There's no single "best" Magic collection app — there's the one that fits how you play. Moxfield, Deckbox, ManaBox, and Archivist each grew out of a different problem. Here's an honest read on what each is genuinely good at, so you can pick without trial-and-error.
Moxfield: deckbuilding first
Moxfield is the web's most popular deckbuilder, and deservedly so — the editor is fast, sharing is clean, and the Commander community lives there. It does have a collection ("binder") feature, but tracking inventory is secondary to building lists. If your main activity is brewing decks at a keyboard and you don't mind entering cards by typing, Moxfield is hard to beat. Where it's weaker: there's no camera scanning, so getting a paper collection in means manual entry or CSV import.
Deckbox: the classic trade binder
Deckbox is a long-running web tool built around collection tracking and trading. Its strength is the social/trading layer — public inventories, wishlists, and matching you with people who have what you want. The interface shows its age, and like Moxfield it's web-first with no native scanning, so data entry is the bottleneck for a big collection.
ManaBox: mobile scanning
ManaBox is a mobile app that, like Archivist, leans on camera scanning to build a collection quickly, with solid price data. It's a strong choice if you live entirely on one phone. The main differences come down to platform reach and how the deck and value tools are built out.
Where Archivist fits
Archivist is built for the player whose collection is mostly paper and who wants it organized without typing — across every Apple device they own. The core differences:
- Scanning on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. On-device OCR recognizes each card in about a second. On the Mac you can stand the camera up and slide a whole longbox through; on the phone you scan at the shop. It's the same collection either way.
- Accurate printing + live value. Matching reads the set symbol and collector number, not just the name, so a reprint isn't priced like the original. Every location shows its total dollar value, and price alerts ping you when a card hits a target.
- Real Commander tooling. Mana curve, bracket scoring, Commander Spellbook combo detection, and EDHREC-powered upgrade suggestions drawn from cards you actually own.
- No lock-in. Decks and locations export in the universal Moxfield/Archidekt format, plus CSV and JSON — so trying Archivist never traps your data.
It's free to scan and organize locally. Cloud sync across devices, price alerts, EDHREC upgrades, and unlimited locations come with Plus ($4.99/month or $39.99/year) or Lifetime ($99.99 once).
Try Archivist free
Scan your paper collection with your camera, see what it's worth, and build Commander decks from cards you own — on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Get Archivist on the App StoreSo which should you pick?
Build decks all day at a desk and don't need to digitize paper? Moxfield. Trade heavily and want a public binder? Deckbox. Want camera-fast collection tracking on Apple devices with value and Commander tools that pull from what you own? That's where Archivist is aimed. Many players use two — a deckbuilder plus a collection app — and Archivist's export keeps that painless.
New to digitizing? Start with how to digitize your collection, then how to track its value.