Best Card Scanner Apps for Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and One Piece

How to choose a card scanner app

Every app on this page names a card from a photo. The differences start after that: which printing it picks, whose price it shows, and what the free plan holds back. Check these eight things on the store page before you install.

1. Your games are named. "Trading cards" on a listing can mean anything from Pokémon to baseball. Look for your game by name. Ludex's Play listing, for example, names Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering but not Yu-Gi-Oh! or One Piece.
2. It pins the exact printing. Popular cards get reprinted, often with the same art, and each print has its own price (see the examples below). TCGplayer's help center says its scanner "primarily focuses on the artwork", so it can pick the wrong set when printings look alike, and you then change the set by hand. Apps that read the printed card number or set code have less to guess. Whatever you use, compare the number on the result with the number on the card.
3. It shows where the price comes from, and when. A TCGplayer Market Price, a Cardmarket trend and an average of eBay sold listings are three different numbers, in two currencies. A good app labels the source and the date. Our guide to checking what a Pokémon card is worth explains how these prices differ.
4. The free plan fits how you scan. Limits come as a daily scan cap, a cap on cards in your collection, or a paid export. Sorting a shoebox in one evening needs different limits from checking a few new pulls each week.
5. Ads. Google Play prints "Contains ads" under the app name when an app shows them. None of the other six apps in our table carries that label; Pullwise's free version shows ads.
6. Account. Some apps scan without sign-in but need an account to save a collection; TCGplayer works this way. Others need no account at all.
7. Offline scanning. Card shows and convention halls often have weak signal. None of the other listings we read say whether recognition works offline, so test it at home with mobile data off before you count on it.
8. Collection tools and platforms. Folders, CSV export, deck building and price alerts vary a lot between apps. If you also use an iPhone or iPad, pick an app that runs on both and syncs.

Why the exact print matters

Each of these cards exists in more than one version, and the versions don't sell for the same price.

Dark BlastoiseTeam Rocket · 3/82 · 1st Edition holo

Dark MagicianOne picture for every print

ShanksOP01-120 · SEC

ShanksOP01-120 · SEC parallel

A picture-only match has a hard time with all three. Dark Blastoise's 1st Edition and Unlimited holos differ by one small stamp. Dark Magician has been printed in many sets with the same art, so the set code and the foil are what separate them. Shanks is the reverse case: one number, several artworks.

Card scanner apps compared side by side

This is what each app's own listing or website says, checked on October 18, 2026. "Not listed" means we couldn't find the game in the developer's material; it doesn't prove the app can't scan it. The other six are free downloads on Google Play. Where each app's prices come from is in its section below.

TCGplayer, Collectr, Shiny and HoloDex: apps for all three games

TCGplayer

Best for: one free app that covers every game, and buying singles.

This is the app of the TCGplayer marketplace. Its Play listing names more than 40 games, including Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and One Piece, and shows neither an ads label nor in-app purchases. The help center says the app is completely free to download and use.

After a scan you see the TCGplayer Market Price, the listed median and the most recent sale. You can set condition (Near Mint down to Damaged), language and printing such as foil, before or after the scan, and the price follows your choice. Lists export as plain text or CSV.

Limits: matching leans on artwork, so same-art reprints may need a manual fix. Saving scans to a collection needs a TCGplayer account; without one they sit in a temporary list. Prices come from TCGplayer alone. Sending scanned lists to the Seller Portal is for Level 4 sellers only. The app needs Android 9 or iOS 17 or later.

Collectr

Best for: tracking what a whole collection is worth, including graded cards and sealed product.

Collectr calls itself a portfolio manager. Its site lists Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, Magic and Lorcana for scanning, plus 20 more games, and says a scan identifies the exact set, number and variant. The price guide covers raw and graded cards. The site says values update daily from sales data but doesn't name the marketplaces.

Price: free to start. Collectr Pro is $7.99 a month, or $4.99 a month billed annually, on Collectr's site in October 2026. Pro adds unlimited scanning, extra filters, up to 5+ years of price history and data export.

Limits: the App Store listing puts unlimited scanning and data export behind the in-app purchase, and the free scan allowance isn't published. No ads label on Play.

Shiny

Best for: unlimited free scanning, Japanese sets, and checking centering before grading.

Shiny's Play listing names Pokémon, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic, Dragon Ball, Gundam, Riftbound and Lorcana. Its App Store listing adds that Pokémon support covers English, Japanese and Chinese sets, and One Piece covers English and Japanese. Both listings promise unlimited scanning and an unlimited free collection, plus price alerts and a centering tool for grading prep.

Prices: the Play listing names eBay, TCGplayer and Cardmarket as sources; the website names TCGplayer and PriceCharting. Both mention price history.

Limits: a paid Shiny Pro tier is sold in the app, but neither listing says what it adds, so read the paywall screen before you subscribe. No ads label on Play.

HoloDex

Best for: a quick read on condition before you send cards for grading.

HoloDex lists Pokémon, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic, Lorcana, Dragon Ball Super, Digimon, Gundam, Union Arena, Riftbound and Star Wars: Unlimited. Its AI grading looks for whitening, centering problems and surface wear. Collections sync across devices with a cloud backup.

