What a Wine Inventory App Is and How to Choose
A wine inventory app is an app that lets you register the wines you own and manage their count, labels, purchase price, drinking window, and location on your phone. Many can register a bottle by reading its label with the camera, so even as your collection grows you avoid the failure of "forgetting you own it and missing the window."
The big picture of this section
What the Apps Can Do
The basic features common to most apps are recording and searching inventory, keeping tasting notes and ratings, and managing drinking windows. On top of that, tracking purchase price and cellar valuation, automatic registration by label scan, and shelf-position management that records "which shelf of which cellar" a bottle is on are where the apps differ.
Six Axes for Choosing
The app that fits you is easier to find if you look at the following six axes. In particular, "shelf-position tracking" and "Japanese support" vary widely by app and are the deciding factors that separate the choices.
Six axes for choosing an app
Wine Inventory Apps Compared
We compare five leading apps along the axes for choosing. First check the overall picture in a table, then look at each app individually.
Leading wine inventory apps compared
| App | Supported OS | Free tier | Paid price | Shelf position | Japanese |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelvin | iOS, Web | Up to 16 bottles | ¥500/month ($6.99 on the App Store) | ◎ Records shelf/tier/column (free tier too) | ○ |
| Vivino | iOS, Android, Web | Free core | Japan ¥700/month, ¥6,780/year | △ Position granularity is limited | ○ |
| CellarTracker | iOS, Android, Web | Unlimited bottles (feature-limited) | $40–$500/year (by bottle count) | ○ Bottle position / bin | × |
| InVintory | iOS, Web (Android in prep) | Unlimited bottles, up to 10 cellars | $149.99/year ($14.95/month) | ○ 3D / but paid only | Unknown |
| Oeni | iOS | Freemium | €4.99/month | ○ 3D / scope to be confirmed | Unknown |
Shelvin
Shelvin is a Japanese-capable app strong in shelf-position tracking, able to record which wine is on which shelf, tier, and column of which cellar. Its concept is "see everything without opening the door," reducing the effort of hunting for bottles inside a dark cellar. You can register up to 16 bottles for free, and label scanning and cellar position management are available even on the free tier.
Register multiple cellars and visually record which wines are located on which shelf (row/tier). — from the description of cellar registration and position recording
The paid Premium plan is ¥500/month on the official site (listed as $6.99 on the App Store). It makes registration unlimited, increases label-scan allowance, and adds team sharing and ad-free use.
Premium ¥500 / 月 登録本数 無制限 ラベルスキャン（月50回まで） チーム共有機能 広告非表示 — from the pricing plan (Premium)
Being able to manage down to shelf position in Japanese, and use position management even on the free tier, is a strength no other app matches. On the other hand, it currently centers on iOS and the web, with no Android app provided.
You can check it on the App Store here: Shelvin (App Store)
Vivino
Vivino is an app with one of the world's largest wine-review communities. Scan a label and it shows ratings and reviews, and you can buy the wine right there. Its cellar feature manages inventory and drinking windows, but fine position tracking of which shelf a bottle sits on is limited.
Add bottles to your cellar to keep track of what you own and when to drink them. — from the description of collection management
Pricing varies by region; in Japan, Premium is ¥700/month or ¥6,780/year.
Japan - iOS: 700 JPY/month, 6780 JPY/year, Android: 700 JPY/month, 6780 JPY/year — from the per-country price list (Japan)
It suits people who want ratings, reviews, and purchases in one place, but falls a little short for fine shelf-position management. It supports iOS, Android, and the web and can be used in Japanese.
CellarTracker
CellarTracker is a long-established standard known for recording each bottle's location in detail, down to bins (the divided compartments of a cellar shelf). The site and app themselves are free and usable with unlimited bottles; you pay an annual subscription based on cellar size when you use features such as valuation and drinking-window alerts.
CellarTracker is a free site/app with paid subscription to access additional features. Subscription pricing is based on your cellar size. — from the explanation of the pricing structure
Pricing is $40/year up to 100 bottles and rises with the count after that. It suits enthusiasts who want to record a large collection in detail, but note that its only supported language is English, with no Japanese support.
InVintory
InVintory's selling point is "VinLocate," which recreates your cellar or refrigerator in 3D and lets you find a bottle's exact position with a tap. However, this position feature is not included in the free plan and is available only on paid Premium or higher.
The main difference between Premium and Free is that Premium will help you find the exact location of a specific bottle in your collection through our proprietary technology VinLocate. — from the explanation of the free vs. paid difference
Even on the free plan you can register unlimited bottles, but cellars are capped at 10 and position management is unavailable. Premium is $149.99/year ($14.95/month).
Premium ... $149.99 / year or $14.95 a month — from the pricing plan (Premium)
The 3D position management is appealing, but if you want to use position management for free, Shelvin is the better fit.
Oeni
Oeni is an app with an immersive 3D wine-cellar display; you start for free and pay to unlock more. It also includes aging analysis, food pairing, and valuation tracking. The paid Oeni Plus is €4.99/month, with a 30-day free trial.
Oeni Plus subscription / 30 days free, then €4.99/month — from the Oeni Plus subscription pricing
Discover our immersive 3D wine cellar feature to easily visualize and organize your bottles, as if you were there! — from the description of the 3D cellar feature
The details of Japanese support and the exact scope of the free tier could not be confirmed from official information. If you're interested in the 3D display it's a candidate, but if you want to be sure of using it in Japanese, it's safest to check support in advance.
Recommendations by Use Case
Building on the comparison, here are recommendations by use case. Pick the one closest to how you'll use it.
Recommended apps by use case
If you want to manage down to which shelf a bottle is on, in Japanese, and free to start, trying Shelvin first is the clearest choice. If you prioritize ratings and reviews, Vivino fits; if you don't mind English and want to record large volumes, CellarTracker suits.
Tips for Keeping It Up, and Summary
A wine inventory app earns its value only when you keep at it. Register a wine the moment you buy it and record its location down to shelf, tier, and column, and you won't miss a drinking window or make the mistake of buying the same wine twice. The idea of a drinking window itself is covered in "When Is Wine Ready to Drink? How Aging Works and How to Decide to Drink or Cellar."
If you're unsure which app to choose, we recommend starting with Shelvin (App Store), which manages down to shelf position in Japanese and is free to start. Try the free tier first to see how it feels, then move to a paid plan as your count grows, and you can manage your collection without strain.
