A Home Canning Tracker & Living Pantry
Putby is a safety-first companion for home canning and food preservation — not another thin recipe app. Log every batch you can, ferment, pickle, dehydrate, or freeze in seconds; know exactly what's on your shelf and what to eat first; print clean jar labels; and check an altitude-aware safe-processing reference before you start. Local-first and offline — your pantry never leaves the phone.
What it does:
- The Jar Log — record a batch in seconds: food, method, jar size, yield, headspace, altitude, and a one-tap "did it seal?"
- Living pantry inventory — jar counts, canned-on and best-by dates, and an "Eat me first" rotation list
- Safe-processing reference (free) — pressure vs water bath, altitude auto-adjust, headspace, acidity, and a botulism check
- Printable jar labels — contents, date, batch, and best-by
- Ferment & pickle timers — day-counts with burp and taste-check reminders
- Full history, CSV export, and local backup & restore
- Local-first & private — no account, no cloud; your pantry never leaves the phone
How It Works
📒 The Jar Log
Record a batch in seconds — food, method (water bath, pressure, ferment, pickle, dehydrate, freeze), jar size, yield, headspace, and altitude — then tap a jar if one didn't pop. Fast enough to log straight out of the canner, so your records actually stay complete.
🫙 Living Pantry
A real inventory, not just recipes. See jar counts by food, canned-on and best-by dates, and an "Eat me first" rotation list so nothing on your shelf is wasted — the reason canners keep a notebook, finally in your pocket.
🛡️ Safe-Processing Reference
Pressure vs water bath by food, altitude auto-adjust, headspace, and acidity — plus a botulism check that flags low-acid foods that must be pressure-canned. Grounded in tested USDA / Ball / NCHFP guidance, with sources cited. Free forever — we never paywall safety.
🏷️ Jar Labels
Clean, printable and exportable labels with contents, date, batch, and best-by — so every jar on the shelf tells you what it is and when you put it by, without a marker and masking tape.
⏳ Ferment & Pickle Timers
Day-count timers for sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, hot sauce, and lacto-pickles, with burp and taste-check reminders — the homestead workflow, not a recipe list.
🔒 Private by Design
No account, no login, no cloud. Every batch lives in a local database on your phone — your pantry never leaves the device. It opens instantly and works offline, in the cellar, the garden, or a dead zone.
A Look Inside
Made for Real Harvests
🧺 Home Canners
- Log water-bath and pressure batches in seconds, sealed and dated
- Check altitude-adjusted times and the botulism check before you start
- Print labels so every jar says what it is and when you put it by
🌱 Homesteaders & Gardeners
- Turn a glut of produce into a tracked, rotated pantry
- Ferment and pickle with day-count timers and burp reminders
- See your most worthwhile crops and what you put by this season
📦 Pantry Keepers
- Know exactly what's on your shelf and what to eat first
- Best-by dates and an "Eat me first" list so nothing is wasted
- Export to CSV and keep your own local backup — no account needed
Putby+
Putby's core — the jar log, the living pantry, and the altitude-aware safe-processing & botulism reference — is free forever, no card needed to explore. Putby+ adds insight and runs 100% on-device: pantry intelligence and best-by alerts, yield & cost-per-jar savings tracking, a season planner, an on-device AI harvest helper, unlimited batches and history, and advanced labels. Billing is store-managed — cancel anytime in the App Store or Google Play. No surprise fees and no dark-pattern trials. We will never paywall safety.
Annual
Best value — works out to about $1.25/month, billed yearly.
Monthly
Flexible month-to-month access to Putby+.
Lifetime
A single one-time purchase — no subscription, yours to keep. The trust play for the seasonal crowd.
Prices may vary by region and are shown in the app at the time of purchase. All three options unlock the same Putby+ features. Manage or cancel a subscription anytime in your device's App Store or Google Play subscription settings. See our Terms for full subscription details.
What is Putby?
Putby is a home-canning tracker and pantry inventory app for iOS and Android. It logs every batch you can, ferment, pickle, dehydrate, or freeze, keeps a living inventory of what is on your shelf with canned-on and best-by dates, prints jar labels, runs ferment timers, and works offline with no account.
Putby also includes a free altitude-aware safe-processing reference with a botulism check that flags low-acid foods which must be pressure canned. It is a companion to tested recipes from sources such as the USDA, Ball/Bernardin, and the National Center for Home Food Preservation — it does not certify that your food is safe to eat.
Home canning guides
Frequently asked questions
What does Putby track?
Putby records every batch you preserve: the food, the method (water bath, pressure, ferment, pickle, dehydrate, or freeze), jar size, yield, headspace, altitude, lot, dates, and a one-tap seal check. Each batch flows into a living pantry inventory with jar counts, canned-on and best-by dates, and an "Eat me first" rotation list.
Is Putby available on iPhone and Android?
Yes. Putby is available on the App Store for iPhone and on Google Play for Android.
Does Putby work offline?
Yes. The jar log, the living pantry, the safe-processing reference, labels, and timers all work without an internet connection, and the app opens instantly with no login. A connection is only needed to make or restore a purchase, or for the one-time on-device AI model download if you opt in.
Where is my canning data stored?
On your phone only. The jar log, pantry inventory, labels, timers, notes, and history live in a private local database on your device, with no account and no cloud backend. The only information that ever leaves your phone is purchase data handled by Apple, Google, and RevenueCat to validate a Putby+ purchase.
Does Putby replace a tested canning recipe?
No. Putby is a tracking, reference, and organization tool, and a companion to tested recipes from sources such as the USDA, Ball/Bernardin, and the National Center for Home Food Preservation. It does not certify that your food is safe to eat, so always follow a current tested recipe and your altitude.
Can I export my canning records or move them to a new phone?
Yes. You can export your data and create a local backup from inside the app (CSV/PDF), then save or share the file yourself. Because everything is stored locally, your own export is how you move your records to a new device.
Is Putby free?
Putby's core jar log, living pantry, and altitude-aware safe-processing and botulism reference are free forever, and no card is needed to explore the app. The optional Putby+ upgrade adds pantry intelligence and best-by alerts, savings tracking, a season planner, an on-device AI harvest helper, unlimited batches and history, and advanced labels. Putby+ is sold as a monthly or annual subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase, billed through the App Store or Google Play and cancellable anytime.
How do I delete my data from Putby?
Delete individual entries in the app, clear the app's data from within the app or your device settings, or uninstall Putby to permanently remove everything it stored locally. There is no server-side copy for anyone to delete.
Privacy First — Your Pantry Stays on the Phone
Putby is built local-first. Here's exactly how it works:
- No account, no cloud, no server. You don't sign up or log in. There is no backend that receives your data — nothing to leak and nothing to fail.
- Your pantry never leaves the device. Batches, the jar log, pantry inventory, labels, timers, notes, and history are stored only in a local database (SQLite) on your phone.
- On-device AI. The optional Putby+ harvest helper runs a small model entirely on the phone (an opt-in download). It only works with your own pantry data — nothing leaves the device.
- You share, not us. Jar labels, CSV exports, and pantry snapshots are generated on your device and shared only if and when you choose.
- One billing helper. The only data that ever leaves your phone is purchase/subscription data, handled by Apple, Google, and RevenueCat to validate Putby+. They never receive your pantry data.
For complete details, see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.