Comparison

GameZ vs Retro Joy

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

GameZ

Manage your entire gaming life, from what you're playing to your physical collection. Catalog games, consoles, and accessories with detailed tracking and market value insights. Share your progress and collection with friends.

Highlights
  • Track games played, want to play, and beaten
  • Organize by platform, progress, and status
  • Catalog physical games, consoles, and accessories
  • View collection in 3D with custom photos
  • Track market value of collection
  • Share collection and activity with friends
  • iCloud sync across devices
Features
Read full description

Every game you play. Every game you own. GameZ is the home for your whole gaming life — the games you're playing, the ones you've finished, and the physical collection on your shelf. YOUR LIBRARY - Track what you're playing, want to play, and have beaten. - Organize by platform, progress, and status. - Discover new games, upcoming releases, and what's hyped. YOUR COLLECTION - Catalog your physical games, consoles, and accessories. - See every box in stunning 3D — front, back, and spine. - Track condition, region, and your own photos. - Follow the market value of your collection over time. INSIGHTS & SOCIAL - Beautiful stats about how you play and what you own. - Share your collection and activity with friends. AND MORE - Huge database with 450,000+ games. - iCloud sync — everything on all your devices. - Home Screen widgets and a clean, modern design. By using this app, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Apple's Standard Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Retro Joy

Track your progress and discover achievements for classic video games. Organize your favorite titles into custom collections and connect with a community of retro gaming enthusiasts. It's the perfect companion for reliving gaming history.

Highlights
  • Track RetroAchievements.org progress
  • View achievements, friends, and games
  • Collect and organize favorite games
  • Create custom game collections
  • Connect with the RetroAchievements community
Features
Read full description

Retro Joy is your ideal companion app for RetroAchievements.org With Retro Joy, your RetroAchievement.org achievements, friends, and games are brought straight to your device. You can even collect your favorite games in your library and organize them into collections, exclusive to Retro Joy. If you are new to the RetroAchievements.org community, joining is as simple as downloading the app, creating an account, and logging in. The rest you can pick up along the way with pointers in the app, and the support of the community on RetroAchievements.org.

Screenshots

GameZ4 screens
Retro Joy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Retro Joy at none against GameZ's 3. Retro Joy also leads on review sentiment (82% vs 63%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). GameZ's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and rating (4.4 vs 4.1). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. GameZ sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Retro Joy asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

GameZ holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: GameZ has 187 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 63% of GameZ's written reviews are positive against 82% of Retro Joy's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GameZ ships an update weekly, Retro Joy every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
GameZ versus Retro Joy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGameZRetro Joy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (187 ratings) — better4.1 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews63.0% of reviews81.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings187 — better14
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size118 MB48 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperRaul LermenClayton Sulby

Customer experience

GameZ

All ratings187 ratings
Positive86.1%
Neutral2.1%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive63.0%
Neutral11.1%
Negative25.9%

Retro Joy

All ratings13 ratings
Positive76.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative23.1%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive81.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative18.2%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

GameZ

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Anual$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$39.99
None

Retro Joy

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is GameZ free?
GameZ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Retro Joy free?
Retro Joy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, GameZ or Retro Joy?
GameZ is rated higher. GameZ averages 4.4 out of 5 from 187 ratings, while Retro Joy averages 4.1 from 14 ratings.
Do GameZ or Retro Joy have ads?
Neither GameZ nor Retro Joy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GameZ or Retro Joy?
GameZ ships an update weekly, and Retro Joy every 2 months. Most recently, GameZ was updated on November 6, 2026 and Retro Joy on November 3, 2026.

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