# Helvault - MTG Scanner — user reviews > 107 indexed App Store user reviews of Helvault by Vitor Cesco, rated 4.20/5 from 279 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/helvault-mtg-scanner/id6451158920/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/helvault-mtg-scanner/id6451158920.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 206 · 4★ 17 · 3★ 11 · 2★ 8 · 1★ 37 ## What do users think of Helvault? Overall sentiment: mixed **Pros** - 🚀 Excellent scanning and recognition - 👍 Versatile product for managing collections - 🚀 Quick and easy to use - 👍 Dedicated developer with good customer service **Cons** - 🐛 Inconsistent card scanning, struggles with certain card types - 💰 Expensive, especially for users who already paid for the legacy app - 🔍 Limited search and filtering options - 🔀 Difficulty moving cards between binders - 🔒 No way to restore scans/data on new devices **Commonly reported bugs** - Keypad issues when searching - Disappearing settings icons - Incorrect set identification for some cards - Missing card prices and details **Most requested features** - Deck building and management tools - Advanced search and filtering options - Bulk card management and transfer - Improved support for special card versions and frames - Seamless data migration from legacy app ## Newest reviews (10 of 107) ### 3/5 — What happened *2026-02-24* Used to be great, not its really slow to scan and fails to load the card image. Also incapable of distinguishing sets, so the filter is a must. Makes for a very slow process if you have cards that have been reprinted many times. ### 2/5 — AI isn’t good *2026-02-01, version 1.71* Can’t tell the difference between basic lands. Can’t tell the difference of older cards versus newer re-releases. I gave 2 stars, but it’s borderline 1. If you pay the $10 beyond the first 30 free scans you might be disappointed if you own older cards. ### 3/5 — Lacks Granularity *2026-01-24* This app is begging for the ability to create smart lists. Also, instead of giving you headers for folders, binders, and lists before you’ve created either, why not let you just create and choose the type of “list”. There seems to be no difference between the three other than the icon. No ability to multi select cards so that you can add them to a folder, binder, or list is maddening. ### 4/5 — Needs Export Options *2026-01-11, version 1.71* I wish I could export a binder at a time ### 2/5 — Buggy *2025-11-29, version 1.61* It doesn’t scan lands properly, basic ### 3/5 — Too expensive *2025-07-18* The scanner itself is great. I wish there was a way to just have it automatically scan and reopen the scanner without me needing to push a button. I don’t care about tthe version of the card. Also I paid the 10$ for the full access and now I have to pay another 6 to be able to export a plain text list of my cards? Thats too greedy. I should have put my money elsewhere ### 4/5 — Best Scanner & Management App *2025-06-17, version 1.61* This app is legit. I think it’s got room for UX improvements, but I’ve tried the others and this app is the best. The purchase tiers are good too. Install this one. ### 4/5 — Amazing app for cataloging and scanning (just needs some QoL improvements) *2025-03-17* This is a great app for cataloging, tracking, and scanning your mtg collection. The scans are quick and easy (albeit with some minor issues trying to scan certain full art cards and basic lands) and allow you to easily pick the specific set that the card comes from. This is my go to app for cataloging cards, especially because there are only one time payments for the pro perks, which is something I really like since I am an avid hater of subscription services. I only have a few complaints regarding the app, which is why I am giving 4 stars. My main issue is the lack of filters when searching cards. As of right now, you can only filter cards by which set they are in (MH3, Darkmourn, etc.) it would be really helpful if the filters were expanded upon. Filtering by card type, color(s), mana cost, creature type, alongside the specific set would be super good for finding certain kinds of cards if you’re looking for something more general. Another issue I have with the search function is that it only looks for the words in the name of the card for whatever words you typed in the search bar. It would be very useful if this were expanded to include all the words on the card. For example, if I wanted to look at golem creatures I could just type ‘Golem’ in the search and it would pull up all the cards with golem written on them. This last point is a bit of a nitpick but it would be cool to be able to build and manage decks in the app. These are all small issues in the long run. If the app were left as is, I would still find myself using it as my main card cataloging system, these changes would just be nice to see :) ### 3/5 — Great app, but doesn’t match sets? *2025-02-10, version 1.60* So