Comparison

MTG Life Counter App vs Decksmith

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

Head to head
About

MTG Life Counter App

This app serves as a comprehensive companion for Magic the Gathering players. It allows for tracking life totals, commander damage, and various game counters for up to 10 players. It also includes card search with price checking, dice rolling, and support for special game modes like Planechase and Archenemy.

Highlights
  • Track life totals for up to 10 players
  • Commander damage tracking
  • Card search with price and legality checks
  • Custom dice rolling and coin flips
  • Track various game counters
  • Support for Planechase and Archenemy modes
  • Integrated game timer
Features
Read full description

Lotus is your all-around Magic the Gathering Companion app. Key features: - Track life totals and Commander damage for up to 10 players - Quick life total adjustments and custom starting health - Card search with price checking and format legality - Roll any custom dice (including D4-D20) or flip a coin - High-roll feature and coin flips - Track various counters: poison, experience, charge, storm, and more - Support for partner commanders and Commander Tax - Initiative and Monarch status tracking - Game timer with individual turn tracking - Customize player backgrounds and defeat messages - Battery-friendly design with sleek dark mode - Additional game modes: Planechase and Archenemy The best MTG Life Tracker We love Magic the Gathering! That's why we built Lotus. Supporting up to 10 players with custom starting health totals, Lotus makes tracking life totals as smooth as a well-oiled Mindslaver lock. Set unique colors or background images for every player, and swipe to track commander damage with ease. Beyond life tracking, Lotus handles everything from Poison counters to Storm count, Energy to Mana, and even keeps tabs on your Commander Tax. Advanced Game Management Swipe up or down on player cards to access a full suite of customization options. Set custom backgrounds, enable partner commanders, and manage players directly from their cards. Share your favorite profiles across devices, and when a player falls in battle, bring them back with our streamlined revival system. Plus, add some salt to defeat with customizable defeat messages! Card Search and Price Checking Need to check if that spicy tech is format legal? Or maybe you're wondering about the price of that chase rare? Search for any Magic card to instantly see current prices and format legality information. Additional Game Modes: Planechase and Archenemy Planechase: Journey through different planes with a full suite of Planechase cards, including the newest Doctor Who planes. The deck shuffles automatically, bringing fresh challenges to each game. Archenemy: Unite against a common foe or take on the villain's role with integrated Archenemy Schemes, including the latest cards from Duskmourn: House of Horror. Game Timer and Turn Tracking Keep your games moving with our integrated game timer and turn tracker. Whether you're in a casual Commander game or racing against the clock in a tournament, Lotus helps ensure smooth gameplay without slow play. Battery-friendly MTG Companion The app is designed to be energy-efficient with a dark mode that conserves your battery during those epic Commander sessions. Plus, there are no ads, so you can focus on your game without distractions. Free MTG Companion App Lotus is completely free—no ads, no in-app purchases, and no hidden fees. Just enjoy a fully featured Magic the Gathering life counter and companion app built by players, for players. We'd love your feedback! If you have any feedback, please let us know! Your input helps us make Lotus even better and keeps it as your go-to Magic the Gathering life counter and companion app. This app contains unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy of Wizards of the Coast. This app is not approved or endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. © Wizards of the Coast LLC. --- This app contains an optional subscription. Lotus is free and has no ads. Nothing is locked behind payment, and nothing ever will be. If you want to support development, you can do so from inside the app, either as a monthly subscription or a one-time payment. It unlocks nothing: every feature is available to everyone. Monthly support renews automatically until cancelled. Link to our Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Link to our Terms of Use: https://lifecounter.app/terms/ Link to our Privacy Policy: https://lifecounter.app/privacy/

About

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.

Highlights
  • Real-time card scanning
  • Automatic price tracking
  • Format-aware deck building
  • Collection inventory management
  • Offline access
  • Community features
  • Privacy controls
Features
Read full description

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

MTG Life Counter App4 screens
Decksmith4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Decksmith at none against MTG Life Counter App's 6. Decksmith also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and review sentiment (100% vs 83%). MTG Life Counter App's advantage is ratings volume (9.8K vs 1) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, monetization model 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. MTG Life Counter App sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Decksmith asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Decksmith holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MTG Life Counter App has 9.8K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of MTG Life Counter App's written reviews are positive against 100% of Decksmith's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MTG Life Counter App ships an update weekly, Decksmith every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and August 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
MTG Life Counter App versus Decksmith: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMTG Life Counter AppDecksmith
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (9.8K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.8K — better1
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#140 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB24 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperVanilla b.v.Waldemar Schneider

Customer experience

MTG Life Counter App

All ratings9,830 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral2.2%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews321 reviews
Positive83.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative11.5%

Decksmith

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

MTG Life Counter App

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Life totals reset when app crashes
  • Dynamic Island on iPhone 15 blocks UI
  • Double-face card lookup not working
  • Life total changes when swiping up to home screen

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add commander damage tracking
  • Ability to save player profiles/presets
  • Option to increase/decrease font size
  • Landscape mode for 2-player view
  • Press and hold to add/decrease 10 points

Decksmith

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

MTG Life Counter App

Subscriptions3
  • Common Supporter$0.991 Month
  • Rare Supporter$2.491 Month
  • Mythic Supporter$4.991 Month
One-time3
  • Common Supporter$4.99
  • Rare Supporter$12.99
  • Mythic Supporter$24.99
None

Decksmith

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MTG Life Counter App free?
MTG Life Counter App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Decksmith free?
Decksmith is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MTG Life Counter App or Decksmith?
Decksmith is rated higher. MTG Life Counter App averages 4.6 out of 5 from 9.8K ratings, while Decksmith averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do MTG Life Counter App or Decksmith have ads?
Neither MTG Life Counter App nor Decksmith shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MTG Life Counter App or Decksmith?
MTG Life Counter App ships an update weekly, and Decksmith every 3 weeks. Most recently, MTG Life Counter App was updated on September 27, 2026 and Decksmith on August 21, 2026.

Other comparisons