Comparison

Protagonist vs Nethack Helper

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

Head to head
About

Protagonist

Manage your RPG characters with customizable sheets for various gaming systems. Assign portraits, back up your data, and choose between light and dark themes. Supports multiple popular tabletop RPGs.

Highlights
  • Customizable character sheets
  • Support for multiple RPG systems
  • Assign character portraits
  • Backup and restore save files
  • Light and dark themes
  • Import support for specific systems
Features
Read full description

Need a place to keep your characters for a variety of RPGs? We've got you covered! Protagonist lets you keep any number of character sheets for multiple gaming systems. You can assign character portraits, backup and restore your save files, and choose between light and dark themes. Most systems contain no content from their respective game. In those cases, the user must input all the values they want to keep track of, like is done with a traditional pen & paper character sheet. Systems: • Call of Cthulhu 7e (The Dhole's House import support) • Dungeons and Dragons 5e • Dungeon World (Character Builder & Content Support) • Gaslands 1e & 2e • HeroQuest • Legend of the Five Rings 1e • Necromunda 1e & 2e • Pathfinder 2e Protagonist makes no claims of any of the system publishers, on behalf of them, and is not endorsed by them. Use of the system name is solely for the purpose to inform that Protagonist is suitable for use with that product.

About

Nethack Helper

This app serves as a comprehensive toolkit for NetHack players, offering tools to master shops, spells, and character progression. It provides detailed information on items, spells, intrinsics, and includes animated solutions for puzzles. The app also features score logging and progress tracking.

Highlights
  • Item identification by price
  • Spell success percentages
  • Intrinsic monitoring
  • Animated Sokoban puzzle solutions
  • Score logging and ascension tracking
  • Progress timeline chart
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

NetHack Helper - Everything you need to remember in one tiny app The ultimate toolkit for NetHack adventurers. Master shops, spells, and character progression with precision tools designed by players, for players. • Identify items by price with charisma-based calculations • Covers potions, scrolls, rings, wands, armor & more • All 43 spell books with success-to-learn percentages • Factors Intelligence, XP level, and skill enhancements • Monitor 18 intrinsics, protection, and prayer status • Step-by-step animated solutions for all 8 Sokoban puzzles • Toggle between DawnHack tiles and classic ASCII views • Comprehensive score logging with ascension tracking • Hidden timeline chart reveals your progress over time • Uses DawnHack Tileset • Works offline with persistent data • Auto-resets between characters for streamlined gameplay Unofficial companion app - not affiliated with NetHack DevTeam - We use it with iNetHack2 on iPhones

Screenshots

Protagonist4 screens
Nethack Helper4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Nethack Helper at Free against Protagonist's $2.99. Nethack Helper also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0). Protagonist's advantage is ratings volume (5 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On update cadence, 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

Nethack Helper is free to download; Protagonist costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nethack Helper holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Protagonist has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Protagonist ships an update fortnightly, Nethack Helper every 9 days. Both last shipped on October 12, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Protagonist versus Nethack Helper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterProtagonistNethack Helper
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (5 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB1 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperAhimsa Software LLCDavid Konshuh

Customer experience

Protagonist

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Nethack Helper

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Protagonist

No in-app purchases

None

Nethack Helper

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Protagonist free?
Protagonist costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Nethack Helper free?
Nethack Helper is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Protagonist or Nethack Helper?
Nethack Helper is rated higher. Protagonist averages 4.0 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Nethack Helper averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Protagonist or Nethack Helper have ads?
Neither Protagonist nor Nethack Helper shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Protagonist or Nethack Helper?
Protagonist ships an update fortnightly, and Nethack Helper every 9 days. Most recently, Protagonist was updated on October 12, 2026 and Nethack Helper on October 12, 2026.

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