Filect vs Sortio: Search-First Cloud Organizer or Prompt-Driven Sorting?
Filect organizes in the background and adds natural-language search across your drive. Sortio gives you a prompt, a preview, and an undo. Here is the honest comparison.
Last updated 8/15/2026
Filect is the better pick if what you actually want is to find files, not file them: its natural-language search across your whole drive is the core of the product, and organization runs in the background with no setup. Sortio is the better pick if you want to decide where files go, see the plan before it runs, and undo it in one click. Filect starts at $15/month with a 10-day trial and no free tier. Sortio has a free tier and Pro at $14.99/month or $99/year.
The two tools split on a question that sounds procedural but is not: who chooses the folder structure. Filect sorts your files into the right folders for you, automatically, and its own site pitches that as the feature (no dragging, no naming, no guessing). Sortio treats the structure as yours. You describe it, Sortio shows you the plan it intends to execute, and nothing moves until you accept it.
Both read file contents rather than filenames, so both clear the bar that separates this generation of tools from extension-based cleaners. Where they diverge is control, platform coverage, and what happens to the files while the AI is thinking about them.
At a glance
| Sortio | Filect | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | Windows, Mac |
| Pricing | Pro $14.99/mo or $99/yr | Basic $15/mo billed annually ($120/yr); Pro $49/mo billed annually ($399/yr); Enterprise custom |
| Free tier | Yes | No, 10-day free trial and a card is required |
| How rules are defined | AI Rule Builder converts plain English into reusable deterministic rules, plus per-run prompts | Typed natural-language instructions per folder, such as "by project" or "by file type" |
| Local vs cloud | Cloud by default; optional local models via Ollama or LM Studio, and BYOK to your own provider | Cloud. File contents are sent through a cloud API to OpenAI for analysis |
| Undo / preview | Preview the plan before applying, one-click undo | Not documented on the vendor site |
| File types | Text-bearing documents: PDF text layer, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plain text, Markdown | Indexes PDFs, Docs, Code, Images. Image and video categorization is metered: 1,000/mo on Basic, 5,000/mo on Pro |
| Best for | Deciding your own structure, with a preview and an undo | Finding files by description across a whole drive |
The real split: search versus filing
Filect is two products in one bundle. The organizer sorts files in the background, and the search layer lets you type what a file is about and get it back. The second half is the stronger half. Filect indexes PDFs, documents, code, and images across your entire drive and answers descriptive queries rather than filename queries.
Sortio is a filing tool. It reads documents and routes them into a structure you specified, and the value shows up later when you open Finder or Explorer and the folders make sense without a search box.
If your honest problem is "I cannot find anything," Filect addresses that directly. If your honest problem is "my Downloads folder has 800 files and I want it to become a folder tree I can navigate," that is Sortio.
Where your files go while the AI thinks
Filect is cloud. Its own comparison page states that Filect reads your file contents and sends them through a secure cloud API for semantic analysis, with contents not stored after processing and not used for training.
Sortio is also cloud by default. File text is sent to Sortio's AI service to make the routing decision. The difference is that Sortio offers two ways off that default. You can point Sortio at a local model running under Ollama or LM Studio, in which case the inference happens on your machine and the document text is not sent to Sortio. Or you can use BYOK and route inference through your own OpenAI or Anthropic account, which keeps the data out of Sortio's systems while still sending it to the provider you chose.
That distinction matters for anyone with a policy about where client documents can be processed. It does not mean Sortio keeps processing on your machine out of the box, and you should not pick Sortio expecting that unless you deliberately configure it. It does mean the option exists, which on Filect it does not.
Control, preview, and getting it wrong
Filect's pitch is that organization happens automatically in the background with no setup. That is genuinely less work. It also means the first time you see the result is after it has happened.
Sortio inverts that. Every sort produces a plan first: this file goes here, that file goes there. You read it, you change your mind, you accept or reject it. After it runs, one click puts everything back.
Which model you prefer depends on how much you trust a tool with files you cannot easily reconstruct. For a Downloads folder, background automation is fine. For a folder of client matters or seven years of tax records, the preview is the whole reason to use a tool instead of doing it by hand.
Pricing and what the tiers actually meter
Filect Basic is $15/month billed annually at $120/year. Pro is $49/month billed annually at $399/year. There is no free tier, and the 10-day trial requires a card.
The meter to watch on Filect is images and video: Basic includes 1,000 image and video categorizations per month, Pro includes 5,000, while text and audio categorization is unlimited on both.
Sortio Pro is $14.99/month or $99/year, and there is a free tier you can run against a real folder before paying anything. At the entry level the monthly prices are within a dollar of each other, so price is rarely the deciding factor. The deciding factor is whether you want unlimited text categorization with no preview, or a metered allowance with a plan you approve.
Platform coverage
Filect ships for Windows and Mac.
Sortio ships for macOS, Windows, and Linux. If there is a Linux machine anywhere in your setup, this is the end of the comparison. If there is not, treat platform as a tie.
What Filect does better
Search. Filect's natural-language search across an entire drive is a first-class feature and a genuinely different capability from sorting. If you can describe a file but cannot remember what you called it or where you put it, that is what Filect is built for, and organizing is arguably the smaller half of the product.
Unlimited text categorization. Filect does not meter text and audio categorization on either paid tier. Sortio's AI allowance is metered on Pro. For someone processing very high document volumes every month, Filect's ceiling is higher.
Images at volume. Filect categorizes images and video as an included, metered feature (1,000/month on Basic). Sortio's content reading targets text-bearing documents, so a folder that is mostly photos is a weaker fit for Sortio.
Zero setup. Background organization with no rules to write is less work than describing a structure, and for a user who does not care where files land as long as they are findable, that is the correct trade.
Frequently asked questions
Does Filect have a free version?
No. Filect offers a 10-day free trial on the Basic and Pro plans, and a card is required to start it. Sortio has a free tier you can use on a real folder without a card.
Does Filect process files locally?
No. Filect states that it reads your file contents and sends them through a cloud API to OpenAI for analysis, and that contents are not stored after processing or used for training. Sortio is also cloud by default, but it can be configured to run inference locally through Ollama or LM Studio, or through your own provider account with BYOK.
Can I see what Filect will do before it moves my files?
Filect does not document a preview or undo step, and its own site describes organization as happening automatically in the background. Sortio shows the full sort plan before anything moves and supports one-click undo afterward.
Is Filect cheaper than Sortio?
At the entry tier they are close. Filect Basic is $15/month billed annually ($120/year) and Sortio Pro is $14.99/month or $99/year. Filect Pro is $49/month billed annually ($399/year), which is well above anything Sortio charges. Sortio also has a free tier and Filect does not.
Keep reading
Try Sortio for free
The free tier includes a one-time AI trial allowance and rule-based sorting up to five rules. Enough to test on a real folder before deciding anything.
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