Comparison

Coax vs Cinecase

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

Head to head
About

Coax

Experience your Plex media library like a traditional cable TV experience. This app automatically generates channels from your existing content, allowing you to randomly discover movies and shows without the pressure of choosing.

Highlights
  • On-device Plex library channel surfing
  • Zero-setup integration
  • Automatic channel guide generation
  • Customizable channel categories (genre, decade, actor, etc.)
  • Create channels from Plex Collections
  • Unify TV and movie libraries
  • Adjustable number of channels
Features
Read full description

Demolish the tyranny of too much choice, say "NO" to BigAlgo, and just Relax with Coax. Within seconds, you'll be flipping through a schedule made entirely of your own home media server content. Jump right in with the on-screen cable guide and watch whatever's on, just like the old days. You can't pause, you can't skip forward, you can't rewind - all you can do is change the channel. Experience the joy of randomly happening upon a great scene in a movie you forgot you had, or a TV show marathon for an old favorite. Coax requires no setup at all - it uses the metadata your media library already has. If you want, you can create your own custom Lineups, with all sorts of simple yet powerful scheduling rules - create a Saturday Morning Cartoons Lineup for your inner (or actual) child, or a Late Night Thrillers Lineup for date night. Important: This app requires a Plex account and access to a Plex Media Server (or Jellyfin, or Emby). Coax does not provide or distribute any media; it only connects to content you already own. How to configure your Lineups: • Coax scans your home media libraries and generates a channel guide based on your content’s metadata. • Select which channel categories you want: Genre, Decade, Recent Additions, Actor, Studio, Director, and Collections. • Create 100% custom channels using Collections. • Unify your libraries to mix TV and movie channels. • Adjust the number of channels you want to generate. •  Customize the time between your programs with Gap Content - play Trailers, or content from another Library if you want! Coax is your personal “cable box” for your own content — no extra accounts, no third-party streaming, just your Plex library organized in a fun, nostalgic way. https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Cinecase

Organize your physical movie and TV show collection on your device. Easily catalog box sets, seasons, and individual films, then discover what to watch next with smart selection tools. Keep track of formats, collector lines, and watch history.

Highlights
  • Catalog physical media collections
  • Smart movie night selection tool
  • Create custom watchlists
  • Track formats and collector lines
  • Organize by shelves and collections
  • Barcode scanning for quick entry
  • Import from other catalog apps
Features
Read full description

Your collection should do more than sit in a list. It is combo packs, box sets, Steelbooks, seasons, and shelves arranged your way. Most catalog apps flatten all of that into a list. Cinecase keeps the physical collection intact, then helps you choose what to watch from the films you actually own. Already catalogued somewhere else? Importing your collection is free. LET MOVIE NIGHT CHOOSE Open Movie Night when nobody can decide. Start with unwatched films, narrow by genre, runtime, actor, or director, and let Cinecase reveal one equal-odds pick from your shelf. Films inside a Collection stay eligible, so the box never hides what is inside. LINE UP WHAT COMES NEXT Up Next is the plan you keep between movie nights. Add films from Movie Night or a film's details, then drag them into the order you want. Every row tells you which disc to pull, down to the shelf and box set. Up Next is free; Pro adds separate queues for a marathon, the kids, or a boutique catch-up. RECORD WHAT YOU ACTUALLY OWN A Blu-ray + DVD + Digital pack is one case, not three entries. A complete series and a single season are different things, and Cinecase keeps them so. Capture what makes a copy yours: • Collector lines such as Criterion, Arrow, and Steelbook, plus your own when the list does not cover it • Spine numbers, editions, packaging, and bonus features • 4K UHD, Blu-ray, 3D, DVD, VHS, LaserDisc, and other formats • Notes, loans, ratings, and watch history ARRANGE IT THE WAY YOU WANT Drag cases into your own order, or let sorting keep things alphabetical. Browse spines like a shelf, or switch to covers. Use your own photo for free, or choose alternate artwork with Pro. Separate 4K from Blu-ray, TV from film, or the kids' shelf from the rest. Build shelves that match how you already think, and move titles between them. (Extra shelves are Pro; the main shelf is free.) GROUP WHAT BELONGS TOGETHER Build Collections for trilogies, franchises, and box sets. A Collection sits on the shelf as the single case it is, and opens to show the films inside. KEEP A WISHLIST Add the films you still want. Tap Got it when you buy one, and share the list with family. FIND ANYTHING AGAIN Search titles, actors, and directors. Combine filters for format, genre, content type, watched state, packaging, and more. A combo case turns up under every format it holds. See stats for formats, genres, decades, directors, collector lines, and duplicates. ADD RELEASES QUICKLY Scan a barcode to check a shared database built by other collectors. Not in it yet? The barcode drops into a prefilled entry you finish in seconds, and your fix helps whoever scans it next. New lookups can arrive in your language. BRING YOUR COLLECTION WITH YOU, FREE Switching from another app? Import DVD Profiler, CLZ, My Movies, Letterboxd, Libib, Blu-ray.com or CSV, free. A DVD Profiler export keeps your box sets whole instead of scattering them into loose films. Exporting is free too. YOUR DATA STAYS YOURS Cinecase is local-first. No account is needed for the basic shelf, and there are no ads and no third-party tracking. Export everything as JSON, CSV, XML, or a printable PDF. Optional Google Drive sync keeps the backup in your own Google account. Made by one developer you can reach from inside the app: Settings > Help > Contact support writes the report for you. Nothing is sent until you send it, and your titles are never included. FREE CORE, OPTIONAL LIFETIME PRO The core app is fully usable and free forever. Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. It adds: • Batch scanning for a whole stack of discs • Extra shelves, and moving titles between them • Separate Up Next queues • Alternate artwork and nine more shelf themes • Genre views by category • Google Drive sync and restore, across your devices • Duplicate cleanup for large collections Imports and exports stay in the free core, never behind Pro. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

Screenshots

Coax4 screens
Cinecase4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Coax at free against Cinecase's free with in-app purchases. Coax also leads on ratings volume (41 vs 5) and device support (5 vs 3). Cinecase's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly) and rating (4.4 vs 4.2). On price, review sentiment, 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. Coax sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Cinecase sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cinecase holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Coax has 41 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 77% of Coax's written reviews are positive against 75% of Cinecase's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Coax ships an update weekly, Cinecase every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Coax versus Cinecase: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCoaxCinecase
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (41 ratings)4.4 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.9% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings41 — better5
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size57 MB36 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperOut to Lunch Productions, LLCLivio Maynard

Customer experience

Coax

All ratings41 ratings
Positive80.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative19.5%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral3.8%
Negative19.2%

Cinecase

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Coax

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly - 1st Week Free7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Annual - 1st Week Free7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$74.99
1 purchases

Cinecase

One-time1
  • Cinecase Pro$6.99

Questions

Is Coax free?
Coax is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cinecase free?
Cinecase is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Coax or Cinecase?
Cinecase is rated higher. Coax averages 4.2 out of 5 from 41 ratings, while Cinecase averages 4.4 from 5 ratings.
Do Coax or Cinecase have ads?
Neither Coax nor Cinecase shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Coax or Cinecase?
Coax ships an update weekly, and Cinecase every 3 days. Most recently, Coax was updated on October 14, 2026 and Cinecase on October 7, 2026.

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