Your camera does the typing
Hold a card in frame and BuffBox works out which printing it is, usually before you have finished lining it up. Turbo keeps the camera running so you can feed a stack through, then check the batch at the end.
Sort your collection without typing a single card name.
Hold a card up to your camera. BuffBox works out which printing you are holding. Then it keeps the collection and builds decks from it.
Scan, boxes, NFC, and Match Mode are free, and they stay free. Account optional. iOS 17+ and macOS 14+ (Mac Catalyst).
This cover is AI-generated. I am one person funding BuffBox, and there is no revenue yet, so this picture is temporary. I would rather it were a person's work. When the project can afford it, I will commission artists, pay them fairly, credit them, and license the work so they keep ownership. That art is meant for the site, the apps, and eventually physical products such as sleeves.
- Card recognition
- Runs on your device
- Works on
- iPhone, iPad, Mac
- Card data
- Scryfall
- Free includes
- Scan, boxes, NFC
Why BuffBox
Keeping a collection straight is the boring part
Most of that work is data entry. BuffBox handles it by looking at the card.
One collection for the pile
Everything you scan lands in one collection, with the quantity, finish, and condition you gave it. Build decks from what you already own. Copy any list out in Arena format when you want to play online.
Boxes for everything
Room for your whole collection. Track binders, cubes, and cardboard boxes with a location, then put decks and loose cards inside. On iPhone, write an NFC sticker so a tap opens the right pile.
With batteries included
Life totals for the table, ready when you sit down. Commander or Standard, up to eight players. Shake to scan a card mid-game for rulings. Coins and dice stay in reach.
You do not need Premium to use it
Scan, collection, decks, boxes, NFC, Match Mode, search, and Scryfall prices are free, and they stay free. If it runs on your device, it stays that way. Premium is for sync, price alerts, faster cloud search, and shared deck links, which cost money to run. If you play on one phone, you may never need it.
Screens
What you are actually looking at
The screens you will use once the pile is on the table.
Scan
Normal, Fast, and Turbo. Take a photo or pick one from the library. Matching runs on the device after the catalog is downloaded.
Collections made easy
Organise every card in one place.
Search made easy
Instant results, even offline.
Custom decks & boxes
Build decks and boxes your way.
Boxes for everything
Room for your whole collection.
With batteries included
Four-player multiplayer, ready in seconds.
Card detail
Oracle text, format legality, official rulings, how many copies you own, and the current Scryfall price for each finish.
Features
A closer look at what you will use
Where the time goes once the app is set up.
Scanning
Three ways to point a camera at a card
Normal mode hands you up to five candidates. That is what you want for a card printed a dozen times with different art. Fast snaps as soon as it is confident and asks you to confirm. Turbo keeps the camera live so you can pass a stack through and check the batch at the end.
You can also scan from your photo library. On Mac you pick which camera to use, including your iPhone over Continuity Camera. If you are partway through a deck, you can scan straight into it.
Collection
What the app remembers about each copy
Every card carries a quantity, a finish, and a condition from Near Mint down through Damaged. Notes cover what a grade cannot say, like which deck a copy is already promised to. Paste a list to import or remove cards in bulk.
Sort by name, set, quantity, or what you changed most recently. Select several rows to delete them in one go. An approximate Scryfall USD total sits on the collection. On iPad and Mac the list becomes a wider grid.
Search
Finding a card you only half remember
Browse runs against the full Scryfall database. Chips sit above the results for searches people repeat, like Removal, Ramp, and Card draw. Describe a card in plain language and BuffBox turns that phrase into a Scryfall query on the device. Premium uses a faster cloud translate for the same kind of search. You can also open a set and walk its printings.
Filters cover sets, colors, formats, types, keywords, rarity, and mana value. Open any result for oracle text and official rulings.
Decks
Building a deck out of what you already own
Add to a deck from a search or from your own collection. You can see what you would have to buy and what is already on the shelf. Each deck takes a cover from any card art you like, shows an approximate Scryfall value, and warns you when the list asks for more copies than you own.
Pick a format and BuffBox checks legality, draws a mana curve, and scores Commander Bracket. Sideboards and maybeboards stay with the deck. Copy the list in Arena format when you want to play online.
Paste an Arena, Moxfield, or ManaBox list. Improve, budget swaps, a wishlist, and find-from-collection all run on the device. Folders and tags keep a long list of decks sorted.
