Pantry Check - Grocery List Reviews

by GameDrop

This really was looking like exactly what we needed to organize and track our home pantry shelves. You can scan the barcode of items to add them to the list and track the stock, and there are shopping and expiring lists. But it’s just fluff. None of it works the way I expected it to (I hoped it would). There is no way to set a threshold amount to trigger an item to appear on the shopping lists. The only way I see for an item to even potentially show up there is to either click Restock manually on each item or to click Finish on the item - which removes it completely from inventory. And you’d expect that perhaps the Auto Generated shopping list would pick up these Finished items (you can’t use this for Restock because you have to enter the list to restock), but there doesn’t seem to be any discernible pattern I could see to what it puts on that list - usually it’s just empty. I was ready to pay for PantryCheck and give it 5 stars; on the surface I thought I had finally found PantryCheck we needed for home pantry tracking. As it stands, it just seems like a tool that gets in your way instead of solving the problem.

by Todd5065

PantryCheck is the best in class but you can only use it on your phone or iPad. I thought this wouldn’t matter but when you’re managing a lot of food that you don’t want to go to waste (since that’s throwing money in the garbage) it really doesn’t work out in the long run. You can’t log into your account from a browser and there is no desktop app. The longer I use PantryCheck this factor becomes more of a hardship. When I go to reconcile what I have with what I need to plan to buy I find that I’m having to just use something else from my desktop so I can ensure I have everything for my months worth of meal planning. While I love the stability of PantryCheck (I have a paid version) I’m going to have to move on if I can’t just login from a browser to get a bigger view.

by Mrs Butterfly Tattoo

In some ways I LOVE PantryCheck!!...once I set up my pantry system.

But....I wish I could make my own category names. I can’t recall an example at this time and it’s just a nuisance. I personally can do without categories but that’s me.

I’d love to have a sub-location category. But now that I’m constantly improving my system, I might be fine the way it is.

What I’d really like to see is an ability to group locations so it’s not a huge long list. I have 7 shelving units in my pantry with 4 shelves each. Each individual shelf is a location. I’d love to be able to group each shelving unit instead of seeing 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 2-1...etc.

The other big thing that I don’t like is I want to have “rooms” without getting everything grouped together. My pantry is downstairs. I want a separate thing for the kitchen. I’d also love to organize my bathroom and storage area (I know, they’re not food areas). I’m thinking about buying another account for the kitchen but that would be on the iPad so I don’t have to switch emails constantly. I just solved the kitchen problem now I have to find a good app for the other areas of the house.

As I said, I love PantryCheck but I wish I could have separate rooms with their own locations.

by Beadlady98

I got PantryCheck because my household went from 3 adults to only me overnight. All of a sudden, I had so much food in my pantry and refrigerator! I had to learn new ways to eat healthy and not waste food, especially fresh fruits and veggies. PantryCheck really filled my need. It is labor intensive at first, but once you get the routine down, the rhythm flows.

My biggest complaint is that there is no “undo” button for inventory or shopping lists. I am constantly erasing entries by accident because of my clumsy fingers. The sliding gage that you set the %used is too close to the “finished” button. It takes more time to have to re-set up the product in my inventory again than it would to just reverse the last action (as when editing a photo of a new product). My second complaint is that when you enter a new food item and assign a new location, it automatically assigns the food category, and it’s not always what I would have selected. I have to do a separate search for the item that I just set up to figure out how PantryCheck classified it. If it showed me the automatic classification before transferring it into inventory , I could have the chance to edit the category to what I wanted it to read before I added it to inventory.

I really like PantryCheck and purchased the upgrade. It has helped me cut down on impulse or duplicate food buying and food waste from spoilage. Both have allowed me to save a significant amount of money on my budget.

by Jojeal

I was using the free version of this before I registered. I inventoried my garage and pantry. It worked beautifully!! I was able to scan the majority of my barcodes, the expiration dates were usually spot on or close. On the few items that didn’t have a barcode or wasn’t recognized; I was able to create a new item, snap a picture and clip out the background. Everything was smooth and easie peasy… until I reached the 200 items max for the free version.
I tried to register and found out I’ve already registered. Instead of giving me the option to recover my password i basically had to delete my free version then login to my account. Bummer, yeah, but it is what it is. Once I did this I start the trial 1 year subscription. Now adding things doesn’t feel as seamless and when I try to clip out the background it gives an error that only user pictures can be edited. I know, minor issue but to me it’s not; I don’t want my mess put out our there. Hopefully it’s just the 10% rule and I’ll come back tomorrow and love it again.

