Comparison

BG Catalog vs PencilDB

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

Head to head
About

BG Catalog

Organize your board game collection, track plays, and manage game nights with friends. Easily catalog owned games, wishlists, and see detailed statistics on your gaming habits. Share game details and victories via QR codes and social media.

Highlights
  • Manage board game collection
  • Track game plays and scores
  • Organize friends and play locations
  • Game status management (owned, wishlist, etc.)
  • Statistics on games played and usage
  • Share games and results via QR code
  • Social media sharing of game rankings
Features
Read full description

BG Catalog is an application that helps you keep up to date with your board games and the games you play with your friends. - What board games do you have? - How many games have you played? - Who got the highest score in a game? - Who played and who won each game? It includes the following features: - Manage your board games, tag the ones you want to buy, sell or the ones you already own - Manage the games with your friends and places where you usually play - Available status for a board game: Owner, want to buy, Wish list, want to play, Pre-ordered and more. - Get statistics on the number of games you have played and which games you use the most - Share each game and play through a QR code so that other players can add it to their list - Share images of your victories on social media with the game ranking - add custom photos to each player - Compare 2 players to see who is better - Display a graphic with the games played and won each month Discover everything you can do with this app! If you feel you are missing something, do not hesitate to contact me and I'll work to include new features

About

PencilDB

Features
Read full description

PencilDB is a database of mechanical pencils, ballpoint pens, fountain pens and inks. We build it together, and we correct it together. ■ Point the camera, and the pen identifies itself Move the camera slowly toward the part number printed on the barrel. PencilDB reads the marking and looks it up. Recognition happens entirely on your device. The photo itself never leaves your iPhone. ■ Keep a record, one pen at a time Sort pens into "Owned" and "Wanted". Add what you paid, when you bought it, where from, and what condition it is in — as much or as little as you feel like. Every one of those fields can be left empty. ■ Used prices come into view Once two or more people have reported what they paid for a part number, the price it actually changes hands for starts to appear. While only one report exists, no figure is shown. Otherwise what you paid would become "the market price" all by itself. ■ Straight to a shop that sells it For each part number, the shops selling it today are listed with their prices. Links that earn us a commission are marked as ads. ■ Know the company behind the brand Company profiles for 64 brands, with every model they make. Founding year, country, and what they have built over the years. ■ Articles Barrel materials, nib widths, the stories behind the brands — written for people who are serious about pens. ■ What is in it now 2,854 models, 12,460 part numbers, 64 brands. Sailor / Montblanc / Pilot / Mitsubishi Pencil (uni) / Platinum / LAMY / Zebra / Pentel / Faber-Castell / Caran d'Ache / Kuretake / Kaweco / Visconti / Montegrappa / Eboya / WANCHER and more. Everything comes from the manufacturers' own price revision documents and official sites. Each entry records where it came from. ■ A nickname, a password and an email address. Nothing else. No real name, no street address. The only thing shown publicly is your nickname. The email address exists so you can reset a forgotten password; it never appears on screen. ■ Corrected by everyone Found a mistake? Anyone can submit a correction, photos included. A person reviews them before they go live. Once two people are friends, they can message each other. Anyone you would rather not hear from can be blocked, and problems can be reported. ―――――― Site https://www.pencildb.com Terms https://www.pencildb.com/terms Privacy https://www.pencildb.com/privacy

Screenshots

BG Catalog4 screens
PencilDB4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: PencilDB at every 10 days against BG Catalog's every 3 weeks. BG Catalog's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BG Catalog ships an update every 3 weeks, PencilDB every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
BG Catalog versus PencilDB: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBG CatalogPencilDB
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (255 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews57.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings255 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supported—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFco. Javier Perez Pachecoideo Entertainment Inc.

Bugs and requests

BG Catalog

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Unable to open game details
  • Crashes and freezes after recent update
  • Incorrect game information displayed
  • Login/sync failures

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add scoring sheets for games
  • Connect with friends who use the app
  • Customizable collections
  • Faction/team tracking for games

PencilDB

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

BG Catalog

No in-app purchases

None

PencilDB

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BG Catalog free?
BG Catalog is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PencilDB free?
PencilDB is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do BG Catalog or PencilDB have ads?
Neither BG Catalog nor PencilDB shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BG Catalog or PencilDB?
BG Catalog ships an update every 3 weeks, and PencilDB every 10 days. Most recently, BG Catalog was updated on November 3, 2026 and PencilDB on November 6, 2026.

Other comparisons