About Visual Inventory

I'm on a mission to help households know what they have, use what they have, and stop wasting what they don't need.

Our Mission

Every year, American households throw away roughly $2,900 worth of food. That's not just money — it's wasted meals, wasted time, and the nagging feeling that you should be more organized.

Visual Inventory exists because organizing shouldn't require willpower. Point your phone at a shelf, and in 30 seconds you know exactly what you have, when it expires, and what you can make with it.

My Story

Ben, Founder

I own too many bottles of Hoisin sauce. At one point, four. Two upstairs, two in the garage. Two were expired. I'd been “meaning to get organized” for years.

Give me a clipboard and a spreadsheet template? Not happening. I know myself. But give me a tool that lets me wave a phone at the actual problem? Now we're talking.

I'm a product manager by trade. I spent a decade at Microsoft building internal tools that make other teams' jobs easier. When AI got good enough to read a photo of a shelf and tell me what's on it, I knew I could build the tool I'd been wanting.

The first version took 5.5 hours. A CLI tool that scanned my basement shelves and told me I had 47 items, 3 expiring soon, and enough food for 92 days. From “overwhelming pile of stuff” to “structured confidence” in under 2 minutes.

That was November 2025. Since then it's grown to 106,000 lines of code, 6 ways to add items, AI recipes, family sharing, and smart shopping lists. It's not perfect — the AI gets things wrong sometimes, and I'm honest about that. But it's the only inventory app I've used for more than a week, and that felt worth sharing.

The Hoisin problem is solved. What's yours?

What We Stand For

Privacy First

Your data belongs to you. I never sell your information, and you can delete everything with one click.

Effortless by Design

If it takes too long, people won't use it. Every feature is designed for speed and simplicity.

Built for Families

Real households have multiple people, shared responsibilities, and busy schedules. Visual Inventory gets that.

Sustainability Matters

Reducing food waste isn't just good for your wallet — it's good for the planet.

How Visual Inventory Works

Capture Your Inventory

Take a photo of your pantry shelf, scan a receipt, or just tell us what you bought. Our AI does the data entry for you.

Stay Informed

Get alerts before items expire, see what's running low, and check your inventory from anywhere — even the grocery store.

Keep It Current

Quick confirmations and easy updates mean your inventory stays accurate without constant re-scanning.

Availability

Currently Available In

United StatesCanadaMexico

Visual Inventory is currently available only in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. We're working on expanding to additional regions.