by Lady Wynter

I have been using PantryCheck for a short amount of time. There is at least one feature that I believe most everyone would find helpful to have added…the ability to indicate items (or a portion of the item) that are already going to be used in planned meals. I do my meal planning on Wednesday, put together my grocery order for pickup on Saturdays (if not done early I don’t get the time slot needed based upon my work schedule). I found myself having to review what my meal plans are to make sure that items in my freezer or pantry are not needed for a recipe. The other feature which I know would benefit me and perhaps a few others is if it would integrate with eMeals and my WalMart grocery app (don’t expect this as it would require a lot of coordination between many different companies as you couldn’t just go with one grocery order app or meal planning app).

by Ernie237

Have been using PantryCheck for almost two years and pay for the subscription. We like it a lot. However, it does not sync with multiple devices. For example, if one person in the house updates PantryCheck to remove an item, the other person still sees it in inventory. Even weeks later, the other person will get notification that the item is expiring when in fact the item doesn’t even exist any longer. This causes counts to be way off, so much frustration and makes it almost pointless. We have since started using another app that does sync between multiple members of the house but really none are quite as good as this one. This has a great interface and is easy to use. A smart design. PLEASE FIX the sync issue to allow multiple members of the house to update the inventory! If you do, then 5 stars for sure.

by User111111111111

Edit: allow to use photos from gallery.
Got PantryCheck during covid as I started stocking up on everything. This one helps me stay on top of what I have and don’t so I don’t over buy the same groceries. I like the interface - looks clean and organized and like the options to create your own items, edit food pictures etc. very customizable. Wish the limit would be a bit more for free and for first level of payment plan. Or would be nice to have a one time price instead of a subscription plan, which always deters me from signing up. Perhaps something for developers to consider. Next level would be a way to create recipes with pantry items, I now use a different app for that.

by Tntlegal

This is a wonderfully done & oh SO needed app to control pantry items, without $$$ loss from expiration dates & food spoilage. PLEASE, pretty pretty please DEVELOPERS, allow same items to have more than one location!!! Many of us have a working pantry we need to track BUT also a bulk storage pantry. For example... we have baking supplies (flour) in everyday working pantry BUT store additional quantities of unopened flour in our bulk pantry, a separate location. Some may store batteries in different locations, due to their intended device usage, etc. These are just two examples, but I’m finding this to be a HUGE PROBLEM to “accurately” keep inventory. If you would PLEASE remedy this, & your app would be a 10⭐️. Your app has been a life changer SO I’m not opposed to begging... PLEASE oh PLEASE😬

by Curiousltlkitten

Just what I’ve been looking for! Love to be able to scan items in and the photo editing app is a breeze! My only real complaint so far has to do with categories. I can’t put a carrot in more than one location so even though I have some in my kitchen and some I. The basement, it won’t recognize that. Additionally ally, I can’t expand the categories so like soups and stocks are stuck together whether I actually keep them together or not. I’d like to be able to edit and create my own categories.

Otherwise, I am really enjoying PantryCheck and even the kids can help add/remove items. Oh but that reminds me that I would also like to be able to invite family on their own devices without them having to use my log in! Then I could track who added or removed items.

by Thounyadi

I’ve used PantryCheck for over 2 years and really love it, but lately every time I want to create a new item without a barcode, like a home cooked meal, the entire app freezes, doesn’t save the item, then I need to close out of PantryCheck and try again for it to maybe finally work after 8 times of trying it. I’m really hoping it’s a bug fixed with the next update because I’ve never had this issue before and it’s been getting quite frustrating. Everything else has been working just fine with PantryCheck , scanning barcodes, adding already saved items, but it simply does not cooperate when I create a new item, and if that’s not fixed I may have to consider switching to a new app, which I really don’t want to do. I’m still giving 4 stars because I’ve used it for so long and love everything else about PantryCheck .