I’ll gladly improve the score if this changes, or I’m dumb. The app works amazingly, let’s get that out of the way My problem is, not once has it ever matched the correct set. Which means I have to manually select it every card I scan. If this was solved 5/5 ### 2/5 — So long, and thanks for all the fish *2024-08-20, version 1.50* Been using the app since the legacy version. I was fine having to get a new app, even having to repurchase the features again. But there has been a constant bug with the search function causing the keypad to keep popping up awkwardly after searching. The scanner is unable to pick up certain card frames and is unable to read battles or certain bonus sheet cards. Also as time has gone on have noticed a number of versions of cards not being added to the app at all including certain foils and special frames. I have since transferred my card lists to a new app and will unfortunately be deleting this one as it’s quality has steadily fallen over time. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — This sucks *2025-12-11, version 1.61* I like this service. However, why do I have to pay for features that used to be free, and then they split the features into different things you need to pay for to access. I don’t like being nickel and dimed like this. ### 1/5 — It keeps charging me *2025-11-22, version 1.61* I paid for this app. It’s supposed to be a one time fee and it keeps asking me to pay again to keep using it. I paid it twice now. I hope it doesn’t do it again. ### 1/5 — Its a subscription by another name *2025-09-28, version 1.61* Another Legacy user here who had paid for "lifetime access" to the app and was left high and dry when it was replaced. As other users have said, this is just a subscription but worse, it's a deceptive bait and switch. The dev just needs be upfront that it's not lifetime access you're paying for. I'll be migrating my collection to another app. ### 1/5 — Won’t open on iOS 26 *2025-09-22, version 1.61* I made the mistake in thinking this app would work with all the money this dev wants for the app. Oops my bad. ### 1/5 — Scam *2025-07-20, version 1.61* Bought this app. “One time purchase”. Then the developer releases the same app with improvements and tells everyone to buy it again. Don’t trust this developer and take an alternative. ### 1/5 — Scammers - would avoid and use other app *2025-05-29, version 1.61* Purchased the legacy version when it was current but then they bait and switched to a new version so I have to pay for it again. Would recommend literally any other app ### 1/5 — Scam *2025-05-29, version 1.61* Developer had the exact same App as this but with a supposedly pay-only-once buy. Now he just stopped updating the old app and released a new version without restoring purchases. This is just scannt behavior. The alternatives out here like manabox or the DragonShieldScanner are better and without false advertising. ### 1/5 — Bought in…locked out *2025-01-31, version 1.60* So I guess the hellavault version I have now is legacy…got the “new” hellavault..and would t you know it…I have to buy the “lifetime” scanner again…bad form. Deleting the app. ### 1/5 — Wasted hours and hours of my life… *2025-01-02, version 1.60* I downloaded this app and laboriously scanned in all my cards (which took weeks) not knowing that the app itself does not keep a record of my inventory. When my phone crashed, I literally lost everything. Literally hours and hours of my life just wasted. This app isn’t worth the time if it can’t keep my inventory backed up somehow. ### 1/5 — Scam practices *2024-08-02, version 1.50* Old users had to pay 11$ us to get the app, now they changed their payement model and removed the SCAN feature (you know, the reason why everyone bought the app). Now we have to pay 13$ us to be able to scan again. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — The Best MTG Collection App I’ve Used *2026-08-01* Helvault has basically become the home for my entire Magic collection. I have cards spread across binders, boxes, folders and decks, and I love that I can track not only what I own, but where everything is physically located. That has made managing a larger collection so much easier. The scanner works really well. I have used it for everything from adding a few new Secret Lair cards to scanning much larger batches, and it makes the process quick and easy. I also like that I can switch between pricing sources like TCGplayer and Card Kingdom depending on how I want to look at the value of my collection. One of the biggest things for me is being able to export my collection as a CSV. I use that file constantly for deck building, checking what cards I own and keeping track of what is already being used across my Commander decks. The iCloud backup and syncing between my iPhone and iPad are also really important when you have put this much time into organizing a collection. I did run into a syncing issue with