MTG Compendium vs Explain The Card
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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/
Explain The Card
This app helps Magic: The Gathering players build decks using AI, understand card rules, and analyze card interactions. It offers features like camera scanning for card information and offline access to game rules.
- AI-powered Commander deck building
- Camera scanning for card information
- Plain-English card explanations
- Two-card interaction analysis
- Offline access to game rules
- Deck management and editing
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Explain The Card is your AI co-pilot for Magic: The Gathering. Point your camera at a card and find out what it really does. Ask a rules question and get a straight answer. Build a Commander deck in minutes, and keep your whole collection in your pocket. UNDERSTAND ANY CARD Scan a card, no shutter and no typing, and see its Oracle text, rulings, prices and legality right away. When the wording gets tricky, one tap explains it in plain language. Scan two cards to see how they work together, or whether one quietly shuts the other down. ASK THE RULES, GET A REAL ANSWER "Can I respond to this?" "Does my creature survive?" Ask the way you'd ask a friend at the table. Every answer is grounded in the actual card text, official rulings and the Comprehensive Rules, not internet guesswork, and comes back in the language you play in. BUILD A COMMANDER DECK IN MINUTES Pick a commander, choose a power bracket and a budget, and describe the deck you want in your own words: "goblin tribal", "lands matter", "pillow fort". You get a complete, legal 100-card list sorted by role, with a game plan for how it wants to win. Build from the cards you already own, if you like. DISCOVER COMBOS Search thousands of Commander combos by card name or in plain English, like "infinite mana", and see step by step how each one plays out. YOUR COLLECTION, SCANNED Fan your cards past the camera and each one lands with the right set and printing. Anything the camera isn't sure about waits for a quick check. Keep a binder and want lists right here, or export your cards for ten popular deck and collection sites, each in its own format. See what your collection is worth and how that has changed, down to a single box or binder, and share a dated valuation report when you need one. Scanning, exporting and value history are all free, with no card limit. ALWAYS WITH YOU The full Comprehensive Rules work offline, and widgets, Siri and Spotlight keep any card or rule a moment away. A NOTE ON AI AI features are powered by Google's Agent Platform (Gemini). Nothing is sent until you opt in, and you can turn it off any time in Settings. Scanning, card data, combos and your collection all work without AI. LEGAL Privacy Policy: https://rosalabs.app/etc/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Explain The Card is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Explain The Card at 100% against MTG Compendium's 57%. MTG Compendium's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. MTG Compendium sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Explain The Card sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
MTG Compendium ships an update weekly, Explain The Card every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MTG Compendium | Explain The Card |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 57.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 — better | 26.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 74 MB | 47 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Mark Webb | Danny Hollek |
Customer experience
MTG Compendium
Explain The Card
In-app purchases
MTG Compendium
- Unlimited Evals and Chat7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Annual Pro Subscription7 Days trial$34.991 Year
- Compendium 3 Deck Evaluations$1.99
Explain The Card
- Premium Monthly$2.991 Month
- Premium Annual$19.991 Year
- 50 Credits$0.99
Questions
Is MTG Compendium free?
Is Explain The Card free?
Do MTG Compendium or Explain The Card have ads?
Which is updated more often, MTG Compendium or Explain The Card?
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