Is BoxBuddy good for moving?
BoxBuddy is an iPhone and iPad app, with no Android version, for tracking every box in a move. Photograph or say what goes in each box, print its QR label, then search for any item later. It suits household moves, from a first apartment to downsizing. The first 10 boxes are free; paid plans start at $24.99 CAD a year.
On the Canadian App Store, BoxBuddy is rated 4.8 out of 5 from 11 ratings (checked October 2026). The app's own site is boxbuddy.tech.
BoxBuddy the moving app is made by BotLogix in Burlington, Ontario and is not affiliated with BoxBuddy LLC (boxbuddy.us). On the App Store, the seller is listed as Steffen de Graaf, the founder of BotLogix.
Looking for the app?
- Download BoxBuddy from the App Store
- BoxBuddy FAQ: pricing, QR labels and the free tier
- Help centre: labels, scanning and setup
- Privacy policy
- BoxBuddy vs Sharpie labels: QR app or tape?
The rest of this page is the build record: how BotLogix built BoxBuddy and how it runs.
How BotLogix built BoxBuddy
Most moving apps look nice. BoxBuddy is built to perform on real moving days: spotty Wi-Fi, several people packing at once, and whichever iPhone or iPad a family has. The experience is simple by design. The engineering behind it is not. Here's what's powering it.
The stack — built to last
BoxBuddy runs on a modern, containerized server stack. Think of it like a set of dedicated workers, each doing one job, all coordinated together:
| Layer | Technology | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Frontend | React 18 + Vite | The interface you tap and swipe |
| Backend API | Fastify (Node.js 20) | Processes every request in milliseconds |
| Database | PostgreSQL 16 | Stores your boxes, photos, and accounts securely |
| Cache | Redis 7 | Speeds up repeated lookups instantly |
| iOS wrapper | Capacitor 7 | Turns the web app into a native iPhone experience |
| Reverse proxy | Traefik v2.10 | Routes traffic and handles SSL automatically |
Every piece runs in its own Docker container — an isolated, self-contained environment. That means if one component ever needs an update, the rest of the system keeps running without interruption.
Your data is secure
BoxBuddy takes a few things seriously when it comes to your account:
- Passwords are never stored in plain text. They go through bcrypt — a one-way hashing algorithm — before they ever touch the database.
- Login sessions use JWT (JSON Web Tokens), expiring every 7 days, so old sessions automatically go stale.
- All traffic is encrypted via TLS/SSL certificates managed automatically through Let's Encrypt. The padlock in your browser isn't decorative.
Subscriptions that actually sync
One of the hardest problems in subscription apps is keeping what the App Store knows and what the server knows in agreement. BoxBuddy solves this with a multi-layer sync system:
- When you subscribe, RevenueCat (the payment layer) confirms the purchase.
- On every login and app launch, BoxBuddy's backend cross-checks your subscription status and self-corrects if anything is out of sync.
- A dedicated
/auth/sync-subscriptionendpoint ensures paid users are never incorrectly blocked by a free-tier limit — even if a webhook misfires.
In practice: you pay, you get access. No support tickets needed.
Photos, QR codes & search
BoxBuddy's photo pipeline is straightforward and fast:
- Photos are captured via the device camera and uploaded directly to the server.
- Storage is pluggable — local server filesystem by default, or Cloudflare R2 (cloud object storage) for premium scale.
- QR codes are generated server-side, tied to each box's unique ID in the database.
- Keyword search pulls from your item descriptions using database-level queries — no third-party search engine required.
A real admin dashboard
Behind the scenes, BoxBuddy has a 10-tab admin panel that monitors the entire system in real time:
- App Store Connect integration — live subscriber data pulled directly from Apple's API
- Email drip monitoring — tracks exactly which onboarding emails each user has received
- Storage auditing — per-user disk usage, file counts, and missing file detection
- Service health checks — PostgreSQL, Redis, Cloudflare R2, and SendGrid, all on one screen
This is what lets a solo founder operate a production app with confidence.
Content that works as hard as the app
boxbuddy.tech publishes 52 blog posts and 21 guide pages on moving, storage and box tracking (counted from its sitemap in October 2026), plus a full sitemap and structured data (JSON-LD schema) on its pages, so the app can surface in search when people actually need it: during a move, stressed, looking for a solution.
An llms.txt and llms-full.txt are also maintained so that AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude can accurately describe what BoxBuddy does.
Pricing
BoxBuddy is free to download, and the free tier is permanent: there is no trial period. Single and Family are annual subscriptions, bought through the App Store.
| Plan | Canada (CAD) | U.S. (USD) | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Up to 10 boxes, 2 photos per box, label printing |
| Single | $24.99 a year | $19.99 a year | Up to 1,000 boxes, 5 photos per box |
| Family | $39.99 a year | $29.99 a year | Everything in Single, plus one shared inventory for up to 5 people |
Prices as listed on the Canadian and U.S. App Store pages, checked October 2026.
Early pre-release signups received the Family Plan at no extra cost. The founding member badge and priority support were included.
The numbers
Checked October 2026. The App Store figures come from the Canadian App Store listing and the content counts from the boxbuddy.tech sitemap. The rest are BotLogix's own figures.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| First released on the App Store | March 2026 |
| Current App Store version | 2.2.5, released August 26, 2026 |
| App Store rating (Canada) | 4.8 out of 5, from 11 ratings |
| Blog posts on boxbuddy.tech | 52 |
| Guide pages on boxbuddy.tech | 21 |
| Admin dashboard tabs | 10 |
| Database migrations | 15 |
| Containerized services | 5 |
| Platforms | iPhone and iPad (App Store); labels can also be printed from a computer at boxbuddy.tech |
Built by one person
BoxBuddy was designed, developed, and launched by a solo founder — from the database schema to the mascot. Every architectural decision was made to stay maintainable, scalable, and honest about what it actually costs to run a real product.
No venture capital. No engineering team. Just good tooling, clear thinking, and a lot of boxes.