Comparison

SnapDrafter vs Explain The Card

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

Head to head
About

SnapDrafter

Digitally save, organize, and share your Magic: The Gathering draft decks with ease. Instantly import cards by snapping a photo, track your performance, and access card rulings. Enjoy an ad-free experience for all your drafting needs.

Highlights
  • Instant photo deck capture with OCR
  • Organized digital deck library
  • Track deck performance and stats
  • Export decklists as text
  • Quick card ruling lookups
  • Basic land calculator
Read full description

SnapDrafter turns your paper Magic: The Gathering decks into clean, organized digital decklists in seconds. • Snap a photo, get a digital decklist. Point your camera at your decklist and SnapDrafter's on-device OCR reads every card name, fuzzy-matching it against the full Magic card database. Review matches with confidence scores, tap to correct with autocomplete, and save. All processing happens locally on your device without an account. • A toolkit built for draft and cube players. Visualize your deck with mana curve and color distribution charts. Tap any card for its oracle text and official Gatherer rulings. Use the smart basic land calculator, weighted by mana cost, ramp, and fixing. Keep every token your cards create at your fingertips. • Your drafts, archived. SnapDrafter remembers every deck with its date, set or cube, and win-loss record. Filter, sort, revisit your history, and back everything up in one tap. • Share and export. Send your play group a beautiful decklist image with card art and your record, ready for social media. Or copy your deck as a standard text list to import into Cubecobra, Moxfield, Archidekt, and any other tool you love. No ads. No tracking. No cloud. SnapDrafter is local-only and free, supported by donations from players like you. If it makes your draft nights better, consider donating to show your support.

About

Explain The Card

This app uses AI to help Magic: The Gathering players understand cards, build decks, and manage their collection. Scan cards for instant explanations, get AI-generated decklists, and track your collection's value and condition.

Highlights
  • AI card explanation via camera scan
  • AI-powered Commander deck building
  • Collection cataloging and value tracking
  • Card condition analysis for grading
  • Rules clarification and interaction checks
  • Integration with popular deck sites
Read full description

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, keep your whole collection in your pocket, and check a card's centering before you send it off for grading. FEATURES - Understand any card in plain English, just scan it - See how two cards interact before you play them - Settle rules debates before they stall the game - Pick a commander and get a full, legal deck in minutes, built by AI - Build to your budget, your bracket and the cards you already own - Catalog your whole collection by scanning it, free with no card limit - See what your collection is worth and which cards are moving - Always know which binder a card is in and what's on your want list - Win with thousands of Commander combos, explained step by step - Know a trade is fair before you swap - Catch off-center cards with Pre-Grade before you pay for grading - Move your collection to or from ten popular deck and collection sites - Check any card's Oracle text, rulings, legality and price in one place - Keep it all one tap away with widgets and Siri, synced over iCloud 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, Pre-Grade 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

SnapDrafter4 screens
Explain The Card4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SnapDrafter at none against Explain The Card's 3. SnapDrafter also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.1). Explain The Card's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly). On price, review sentiment 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Explain The Card sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. SnapDrafter asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SnapDrafter ships an update fortnightly, Explain The Card every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
SnapDrafter versus Explain The Card: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSnapDrafterExplain The Card
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.1
Further details — not scored
Size96 MB59 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperDorian BrownDanny Hollek

Customer experience

SnapDrafter

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Explain The Card

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

SnapDrafter

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Explain The Card

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Premium Annual$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • 50 Credits$0.99

Questions

Is SnapDrafter free?
SnapDrafter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Explain The Card free?
Explain The Card is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do SnapDrafter or Explain The Card have ads?
Explain The Card shows ads; SnapDrafter does not.
Which is updated more often, SnapDrafter or Explain The Card?
SnapDrafter ships an update fortnightly, and Explain The Card every 5 days. Most recently, SnapDrafter was updated on October 30, 2026 and Explain The Card on November 5, 2026.

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