NotLost Alternative: A Public Photo Catalogue, vFound AI and Published Prices

The short answer

If you want guests to search your found items themselves and to see prices before any sales call, vFound is a NotLost alternative worth testing. Each venue gets a branded public catalogue with guest pages in twelve languages, and guests who report a loss see possible matches straight away. vFound AI writes listings from staff photos, lets guests search with a photo or describe a loss in a short chat, and ranks likely matches with a one-line reason for each. vFound Lost & Found costs US$75/month, billed yearly at US$900, with a 14-day trial that requires a valid card.

NotLost does several things vFound does not, and those are set out plainly below.

How NotLost works

NotLost is UK web-based lost property software sold on subscription by I’ve Been Found Ltd of Epsom, Surrey. It targets hotels, universities, shopping centres, offices, theme parks and transport networks, and runs in the browser.

According to its features page, NotLost uses image recognition to help staff log items and suggests matches between lost reports and found items. Guests submit online lost report forms, and its FAQ says only designated staff members can view an organisation’s items. For returns, staff confirm a collection or send a postage invoice, guests can pay postage through a self-checkout, and courier booking is integrated. Its UK G-Cloud listing includes an API with OpenAPI documentation.

The strengths are clear. NotLost has been running since 2014, and its public customer list includes TfL, The O2, Westfield, Landsec, London City Airport and AEG Festivals. Its FAQ says it is English only but can be used in every country, and that it offers a range of plans billed monthly or annually. Prices are not published on its site; its UK G-Cloud 14 listing shows £10 a licence a month.

Where vFound differs

vFound AI works for guests as well as staff. Staff snap a photo and vFound AI suggests the title, category, color, any brand it can read on the item, a description and tags; staff check and save. Teams can also email up to 100 photos of found items a day to their venue’s private address, and AI fills in the details when staff open each one. When the photo it reads shows an ID, a bank card or a lit screen, it switches that photo to staff-only. For guests, AI writes search keywords in six languages for the listings it fills in, so someone who types “cartera” or “portefeuille” finds the wallet, and guests can search with a photo of what they lost. AI suggests. Your team decides.

Guests search a public catalogue. Every vFound venue gets its own branded lost and found website at yourvenue.vfound.io, with your name, colors and cover photo, plus printable QR code signs. Guest pages, claim pages and emails come in English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Swedish, Turkish, Japanese and Simplified Chinese. Guests search by keyword, category and date at any hour, with no account and no app, and one line of code adds the catalogue to your own website as an embedded page or a floating button. The catalogue is photo-led; staff can still keep any photo private for verification.

Guests see likely matches the moment they report. Instead of waiting for staff to work through a report, a guest who describes a loss instantly sees possible matches to check, and, for 90 days, gets an email each time a likely match is logged. Guests can describe the loss in their own words and language in a short chat that fills in the report for them to check and send. vFound AI then ranks the matches with a one-line reason for each, and the guest confirms by photo. Staff see every report and can turn one into a claim. When a claim comes in, an AI claim check gives staff a suggestion, red flags and a question to ask next.

An API and team alerts. vFound includes a REST API with scoped keys and signed webhooks for new and updated items, new claims, claim status changes and new lost reports, with public documentation at vfound.io/developers. Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Chat alerts cover new claims, messages, lost reports and pickups, without posting guests’ personal details.

Prices you can read before you call. vFound Lost & Found, with photos, vFound AI, unlimited items and unlimited team members, is US$75/month, billed yearly at US$900. The 14-day trial is self-serve and requires a valid card; cancel before day 14 to avoid the yearly charge.

Making a claim is free. vFound claims are free; return postage is separate, and the venue sets any shipping arrangement. Guests collecting in person can book a pickup time within your hours and get an add-to-calendar link and a reminder. vFound supports pickup booking and manual shipping; paid return shipping is offered only on enabled, reviewed routes. If courier coverage is central to your workflow, compare supported routes and service terms with NotLost before choosing.

NotLost and vFound side by side

Positioning reflects each vendor’s public materials as of September 2026; confirm current features and prices with the vendor before deciding.

For each fact with a link to its source, see vFound vs NotLost.

Who should choose which

Choose NotLost if you are a UK transport network, shopping centre estate or event organiser that needs integrated courier booking and guest postage payments, if image recognition would speed up logging at your volumes, if you buy through G-Cloud, or if named references at comparable operators matter to your procurement team.

Choose vFound if you want AI working for your guests as well as your staff. vFound AI writes listings from photos, makes them searchable in six languages, lets guests search with a photo, and shows likely matches the moment someone reports a loss. Your team still decides each claim. vFound also fits if you want to know the price before you talk to anyone, want an API and Slack, Microsoft Teams or Google Chat alerts, or want to be set up the same day on a self-serve trial. Making a claim is free. Return postage is separate, and paid return shipping is offered only on enabled, reviewed routes.

Try vFound free for 14 days, or compare the field in our best lost and found software guide.