Centered Cardboard vs EthicalTCG
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Centered Cardboard
This app helps trading card collectors pre-grade their cards by analyzing centering and alignment. It uses your device's camera and visual tools to provide quick, consistent, and accurate feedback on card position and border spacing.
- Live centering feedback with color-coded indicators
- Skewed measuring for rotated borders
- Exact distances for border spacing
- Gyro leveling crosshair
- Outline guide overlays
- Up to 100x zoom
- Camera capture or photo import
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Centered Cardboard helps you pre-grade trading cards by making centering, alignment, and corner assessment quick, consistent, and easy to understand. Use your camera or import photos to examine cards with clear visual tools designed for accuracy: • Live centering feedback with color-coded ratios • Grading score estimates based on leading grading-company standards • Corner Grading for recording all four front and back corners • Tilted Measuring for cards with rotated inner borders • True Distance measurements for exact border spacing • Adjustable outline guides for accurate card alignment • Gyro crosshair and calibration tools for level camera positioning • Photo filters that improve edge visibility in difficult lighting • Up to 100× zoom for precise positioning and fine adjustments • Camera, Photos, and Files image support • Separate or combined front and back scores • Side-by-side exports for sharing both sides in one image • Cardboard History for saving, searching, editing, and revisiting exports locally • One-tap sharing for quickly saving or sending results Centered Cardboard gives collectors a clear, repeatable way to inspect cards before submitting them for grading. Centered Cardboard is an independent tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any card-grading company. Results are estimates and do not guarantee an official grade.
EthicalTCG
This app provides real-time updates on trading card stock at major retailers, powered by on-the-ground collectors. It helps users avoid wasted trips by showing store restock status and vendor activity, with community verification for accuracy.
- Live map of store inventory
- Real-time restock and vendor status
- GPS-confirmed collector reports
- Photo verification for vendor sightings
- Community voting on reports
- Weekly store inventory reset
- Online drop reminders
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Ethical TCG is a live map of trading card stock at Target, Walmart, GameStop, Best Buy and H-E-B, powered by collectors who are actually there. Free to download and free to use. Every store shows one of three statuses: - Yet to be stocked — nothing on the shelf - Restocked — product is out and available - Vendor Spotted — a distributor is stocking shelves right now WHY YOU CAN TRUST IT Reports only count when the reporter is physically at the store, confirmed by GPS. Vendor Spotted reports require a live photo taken through the app, watermarked automatically. No camera roll uploads, no secondhand rumors. A vendor report goes up right away and the community votes on it. Five confirmations verify it. Five disputes take it down. Every store resets on Monday mornings, so nothing goes stale. WHAT'S FREE - The full map — 9,864 stores across five chains - Report restocks and vendor sightings - Confirm or dispute other reports - Save as many stores as you want, with alerts for all of them - Filter the map by chain or by status - The leaderboard — claim a name and climb it - Online drop reminders for Target and Walmart websites - Search any city or state to scout before you drive ETHICAL PRO — OPTIONAL SUBSCRIPTION - Know first — vendor alerts reach you ten minutes before everyone else - Radius alerts — any vendor spotted within 5 to 50 miles of you - Route planning — hit the best stores in one trip, in the right order $9.99 per year or $1.49 per month. Cancel anytime. Everything else stays free. Stop driving to empty shelves. Know before you drive. Terms of Use: https://ethicaltcg-legal.netlify.app/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://ethicaltcg-legal.netlify.app/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Centered Cardboard at 4.8 against EthicalTCG's 3.0. Centered Cardboard also leads on ratings volume (63 vs 2). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Centered Cardboard sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and EthicalTCG sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Centered Cardboard holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Centered Cardboard has 63 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Centered Cardboard | EthicalTCG |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (63 ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 63 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Oak Labs Limited Liability Company | Jacob Demny |
Customer experience
Centered Cardboard
EthicalTCG
In-app purchases
Centered Cardboard
- Centered Cardboard Pro$4.99
EthicalTCG
- Ethical Pro Monthly$1.491 Month
- Ethical Pro Yearly$9.991 Year
Questions
Is Centered Cardboard free?
Is EthicalTCG free?
Which has better reviews, Centered Cardboard or EthicalTCG?
Do Centered Cardboard or EthicalTCG have ads?
Which is updated more often, Centered Cardboard or EthicalTCG?
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