Comparison

Gauntlet vs Helvault

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

Head to head
About

Gauntlet

This app helps Magic: The Gathering players track game lives, build and customize decks, and record game history. It offers detailed stats for players and decks, supports multiple players, and includes a powerful hand simulator.

Highlights
  • Life tracking for up to 6 players
  • Deck building and importing
  • Game history and stats
  • Hand simulator
  • Deck customization with card art
  • Deck organization with folders
Features
Read full description

Gauntlet is the most feature packed Magic: The Gathering utility app available. It’s a life tracker, deck builder and record keeper of your games. THE BEST LIFE TRACKER: • Select your deck and the decks your opponents are playing. Player tiles will be updated with the cover art of each deck. • Save the results when the game is over. Select a winner, and each player will have their career and deck stats updated immediately. • Full support for up to 6 players with custom life totals, and a turn randomizer to determine who plays first. • Other features include 21 unique tile colours, 15 unique counters, rolling D6, and a game timer. THE BEST MOBILE DECK BUILDER: • Brew on the go or import your decks from other deck building sites. • Customize your deck with art from any card in the multiverse. • Pick a format and your deck screen adapts to show things like your commander or your signature spell. • Bling out the cards in your deck with foils. • Shuffle up and draw an opening 7 with a powerful hand simulator. • Stay ahead of your competition with deck list data. View your mana curve, pip breakdown, and more. • Export your deck lists as text, or share a link to your profile on social media. • Keep your decks organized with folders, and sort them by name, games played, wins, and format. YOUR GAME HISTORY IN DETAIL: • Every game is saved making it easy to go through previous games and see who played, who won, and which decks came to battle. • Track wins and losses for each deck, and see how your career wins and losses change over time. • Follow your friends to stay up-to-date with their latest brews, deck performance, and game history.

About

Helvault

Effortlessly manage your Magic: The Gathering card collection with an AI-powered scanner. Organize, filter, and analyze your cards with detailed stats and pricing information. Sync across devices and export your collection.

Highlights
  • AI-powered MTG card scanner
  • Unlimited card collection storage
  • Detailed collection statistics
  • Card pricing and details
  • CSV collection export
  • iCloud syncing
Features
Read full description

Helvault is a collection manager for Magic: The Gathering players and collectors who want to spend more time enjoying their cards, instead of typing names... With a powerful card scanner featuring an exclusive AI, Helvault is capable of identifying cards from all Magic's history without a hassle. Sort, filter, play and understand your card collection like never before! Key features: - Powerful MTG card scanner - Unlimited cards on your collection - Detailed stats about your collection - Card details, including prices - Export your collection as a CSV file - iCloud Syncing between devices - No ads, forever Helvault brings unlimited card collection management to your mobile device, for free. Some features however are unlocked through NON-RECURRING purchases (they are NOT subscriptions).

Screenshots

Gauntlet4 screens
Helvault4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Gauntlet at 83% against Helvault's 32%. Gauntlet also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.2) and in-app purchases (none vs 6). On price, ratings volume, 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. Helvault sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Gauntlet asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Gauntlet holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 309 and 293 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Gauntlet's written reviews are positive against 32% of Helvault's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gauntlet ships an update weekly, Helvault fortnightly. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Gauntlet versus Helvault: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGauntletHelvault
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (309 ratings) — better4.2 (293 ratings)
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews — better31.8% of reviews
Number of ratings309 — better293
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB58 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperScott CampbellVitor Cesco

Customer experience

Gauntlet

All ratings299 ratings
Positive97.7%
Neutral1.0%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative10.0%

Helvault

All ratings279 ratings
Positive79.9%
Neutral3.9%
Negative16.1%
Written reviews110 reviews
Positive31.8%
Neutral6.4%
Negative61.8%

User reviews

Gauntlet

From 309 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great deck builder
  • 👍 Excellent life tracker
  • 👍 Covers player profiles and match records
  • 👍 Useful for tracking win/loss records
  • 👍 Good for looking at card collections

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Search engine requires precise typing
  • 🐛 General load time for cards is slow
  • 🐛 Scrolling on the board can be annoying
  • 🐛 App appears small on iPad Pro
  • 🐛 Does not track win-rate for non-primary deck in matches

Helvault

From 293 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent scanning and recognition
  • 👍 Versatile product for managing collections
  • 🚀 Quick and easy to use
  • 👍 Dedicated developer with good customer service

Room to improve

  • 🐛 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

Bugs and requests

Gauntlet

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Developers have seemingly given up (according to one review)
  • App ruined for jailbroken phones (iOS 14 and up)
  • Board scrolls every time life or counters are moved
  • Does not track win-rate for the deck not shown as primary in a match
  • App is very small on iPad Pro

Requested features

19 requests
  • Scan cars to make adding decks easier
  • More precise search engine
  • Faster card loading times
  • Display card prices
  • Scan cards in deck building
Show 14 more
  • Add Android support
  • Add tournament bracket functionality
  • Deeper stat tracking
  • Leave notes about each deck
  • Leave notes about individual cards
  • In-app purchases for donations
  • Add play test cards
  • Better layout for exporting decks to text
  • Feature to track win/loss ratios without starting a game
  • Option for locking board scrolling
  • Android release (mentioned as desired)
  • Manual change of player names when playing 'against yourself'
  • Add friends who don’t use the app to games
  • Add full deck lists

Helvault

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Keypad issues when searching
  • Disappearing settings icons
  • Incorrect set identification for some cards
  • Missing card prices and details

Requested features

5 requests
  • 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

In-app purchases

None

Gauntlet

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Helvault

One-time6
  • Common Donation$0.99
  • Rare Donation$4.99
  • iCloud Syncing$4.99
Show 3 more
  • Advanced Card Export/Import$6.99
  • MTG Card Scanner - Lifetime$9.99
  • Mythic Donation$9.99

Questions

Is Gauntlet free?
Gauntlet is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Helvault free?
Helvault is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Gauntlet or Helvault?
Gauntlet is rated higher. Gauntlet averages 4.9 out of 5 from 309 ratings, while Helvault averages 4.2 from 293 ratings.
Do Gauntlet or Helvault have ads?
Neither Gauntlet nor Helvault shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Gauntlet or Helvault?
Gauntlet ships an update weekly, and Helvault fortnightly. Most recently, Gauntlet was updated on November 3, 2026 and Helvault on November 3, 2026.

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