Comparison

Decksmith vs Grimoire

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

Scan a whole binder page in one photo. Decksmith finds every card on it — nine or twelve pockets, or up to about 20 loose cards on the table — and adds them to your collection with artwork and live prices. Then build decks that check their own legality, track every game with your playgroup, and see which of your friends already owns the card you need. — A WHOLE BINDER PAGE, ONE PHOTO — • 9- and 12-pocket binder pages, or loose cards laid out any way round • Pick as many photos as you like in one go • Review everything Decksmith found on one screen before anything is imported • Missed a card? Find it by typing its name • Just opened a pack? Scan single cards live from the camera — THE DECKSMITH COMMUNITY — Magic is played together, so Decksmith is built for your playgroup. • Game tracker: life, poison and commander damage for the whole pod, a random first player, and a top row that turns to face the far side of the table • Every game is filed against the deck you played, with win rates per deck and per commander • Wishlist: track the cards you still want, priced separately from your collection • Search your friends' collections for your wishlist and see who owns which card • Follow players, browse their collections and shared decks, and search all your favorites at once • Share any deck with one tap and collect likes and comments • Friend requests, an activity feed and notifications keep you in the loop — KNOW WHAT IT'S WORTH — Live market prices in USD or EUR, kept next to what you paid — card by card and across your whole collection. — A DECK BUILDER THAT KNOWS THE RULES — Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Pauper and Casual. Decksmith enforces deck size and copy limits, gives your commander its own slot, validates companions and tells you the moment a deck is legal. Mana curve, card types and average mana value come automatically. — FIND ANY CARD, INSTANTLY — Search the full Magic card database or your own collection. Filter by color, rarity, type, set, mana cost, finish and double-faced cards. Sort by name, price or date added. — SMART LISTS — Save any combination of filters as a list that fills itself — trade binder, EDH staples, every foil under $5 — or curate one by hand. — YOUR CARDS, FULL SCREEN — High-resolution art, glowing borders on foils, pinch to zoom, swipe from card to card and flip double-faced cards with a tap. — IPHONE, IPAD AND THE WEB — Sign in at app.decksmith.community with your free account, and your collection, decks and lists are on any computer, always in sync with your iPhone. — PRIVACY YOU CONTROL — Scanning, your collection, prices, deck building, lists and the gallery all work without an account, and your collection lives on your device. A free account is only needed for sync, the Community and the game tracker. Then you decide what is visible: your profile, whether you can be found, and each deck public or private. Block or report anyone. Export or delete your data at any time. — NO LOCK-IN — Import CSV exports from the popular collection and deck-building sites, restore a full Decksmith backup, and export everything to a single file whenever you like. No ads. No tracking. No subscription. The Community is free to use until December 31, 2026. 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.

About

Grimoire

Features
Read full description

Grimoire builds legal, mana-curve-balanced 99-card Commander decks from the cards you actually own — no guesswork, no proxies required. HOW IT WORKS • Add your collection • Pick a commander — search from every legal commander in Magic's history • Choose a strategy, or just describe what you want in plain English • Get a complete, legal 99-card deck with the reasoning behind every pick BUILT FOR REAL DECKBUILDING • Full legality checks against the Commander banlist and color identity • Mana curve and synergy analysis, not random card dumps • Automatic combo detection — see the two- and three-card combos hiding in your list • Deck stats at a glance: land count, average mana value, and power bracket • Track your collection's stats — total cards, unique cards, and more AI DECK BRIEF (PREMIUM) Describe the deck you want in your own words — "aggressive red-white tokens" or "grindy control with a wrath finisher" — and get a tailored build with an explanation of the strategy behind it. FREE TO START Grimoire is free to download and use. Build and save up to 3 decks at no cost. Premium unlocks unlimited saved decks and the AI Deck Brief, available as a monthly or annual subscription. Whether you're building your first Commander deck or your fiftieth, Grimoire turns your binder into a battle-ready 99. Magic: The Gathering is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast LLC. Grimoire is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Decksmith4 screens
Grimoire4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Decksmith at none against Grimoire's 2. Grimoire's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 5 weeks) and iOS requirement (16.4 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. Grimoire sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Decksmith asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Decksmith ships an update every 5 weeks, Grimoire every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Decksmith versus Grimoire: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDecksmithGrimoire
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB53 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperWaldemar SchneiderDankoDev, LLC

In-app purchases

None

Decksmith

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Grimoire

Subscriptions2
  • Grimoire Premium Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Grimoire Premium Annual$17.991 Year

Questions

Is Decksmith free?
Decksmith is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Grimoire free?
Grimoire is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Decksmith or Grimoire have ads?
Neither Decksmith nor Grimoire shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Decksmith or Grimoire?
Decksmith ships an update every 5 weeks, and Grimoire every 10 days. Most recently, Decksmith was updated on October 28, 2026 and Grimoire on October 29, 2026.

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