Card Buddy vs Campaign Codex
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Card Buddy
This app provides a digital corkboard for organizing ideas with index cards. Effortlessly arrange cards, add images, and utilize various text styles to outline stories, plot novels, or manage research. It offers a flexible and intuitive workspace for creative projects.
- Free-form canvas with drag-and-drop cards
- Two-sided cards with front summary and back details
- Image support for storyboards and mood boards
- Multiple text styles including Markdown
- Kanban layout for column organization
- Syncs across Mac and iPhone
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Card Buddy turns your screen into an infinite corkboard for index cards. Drag cards anywhere on the canvas and watch neighboring cards glide out of the way — outlining your story should feel as natural as moving notecards on a desk. Perfect for screenwriters, novelists, and anyone who thinks in cards. Lay out your beat sheet, rearrange plot points, and build your story one card at a time. Features: - Drag-and-drop index cards on a free-form canvas, with neighbors that move out of the way automatically - Two-sided cards — type a summary on the front, details on the back - Add images to any card for storyboards and moodboards - Three text styles: Plain, Auto-style (instant headers and subtitles), and Markdown - Kanban layout to organize cards into columns - Built for Mac and iPhone — your boards go where you do Whether you're breaking a screenplay, plotting a novel, or organizing research, Card Buddy keeps your ideas movable. Terms of use: https://www.ussherpress.com/cardbuddy/terms/ Privacy policy: https://www.ussherpress.com/cardbuddy/privacy/
Campaign Codex
This app is a comprehensive campaign manager for Game Masters, designed for iPad. It offers tools for combat tracking, quest management, NPC details, and quick rule references, all accessible offline for seamless live sessions.
- Combat tracking with initiative and HP
- Campaign journal for notes and prep
- Quest tracking with status and rewards
- NPC management and story hooks
- Party and character reference
- Loot tracking
- Quick rules reference
- Offline-first storage
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Campaign Codex is an iPad-first campaign manager built for Game Masters who want a serious command center at the table. Designed around the larger iPad screen, Campaign Codex brings combat tracking, campaign notes, quests, NPCs, loot, party details, and quick rules reference into one organized workspace. It is built for live sessions where speed, clarity, and offline access matter. Features include: - Combat tracking with initiative, HP, rounds, and conditions - Campaign journal for session notes, prep, and recap details - Quest tracking for main quests, side quests, status, and rewards - NPC management for relationships, factions, notes, and story hooks - Party and character reference for key player details - Loot tracking for party treasure and character-owned items - Quick reference for common rules during play - Offline-first storage so your campaign stays available at the table Campaign Codex is made for GMs running rich campaigns who need structure without slowing down the game. Whether you are preparing the next session, resolving a combat encounter, checking what happened last week, or tracking the party’s latest treasure, Campaign Codex keeps your campaign information organized and ready. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Campaign Codex at 5.0 against Card Buddy's 4.3. Campaign Codex also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 84%). Card Buddy's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (44 vs 2). 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
Both are free to download. Card Buddy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Campaign Codex sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Campaign Codex holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Card Buddy has 44 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Card Buddy's written reviews are positive against 100% of Campaign Codex's.
Card Buddy ships an update every 2 months, Campaign Codex every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Card Buddy | Campaign Codex |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (44 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 83.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 44 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Allen Ussher | CommonGroundTech, LLC |
Customer experience
Card Buddy
Campaign Codex
Bugs and requests
Card Buddy
Reported bugs
3 issues- Trial mode does not allow saving
- Images not displaying adequately
- Double-tap zoom out feature interrupts text selection
Requested features
19 requests- 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
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- Auto update to cloud option
- Form of auto version number on save
- Dropping small video clips
- Templates
- Fit to window view
- Grab function for moving the board
- Linking notes
- Basic formatting (Bold, Italics, underline, highlight, color)
- Share outline with others for editing
- iPhone version
- Duplicating boards
- Duplicating cards
- Disabling double-tap zoom out feature or making it customizable
- Adding back previous document type options (Storyboard, Kanban, etc.)
Campaign Codex
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Card Buddy
- Non-expiring License$19.99
Campaign Codex
- Campaign Codex Premium Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Campaign Codex Premium Annual7 Days trial$34.991 Year









