Emrakul is back after ten years of exile on the moon, Reality Fracture leaks are shaping the next Standard, and every player who put the game down in 2019 has a reason to open the app tray again. Playing Magic in 2026 no longer means one client. Between digital play on Arena, paper play with a companion app for life totals, and the collection tracking that keeps a $2,000 shoebox organised, the phone is the tool that ties it together.
We tested seven Android apps that cover the Magic experience end to end: play, brew, track, and price. Every pick handles the current sets and the last ten years of eternal formats.
What matters in a Magic app on Android
- Current card database. Wizards releases a set every few months. Anything more than a week out of date is useless.
- Format legality that keeps up. Standard rotates. Pioneer bans move. Commander’s Rules Committee acts fast now.
- Deck builder that respects mana curves, not just card lists. Anyone can list cards; the good apps chart the curve, colors, and role distribution.
- Scan-a-card fast import. Rebuilding a paper deck from photos is where the apps prove themselves.
- Prices that update daily. TCGplayer and Cardmarket both matter; local prices track them.
- Offline access to the collection. GP venues have terrible wifi.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magic: The Gathering Arena | Playing digital Magic | Full account | Boosters and passes from around $5 | 4.3 |
| MTG Companion | Life totals and paper events | Full | Free | 4.5 |
| Manabox | Collection tracking with camera scan | Full for basic | Pro around $30/yr | 4.7 |
| Deckbox | Deep collection and trade binder | Full basic | Premium around $25/yr | 4.5 |
| EDHREC | Commander deck research | Full | Free | 4.7 |
| TCGplayer | Prices and marketplace | Full | Free | 4.6 |
| Untapped GG | Meta stats and matchup coaching | Full basic | Plus around $8/mo | 4.6 |
The apps
1. Magic: The Gathering Arena — Best for actually playing
Magic: The Gathering Arena is the client. It runs Standard, Alchemy, Historic, Explorer, Timeless, Brawl, and Commander formats digitally, with drafts against real people and a full ranked ladder. The mobile build renders every card animation the PC version does, and cross-progression means your collection follows you between devices.
Where it falls short: No paper collection sync. Wildcards are the gate; free-to-play players hit a ceiling in Standard within two months.
Pricing:
- Free: Full account with starter decks and daily quests
- Paid: Booster bundles and Mastery Pass from around $5
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, macOS
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: The only digital Magic client that matters. Install first.
2. MTG Companion — Best for paper play
MTG Companion is the official Wizards app for paper events. Life totals, dice, coin flips, pairings for tournaments run in Wizards Event Reporter, and quick access to the current comprehensive rules. At a table, it replaces four different scraps of paper.
Where it falls short: No deck building, no collection features. This is purely a paper-play utility.
Pricing:
- Free: Everything
- Paid: None
Platforms: Android, iOS
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: Keep it on the phone. On event day, you will use it.
3. Manabox — Best for scanning and tracking a paper collection
Manabox is the fastest way to turn a stack of cards into a searchable database. Camera scan handles a card per second on a Pixel, recognises foils and special treatments, and pushes to a cloud account you can hit from the web. Deck lists export to Arena, Moxfield, and Archidekt.
Where it falls short: Advanced features like collection value graphs and deep binder views sit behind Pro.
Pricing:
- Free: Full basic tracker and scanner
- Paid: Manabox Pro around $30 per year
Platforms: Android, iOS
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: The fastest bulk scanner. If the shoebox is unsorted, this is the app.
4. Deckbox — Best trade binder and long-form collection
Deckbox is where the trade-oriented players live. Wishlists, tradelists, and a big community for finding cards you actually need. The mobile app is a clean front-end to the web tool that has been going since the mid-2000s.
Where it falls short: Card scan is slower than Manabox. UI shows its age.
Pricing:
- Free: Full account
- Paid: Premium around $25 per year for larger tradelists and offline access
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: Best pick when the goal is trading, not just tracking.
5. EDHREC — Best for Commander deck research
EDHREC is the Commander player’s homepage. Popular commanders, their auto-generated suggested cards, salt scores, budget swaps, cEDH tier lists. The mobile app is the same tool as the web, with quicker access to the “cards played with” panel that saves you an hour of thinking.
Where it falls short: Commander only. Standard, Modern, and Legacy players get nothing useful here.
Pricing:
- Free: Full
- Paid: Optional Patreon subscription removes ads
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: If you play Commander, install it. If you do not, skip it.
6. TCGplayer — Best price and marketplace
TCGplayer is the marketplace most North American players use. The app lets you scan a card and see the current market price and the range of live listings, and it powers the pricing you see inside Manabox and Deckbox.
Where it falls short: Cardmarket users in Europe are better off with the Cardmarket app for local prices in EUR.
Pricing:
- Free: Full
- Paid: None
Platforms: Android, iOS
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: The price reference for North American Magic. Keep it installed.
7. Untapped GG — Best meta stats and matchup coaching
Untapped GG is the analytics layer over Arena. Match history, mulligan advice, deck popularity by rank tier, win rate against every other deck the app has seen. Free tier covers the essentials; Untapped Plus adds live overlays and deeper stats.
Where it falls short: Data quality depends on the community submitting matches. Fringe formats are thinner than Standard and Historic.
Pricing:
- Free: Match history and basic stats
- Paid: Untapped Plus around $8 per month
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web, PC companion
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: Best pick when you actually want to climb the ladder, not just play matches.
How to pick the right one
- If you play Magic on the phone: Arena, no substitute.
- If you play paper at LGS events: MTG Companion.
- If the collection has more than 500 cards: Manabox or Deckbox. Manabox for the scanner, Deckbox for trading.
- If Commander is your format: EDHREC.
- If you want live prices for a card in your hand: TCGplayer.
- If you want to know why you lose ladder matches: Untapped GG.
Most players end up with three: Arena, Companion, and one of Manabox or Deckbox.
FAQ
Is MTG Arena free to play? Yes. You can play digitally forever without spending. Wildcards throttle the pace at which you can build Standard decks; buying a Mastery Pass at around $16 per set is the most efficient paid entry point.
Which app is best for building a new Commander deck? EDHREC for the research, Moxfield or Archidekt on the web for the actual list, and Manabox or Deckbox to check what you already own.
Can I share a decklist between Arena and paper? Yes. Every app on this list exports to a plain-text decklist format Arena imports directly. Manabox and Untapped GG have one-tap Arena import.
Are there official Magic apps beyond Arena and Companion? Those two are the official Wizards apps. Everything else is community-built, often with Wizards’ Scryfall API as the card data source.
Which app has the fastest camera scan? Manabox and TCGplayer both scan around a card per second on a modern phone. Manabox handles special treatments and foils better.