Limits: the listing says in-app purchases unlock unlimited scans, extra filters and AI grading, so the free version has a scan limit, and its size isn't published. The website says prices come from several sources without naming them. No ads label on Play.

Dragon Shield and Ludex: one game per app, or sports plus Pokémon

Dragon Shield (Poke TCG Scanner and YGO Scanner)

Best for: players who build decks and trade, and anyone with non-English Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.

Dragon Shield, the sleeve brand, puts its name on one scanner app per game. Poke TCG Scanner Dragon Shield and YGO Scanner – Dragon Shield both say they scan cards in any language and translate them. They show daily TCGplayer and Cardmarket prices with 30-day history, and add folders, CSV or text export, a deck builder, a trade comparison tool and friends' lists.

Price: free with in-app purchases (a Premium subscription), and no ads label. The listings don't spell out what stays free.

Limits: collecting both games means installing two apps. We found no Dragon Shield One Piece scanner on Google Play. Their Google Play publisher, Creative Collectible Company, also offers Sorted, a multi-game app whose listing includes Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and One Piece; Sorted does show ads.

Ludex

Best for: collectors who mix sports cards with Pokémon and sell on eBay.

Ludex is built around sports cards. Its Play listing covers baseball, basketball, football, soccer, hockey and more, plus Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering and VeeFriends. It says the scanner identifies year, set, brand, parallel and variation, with prices from eBay completed sales and other marketplaces. Its List-It feature builds eBay listings from your scans.

Price: the free plan has unlimited scans but holds 60 cards and 5 eBay listings a month. Paid plans start at $4.99 a month (Lite, one category), then $9.99 (Standard) and $24.99 (Pro), each with a 7-day trial.

Limits: Yu-Gi-Oh! and One Piece aren't named in Ludex's listing or on its site. No ads label on Play.

Pullwise: where it fits and where others do better

Pullwise is our app, made by NasrTech. Here is what it does, and the cases where an app above is the better pick.

Best for: Android collectors of two or three of these games who want the exact print and its price, with no account.

Pullwise's free card scanner reads the printed number or code: 025/198 on a Pokémon card, LOB-EN001 on Yu-Gi-Oh!, OP01-001 or ST01-012 on One Piece. It finds that print, plays a pack-opening reveal, and shows the TCGplayer market and low prices in dollars and the Cardmarket trend in euros, each with its date. The prices come from the public TCGdex, YGOPRODeck and OPTCG API databases and are rebuilt daily. If a print or finish has no price, the app says so.

A finish picker covers normal, holo, reverse holo, 1st Edition and Unlimited for Pokémon; set code plus rarity and the cheapest reprint for Yu-Gi-Oh!; and regular or parallel for One Piece. To work out which rarity you're holding, see our Yu-Gi-Oh! rarity guide.

Free plan: 5 scans a day, with unlimited free search by name or code. A wrong match doesn't use a scan. Watching a video adds one scan, up to 3 a day, and inviting friends adds more. The free version shows ads; Pro removes them and adds unlimited scans, an unlimited collection and CSV export.

Privacy: the photo is read on the phone and deleted, and there's no account. Recognition works offline; prices need the daily download. Pullwise is independent and not affiliated with Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, Konami or Bandai.

Other scanner apps worth knowing

• Rare Candy scans Pokémon (English and Japanese sets), One Piece, Magic, Lorcana, Gundam and Riftbound, plus PSA, BGS, CGC, SGC and TAG slabs. Its Play listing shows no ads and no in-app purchases, and its collection tools need a free account. Yu-Gi-Oh! isn't on its list.
• Dex is Pokémon only, with a database of English, Japanese and Simplified Chinese sets, a scanner and deck tools.
• CollX is a sports card scanner first but also lists Pokémon, Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh!, with a built-in marketplace. CSV export is a CollX Pro feature.

Which card scanner app should you pick?

• You collect all three games and want to pay nothing: start with TCGplayer. Make an account if you want to keep a collection, and double-check the set on reprints.
• You track value like a portfolio, with slabs and sealed boxes: Collectr. If you scan a lot and don't want Pro, Shiny's listings promise unlimited scanning.
• You're deciding what to send for grading: Shiny's centering tool or HoloDex's AI grading (a paid unlock). Neither replaces a real grade.
• Your cards are Japanese or from other non-English sets: Shiny or Dragon Shield, or Rare Candy for Japanese Pokémon.
• You play and build decks: Dragon Shield for Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh!, with its deck builder and trade tool.
• You also collect sports cards or sell on eBay: Ludex.
• You have English Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and One Piece cards on an Android phone and want the exact print's price without an account: the Pullwise card scanner. Five scans a day suits checking new pulls, and free search covers the rest.

You don't have to settle on one. All of these are free to install, so run two of them on the same ten cards, including a reprint and a holo, and keep the one that names them correctly.

How we checked these apps

On October 18, 2026 we read each app's Google Play listing (games, ads label, in-app purchases, last update), its App Store listing where the Play page left gaps, and the developer's website or help center. Every claim above comes from those pages, listed under Sources.

We did not run side-by-side accuracy tests on the other apps, so this page doesn't rank them by accuracy. When a listing calls its scanner the fastest or most accurate, that's the developer's claim. Plans and prices change often; check the in-app paywall before you pay.