Equipment tracking & checkout
Stackroom vs Timly
Timly is a well-designed QR-based tracking platform with strong traction in Europe, covering IT devices, machinery, tools and vehicles in one register. Stackroom targets the same breadth with a heavier emphasis on custody, signatures and field audits.
Stackroom vs Timly: which should you choose?
Timly and Stackroom solve a very similar problem — QR-tagged equipment tracked across sites — and both cover IT, tools and machinery in one register. Timly is stronger on vehicle and machine-focused deployments in Europe. Stackroom is stronger on chain-of-custody, signed handovers and phone-based cycle counts.
Side by side
Stackroom vs Timly: pricing, limits and features
Grouped so you can jump to the part you care about. Our figures come from our billing API, so they match the invoice.
Pricing & plans
Free plan
- Stackroom
- Free forever — 250 assets, 500 people, unlimited users, no card
- Timly
- None — free trial only (Free trial available)
Paid plans start at
- Stackroom
- $35/mo for Starter — published, self-serve
- Timly
- The entry tier starts in the low hundreds per month; the tier that includes the REST API starts around two and a half times that.
How the bill scales
- Stackroom
- Capability and capacity — never headcount, never how much you track
- Timly
- Tier, not usage. Users are unlimited on every plan; what you pay for is which module set you are on, with a long list of paid add-ons on top.
Limits
Asset limits
- Stackroom
- 250 free, up to 10,000 on Premium, custom on Enterprise
- Timly
- Not published as a cap
Users & seats
- Stackroom
- Unlimited on every plan, including Free — seats are never the meter
- Timly
- Unlimited on every tier
Locations & sites
- Stackroom
- 1 on Free, unlimited on every paid plan
- Timly
- Not published as a cap
How each tool is set up
Self-serve free tier
- Stackroom
- Yes
- Timly
- No
Custody & accountability
Signed handover & return, with PDF
- Stackroom
- Yes
- Timly
- Assignment
Chain of custody history
- Stackroom
- Yes
- Timly
- Assignment log
Asset clearance certificate for leavers
- Stackroom
- Yes
- Timly
- No
Signed webhooks with retries
- Stackroom
- 41 events, HMAC-signed, retried
- Timly
- Not stated on their pricing page
Audits & compliance
Cycle-count audits with sign-off
- Stackroom
- Yes
- Timly
- Inventory checks
Maintenance & service
AMC / CMC service contracts
- Stackroom
- Yes
- Timly
- Maintenance contracts
Finance & lifecycle
Depreciation (SLM / WDV) & book value
- Stackroom
- Yes
- Timly
- Value tracking
Report library
- Stackroom
- 62 templates
- Timly
- Standard reports
Tracking & tagging
QR-first asset register
- Stackroom
- Yes
- Timly
- Its strength
Vehicle & fleet tracking
- Stackroom
- As assets
- Timly
- Dedicated support
Geo scan map & per-asset trail
- Stackroom
- Yes
- Timly
- Location tracking
Platform, API & AI
REST API
- Stackroom
- Pro and up — documented, published spec
- Timly
- Second tier and up
Built-in AI assistant
- Stackroom
- Stackroom AI — Starter and up
- Timly
- Not stated on their pricing page
| Capability | Stackroom | Timly |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & plans | ||
| Free plan | Free forever — 250 assets, 500 people, unlimited users, no card | None — free trial only (Free trial available) |
| Paid plans start at | $35/mo for Starter — published, self-serve | The entry tier starts in the low hundreds per month; the tier that includes the REST API starts around two and a half times that. |
| How the bill scales | Capability and capacity — never headcount, never how much you track | Tier, not usage. Users are unlimited on every plan; what you pay for is which module set you are on, with a long list of paid add-ons on top. |
| Limits | ||
| Asset limits | 250 free, up to 10,000 on Premium, custom on Enterprise | Not published as a cap |
| Users & seats | Unlimited on every plan, including Free — seats are never the meter | Unlimited on every tier |
| Locations & sites | 1 on Free, unlimited on every paid plan | Not published as a cap |
| How each tool is set up | ||
| Self-serve free tier | Yes | No |
| Custody & accountability | ||
| Signed handover & return, with PDF | Yes | Assignment |
