Comparison

TCG Archivist vs Cauldron

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

Head to head
About

TCG Archivist

Manage your Magic: The Gathering card collection without sorting. Scan cards into labeled locations for instant retrieval. Track collection value, build decks from your inventory, and find any card in seconds.

Highlights
  • Scan cards into labeled storage
  • No sorting required
  • Instant card retrieval
  • Real-time collection value tracking
  • Build decks from owned cards
  • Searchable and filterable collection
Features
Read full description

TCG Archivist is the ultimate collection management tool for Magic: The Gathering players. We believe sorting your collection is the wrong approach. Sorting is time consuming, impossible to maintain, and never actually gives you a clear picture of what you own. TCG Archivist is built around a better system. One that the world's most efficient warehouses and retailers have used for decades. Scan your cards into labeled storage locations. No sorting required. When you need a card search the app, find the location, and have it in your hand in under a minute. Your entire collection becomes fully searchable, filterable, and always up to date. Know exactly what you own. Track your collection value in real time. Build decks from cards you actually have. Find any card in seconds. For players with larger collections the CSC100 hardware scanner makes building your digital catalog dramatically faster, but any camera will get you started today. Your collection. Always searchable. Always in reach. Terms of Use : https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Cauldron

This app acts as a life counter for card games, allowing users to print tokens, dice, and cards directly from their device. It offers various game modes and a comprehensive index of cards and tokens for quick access and printing.

Highlights
  • Voice-activated card and token printing
  • Life counter with player damage tracking
  • Supports multiple game modes
  • Dice rolling and coin flipping
  • Card and token index with search
  • Customizable token creation
Features
Read full description

Say the name of a card. It comes out of your printer. Cauldron is the life counter that prints tokens. Hold the microphone, say "goblin" or "4/4 angel with flying" or "treasure," and the card is found, dithered and printed on receipt paper in about a second. LIFE COUNTER • Drag from one seat to another to deal commander damage. Partner commanders are counted apart. • Draw a glyph on a seat to give it the monarch, poison, energy, experience, rads or the city's blessing. • Three fingers across the board starts a new game. Two fingers opens the settings. • Circle the dial to undo and redo. • Supports up to 8 players in a pod (7+ on iPad / tablet only) • Say "2/4/6/8 players" to change the game size. • Archenemy and Treachery, dealt and printed by the app. • This is a full-fledged life counter, without menus. THE PRINTER • Cauldron drives 7 different printers over Bluetooth, and two others over Wi-Fi. • The printers use no ink - merely fast heat transfer to receipt paper, they will not smear. • A print queue lines up as many cards as you like, shows what is left, and can be stopped and carried on. E-INK • Cauldron supports 5 variety of thin, cheap e-ink displays for token print targets, written to over NFC DICE AND COINS AND MORE • Say "roll a d20" or "flip a coin." • Four, six, eight, ten, twelve, twenty and a hundred sides... • all announced out loud by a voice synthesizer that sounds like it was built in 1982. • "Momir {number}" to get a random creature. Say "Calling Mr. Vig" for a standalone Momir Vig faux-payphone interface. • Say "copy camera" to photograph a card and print it as a copy. THE TOKEN INDEX Say "token index" or hold four fingers on the board to open it. • Browse and search every printable token, by name or by artist, with filters for each kind of token. • Swipe through each token's artwork and print the one you like. • Tap an artwork to keep it out of random picks, or long-press to always print that one. • SHUFFLE, RANDOM and SEQUENTIAL control how artwork is dealt when you ask by voice. • A UB switch keeps Universes Beyond artwork out of random picks. • Create your own tokens, and add your own artwork to or photo library. • Favorites: drag the heart onto artwork you love, then print one, print them all, or share them as an Instagram story. • See any card full screen, with the artist credited u • Tap (i) for a guide to everything. THE CARD INDEX Say "card index" to open it. • Every real Magic card, held on your phone, to search, sort and print. • Browse by set, and print a booster pack. • Print a whole card, or just its art or its words. GAME MODES • Archenemy, Treachery, Planechase and Horde • Chaos draft Every token is indexed on your phone, so lookup is quick. Speech is recognised on the device. Nothing about your game is uploaded anywhere. No Accounts. No Signups. WHAT YOU NEED A supported thermal printer and a roll of paper. Cauldron will show you which paper and printer to purchase. Card data and images from Scryfall. Cauldron 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 Apple's Standard Terms of Use apply: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

TCG Archivist4 screens
Cauldron4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Cauldron at 100% against TCG Archivist's 50%. Cauldron also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. TCG Archivist sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. Cauldron asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cauldron holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 51 and 53 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of TCG Archivist's written reviews are positive against 100% of Cauldron's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TCG Archivist ships an update every 9 days, Cauldron every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
TCG Archivist versus Cauldron: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTCG ArchivistCauldron
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (51 ratings)5.0 (53 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5153 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.5 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size514 MB93 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperTCG Archivist LLCJoseph Liechty

Customer experience

TCG Archivist

All ratings51 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral2.0%
Negative15.7%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative41.7%

Cauldron

All ratings53 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

TCG Archivist

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly Sub$4.991 Month
None

Cauldron

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TCG Archivist free?
TCG Archivist is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cauldron free?
Cauldron is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, TCG Archivist or Cauldron?
Cauldron is rated higher. TCG Archivist averages 4.2 out of 5 from 51 ratings, while Cauldron averages 5.0 from 53 ratings.
Do TCG Archivist or Cauldron have ads?
Neither TCG Archivist nor Cauldron shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TCG Archivist or Cauldron?
TCG Archivist ships an update every 9 days, and Cauldron every 3 days. Most recently, TCG Archivist was updated on November 5, 2026 and Cauldron on November 1, 2026.

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