Comparison

Decksmith vs MTG

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

Head to head
About

Decksmith

Effortlessly manage your Magic: The Gathering collection with real-time card scanning and price tracking. Build and validate decks for various formats, analyze their composition, and connect with a community of players. Enjoy offline access and robust privacy controls.

Highlights
  • Real-time card scanning
  • Automatic price tracking
  • Format-aware deck building
  • Collection inventory management
  • Offline access
  • Community features
  • Privacy controls
Features
Read full description

Your entire Magic collection, in your pocket. Decksmith turns your iPhone into a card scanner, a price tracker, a format-aware deck builder and a social hub for players — wrapped in a fast, beautiful, native interface. Point your camera at a card and it is recognised in real time. Name, set, rarity, artwork and current market price are filled in automatically. No typing. No spreadsheets. — SCAN. TAP. COLLECTED. — • Real-time card recognition straight from the camera — no manual entry • One-tap confirm adds the card, its artwork and its full data to your collection • Pick the exact printing you own, set foil or non-foil, and track multiple copies • Every card image is stored on device, so your collection stays gorgeous offline — KNOW WHAT IT'S WORTH — Live market prices in USD or EUR. Decksmith keeps the price you paid alongside today's value, for every single card, so you can see at a glance what your collection has done — card by card and as a whole. Refresh whenever you want an update. — A DECK BUILDER THAT KNOWS THE RULES — Build for Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Pauper or Casual. Decksmith enforces deck size and copy limits for the format you chose, gives Commander its own dedicated slot, and tells you the moment a deck is legal. — SEE THE SHAPE OF YOUR DECK — An automatic mana curve, card-type distribution and average mana value for every deck you build. Spot the missing two-drop before your opponent does. — FIND ANY CARD, INSTANTLY — Search the full Magic card database or your own collection. Filter by colour, rarity, card type, set, mana cost, foil finish and double-faced cards. Sort by name, price or date added. Switch between grid and list whenever it suits you. — SMART LISTS — Build lists that fill themselves. Save any combination of filters as a smart list — trade binder, EDH staples, everything foil under €5 — and it updates itself as your collection grows. Or curate a list by hand. Give each one its own icon and colour. — YOUR CARDS, FULL SCREEN — A gallery mode built for staring at cardboard. High-resolution art, glowing foil borders on your foils, pinch to zoom into the tiniest detail, swipe from card to card. Double-faced cards flip with a tap. — EVEN BETTER TOGETHER — Join the Decksmith Community and the app opens up: publish decks with one tap, collect likes and comments, follow the players whose brews you love, browse their collections and decks for inspiration, send friend requests, and keep up with everything in a live activity feed. — PRIVACY YOU ACTUALLY CONTROL — The whole app works offline, with no account and no sign-up — your collection lives on your device. Create an account only if you want cloud sync across your iPhone and iPad, or the community features. Then decide exactly what is visible: profile visibility, whether you are discoverable, and whether new decks default to public or private. Block anyone. Export or delete your data at any time. — IMPORT AND EXPORT, NO LOCK-IN — Bring your collection with you via CSV from the popular collection and deck-building sites, or restore a full Decksmith backup — collection, decks and lists included. Export your data to a single file whenever you like and share it via AirDrop, mail or cloud storage. — BUILT LIKE AN APPLE APP — Written from scratch in SwiftUI. Dark from the first pixel, tuned for 120 Hz, alive with haptics, and quick everywhere it counts. No subscription. No ads. No account required. Card data and images provided by Scryfall. Decksmith is an unofficial fan app and is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Wizards of the Coast. Magic: The Gathering is © Wizards of the Coast LLC. Start scanning. Start building.

About

MTG

Features
Read full description

Build better decks. Know exactly what you own. Play without slowing down. MTG Deck Builder is the all-in-one Magic: The Gathering companion for Commander players — available on iPhone, iPad. FREE TRIAL — 7 DAYS ON US Download free and explore for 7 days (Import and Export locked out until purchase) . If MTG Deckbuilder becomes an essential part of your game, unlock the full app with a single one-time purchase. No subscription. No recurring charges. Ever. DECK MANAGEMENT Create and manage unlimited Commander, Stanard or whatever decks suit your play Browse your full deck as a visual card grid or compact list Import any deck from text (Can import 2 decks in the list box on the deck import page while under trial) .csv, or .txt (Purchase Feature) Share your deck list with friends in seconds CARD LIBRARY Track every card in your collection with Have and Want status Filter by colour, card type, rarity, and more Search the full Scryfall database — over 27,000 cards — to find and add anything instantly Scan cards with your camera: point at the card name and OCR finds it automatically LIFE COUNTER Built-in life counter for 1–6 players Choose starting life totals: 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, or 60 Multiple layout orientations so everyone at the table can read their total Start a match in seconds — no separate app needed RULES REFERENCE Full glossary of evergreen keyword actions, keyword abilities, and ability words Searchable — look up Deathtouch, Proliferate, or any term mid-game in seconds Perfect for new players learning the rules and veterans settling disputes AVAILABLE ON ALL YOUR DEVICES MTG Deckbuilder is a universal purchase — buy once and use it on iPhone, iPad. Your library and decks are always with you, on whichever device you're using. Magic: The Gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast LLC. This app is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. Card data provided by Scryfall.

Screenshots

Decksmith4 screens
MTG4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Decksmith at none against MTG's 1. MTG's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. MTG sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Decksmith asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Decksmith versus MTG: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDecksmithMTG
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB70 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperWaldemar SchneiderJonathan Parkins

In-app purchases

None

Decksmith

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

MTG

One-time1
  • Full Access$0.99

Questions

Is Decksmith free?
Decksmith is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MTG free?
MTG is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Decksmith or MTG have ads?
Neither Decksmith nor MTG shows ads.

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