my phone, but my collection is also very large. Once my iPad finished fully syncing, newly scanned cards started coming through correctly. Having the cloud backup available gave me some peace of mind while I worked through it. There are other apps that can track prices or build decks, but Helvault is the app I actually trust with my collection. It is easy to use, gives me the organization tools I need and has become a huge part of how I collect, sort and build Magic decks. ### 5/5 — Buy it, get the inapp purchasrs *2026-03-16, version 1.73* It's absolutely worth it. I love it so much. Fantastic utility. Worth every penny ### 5/5 — The best out there. *2026-01-08* While there are a few things I would change about this if I could it is still the best I’ve found by far. The card recognition is at least four steps ahead of its closest competitor. I’ve downloaded ever app available and paid the subscription fee but this one has out shown them all. I wish there were a few tweaks like a wishlist section and a subcategory to keep binders and decks separate and multiple tabs for searching your collection for cross reference purposes but over all it gets an A+ from me! ### 5/5 — 5 Stars *2026-01-06* Few apps deserve 5 stars from performance to bug resolution. The team behind this app truly make you feel apart of the community and that each members voice is heard when it comes to requests and future updates. The scanner and sorting features are awesome. 10k cards scanned so far and have been using this app for over 2 years to keep my collection sorted. 🫡🫡 ### 5/5 — Minor tweaks *2026-01-04* This app is amazing! I have my entire collection digitized and it makes things super easy to locate and organize. That being said, I have some notes: Searching by just pictures and edition logos becomes tedious at times especially when you have revised and beta edition cards. Perhaps a testable search function that doesn’t display the card but displays the edition title and name of card. While building collections, I noticed that I don’t have a way to track cards I don’t have without resorting to pen and paper. Perhaps a “need” folder or maybe a completed list function for sets and binders so you can track what you still need to master set a collection. Lastly, it needs a deck builder function and the import export feature needs an overhaul. Creating a deck would be super easy with a deck builder portion of the app. Without using folders and moving cards. Integrated with a “need” function this would allow players to build decks from their collections without having to move cards from collections. Great app!! Please keep it up. The camera is much improved from the original app. ### 5/5 — Best mtg scanner *2025-07-08* This is definitely the best card scanner I’ve tried on iPhone. It’s basically instantaneous and highly accurate. It’s excellent at what it does, but with that said it could do a bit more. For example, a deck feature would be great, currently I have to switch to a different app to see which of my cards are in what deck. But for simply tracking the cards in your collection on your phone, this app is the best. ### 5/5 — The best out there. *2025-04-28* While there are a few things I would change about this if I could it is still the best I’ve found by far. The card recognition is at least four steps ahead of its closest competitor. I’ve downloaded ever app available and paid the subscription fee but this one has out shown them all. I wish there were a few tweaks like a wishlist section and a subcategory to keep binders and decks separate and multiple tabs for searching your collection for cross reference purposes but over all it gets an A+ from me! ### 5/5 — My single best MTG resource *2025-02-15* For years now, I’ve used Helvault to manage my Magic The Gathering inventory. It’s rock solid. It’s never failed me. I have close to 30,000 cards stored in the database and I’ve seen no visible lag. The card scanner is very good (although some of the special treatment cards are sometimes difficult to scan). The interface is simple and clean The exporting of data is reliable and has different export types. The different viewing modes are nice but I would like to see a slider that scales them to different sizes. I would also love to see the inclusion of Skyfall syntax in the search function so I could refine my own collection searches within the app to things beyond card name. Keep up the good work! ### 5/5 — Bester Magic Scanner *2024-11-15, version 1.60* Es lohnt sich hier ein paar Euro zu investieren, die anderen Scanner die ich ausprobiert habe machen bei weitem nicht so einen guten Job. Momentan wird Grundstein (Deutsch) noch nicht supportet offenbar, aber das kommt sicher mit einem Update demnächst. ### 5/5 — Super!! *2024-09-12, version 1.50* Ease of use and versatile products. Help me managing all my decks and side decks and my bulk. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-14.*