hardware plan is $125 a month with unlimited users. Shelf prices by plan: Plus is $190 a year for 1 user, and Team is $370 a year with unlimited team members. Asset Panda gives a personalized quote. vFound Equipment is US$699 per venue a year, with unlimited items and team members.

Free and self-hosted options. Snipe-IT is free if you host it yourself, and its Basic Hosting is $399.99 a year. Reftab is free for up to 50 assets, and Shelf’s Personal plan is free for 1 user. For a small collection, a free plan may be all you need; check its item and user limits before the collection grows.

First-year prices and add-ons. Sortly’s Advanced plan is billed at $288 for the first year only, at 50% off, so ask what the second year costs. Shelf sells add-ons for audits, other barcode formats and single sign-on. Reftab’s Complete ITAM plan and EZO’s Enterprise plan are priced on request.

Scanners and labels. Reftab supports check-out with a handheld scanner, Cheqroom’s apps scan barcodes or RFID tags, EZO has a label designer, and Asset Panda sells labels through a partner. vFound prints a QR label for every item and scans it with the device camera in the browser, and a USB or Bluetooth scanner that types the code works too.

Which one fits your desk

Choose Cheqroom if a few dedicated administrators manage your equipment, you want mobile apps that scan barcodes or RFID tags, and pricing per administrator suits you. It lists unlimited users and items.

Choose Sortly if you are a small team (its Advanced plan covers 2 users and 500 items) that wants QR labels and a mobile app, and its first-year price of $288 fits your budget.

Choose Snipe-IT if your IT team can host and maintain it on your own servers, which is free, or you want Basic Hosting at $399.99 a year, which costs less than vFound Equipment and includes unlimited users and assets.

Choose Reftab if you track 50 assets or fewer and want its free plan, or you manage IT hardware and want check-out with a handheld scanner and reservations with calendars.

Choose EZO if you want advance bookings with a calendar, a label designer and apps for Android, iOS and Windows, with a price that follows the number of items you track.

Choose Asset Panda if you want admins to decide which items and locations can be reserved and for how long, with mobile apps, and you are happy to ask for a quote.

Choose Shelf if you are one person tracking your own equipment (its Personal plan is free), or a small team that wants bookings with unlimited assets and team members for $370 a year on Team, less than vFound Equipment. Like vFound, it runs in a phone browser.

Choose vFound Equipment if a front desk hands out laptops, chargers, cameras or keys and gets them back, and you want reservations for a specific item or any item in a category, kits in one checkout, limits per person and email reminders, all for US$699 per venue a year with unlimited items and team members and nothing to install. It also suits a desk that runs lost and found, parcels, coat check or visitors, because one login and one team cover every vFound product you use. It is not IT asset management or stock control: it does not track software licences, depreciation or stock quantities, so if you need those, one of the tools above will fit better.

Moving from Cheqroom, Sortly or Snipe-IT? vFound imports their CSV exports, and our guides show each step: switching from Cheqroom, switching from Sortly and switching from Snipe-IT. Still on paper? Print the free equipment checkout form; nothing you type leaves your browser.

Start a 14-day vFound Equipment trial. A valid card is required, and Stripe charges the yearly price after day 14 unless you cancel renewal first. Or read our guide to running an equipment desk.

How we checked

We read each company’s own website and help pages, mostly its pricing, product and support pages, and wrote down only what it publishes. Where a company does not publish something, we say “Not publicly stated” rather than guess. The facts for all seven tools were checked on 27 September 2026, and each tool’s comparison page links every fact to its source. vFound’s entry comes from our own pricing and product pages.

Prices and plans change, so confirm the details with each company before you decide. Product names belong to their owners and are used only to identify the products. If something here is out of date or wrong, request a correction and tell us where the company publishes it. We check every correction against the company’s own website and update this guide.