Model Inventory vs Rail Roster
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Model Inventory
This app helps model railroad enthusiasts organize their collections. Track locomotives, rolling stock, structures, and accessories with custom categories, purchase details, photos, and notes. It's ideal for managing your collection and for use at train shows.
- Track locomotives, rolling stock, structures, scenery, accessories
- Create custom categories
- Log purchase date and cost
- Store photos
- Add notes
- Useful for train shows and swap meets
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Easy-to-use inventory system for tracking your model railroad locomotives, rolling stock, structures, scenery and accessories. Create custom categories, log item purchase date and cost, store photos, and make notes. Perfect to take to train shows and swap meets.
Rail Roster
Manage and catalog your model train collection with detailed records for trains, accessories, and consists. Track specifications, purchase history, and operational details, with powerful search and filtering tools. Visualize your collection's growth and value with insightful dashboards and charts.
- Catalog trains, accessories, and consists
- Detailed model and prototype specifications
- Track electronics, operation, and maintenance
- Purchase history and value tracking
- Photo support with galleries
- Consist building and analysis tools
- Collection insights and charts
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Rail Roster helps model railroad hobbyists catalog trains, accessories, and consists with rich details, photos, and collection insights. Keep your entire roster in one place. Track model specs, electronics, condition, pricing, prototype info, and notes, then quickly find items with powerful search, sorting, and filters. Key Features • Track trains, accessories, and consists in one collection • Rich train records: category, locomotive type, road name/number, model number, livery, scale, era, coupler type, and notes • Prototype reference fields: builder, operator, dates, wheel arrangement, gauge, speed, horsepower, tractive effort, and more • Electronics and operation tracking: DCC, decoder/address, sound, lights, smoke, dummy units, and maintenance flags • NMRA weight guidance with compliance targets and status • Purchase tracking: date, location, price paid, and MSRP • Photo support across trains, accessories, and consists with thumbnail strips plus full-screen, swipeable, zoomable galleries • Consist tools: member ordering/roles/direction, readiness score, coupler consistency, DCC/DC mix, NMRA compliance, and aggregate stats (length, weight, paid value, MSRP) • Collection Info dashboard: inventory totals and value summary, plus premium charts for category, scale, era, locomotive type, DCC vs DC, NMRA compliance, and collection growth • Fast search, sort, and filter chips (category, scale, era, manufacturer, purchase location, coupler type, locomotive type, DCC, dummy, NMRA, and photo status) • iCloud sync diagnostics with account status, last sync/check timestamps, and detailed sync error history • Preferences and personalization: default scale and alternate app icons Rail Roster is built for collectors who want a clean, visual, data-rich way to manage and grow their model railroad fleet. Premium unlocks unlimited inventory/photos, advanced charts, and all custom app icons. Privacy Policy: https://www.roboticsnailsoftware.com/work/railroster/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Rail Roster at 5.0 against Model Inventory's 3.1. Rail Roster also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 4 weeks). Model Inventory's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and ratings volume (9 vs 1). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. Rail Roster sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. Model Inventory asks for nothing beyond the download.
Rail Roster holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Model Inventory has 9 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Model Inventory ships an update every 4 weeks, Rail Roster weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Model Inventory | Rail Roster |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (9 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 24.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 9 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 128 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | Woodland Scenics | Robotic Snail Software LLC |
Customer experience
Model Inventory
Rail Roster
In-app purchases
Model Inventory
No in-app purchases
Rail Roster
- Premium - Yearly1 Month trial$4.991 Year
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$2.99
- Large Tip$4.99
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- Premium - Lifetime$19.99
Questions
Is Model Inventory free?
Is Rail Roster free?
Which has better reviews, Model Inventory or Rail Roster?
Do Model Inventory or Rail Roster have ads?
Which is updated more often, Model Inventory or Rail Roster?
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