Comparison

5e Buddy vs DnD Campaign Notes

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

Head to head
About

5e Buddy

This app serves as a digital companion for tabletop role-playing games, offering interactive character sheets, dice rolling, and campaign management. It allows for the creation and tracking of multiple characters, including homebrewed content, and supports importing and exporting character data.

Highlights
  • Interactive character sheets
  • Character building from scratch
  • Homebrew content support
  • Virtual dice rolling
  • Multiple character organization
  • Import/export character data
Features
Read full description

Hold your adventure in the palm of your hand! 5e Buddy is the ultimate third party companion for 5th Edition champions, homebrew heroes, or average RPG gamers. 5e Buddy replaces a traditional character-sheet with an interactive application that can easily: *Track stats, spells, or equipment *Build characters from scratch *Record character backstory and party data *Roll dice virtually *Accommodate homebrewed species, stats, or equipment *Organize multiple characters for multiple campaigns *Import existing characters from PDF character-sheets *Export character-sheets or character data *And so much more! 5e Buddy is ideal for players of all levels, providing full class, species, and background information in the app. As your character evolves, so does the app! 5e Buddy is perfect for players at every table and allows you to connect with your characters from the palm of your hand. All players are able to use 5e Buddy free of charge. 5e Buddy will automatically allow each user full access to one character of their making. To unlock access to unlimited character creation, a user can pay a small fee. This small fee allows the 5e Buddy team to continue to update and improve the app for all players. 5e Buddy was created by the development team at Magical Duck Studios LLC. Magical Duck Studios is a small software development company dedicated to creating magical tools to improve your daily experiences. For more information about their story or to learn about updates coming to 5e Buddy, please visit their website at https://magicalduckstudiosllc.com. Disclaimer: This app was created by a third party provider and uses SRD for all of its content. Magical Duck Studios is not associated with Wizards of the Coast or any of their official content.

About

DnD Campaign Notes

Features
Read full description

YOUR CAMPAIGN, READY FOR THE NEXT SESSION Keep session notes, NPCs, locations and plot threads together on iPhone and iPad. Open a character sheet, look up an NPC or roll dice without losing your place at the table. NOTES, CHARACTERS AND DICE • Link NPCs, places and plots with @ mentions. • Write session notes and export them as Markdown. • Use 5e character sheets for abilities, skills, spells and inventory. • Roll dice and keep combat initiative, HP and conditions close at hand. • Browse the offline D&D 5e SRD reference. • View campaign details and notes side by side on iPad. INVESTIGATOR NOTES For Call of Cthulhu campaigns, keep SAN, characteristics, custom percentile skills and investigator notes in one sheet. This is an independent record-keeping tool, not an official character builder or a replacement for your game's rulebook. No Call of Cthulhu rulebook content is included. START FREE The free tier includes one campaign, up to 20 NPCs, 10 locations and 5 plot threads, along with session notes, dice, character records, Markdown export and the offline SRD. Your first AI session recap is free. OPTIONAL PRO TOOLS Pro adds unlimited campaigns, NPCs, locations and plots, PDF export and player share links. Optional AI tools can help with session recaps, NPC portraits, names, backstories and session preparation. Notes and dice work without using AI. SAVED RECORDINGS AND SESSION FINDS On supported iOS 26 devices and languages, transcribe saved recordings on your device. A language model download may be required. Cloud transcription is a separate choice and supports files up to 25 MB. AI recaps still send the selected transcript for processing. Review suggested NPCs and loot alongside their source text, edit them, and choose what to save. Nothing is imported automatically. YOUR CONTENT Campaign notes and voice recordings are stored on your device. AI features process content you choose to send. No account is required to organize your campaign. See the privacy policy for details about analytics and AI processing. SUBSCRIPTIONS Pro is available with monthly or yearly subscriptions. The App Store purchase screen shows the current local price and any trial for which you are eligible. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled; manage or cancel them in your Apple Account settings. Feedback: support@dmnotes.app Privacy: https://dmnotes-app.pages.dev/privacy/ Terms: https://dmnotes-app.pages.dev/terms/

Screenshots

5e Buddy4 screens
DnD Campaign Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: DnD Campaign Notes at none against 5e Buddy's shown. 5e Buddy's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, in-app purchases 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. 5e Buddy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and DnD Campaign Notes sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

5e Buddy ships an update every 5 days, DnD Campaign Notes every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 22, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
5e Buddy versus DnD Campaign Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter5e BuddyDnD Campaign Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size137 MB28 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperMagical Duck Studios LLCPavel Korkodinov

In-app purchases

1 purchases

5e Buddy

One-time1
  • 5eBuddy Premium$7.99
2 purchases

DnD Campaign Notes

Subscriptions2
  • DM Notes Pro · Monthly$5.991 Month
  • DM Notes Pro · Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is 5e Buddy free?
5e Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DnD Campaign Notes free?
DnD Campaign Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do 5e Buddy or DnD Campaign Notes have ads?
5e Buddy shows ads; DnD Campaign Notes does not.
Which is updated more often, 5e Buddy or DnD Campaign Notes?
5e Buddy ships an update every 5 days, and DnD Campaign Notes every 2 weeks. Most recently, 5e Buddy was updated on October 22, 2026 and DnD Campaign Notes on October 22, 2026.

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