paintRack vs Hobby Codex
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
paintRack
Manage your miniature paint collection digitally. Track thousands of paints from various brands, create custom sets, and find matching colors. Features include barcode scanning for quick entry and a wish list for paints you need.
- Extensive paint library with over 27,000 paints
- Create custom paint sets and recipes
- Barcode scanning for rapid paint entry
- Wish list to track needed paints
- Color matching tools
- Support for numerous paint brands
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FEATURES: LIBRARY: track your paints with over 30,000 paints from top brands! SETS: create custom paint SETS (or recipes) for your models WISH LIST: helps you track paints you need *RAPID SCAN: most bottles can be added by scanning barcodes on bottles *COLOR TOOLS: will help you find the best matching paint colors *Available in Full Version Supported paint lines include: - Abteilung 502 - Aero Color (Schmincke) - AK Interactive - Alclad II - AMMO by MIG Jimenez - Andrea Color - Apple Barrel - Archive-X - Army Painter (Warpaints) - Badger Minitaire - Battlefront (Colours of War) - Bear Cavalry - Citadel - Coat d'Arms - Colour Forge - Craft Smart - Createx - Cuttlefish Colors by Cephalopod Studios - CVLTCRAFT (CPOP) - Darkstar - DecoArt - Delta Ceramcoat - Dirty Down - Folk Art - Forge World - FREAKflex - FW Inks - Gaianotes - GarageKits.US - Golden - Green Stuff World - Hataka - Huge Miniatures - Humbrol - ICM - Instar - IONIC (AMMO) - Italeri - Jo Sonja's - Kaleido ColorWorks - Kimera Kolors - Lifecolor - Liquitex - Metalsmith - Mindtaker Miniatures - Mission Models - Model Master - Molotow - Mr. Hobby (Gunze) - Mr. Paint (MRP) - Nocturna - NuWorlds (Iwata-Medea) - P3 (Privateer Press) - Pactra - Pokorny (Dwarf Forge) - Pro Acryl (Monument Hobbies) - Reaper - Revell - Scale Modellers Supply - Scale75 - Secret Weapon - Splash Paints - Stynylrez - Tamiya - Testors - TTCombat - Turbo Dork - Two Thin Coats - Ultracryl - Vallejo - Villainy Inks - Warcolours - Wargames Foundry - Warhammer Colour - Winsor & Newton In-app colors are approximate, usually as provided by the brands themselves.
Hobby Codex
Organize your miniature painting hobby with this app. Catalog your collection, save paint recipes, manage your paint inventory, and track project progress. Designed for mobile use on your painting desk.
- Catalog miniatures
- Save paint recipes
- Manage paint inventory
- Track project progress
- Log painting sessions
- Built-in paint catalog
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Hobby Codex is a mobile app for miniature painters. It keeps your collection, paints, color schemes, projects, and painting journal in one place. Once boxes start piling up, notes get scattered, and you can no longer remember which paints or steps were planned, it becomes hard to keep track. Hobby Codex helps you follow a miniature from the box to the finished model. Start by scanning a box Scan its barcode, or search by name, to find its contents and add its miniatures to your collection in a few taps. No need to enter every reference one by one. The catalogue also lets you browse available factions and boxes. This feature is available with a subscription. You can also add a miniature manually, whether it comes from a box that is not in the catalogue or is a custom reference. Organize your collection Track the miniatures you own or want to buy, along with their assembly and painting progress. Add your own photos, notes, and details to keep a useful record of every model. Plan your painting - create color schemes; - break a miniature down into parts and painting steps; - keep track of the paints and techniques you use; - see which pots are missing from your inventory. Move your projects forward Group related miniatures into projects or campaigns. Track their progress and keep a clear view of what remains to be done. Keep a record of your sessions The journal records your painting sessions: time spent, miniatures worked on, calendar, and progress over time. Pick up where you left off without having to reconstruct your plans. Your collection stays on your device by default. If you create an account, you can choose to back up your data and photos to the cloud and restore them on another device. Hobby Codex is available in French and English, with no ads. Catalogue subscription Tracking features are free. Access to the box catalogue requires an account and a Hobby Codex Catalogue subscription, monthly or yearly, that renews automatically. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless it is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://nicolaslabrousse.github.io/hobby-codex-legal/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Hobby Codex at every 6 days against paintRack's every 6 weeks. Hobby Codex also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). paintRack's advantage is ratings volume (219 vs 2). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. paintRack sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Hobby Codex sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for paintRack against 5.0 for Hobby Codex. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: paintRack has 219 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 93% of paintRack's written reviews are positive against 100% of Hobby Codex's.
paintRack ships an update every 6 weeks, Hobby Codex every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | paintRack | Hobby Codex |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (219 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 92.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 219 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 71 MB | 81 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Courageous Octopus | Labrousse Nicolas |
Customer experience
paintRack
Hobby Codex
Bugs and requests
paintRack
Reported bugs
2 issues- Certain paint brands not appearing in megafilter
- Scanning issues with some barcodes
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to upload and attach photos to paint sets/projects
- Improved sorting and organization options for paint libraries
- Bulk add/import functionality for entire paint ranges
- Personal paint mixing/recipe notes section
Hobby Codex
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
paintRack
- Full Unlock$5.99
Hobby Codex
- Box Catalog$2.991 Month
- Box Catalog$24.991 Year