Boxes & NFC
Where the cardboard actually lives
Create boxes, binders, shelves, or cubes, with an optional location so Closet matches the app. Put decks and loose cards inside. Open a box to see what is in it before you dig through the shelf.
On iPhone you can write a cheap NFC sticker for a deck or a box, then scan it later to jump straight there. Rewrite or erase a tag when you reorganize. Boxes and NFC stay free on the device. Premium sync is only if you want that layout on another device.
Match Mode
A life counter that still helps mid-game
Set up Commander at 40 or Standard at 20 for one to eight players. Poison, energy, commander damage, and custom counters are there when the table needs them. Double-shake or use the toolbar to scan a card during the game, or look one up by name.
Luck tools cover coins and dice. You can share a screenshot of the board when somebody asks how the life totals got there.
Look & links
Themes, and decks you can hand to someone else
Closet themes change the felt, type, and label colors. They stay on the device with the rest of the free app.
Anyone with a shared deck link can open the list. Publishing that link, and taking it down, is part of Premium.
How it works
What sorting a box actually looks like
A little setup the first time, and after that the fiftieth card of the evening goes as quickly as the first one did.
- 01
Frame the card
Open Scan and hold the card inside the brackets, or pick an image from your photo library. The first time, the app sends you to Settings to download the recognition model. That only happens once.
- 02
Match it on your device
BuffBox works out which printing it is looking at without sending the frame anywhere. Normal offers a few candidates when the art could go either way. Fast confirms one card at a time. Turbo keeps going so you can pass a whole stack through.
- 03
File it or build with it
Save the card with its quantity, finish, and condition and it joins your collection. Or send it straight into the deck you are working on. Either way it is a tap, then you are on to the next card in the pile.
Privacy
Where your cards go, in plain words
The actual split between what never leaves the device in your hand and what has to travel to work at all.
Stays on your device
- The camera frames. Identifying a card happens on the device in front of you, so the pictures are never uploaded and never stored on a server.
- Your collection, on the free plan. Quantities, finishes, conditions, and notes are saved locally and stay there.
- Your decks, on the same terms. They live in the app until you copy a list out yourself.
Leaves your device
- Signing in. BuffBox sends a one-time code to your email so Premium and sync attach to your account.
- Card and price lookups. Searching, art, and prices go straight from the app to Scryfall. BuffBox does not see those requests.
- Premium sync. If you subscribe, your collection and decks go to the BuffBox server so your other devices can read them.
BuffBox does not sell anything about you and does not run ads. Features that run on your device stay free. Sync and price alerts cost money to run, which is why they sit behind a subscription. Read the privacy policy
Roadmap
Where this is going
None of what follows is in the app yet, and none of it has a date. Magic is the game being finished first. Other games come after, once each one can get real attention. This is the order the work is in.
Next up
AI deck ideas from cards you own
The list already checks legality and shows a curve. Next is help building the list from what is already on the shelf.
- Suggestions from cards you already own, on Premium
The big one
Store mode, for the other side of the counter
A version of BuffBox for people who sell cards. This is the largest piece of work on the list, and the one that will take the longest.
- A light CRM with a rewards program for regulars
- Selling online through your own site
- Inventory built in, not bolted on later
- Scan a card to sell it, look it up, or check what it is worth right now
- UPC scanning for sealed product, other games, and whatever else is on the shelf
- An automated scanner that works through inventory without somebody holding a phone
After the app is finished
Other trading cards
None of the recognition work is specific to Magic. Once the Magic app is finished, the same approach carries over, with enough attention for how each game is actually collected and played.
- Pokemon
- Sports cards, starting with baseball
- Others as they make sense
Further out
A closet for the rest of the shelf
Not trading cards at all. A list of the board games you own, so you can check the cupboard before buying the same game twice.
FAQ
What people ask before downloading it
The honest answers, including the parts that are not flattering.
- What is BuffBox?
- A Magic: The Gathering app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Point the camera at a card and it works out the printing. Then it keeps the collection, builds decks, organizes boxes, and runs Match Mode at the table.
- Do I need an account?
- No. You can keep going without one, and the collection stays on this device. Sign in when you want Premium features like sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
- Is BuffBox free?
