# TCG card scanner apps that price your collection: 8 compared

> Eight iPhone apps that scan trading cards and value a collection, compared: exact printing, scan limits, where prices come from, account and cost.

- Author: [Ivan Chernoknizhnikov](https://treamz.me/), Flutter & iOS Engineer
- Published: 2026-11-11
- URL: https://treamz.me/blog/tcg-card-scanner-apps-compared
- Tags: Trading cards, Card scanner, Collection tracking, iOS, App Comparison

If you want an app that scans your trading cards and tells you what the
collection is worth, the big names are Collectr, TCGplayer, Ludex,
PriceCharting and HoloDex, and for a single game there are specialists like
Dex. They differ on four things that decide whether the total is right:
whether the scanner pins down the exact printing, whether scanning is
metered, where the prices come from, and whether graded and sealed items are
kept apart. I built one of the eight, Foilcase, so weigh that. Each section
says where another app is the better pick.

The short version:

- **The most games, raw, graded and sealed in one portfolio:** Collectr.
- **Free scanning and prices, and buying cards:** TCGplayer.
- **Sports cards as well as TCG, and selling on eBay:** Ludex.
- **Free sold-price data by condition, plus games, comics and coins:**
  PriceCharting.
- **AI condition checks before grading:** HoloDex.
- **One Pokémon collection down to the variant:** Dex.
- **Asks instead of guessing the print, no scan limit, no account:** Foilcase.

## How the eight apps compare

| App | Games | Scan limit | Price data | Graded and sealed | Account | Cost (US) | Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Collectr](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/collectr-tcg-collector-app/id1603892248) | 20+ TCGs and Funko | Unlimited with in-app purchase | Its 1M+ product database | Both | Not stated | Free; paid tier | 4.9 (69,892) |
| [TCGplayer](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tcgplayer/id1247645833) | 40+ TCGs | Free | TCGplayer market prices | Not stated | Yes, to keep a collection | Free | 4.3 (18,727) |
| [Ludex](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ludex-sports-card-scanner-tcg/id1616691213) | Sports cards, Pokémon, Magic and more | Unlimited with a subscription | eBay and other completed sales | Not stated | Not stated | Free; subscription | 4.7 (28,184) |
| [PriceCharting](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pricecharting-tcg-collector/id6452190948) | TCG, sports, games, comics, coins | Photo search, free | Sales from eBay, Heritage, PWCC, by condition | Prices for every condition | Not stated | Free | 4.8 (27,757) |
| [HoloDex](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/holodex-tcg-scan-collect/id6747442689) | 11 TCGs | Unlimited with in-app purchase | Live market prices | Not stated | Syncs across devices | Free; paid tier | 4.8 (25,250) |
| [Dex](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dex-for-tcg-collectors/id1555489854) | Pokémon only | Not stated | TCGplayer, Cardmarket, eBay, CardTrader | Not stated | Not stated | Free; Dex+ subscription | 4.8 (14,548) |
| [Dragon Shield](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pok%C3%A9-tcg-scanner-dragon-shield/id1199495742) | Pokémon | Not stated | TCGplayer and Cardmarket, daily | Not stated | Friends features | Free | 4.6 (13,828) |
| [Foilcase](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/foilcase-tcg-card-scanner/id6813665558) | 5 TCGs | None | Public marketplace data, daily, with source and date | Kept apart; graded valued by you | No | 14-day trial, then $7.99/month or $49.99/year | New |

Everything here is from each app's App Store listing in November 2026. "Not
stated" means the listing doesn't say.

## Why the exact printing decides the total

The same card is often printed more than once: regular, foil, alternate art, a
higher-rarity parallel. Some share an illustration, some even share a
collector number, and their prices can differ by multiples. A scanner that
recognises the picture names the card and can still hand you the price of the
wrong print.

How often? On a test set where half the cards shared a collector number with
another print, matching the artwork picked the right print 89.5% of the time
even when it was given the correct number
([how I measured it](https://treamz.me/blog/identifying-card-printings-on-device)). One miss in
ten is fine for looking a card up and bad for a collection total. So whatever
app you use, check how it handles look-alike prints and foils, and whether it
tells you when it isn't sure.

Three more things move the total: whether prices are asking prices or
completed sales, how old they are, and whether a graded slab is valued as if
it were a loose card.

## Collectr: the most games in one portfolio

[Collectr](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/collectr-tcg-collector-app/id1603892248)
is the most-rated app here by far: 4.9 from almost 70,000 ratings. It covers
more than twenty TCGs, from Magic, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and One Piece to Lorcana,
Flesh and Blood and Digimon, plus Funko, and treats a collection as a
portfolio of raw, graded and sealed items valued from a database of over a
million products. It shows biggest gains and losses and works in any currency,
crypto included. Unlimited scanning, data export and some filters need an
in-app purchase.

**Pick it if** you collect several games and want them in one portfolio.

## TCGplayer: free scanning, from the marketplace itself

[TCGplayer](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tcgplayer/id1247645833) is the
marketplace's own app. Scanning, organising and market price tracking are free
for every card on TCGplayer, which covers more than forty games. You log in to
keep your collection, and you can buy from thousands of sellers in the same
app. It needs iOS 18 or later.

**Pick it if** you want free scanning and price tracking and buy singles on
TCGplayer anyway.

## Ludex: sports cards and TCG, with eBay listing

[Ludex](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ludex-sports-card-scanner-tcg/id1616691213)
scans sports cards (baseball, basketball, football, soccer, hockey and more)
as well as Pokémon and Magic, says it handles variations and parallels, and
values cards from completed sales on eBay and other marketplaces. Its List-It
feature lists cards on eBay for you, and it organises cards into binders and
tracks set completion. Unlimited scans come with a subscription.

