Best AI Auction Cataloging Software (2026): An Honest Comparison

The bottleneck is cataloging, not selling

For most auction houses and estate liquidators, the slow part of every sale is the same: turning a room full of objects into a finished catalog. Photographing, writing titles and descriptions, researching values, assigning lot numbers. For a 200-lot sale, that is days of work.

A new category of AI tools fixes the writing step. You photograph an item and the AI returns a title, description, condition notes, tags, and an estimated value in seconds. This guide compares the leading options honestly, including where each one wins and where it falls short, so you can pick the right fit instead of the loudest marketing.

How we compared them

We looked at the things that actually change your day:

• AI description quality: are the titles and descriptions catalog-grade, or generic?
• Multi-image analysis: does it read every photo of a lot (front, back, maker's mark, condition), or just one?
• Workflow depth: cataloging only, or does it also run the sale (clerking, invoicing, settlements)?
• Pricing: flat and predictable, or per-lot?
• Exports: can you get your catalog into AuctionFlex, Proxibid, LiveAuctioneers, HiBid, and the rest?
• Value intelligence: does it estimate value, and can you use it when buying, not just when selling?

At a glance

Estimint: best all-around value

Estimint does AI cataloging with multi-image analysis (it reads every photo of a lot together), and it is the only tool here that also runs the rest of your auction: live clerking, buyer invoicing, consignor estimates and settlements, bidder registration, and fulfillment. It exports tailored CSVs to AuctionFlex, Proxibid, LiveAuctioneers, BidWrangler, HiBid, and Invaluable.

Two things set it apart:

• It values items before you buy them. Walk an estate or a consignment intake, photograph items, and get value ranges on the spot. The other tools only price lots you already own.
• Flat, predictable pricing. Plans start at $29/mo for 300 listings, $89/mo for 1,500, and $149/mo for 3,500 with the full auction suite. No per-lot meter, and no overage surprises on a big sale.

Try the AI auction description generator free, or see the head-to-heads: Estimint vs Gavelist and Estimint vs AuctionWriter.

Best for: auction houses, estate liquidators, and resellers who want one platform that grows from AI listings into full auction operations.

Gavelist: best for high-volume, cataloging only

Gavelist is a focused, fast AI cataloging tool, and its strengths are genuine: multi-image analysis, quick throughput, maker identification, and transparent per-lot pricing ($0.15 per lot pay-as-you-go, or roughly $0.05 to $0.08 per lot on monthly plans). It exports to HiBid, LiveAuctioneers, and others.

The trade-offs: it is cataloging only and explicitly does not run your live sale, so you still need a separate system for clerking, invoicing, and settlements. And per-lot billing, with overage charges, can add up on a big estate where a flat monthly plan would cost less.

Best for: operations that already have an auction-management system and just want a fast, pay-per-lot cataloging bolt-on.

AuctionWriter: best free tier to get started

AuctionWriter offers a clean, simple cataloging experience and the most generous free tier in the category (50 lots per month). Paid plans run $99/mo for 1,000 lots and up. It generates titles, descriptions, and value estimates, and supports up to 16 images per lot.

The trade-offs: like Gavelist, it is cataloging only, with no clerking, invoicing, consignor, or settlement tools, and its entry price is higher than Estimint's $29/mo.

Best for: sellers who want a recurring free tier to test AI cataloging before committing.

Which should you choose?

• You want one tool for cataloging and the whole auction (clerking, invoicing, settlements): choose Estimint.
• You want the lowest starting price, or value estimates you can use while buying: choose Estimint ($29/mo, and it values items before you buy).
• You only need fast cataloging, already have an auction system, and prefer per-lot billing: choose Gavelist.
• You want a recurring free tier to experiment: choose AuctionWriter.

For most auction houses and estate sellers, Estimint is the best all-around pick: it covers the entire workflow at the lowest entry price, while still doing the multi-image AI cataloging the others are known for.

Start free with Estimint. 200 listings, 30 days, no credit card.

*Pricing and features reflect publicly available information as of June 2026 and may change. Verify current details with each provider.*