MTG Scanner vs Decksmith
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MTG Scanner
This app helps Magic: The Gathering players scan, value, and organize their card collections. Build decks, track card prices, and connect with friends for trading. It's designed for both collectors and competitive players to enhance their game experience.
- Scan Magic cards in any language
- Real-time card price tracking
- Organize cards into custom folders
- Build and export MTG decks
- Compare trade values with friends
- Track top card movers
- Weekly collection statistics emails
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Dragon Shield - MTG Scanner & Card Manager is the ultimate tool for scanning, valuing, organizing, and trading your Magic cards. Instantly recognize cards in any language, build powerful MTG decks, track your collection’s value over time, and connect with friends. Built for collectors and competitive players alike, this app helps you master your Magic: The Gathering™ experience. SOCIAL & FRIENDS Add and connect with friends on the app View your friends' collection, decks, wish and trade list Share your own lists and discover new cards through your network SCAN MAGIC CARDS Instantly scan cards in any language using advanced image recognition Real-time translation of foreign-language cards Check daily prices from TCGPlayer, CardMarket, CardKingdom and MTGMintCard Track 30-day price history for any Magic card Find format legality and oracle text and official rulings COLLECTION MANAGER Organize your MTG cards into custom folders Add folder images and track value over time Export your collection to CSV or text for backups and trades Stay informed with built-in card price tracking MULTIPLE SORTING OPTIONS AND FILTERS Get folder statistics (Mana Cost, Card Color, etc.) MTG DECK BUILDER Build decks with full support for sideboards and filtering Export decks to CSV or text to share with friends or import into tournaments See deck stats like mana curve, color balance, and type spread TRADE TOOL Compare the trade value between two players instantly See exactly who's ahead in the trade and by how much Use wishlists and tradelists to plan and manage your deals TOP MOVERS: WINNERS & LOSERS Track which Magic cards are rising or falling in value Filter by format, date range, or even just your own collection See the top card winners and losers within your collection WEEKLY COLLECTION EMAILS Get automatic weekly emails with stats about your MTG collection See value changes, new additions, and pricing trends over time
Decksmith
Effortlessly manage your Magic: The Gathering collection with real-time card scanning and price tracking. Build and validate decks for various formats, analyze their composition, and connect with a community of players. Enjoy offline access and robust privacy controls.
- Real-time card scanning
- Automatic price tracking
- Format-aware deck building
- Collection inventory management
- Offline access
- Community features
- Privacy controls
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Your entire Magic collection, in your pocket. Decksmith turns your iPhone into a card scanner, a price tracker, a format-aware deck builder and a social hub for players — wrapped in a fast, beautiful, native interface. Point your camera at a card and it is recognised in real time. Name, set, rarity, artwork and current market price are filled in automatically. No typing. No spreadsheets. — SCAN. TAP. COLLECTED. — • Real-time card recognition straight from the camera — no manual entry • One-tap confirm adds the card, its artwork and its full data to your collection • Pick the exact printing you own, set foil or non-foil, and track multiple copies • Every card image is stored on device, so your collection stays gorgeous offline — KNOW WHAT IT'S WORTH — Live market prices in USD or EUR. Decksmith keeps the price you paid alongside today's value, for every single card, so you can see at a glance what your collection has done — card by card and as a whole. Refresh whenever you want an update. — A DECK BUILDER THAT KNOWS THE RULES — Build for Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Pauper or Casual. Decksmith enforces deck size and copy limits for the format you chose, gives Commander its own dedicated slot, and tells you the moment a deck is legal. — SEE THE SHAPE OF YOUR DECK — An automatic mana curve, card-type distribution and average mana value for every deck you build. Spot the missing two-drop before your opponent does. — FIND ANY CARD, INSTANTLY — Search the full Magic card database or your own collection. Filter by colour, rarity, card type, set, mana cost, foil finish and double-faced cards. Sort by name, price or date added. Switch between grid and list whenever it suits you. — SMART LISTS — Build lists that fill themselves. Save any combination of filters as a smart list — trade binder, EDH staples, everything foil under €5 — and it updates itself as your collection grows. Or curate a list by hand. Give each one its own icon and colour. — YOUR CARDS, FULL SCREEN — A gallery mode built for staring at cardboard. High-resolution art, glowing foil borders on your foils, pinch to zoom into the tiniest detail, swipe from card to card. Double-faced cards flip with a tap. — EVEN BETTER TOGETHER — Join the Decksmith Community and the app opens up: publish decks with one tap, collect likes and comments, follow the players whose brews you love, browse their collections and decks for inspiration, send friend requests, and keep up with everything in a live activity feed. — PRIVACY YOU ACTUALLY CONTROL — The whole app works offline, with no account and no sign-up — your collection lives on your device. Create an account only if you want cloud sync across your iPhone and iPad, or the community features. Then decide exactly what is visible: profile visibility, whether you are discoverable, and whether new decks default to public or private. Block anyone. Export or delete your data at any time. — IMPORT AND EXPORT, NO LOCK-IN — Bring your collection with you via CSV from the popular collection and deck-building sites, or restore a full Decksmith backup — collection, decks and lists included. Export your data to a single file whenever you like and share it via AirDrop, mail or cloud storage. — BUILT LIKE AN APPLE APP — Written from scratch in SwiftUI. Dark from the first pixel, tuned for 120 Hz, alive with haptics, and quick everywhere it counts. No subscription. No ads. No account required. Card data and images provided by Scryfall. Decksmith is an unofficial fan app and is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Wizards of the Coast. Magic: The Gathering is © Wizards of the Coast LLC. Start scanning. Start building.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Decksmith at 100% against MTG Scanner's 44%. Decksmith also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 13) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). MTG Scanner's advantage is ratings volume (3.8K vs 1) and chart position (#187 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. MTG Scanner sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Decksmith asks for nothing beyond the download.
Decksmith holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MTG Scanner has 3.8K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 44% of MTG Scanner's written reviews are positive against 100% of Decksmith's.
MTG Scanner ships an update every 2 weeks, Decksmith every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and August 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MTG Scanner | Decksmith |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (3.8K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 44.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.8K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #187 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 230 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | ARCANE TINMEN APS | Waldemar Schneider |
Customer experience
MTG Scanner
Decksmith
Bugs and requests
MTG Scanner
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login issues
- Incorrect card identification
- Scanning bugs with certain card types
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to import/export deck lists
- Display deck value in collection
- Improved scanning for special cards
- More comprehensive filtering options
Decksmith
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
MTG Scanner
- Mythic Monthly$1.991 Month
- Rare Monthly$1.991 Month
- Common Monthly$1.991 Month
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- Uncommon Monthly$3.991 Month
- Premium Monthly1 Month trial$3.991 Month
- Premium Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Mythic Yearly$9.991 Year
- Premium Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Common Yearly$39.991 Year
- Uncommon Yearly$39.991 Year
- Premium Yearly1 Month trial$39.991 Year
- Premium Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Decksmith
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is MTG Scanner free?
Is Decksmith free?
Which has better reviews, MTG Scanner or Decksmith?
Do MTG Scanner or Decksmith have ads?
Which is updated more often, MTG Scanner or Decksmith?
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