Disclosure. We make Paperlock, and it appears in the table below. Several of the other options are free and perfectly good for many households; we say which.
What a warranty claim actually needs
A warranty tracker app is only as good as what it hands you on the bad day. When something breaks, the manufacturer or store will almost always ask for the same things:
- Proof of purchase. The receipt or invoice, with the date, the store and the price. The FTC's consumer advice on warranties says to keep your receipt with the warranty, because it shows when you bought the item and that you're the original owner.
- The warranty terms. The card in the box, the page in the manual, or the PDF on the product page: how long cover lasts, what's covered and how to claim.
- The model and serial number. Read off the label on the appliance itself, not the box you recycled.
And there's a fourth thing that isn't a document at all: a warning before the warranty ends, early enough to test everything while a repair is still free. A fault found a week after cover ends is yours to pay for.
Any system that delivers those four things works. The rest is about how much typing you're willing to do, and whether you'll still be doing it in year two.
What a warranty has to tell you (US basics)
In the US, federal warranty law, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, doesn't force anyone to offer a written warranty. But the FTC's guide to federal warranty law explains that a company that does offer one must state its terms "in a single, clear, and easy-to-read document," and that the written warranty must be available for you to read before you buy. The FTC's sample warranties are laid out the way a good one reads: what is covered, how long coverage lasts, what is not covered, what the company will do, how to get service, and how state law applies.
Two details from the FTC matter for tracking. Some warranties require you to return a product registration card first to qualify for service, though a warranty labeled "full" can't make that a condition. And state law adds implied warranties to almost all purchases, which in some states last up to four years. That's background, not legal advice: if a claim is refused, the FTC's pages and your state's consumer office are the places to check. Our guide to keeping track of warranties covers the rules outside the US too.
Six ways to keep track, compared
| Spreadsheet or record sheet | Manufacturer registration | Store account / order history | Photos or Notes | Warranty tracker apps | Reading vault (Paperlock) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holds the receipt | Points to where it is | Usually not | Yes, for orders placed there | Yes, as a picture | Usually, as an attached photo | Yes, and reads it |
| Holds the warranty terms | No | It's the maker's record | Rarely | As a picture | Often, as an attached photo | Yes, and reads it |
| Serial number | You type it | You type it once | Sometimes on the invoice | In a photo of the label | You type or scan it | In a photo of the label, kept with the rest |
| Who works out the end date | You, or our tools | Nobody tells you | Nobody | You | You enter the length | The app, from the documents |
| Warning before cover ends | Calendar entries you add | Rarely | No | No | Usually | 30 and 7 days before, once turned on |
| Covers every store and brand | Yes | One brand at a time | One store at a time | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | Free | Free | Free | Free | Varies; check the listing | Free for 25 documents and 5 questions a month; Plus $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year |
The spreadsheet: free, complete, and only as good as your habits
A spreadsheet is a real warranty tracker, and for a household with a dozen appliances it may be all you need. Our free purchase record builder gives you one card per purchase: item, model, serial number, store, price and where the receipt lives. It works out the return deadline, the warranty end and a "test everything" day 30 days before cover ends, exports them to your calendar with alerts, and saves a CSV. It runs in your browser only, with no account, so export the CSV once the list is done. If you'd rather start on paper, the home appliance record kit has a printable checklist and a ten-column sheet for the same job.
The weak point is the receipt. A spreadsheet can say "paper in the kitchen drawer," but the drawer still has to have it, and thermal receipts fade. Take a photo the day you buy, and read our page on the appliance receipt for what to keep with it.
Manufacturer registration and store accounts
Registering the product with the maker is worth doing when the warranty asks for it,. But it's one brand's record, it rarely holds your receipt, and it won't tell you when cover is about to end.
Store accounts and online order history are the quiet hero of modern warranties. For anything ordered online, the order page usually keeps the invoice for as long as the account exists, which solves proof of purchase for that store. The limits: one store at a time, nothing for the things you bought in person or as a gift, and no warning about the warranty itself.
Photos and Notes: the receipt you already have
Your camera roll is a free warranty folder whether you planned it or not. On iPhone, the Photos app has a Utilities collection that can find photos by content, including receipts and documents. Take three pictures on purchase day: the receipt, the warranty card and the rating label with the serial number. A note in Notes with the three photos and the warranty end date is a respectable system.
What Photos and Notes won't do: work out when cover ends, or remind you. You'd add a calendar entry by hand, which is the step that tends not to happen.
Dedicated warranty tracker apps
There's a whole category of apps built for this one job. Most let you add an item, attach photos of the receipt and the warranty, type in the purchase date and warranty length, and get a notification before it ends. They vary widely, so before you commit, check three things on the app's own listing: whether the reminder lead time can be set, whether you can export your records, and where your receipts are stored.
The trade-off is typing. A tracker app knows exactly what you told it, so the system is as good as the data entry on the day you were busy unpacking a fridge.
A reading vault: Paperlock
Paperlock takes the typing out. You photograph or import the receipt and the warranty card, and it reads them: what each document is, the store, the date, the amount and when it expires. It titles and files them on its own, with no folders to maintain. If you turn reminders on once in Settings, it reminds you 30 and 7 days before anything it read expires, with no setup per document. And when the dishwasher fails, you ask, in plain English, "find the receipt for the dishwasher," and the answer comes back with the receipt attached. If the answer isn't in your vault, it says so. How it works has the details, and the receipt organizer comparison covers receipts beyond warranties.
The honest limits: it's iPhone only, with no Android or web version; there's no sharing between users, so a household can't share one vault; and there are no folders, on purpose. Asking questions needs an internet connection and runs partly on Paperlock's servers, which process the document only to answer and don't store it. iCloud sync is part of Plus and off by default. The free tier holds 25 documents, which covers the receipts and cards for the big appliances in most kitchens.
Which one to pick
- A few big purchases a year: Photos, three pictures on purchase day, plus a calendar alert a month before cover ends.
- A whole house of appliances and you like spreadsheets: the purchase record builder or the appliance kit, with receipt photos alongside.
- Mostly online orders: your store accounts already hold the invoices; add the warranty end dates to a calendar.
- You want reminders and are happy to type: a dedicated tracker app.
- You want the receipt, the warranty and the reminder without typing: a reading vault such as Paperlock.
Whichever you choose, the habit beats the tool: capture the receipt, the warranty card and the serial label on the day you buy. Our big-purchase returns and warranties checklist walks through that day step by step, and the warranty certificate page explains what to look for on the card itself.