| Chain of custody history | Yes | Assignment log |
| Asset clearance certificate for leavers | Yes | No |
| Signed webhooks with retries | 41 events, HMAC-signed, retried | Not stated on their pricing page |
| Audits & compliance | ||
| Cycle-count audits with sign-off | Yes | Inventory checks |
| Maintenance & service | ||
| AMC / CMC service contracts | Yes | Maintenance contracts |
| Finance & lifecycle | ||
| Depreciation (SLM / WDV) & book value | Yes | Value tracking |
| Report library | 62 templates | Standard reports |
| Tracking & tagging | ||
| QR-first asset register | Yes | Its strength |
| Vehicle & fleet tracking | As assets | Dedicated support |
| Geo scan map & per-asset trail | Yes | Location tracking |
| Platform, API & AI | ||
| REST API | Pro and up — documented, published spec | Second tier and up |
| Built-in AI assistant | Stackroom AI — Starter and up | Not stated on their pricing page |
Honest take: Timly leads on breadth of asset type including vehicles, and on European deployment support. Stackroom leads on custody, signatures and audit workflows.
Timly capabilities verified September 2026 · plan facts read from their pricing page , September 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Plan gating
Which tier unlocks what
What you have to be paying for before each capability is available.
- CSV / XLSX importStarter and up
- Barcode & QR scanningStarter and up
- Bookings & reservationsStarter and up
- Maintenance & serviceStarter and up
- Cycle-count auditsGrowth and up
- Report libraryGrowth and up
- Custom fieldsGrowth and up
- Stackroom AIFree and up
- REST APIGrowth and up
- Signed webhooksGrowth and up
- Custom rolesGrowth and up
- Google / Microsoft SSOFree and up
- REST API — second tier and above
- Digital signature at handover — an add-on, second tier and above
- Single sign-on and custom roles — optional add-ons, Enterprise in practice
- Advanced stocktaking, extended audit log and delegated counts — higher tiers or add-ons
This is largely a go-to-market difference. If you prefer to trial a tool properly before talking to anyone, a self-serve free tier matters; if you want a guided rollout, a quoted model is not a disadvantage.
The difference
What Stackroom and Timly are each built to do
The closest comparison on this list
Most comparisons here contrast two different shapes of tool. This one does not: Timly and Stackroom are aimed at broadly the same buyer with broadly the same answer. Both put a QR code on everything, both cover IT equipment alongside tools and machinery rather than forcing you into an IT-only register, and both expect most interactions to happen on a phone.
That makes the differences narrower and more specific, which is worth being honest about. If you are evaluating both, you are choosing between two reasonable tools rather than avoiding a mistake.
Where Stackroom is stronger: the accountability layer
Stackroom treats custody as a first-class concept rather than a field. An item is held by a named person from a moment in time; the handover can capture a signature on the device and generate a PDF agreement; the return captures condition and another signature. The result is a chain you can show someone — an insurer, an auditor, an employee disputing a deduction — rather than a current-holder value that has been overwritten a dozen times.
Cycle counts are the same story. A count in Stackroom is a scoped exercise with a result set and a sign-off, not a spot check. For organisations where the register has to satisfy someone external, that difference matters more than any individual feature row.
Where Timly is stronger: vehicles and the European context
Timly has specific support for vehicle and fleet tracking, with the inspection and documentation patterns that come with it. Stackroom can hold a vehicle as an asset with custom fields and maintenance, but we do not pretend to offer fleet management.
Timly also has deep roots in the German-speaking market, which shows in localisation, in familiarity with local compliance expectations, and in local support. If that is your operating context, weight it — it is a real advantage that no feature table captures.