**Pick it if** you collect sports cards too, or you sell on eBay.

## PriceCharting: free sold prices by condition

[PriceCharting](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pricecharting-tcg-collector/id6452190948)
is free and built on sales: it tracks completed sales from eBay, Heritage,
PWCC and others and sorts them into price guides for every condition. You can identify a card by photo or barcode, see past sales, track a
collection and a wishlist, get alerts when a wishlist item is listed below
market value, and get grading recommendations. It also covers video games,
comics, coins and LEGO.

**Pick it if** you want to see what cards actually sold for, by condition, for
free.

## HoloDex: AI condition checks before you grade

[HoloDex](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/holodex-tcg-scan-collect/id6747442689)
scans eleven TCGs, including Pokémon, One Piece, Lorcana, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic and
Gundam, and adds AI grading insights: it looks for whitening, centering
problems and surface wear before you send a card off. It tracks prices,
profits and losses, and syncs your collection between devices. Unlimited scans
and AI grading are in-app purchases.

**Pick it if** you're deciding which cards are worth sending for grading.

## Dex: one Pokémon collection, down to the variant

[Dex](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dex-for-tcg-collectors/id1555489854) is
Pokémon only and goes deep: it tracks cards down to the exact variant, covers
English, Japanese and Simplified Chinese sets, and can sweep a whole binder
page or stack in one shot. Prices from TCGplayer, Cardmarket, eBay and
CardTrader are free for everyone. There are virtual binders, a Pokédex binder,
a deck builder and a Dex+ subscription.

**Pick it if** you collect Pokémon and want set completion and binders more
than a cross-game portfolio.

## Dragon Shield: Pokémon prices, decks and trades

[Dragon Shield's Pokémon TCG scanner](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pok%C3%A9-tcg-scanner-dragon-shield/id1199495742)
checks daily prices from TCGplayer and Cardmarket, organises cards into
folders, builds decks, compares the value of a trade between two players, and
exports a collection to CSV or text. You can see friends' collections, decks
and trade lists.

**Pick it if** you play as well as collect and want decks and trades next to
prices, with both US and European price sources.

## Foilcase: asks instead of guessing, no scan limit

[Foilcase](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/foilcase-tcg-card-scanner/id6813665558)
reads the artwork and the printed collector number together, on the phone,
and adds a card by itself only when both agree. For a look-alike print, an
alternate art or an unreadable number it shows the candidates and asks, once:
a playset of four is one question. It never guesses foil, because no photo
reliably shows the finish. Scanning is never metered: no per-card counter, no
credits, no scan packs.

Prices are collected daily from public marketplace data, in US dollars, and
every figure shows its source and date; after seven days the portfolio says
the prices are old. Raw, graded and sealed are separate items, and a graded
card is never valued from its raw price: you enter a value or it stays
unpriced. The portfolio shows paid, worth now, gain and return. There's no
account, no ads, and the App Store label says Data Not Collected.

**Limits:** five games, a subscription after the 14-day trial ($7.99 a month
or $49.99 a year), no cloud sync or export yet, no condition grading from a
photo and no sold-listing comps. It's new, with no ratings yet.

![Foilcase Portfolio screen showing what was paid, what the cards are worth now, the unrealized gain and the return, with the price source and date at the bottom](https://treamz.me/blog/trading-card-scanner-app/portfolio.jpg "Foilcase: paid, worth now, gain and return, with the price date underneath")

## Which card scanner app should you use?

- **You collect several games:** Collectr, or TCGplayer if you want scanning
  free.
- **You collect sports cards too, or sell on eBay:** Ludex.
- **You care about sold prices by condition:** PriceCharting.
- **You're about to grade:** HoloDex for condition checks, PriceCharting for
  prices by condition and grading recommendations.
- **You collect only Pokémon:** Dex, or Dragon Shield if you also play.
- **You want the right print and no scan limit, without an account:**
  Foilcase.

## FAQ

### What is the best app to scan trading cards and see what they're worth?

For most collectors, Collectr, TCGplayer, Ludex, PriceCharting and HoloDex all
scan cards and value a collection. Collectr covers the most games, TCGplayer
scans for free, Ludex adds sports cards, PriceCharting shows sold prices by
condition for free, and Foilcase asks which print you own instead of guessing.

### Which card scanner app is free?

TCGplayer's scanning, collection and price tracking are free, and PriceCharting
is free, with photo search and sold-price data. Collectr and HoloDex are free
to download but put unlimited scanning behind an in-app purchase; Ludex
includes unlimited scans with a subscription.

### Is there a card scanner app without scan limits?

TCGplayer's scanner is free to use. Foilcase doesn't meter scanning at all, no
per-card counter, credits or scan packs, as part of its subscription. Collectr
and HoloDex unlock unlimited scans with an in-app purchase, and Ludex with a
subscription.

### How do I know which printing of a card I have?

Check the set code and collector number printed on the card, then the rarity
mark and whether it is foil, because two prints can share an illustration and
even a number. Foilcase reads the artwork and number together and asks when
more than one print could match; Dex tracks Pokémon cards down to the variant.

### Which app shows what cards actually sold for?

PriceCharting sorts completed sales from eBay, Heritage, PWCC and other sites
into price guides for every condition. Ludex values cards
from completed sales on eBay and other marketplaces.

### Can a card scanner app grade my cards?

Not officially. HoloDex gives AI condition insights such as whitening,
centering and surface wear, and PriceCharting gives grading recommendations,
but only a grading company assigns a grade.

### Does Foilcase need an account?

No. Foilcase has no account, no ads and no analytics; the collection is stored
on the iPhone in an append-only ledger and included in encrypted device
backups. There is no cloud sync yet.