Disclosure first, as always: I built BiblioScan, which shows up at the end of this review as an alternative. Weigh my opinions accordingly. The prices and features below are Scoutly's own, checked on its website and its App Store listing on October 7, 2026.
Scoutly is the app long-time book scouts still recommend when someone asks for the cheapest serious scanner. It has been around since the FBAScan days, it does one job, and it does it at a price few competitors match. Here is what that price buys, where the app stops, and who should look elsewhere.
| Scoutly at a glance | October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Developer | aSellerTool (the app was formerly called FBAScan) |
| Price, bought direct | $9.95/mo live search · $35/mo with the offline database |
| Price, App Store in-app | $14.99/mo Lite · $39.99/mo Pro |
| Offline database | Amazon US, Canada and UK (Professional plan) |
| Live search | Amazon US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain |
| Products | Books, toys and general merchandise |
| Buyback exit | SellBackYourBook bulk API with auto add-to-cart |
| Listing | TurboLister desktop app included |
What Scoutly is
Scoutly is aSellerTool's scouting app for Amazon sellers. If the name rings no bell, the old one might: it used to be FBAScan. Not to be confused with FBAScout, ScanPower's app that faded years ago (the FBAScout story untangles the two). The workflow is the classic one: scan a barcode with your phone camera or a Bluetooth scanner, or search by title, and Scoutly shows you the Amazon data you need to decide whether to buy or skip.
Two things set it apart from most of its peers. It is not a book-only tool: it handles books, toys and general merchandise, so retail arbitrage sellers use it too. And every plan includes TurboLister, aSellerTool's desktop listing software, so one subscription covers both scouting and listing.
Scoutly pricing in 2026
There are two plans, and where you buy them changes the price. Directly on asellertool.com:
- Lite: live search only, no offline database. $9.95/mo, $54 for six months, or $100 a year (about $8.33/mo).
- Professional: the offline database plus live search. $35/mo, $190 for six months, or $350 a year.
Bought as App Store in-app subscriptions, the same two tiers cost $14.99 (Lite) and $39.99 (Pro) a month. TurboLister is included either way, and aSellerTool refunds $5 a month on each additional monthly Professional subscription paid from the same PayPal account, which keeps small teams affordable.
What Scoutly does well
- The lowest entry price. At $9.95/mo for unlimited live search, it is the cheapest fixed monthly price among the scanners in our book scanner app roundup.
- Offline scouting for less. The Professional plan downloads Scoutly's pricing database to your phone, so you can scan in a library basement or at a rural sale with zero bars. At $35/mo direct, it undercuts ScoutIQ's $44/mo database plan.
- Wide live coverage. Live search reaches Amazon US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
- A buyback exit. Scoutly supports SellBackYourBook's bulk API with auto add-to-cart, so a book that is not worth listing can go straight into a buyback cart.
- Scouting and listing in one subscription. TurboLister comes with every plan.
Where Scoutly stops
- One item at a time. Like every app of its generation, Scoutly evaluates one barcode or title per action. A box of 200 books is 200 scans, and an estate sale with 2,000 books on shelves becomes a sampling exercise.
- The offline database stops at the US, Canada and the UK. In France, Germany, Italy and Spain you get live Amazon lookups, but no offline data.
- A single buyback quote. The built-in exit is one buyer, SellBackYourBook, rather than a comparison across buyback sites.
- A generalist. Covering toys and general merchandise is a plus for arbitrage sellers, but it also means the app is not built around book-specific signals the way a book specialist is.
Who Scoutly is for
Pick Scoutly if you scout a lot of no-signal locations and want an offline database at the lowest price, if books are only one part of a broader retail arbitrage cart, or if you want listing software bundled with your scanner. Plenty of high-volume scouts have run it for years with simple triggers and see no reason to move.
Scoutly vs BiblioScan
Here is where my bias kicks in, so I will stick to what is different rather than what is better.
BiblioScan starts from a photo, not a barcode. You photograph a whole shelf or an open box, and the AI recognizes every book by its spine, prices each one against live market data, and ranks the batch by BiblioRank, so the money rises to the top. Barcode scanning is still there for single books (camera or Bluetooth scanner), with customizable buy/reject triggers.
Buyback offers from 20+ US sites on every scan, instead of a single buyer, so every book has a cash floor before you even think about listing it.
Europe. BiblioScan covers France, Germany and Spain alongside the US, where Scoutly offers live Amazon lookups in Europe but no offline database.
A free start, no seller account. There is a free tier (5 shelf photos and 200 barcode scans, no card), paid plans from $4.99/week or $19/mo on the website, and credits that stay valid for life on every subscription except the Weekly plan. Linking an Amazon seller account is optional.
What BiblioScan does not do. There is no offline database: the photo analysis runs in the cloud and needs a connection. It is books only, and it is not a listing tool, so there is no TurboLister equivalent. If no-signal scouting or listing software matters most to you, Scoutly wins on both counts.
For the three-way comparison with ScoutIQ, side by side in one table, see ScoutIQ vs Scoutly vs BiblioScan.
Bottom Line
Scoutly is the budget veteran done right: $9.95/mo for live search or $35/mo with an offline database (direct prices, October 2026), with listing software included. Choose it for cheap offline scouting and all-category arbitrage. If your sourcing looks like shelves and boxes rather than single barcodes, or you sell in Europe, try BiblioScan's shelf photo on your next box with 5 free credits, no card required.
FAQ
How much does Scoutly cost?
As of October 2026, bought directly from aSellerTool: $9.95/mo for the Lite plan (live search only) and $35/mo for the Professional plan (offline database plus live search). Six-month and annual terms bring that to $54 and $100 for Lite, or $190 and $350 for Professional. As App Store in-app subscriptions, the plans cost $14.99 and $39.99 a month.
Is Scoutly the same as FBAScan?
Yes. Scoutly is aSellerTool's renamed FBAScan. It is a different app from FBAScout, which was ScanPower's scouting app.
Does Scoutly work offline?
Yes, on the Professional plan, which downloads a pricing database to your phone. The offline database covers Amazon US, Canada and the UK; the Lite plan is live search only.
Does Scoutly work in Europe?
Partly. Live search covers Amazon France, Germany, Italy and Spain, but the offline database does not. BiblioScan covers France, Germany and Spain alongside the US.
Is Scoutly good for books?
It is a solid barcode scanner for books and it supports SellBackYourBook for buyback, but it is a general Amazon scanner that also handles toys and general merchandise. A book specialist like BiblioScan adds shelf-photo recognition and buyback offers compared across 20+ sites.
What is a good Scoutly alternative?
ScoutIQ if you want an offline database with the eScore demand metric ($44/mo with the database, as of October 2026). BiblioScan if you source from shelves and boxes, sell in Europe, or want buyback offers from 20+ US sites on every scan, with a free tier to start.