Evaluate rather than read
Because these tools are close, a feature comparison will not settle it and you should not let one try. Load fifty of your own assets into both, hand a phone to the person who will actually do the scanning, and watch. The tool that survives contact with your least patient user is the right one.
Stackroom's free tier exists partly for this: you can run a genuine trial with real data and real people without a procurement step.
Why teams switch
What we hear from teams leaving Timly
They needed a signature, not a field
Recording who has something is not the same as being able to prove it. Teams switch when an HR or insurance conversation exposes that they have a value in a database and nothing signed.
They wanted to try before talking to anyone
A self-serve free tier lets an operations lead prove the idea internally before involving procurement, which is often how these tools actually get adopted.
Counting was still an event
A proper cycle-count workflow with sign-off turns the annual inventory from a week of clipboards into a scoped exercise that a few people can run in an afternoon.
The other side
When Timly is the better choice
We would rather you picked the right tool than picked ours.
- Vehicles or fleet are a significant part of your register and you need more than an asset record for them.
- You are operating primarily in Germany, Austria or Switzerland and value local support and localisation.
- You want a guided, quoted rollout rather than a self-serve trial.
- Your priority is the breadth of the register rather than the strength of the custody trail.
Switching
Moving from Timly
- 1
Export from Timly
Take a full CSV or XLSX export of your asset list, including serial numbers, categories, locations and any custom fields you rely on. Export your people list separately if Timly keeps one.
- 2
Map the columns once
The importer previews your file and lets you map each column to a Stackroom field. Categories, locations and departments are created from the values in your file, so you do not build the hierarchy by hand first.
- 3
Import people, then assets
Loading people first means custody assignments resolve to a real person on the asset import rather than needing a second pass.
- 4
Check a sample, then go
Spot-check twenty records against the old system before you invite the team. Re-importing is safe — matching on an existing code updates rather than duplicates.
Nothing is deleted from Timly by importing into Stackroom, so you can run both in parallel for a week while people get used to the change.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Are Timly and Stackroom really that similar?
In shape, yes — both are QR-first, mobile-first, multi-asset-type registers. The meaningful differences are Stackroom's signed custody and audit workflows, and Timly's vehicle support and European footprint.
Can we track vehicles in Stackroom?
You can hold a vehicle as an asset with custom fields, maintenance schedules and inspection reminders. What you will not get is fleet-specific functionality such as mileage-driven servicing or driver management.
Do we need to talk to sales to try Stackroom?
No. The free tier is genuinely self-serve — sign up, import a CSV and run a real checkout. Talk to us when you want help, not to get started.
Which is better for a mixed IT and tools estate?
Both handle it, which is their shared advantage over IT-only tools. Choose on whether you need the custody trail or the vehicle support more.
Can we import our data from Timly?
Yes. Export your inventory to CSV and import it into Stackroom. Categories, locations and custom fields map across, and our team will help with the awkward parts of a larger migration.
How long does switching actually take?
Most teams import in the morning and run a real checkout the same afternoon. There is no implementation project and no professional services fee. The longest part is usually relabelling, and that can be done gradually.
Do we have to relabel everything?
No. If your existing labels carry a code you already track, import that code and keep using them. New QR labels can be printed on standard address stock as and when you need them.
Is Timly free?
No. Timly has no free plan, only a free trial — free trial available. Stackroom has a permanent free plan with unlimited users and no card required.
How is Timly priced compared with Stackroom?
Tier, not usage. Users are unlimited on every plan; what you pay for is which module set you are on, with a long list of paid add-ons on top. Stackroom prices on capability and capacity instead: users are unlimited on every plan, and tracking more equipment never moves the bill on its own.
What are the Timly asset and user limits?
Assets: Not published as a cap. Users: Unlimited on every tier. Locations: Not published as a cap. Every Stackroom limit is published on our pricing page and served from our billing API, so it matches your invoice.
Other comparisons
Looking at something else?
Outgrowing Timly?
Import your data, print a sheet of labels, and run a real checkout the same day.