# Story Plotter vs Card Buddy

The clearest difference is update cadence: Story Plotter at every 2 weeks against Card Buddy's every 2 months. Story Plotter also leads on ratings volume (193 vs 38). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Story Plotter sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Card Buddy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Story Plotter against 4.4 for Card Buddy. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Story Plotter has 193 ratings behind it against 38, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 80% of Story Plotter's written reviews are positive against 85% of Card Buddy's.

Story Plotter ships an update every 2 weeks, Card Buddy every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 5, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Story Plotter | Card Buddy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.4 (193 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/story-plotter-idea-to-plot/id1491980862/reviews)** | [4.4 (38 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/card-buddy-index-cards/id6447646532/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **193** | 38 |
| Positive reviews | 80.2% of reviews | **84.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 193 MB | 8 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.6 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Hajime Hata](https://appshunter.io/developer/1491980861) | [Allen Ussher](https://appshunter.io/developer/1044100564) |

## What reviewers say

### Story Plotter

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/story-plotter-idea-to-plot/id1491980862)

This app helps you craft compelling stories for novels, comics, movies, and more. It offers tools for organizing ideas, developing characters and their relationships, and structuring plot points. AI-powered brainstorming and time-series visualization assist in overcoming writer's block.

**Highlights:** Idea Note, Plot Note, Plot creation function, AI Brainstorming, Character Correlation & Family Tree, Time series with World Setting, Theme Setting

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Data Sync(half price) | $1.99 | per month |
| Device Synchronize | $3.49 | per month |
| Number of Image Generations | $0.49 | one-time |
| Releasing AI Limitations | $2.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Helpful for writing and planning
- 🚀 Great organizational tools
- 💡 Detailed character profiles
- 🔒 Secure and password protected
- 👍 Clean and easy to navigate

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes or performance issues
- 🔍 Confusing or unclear interface in places
- 🔒 Limited free features, need to pay for syncing
- 🐛 Bugs with Bluetooth keyboards
- 🐛 Data loss issues, stories deleted without warning

**Reported bugs**

- Deleting previous work without warning
- Crashing when trying to edit thumbnails or move characters
- Syncing and data transfer issues between devices
- Bluetooth keyboard compatibility problems

**Requested features**

- Add ability to pull photos from external sources
- Implement a collaborative feature for co-writing
- Add more customization options for character profiles
- Improve the character relationship diagram functionality
- Expand timeline options beyond just years/months/days


### Card Buddy

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/card-buddy-index-cards/id6447646532)

This app helps writers and content creators organize their thoughts and ideas on a digital canvas using index cards. It supports spatial organization, image integration, and text formatting to facilitate narrative development and brainstorming.

**Highlights:** Digital index cards, Spatial organization on canvas, Image integration, Markdown text formatting, Auto-styling for text, Storyboarding and planning

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Non-expiring License | $19.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 💡 Perfect for writing and plotting
- ✨ Localized files, not cloud-based
- 🖼️ Ability to add images to cards
- 🚀 Efficient and well-thought-out design

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Needs Apple Pencil support
- 🐛 Trial mode doesn't allow saving
- 🐛 Limited text formatting options
- 🐛 Images don't display adequately
- 🐛 Cards are too small

**Reported bugs**

- Trial mode does not allow saving
- Images not displaying adequately
- Double-tap zoom out feature interrupts text selection

**Requested features**

- Tagging individual cards
- Apple Pencil support
- More keyboard shortcuts
- Support for multiple canvases within a single document
- More customized options for text formatting, fonts, and colors


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Story Plotter free?

Story Plotter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Card Buddy free?

Card Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Story Plotter or Card Buddy?

Story Plotter is rated higher. Story Plotter averages 4.4 out of 5 from 193 ratings, while Card Buddy averages 4.4 from 38 ratings.

### Do Story Plotter or Card Buddy have ads?

Neither Story Plotter nor Card Buddy shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Story Plotter or Card Buddy?

Story Plotter ships an update every 2 weeks, and Card Buddy every 2 months. Most recently, Story Plotter was updated on September 23, 2026 and Card Buddy on September 5, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*