Comparison

Helvault vs MTG Compendium

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

Head to head
About

Helvault

Effortlessly manage your Magic: The Gathering card collection with an AI-powered scanner. Organize, filter, and analyze your cards with detailed stats and pricing information. Sync across devices and export your collection.

Highlights
  • AI-powered MTG card scanner
  • Unlimited card collection storage
  • Detailed collection statistics
  • Card pricing and details
  • CSV collection export
  • iCloud syncing
Features
Read full description

Helvault is a collection manager for Magic: The Gathering players and collectors who want to spend more time enjoying their cards, instead of typing names... With a powerful card scanner featuring an exclusive AI, Helvault is capable of identifying cards from all Magic's history without a hassle. Sort, filter, play and understand your card collection like never before! Key features: - Powerful MTG card scanner - Unlimited cards on your collection - Detailed stats about your collection - Card details, including prices - Export your collection as a CSV file - iCloud Syncing between devices - No ads, forever Helvault brings unlimited card collection management to your mobile device, for free. Some features however are unlocked through NON-RECURRING purchases (they are NOT subscriptions).

About

MTG Compendium

This app is a comprehensive companion for Magic: The Gathering players. It allows you to scan and collect cards, build and analyze decks with detailed statistics, track your game history, and get personalized advice from an AI deck coach. It also provides tools for exploring game sets and preconstructed decks.

Highlights
  • Card scanning and collection management
  • Advanced deck building and analysis
  • Life counter and game log
  • AI-powered deck advice and insights
  • Price tracking and history
  • Set exploration and deck comparison
Features
Read full description

Stop passing the phone. Compendium is the Magic: The Gathering companion for your whole pod: a live multiplayer life counter, trades and head-to-head with the people you play, plus a deck builder, card scanner and a deck coach that knows your games. New: the Pod Hub puts your invites, pod mates, games together and possible trades in one place, and a QR code gets everyone at the table into your game (and your pod, if they want). Only one with the app? Add the others as guests. No account needed to scan, build and count life. Sign in (free) to play or trade with your pod. YOUR POD Pod Hub—invites, pod mates, games together and possible trades on one screen, one tap from the Decks tab Join by QR—show a code in game setup and friends join by scanning or typing a six-character code, and can add you to their pod as they join Names and commander art—choose a display name and a signature commander so your pod sees who's who Head-to-head with each pod mate from your live and shared games, on the Hub and on their profile Your pod this week on Discover: recent games, new binder cards and possible trades, plus a Rematch button After a game, "At this table" sends a pod invite to everyone you played with "In your pod" on card pages shows which pod mates have a card for trade or want it One Invites inbox for pod invites and live games, with alerts you control. All free PLAY & IMPROVE Life counter for 1–6 players with commander damage, poison, and custom counters Live Games—every player syncs life, commander damage and counters from their own phone in real time, no passing one device around the table. Works on whatever phone each pod mate has Game log that tracks your wins, losses, commanders faced, and finish position Share a logged game with your pod so everyone can fill in their own side of the story Win/loss trend analysis, play/draw splits, and rival tracking over time Pre-game matchup prep—know what you're up against before you sit down POD TRADING Invite friends into your pod and Compendium spots every card they want that's sitting in your binder, and every card you want that's sitting in theirs—no more "anyone got a...?" in the group chat Once connected, binders stay in sync automatically—no exporting, no back-and-forth messaging MEET MOX Mox knows Magic: The Gathering inside and out—and now it knows your games too. Ask Mox for deck advice, card questions, rules or upgrade ideas Get personalized Game Insights based on your real play history—not generic advice Let Mox build you a deck from scratch or finish your half-built list Add cards to your wishlist, collection, or deck with a tap SCAN & COLLECT Instant card scanning—add cards to your collection in seconds Smart filters, sets, and custom organization Real-time prices from TCGPlayer, CardMarket, and Cardhoarder 90-day price history so you can spot trends at a glance BUILD BETTER DECKS Deck builder for any format: Commander/EDH, Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, and more Set a budget ceiling and Mox will keep your list within it Opening-hand probabilities, mana curve, color distribution, and mana health Deck value tracking with 1-year price history Import from Moxfield, Archidekt, or any text list—export anywhere Browse, compare and import official preconstructed decks Discover feed with Card of the Week, trending decks and recent sets FREE TO START. UPGRADE WHEN YOU'RE READY. Compendium is free to download and use, and pods, Live Games and Pod Trading are free. Pro unlocks advanced analytics, unlimited deck evaluations, Game Insights, syncing your own collection and decks across your devices, and the full power of Mox—including chat, deck creation, and matchup prep. Magic: The Gathering and all related properties are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC. Compendium is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Helvault4 screens
MTG Compendium4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Helvault at 4.2 against MTG Compendium's 3.4. Helvault also leads on ratings volume (289 vs 5) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). MTG Compendium's advantage is review sentiment (57% vs 32%). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Helvault sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and MTG Compendium sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Helvault holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Helvault has 289 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 32% of Helvault's written reviews are positive against 57% of MTG Compendium's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Helvault ships an update fortnightly, MTG Compendium weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Helvault versus MTG Compendium: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHelvaultMTG Compendium
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (289 ratings) — better3.4 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews31.8% of reviews57.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings289 — better5
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size58 MB74 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperVitor CescoMark Webb

Customer experience

Helvault

All ratings279 ratings
Positive79.9%
Neutral3.9%
Negative16.1%
Written reviews110 reviews
Positive31.8%
Neutral6.4%
Negative61.8%

MTG Compendium

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral14.3%
Negative28.6%

Bugs and requests

Helvault

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Keypad issues when searching
  • Disappearing settings icons
  • Incorrect set identification for some cards
  • Missing card prices and details

Requested features

5 requests
  • Deck building and management tools
  • Advanced search and filtering options
  • Bulk card management and transfer
  • Improved support for special card versions and frames
  • Seamless data migration from legacy app

MTG Compendium

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Helvault

One-time6
  • Common Donation$0.99
  • Rare Donation$4.99
  • iCloud Syncing$4.99
Show 3 more
  • Advanced Card Export/Import$6.99
  • MTG Card Scanner - Lifetime$9.99
  • Mythic Donation$9.99
3 purchases

MTG Compendium

Subscriptions2
  • Unlimited Evals and Chat7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Annual Pro Subscription7 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Compendium 3 Deck Evaluations$1.99

Questions

Is Helvault free?
Helvault is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MTG Compendium free?
MTG Compendium is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Helvault or MTG Compendium?
Helvault is rated higher. Helvault averages 4.2 out of 5 from 289 ratings, while MTG Compendium averages 3.4 from 5 ratings.
Do Helvault or MTG Compendium have ads?
Neither Helvault nor MTG Compendium shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Helvault or MTG Compendium?
Helvault ships an update fortnightly, and MTG Compendium weekly. Most recently, Helvault was updated on October 27, 2026 and MTG Compendium on October 17, 2026.

Other comparisons