- Scan, collection, decks, boxes, NFC, Match Mode, on-device search, and Scryfall prices are free, and they stay free. The cards are already expensive. If a feature runs on your device, it is not going behind a paywall. No trial clock. Premium is $5 a month or $20 a year for sync, price alerts, faster cloud search, and publishing shared deck links, because those cost money to run. Describing a card in plain language works on the device for free.
- Can I organize physical boxes?
- Yes. Create boxes, binders, shelves, or cubes, with an optional location. Put decks and loose cards inside. On a compatible iPhone you can write an NFC sticker and scan it later to open that pile. Boxes and NFC are free on the device. Premium sync keeps them across devices.
- What is Match Mode?
- A life counter for Commander or Standard, up to eight players. Poison, energy, commander damage, and custom counters are there. Shake to scan a card for rulings. Coins and dice stay in the same sheet.
- Does scanning send my cards to a server?
- No. Matching happens on your device, so camera frames are never uploaded. Searching for cards does talk to Scryfall, because that is where the card data lives.
- Why do I have to download something before scanning works?
- The recognition catalog ships separately so the app download stays small. BuffBox downloads it during onboarding, or the first time you open Scan. You only do it once.
- Does it work offline?
- Partly. Identifying a card does not need a connection once the catalog is downloaded, and your collection stays readable. Card details and search still need Scryfall.
- Which devices does it run on?
- iPhone and iPad on iOS 17 or later, and Mac on macOS 14 or later. The Mac version is the same app, laid out for a bigger screen. It can use your iPhone as a camera. Writing and scanning NFC stickers needs a compatible iPhone.
- Where does the card data come from?
- Scryfall. Card text, printings, art, and official rulings come from there. BuffBox is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.
- Where do prices come from, and how current are they?
- Scryfall prices are free and refresh through the day. Collection and decks show an approximate USD total. Premium adds a push when a tracked price crosses your threshold.
- What happens to my collection if I cancel Premium?
- It stays where it is. Cancelling turns off sync, price alerts, cloud search, and the ability to publish share links. On-device search stays. Your collection and decks live on the device. Scryfall prices stay free.
- Can BuffBox tell me whether my deck is legal?
- Yes. Pick a format and BuffBox checks the list. Commander Bracket, the mana curve, and sideboards live with the deck. Copy it out in Arena format when you want to play online.
- Why is some of the site art AI-generated?
- BuffBox is one person, funded out of pocket, with no revenue yet. The generated images got the site started. That is a compromise, and it is temporary. When the project can afford it, the plan is to commission artists, pay them fairly, credit them, and license the work so they keep ownership. That art is meant for the site, the apps, and eventually physical products such as sleeves.
- Can I tell you what is missing?
- Yes. If something is frustrating, or a feature would make collecting easier, email [email protected]. People use software in ways the person who built it did not expect, and those notes are welcome.
Point a camera at the box you have been avoiding
Scan on your iPhone, keep building on your Mac. The core stays free. Premium is only if you want sync, price alerts, and the other hosted extras.
iOS 17+ · macOS 14+ (Mac Catalyst)
BuffBox product summary
BuffBox is a Magic: The Gathering collection app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Hold a card up to the camera and BuffBox identifies the printing on the device. Each copy gets a quantity, finish, condition, and notes, plus an approximate Scryfall USD total.
Scanning works from the camera, the photo library, or an iPhone acting as a camera for a Mac. The recognition catalog downloads once during onboarding or the first Scan visit. Browse runs against Scryfall.
Decks can be built from cards you own or a pasted ManaBox, Moxfield, or Arena list. BuffBox checks format legality, shows a mana curve, and keeps sideboards with the deck. Storage boxes cover binders, cubes, and shelves. On iPhone you can write an NFC sticker for a deck or box. Match Mode tracks life for Commander or Standard.
Scanning, collection, decks, boxes, NFC, Match Mode, search, and Scryfall prices are free, and they stay free. If a feature runs on the device, it is not behind a paywall. An account is optional. Premium is 5 US dollars a month or 20 US dollars a year. It adds sync, price alerts, faster cloud search, and publishing shared deck links, because those cost money to run. Describing a card in plain language works on the device for free.
You can paste ManaBox CSV text. There is no CSV file picker. Coming later: AI deck suggestions from cards you own, a store mode for shops, other TCGs, and a list of board games you own. Download from the Apple App Store and Mac App Store.