by MairienL

I like PantryCheck. It’s far greater than others and I’ve tried them all but i really hate how old it looks. It’s hard to tell the locations apart quickly so I had to remove some extra’s that I had (toilet paper cleaning supply tracking ) Now i keep it strictly food. Please modernize PantryCheck I beg you

Please add a feature that allows you remove photos.. It takes up a lot of space on the screen and I’d rather see more items than less. For example for spices and seasonings... I don’t care what brand spices I have I just care whether it’s in stock or I need to buy more, so for that I would turn off the photos for. It’s distracting.
Everything else is perfect as far as the features inside thank you

by SueG47

I’ve spent some time with PantryCheck now and paid extra for Premium. It took some time to go through and scan everything but it’s been worth it. I used to double buy items because I either thought I didn’t have it or couldn’t find it at first glance ( bad habits both). With PantryCheck, I check there first. By entering the expiration dates, I can check what’s expired or about to expire and can plan meals accordingly. The shopping lists are easy to create either from a current item or something new I want. I have found that the price estimates on the shopping lists are significantly lower than reality ( likely due to inflation and unstable supply chain). My wish list? That they would add categories for other home items like cosmetics.

by CindyD1980

I’ve been looking for a smartly designed app to help me keep track of food and household goods—with a barcode scanner and lots of features that didn’t take forever to learn. ***PANTRY CHECK is just that!*** The barcode scanner is perfect, and the categories of food, expiration, and storage location make organization logical and simple. I love how I can find a list of all my foods that are expiring without having to spend precious time looking at every can on the shelf every few months. I also greatly appreciate that because my inventory is always on my phone (with product pictures, too!), I can have this list with me all the time—no more brain freeze at the grocery store as I try to remember how many cans of chicken I have on the shelf! PantryCheck is definitely worth trying at the free level (200 items stored) to see if you want/need more storage (2k or 10k items). ***Worth noting: your items stored are whatever is active/current in your home, so if you scan in 5 cans of green beans but then use all 5 cans in a casserole, you delete (“finish”) that product entry and Pantry Check deletes 5 items from your active storage number. ***Some smart people designed PantryCheck, and they deserve 5 stars!

by Heykarinakarina

I am so grateful to have found PantryCheck. It is so helpful! What I don’t like is that bread, canned, yogurt, vegetables and a couple of others are not showing up on the Expiring page. I’d like to see everything expiring soon within one month on that page, and in order of closest to expiring, especially because I don’t have a huge family to feed and have items in big quantities sometimes that I need more than a week to consume. For now I will have to look over my inventory to see what is expiring soon but not listed on the expiring page. Definitely am going to buy a year subscription, even though I could use only the 200 item limit for a free account... I feel this is an app that I can pay for even if I don’t need the extra item tracking storage.

by Morsel727

I've written many reviews on various platforms for products, services and applications. Pantry Check has been the most integrated into my daily life in our family. Whether you are on a budget, trying to organize or just hate finding food you forgot all about - PantryCheck covers all the bases. Easily you can barcode all of the items in your pantry, storage or cabinets, add quantities and expiration dates. From there you can assign locations so you know where your food is : basement, garage, etc. If you use it, go to the overall list and barcode it. Click it off and done.

I can't say enough good things about it. PantryCheck development and support team are outstanding, extremely pleasant and very helpful. Dealing with them makes me think "Amex, Bose, or Apple," level quality of care in the way I've been treated. Top tier of all customer service experiences I've ever had without any reservation.

Paying for the yearly service is definitely worth it in my opinion if you are going to be tracking a large amount of items. The devs support family sharing and I can attest that if my wife makes a change I see it in real time. There are so many more features I have not even touched on as I continue to learn more and more each time I use it. I assure you this will not disappoint. If there was a way to give it more stars I would. Stay safe and be well...

by AlexCL1973

Pantry Check is simple, fast and allows me to organize everything in my pantry, refrigerator and freezer in easy to see categories and timelines (great to know what items I should use up first). It scans barcodes but also allows me to enter in locally sourced items. I use it on my iPad at home and on my iPhone everywhere else. Convenient, nothing gimmicky, clear displays and easy editing.
I was surprised by the amazing support from Sunroom Labs — I accidentally wiped my inventory during a reboot and the General Manager responded to my “Help!” email just 2-3 hours later. Expected it to take days if. It weeks to hear back from someone. He also continued to help me find a solution, always with extremely fast response times. I do recommend registering with an email, it makes it easier to use across multiple platforms.

by K.Loveless

I learned to stock up and shop ahead from my mother. I never stopped. The pandemic hit. We now have long reaching supply chain problems. Everything has changed. If you can your own food, you can use this. If you shop - if you eat - you can use this! Your Inventory is the key. You will never wonder if you are out of something when you get to the store again. You don’t waste because you didn’t need something but bought it because you didn’t know. You can track prices across stores so fast. Everyone in the house helps by keeping up on PantryCheck and it costs nothing extra for them to do it. This is such a comprehensive app! It does so much automatically. So impressive, I can hardly believe that men were involved in creating it! (Sorry, guys, but other than eating, groceries aren’t ordinarily your wheelhouse.) All jokes aside, it really is the best app I have, and the only one I would pay for. You will save time and money. EXCELLENT APP!

by Dvmccuaig

I never thought I could be this organized and it’s so easy!!!! I simply scan my groceries as I unload them. That simple! You get pictures of the items and PantryCheck learns what categories and where they are located (like garage freezer, pantry, etc )
If you doubt getting PantryCheck, I can tell you it has saved me so much money from buying duplicate items and even throwing out food!! BTW you can put expiration dates and it will keep track!!! Have you ever started a recipe thinking you have all the ingredients and find out you don’t? Not anymore! You will know before you start to cook.

It’s totally affordable and it’s so nice to know what I have on hand with the ability to keep track of what you’ve used, add things to your grocery list, and take your list with you to the store!!!! So easy!!

by Travlplur

I travel for work, so we often buy in bulk, as opposed to shopping everyday or week(like normal people). Often after being away, I couldn’t remember what we actually had when I did go shopping. We had doubles and triples of some things, and none of others. We recently had to move all of our food and cosmetics out of the house to have it treated for termites. Upon “moving” back in, I scanned everything into PantryCheck. I’m in love. I can customize locations, which I am obsessed with, and finally keep track of everything in this whole house! PantryCheck is a Godsend. This would be great for yacht crews, or anyone with large household. Basically, anyone who has stuff, needs PantryCheck.

by Corjebs

I got PantryCheck after discovering I was accidentally hoarding food. I have limited kitchen space and could never tell how much I had of something, be it in the cabinets or freezer. I still have to add my freezer items actually. I would just keep buying stuff out of fear I was out of it.

But I was wondering if there could be a way to see items that were deleted/used? I feel like that could help me keep track of what I have used as well. But that is just individual preference. I used a few things already and couldn’t remember if I removed them or not. If I saw them in a used/deleted list then I’d know. Not sure if that’s useful to others or just me.

by Princesspeipei

I always wanted something to help me keep track of the food in my house and fridge and here it is! Simple easy to use! You can even add your own home cooked meals and take pictures of them to see whAt you always have in your fridge live!
Super useful at the store even reminds you when things expire so you don’t end up throwing away spoiled food and money out of your pocket!
Best is to peak in your fridge once or twice a day and update it when you can take less than 1 minute to make sure all your groceries are in stock fresh and up to date!
Thank you to whoever made PantryCheck! It has made my life so much easier !

by De.moin

Amazing app! I’ve tried so many ways to manually track my kitchen inventory over the years so that I could use things before they go bad. In the end those methods all failed because they were in list form or were too annoying to maintain. The fact that PantryCheck allows item images (and allows you to see your items as if you are browsing them in your actual pantry or an online store) makes it incredibly fast and easy to use. I love that it syncs to multiple devices so that regardless of who is doing the grocery shopping, we know exactly what is in the kitchen. I also really love that I can adjust how much I have left of each item. Overall a fantastic app that I wish I had found sooner. I plan to be a long-term premium subscriber after the free trial!

Some suggestions that I’d love to see happen:
- new Uncategorized location so that I can easily re-allocate things that didn’t get sorted
- a way to edit reminders (for example if something is expired but almost gone, I might want to move it to “use soon” instead of “expired”)
- a storage plan between premium and pro (5000 items or thereabouts)