Where we stand, before the list. We make a combat tracker, Initiative Tracker: DM Tools, so we compete with every app below. It is last on the list, and none of these apps pays us for a referral.
Encounter+ on Apple devices, Improved Initiative in a browser, and D&D Beyond’s Encounters if your group already keeps its books and characters there. Android has no tracker as well kept as Encounter+, which is why two of the three picks run in a browser.
The short answer, by table
App Store ratings and update dates were read on 26 October 2026. Google Play figures and prices are from our reading on 20 October 2026, in the full comparison.
| If you | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Run games from an iPad, iPhone or Mac | Encounter+ | Free tracker, no ads, updated 22 Oct 2026 |
| Want nothing to install and no account | Improved Initiative | Browser tracker, free basics, open source |
| Want players to see the order on their phones | Shieldmaiden | Built around a shared initiative list |
| Own your books on D&D Beyond | D&D Beyond Encounters | Unlocks the monsters you bought; 6 encounters free |
| Want a whole campaign manager on Android | Game Master 5th Edition | Notes, scaler and tracker; Play update Aug 2025 |
| Only use Android and want SRD monsters in the app | BattleTrack | Free with ads; last update Oct 2024 |
| Want one app on both stores, nothing to buy | Initiative Tracker: DM Tools (ours) | SRD 5.1 and 5.2, no account; new, no ratings yet |
Each pick in a paragraph
Encounter+, by QBIT
Version 5.1.0 came out on 22 October 2026, and the app has 570 App Store ratings averaging 4.4. Initiative, hit points, conditions, a difficulty calculator and the SRD come free, and the listing says no ads, ever. Battle maps cost $10.99 once, or come with Premium at $3.99 a month. There is no Android version.
Improved Initiative
An open-source tracker in the browser. Building and running encounters is free with no account, and $3 a month on Patreon adds sync across devices and removes the ads. There is no store app to install.
Shieldmaiden
Also a browser tracker, with an account. Its point of difference is a public initiative list you share with your players. Patreon tiers from $3 to $8 a month raise how many campaigns and encounters you can keep.
D&D Beyond Encounters
Wizards of the Coast’s own builder and tracker. A free account holds up to 6 encounters, and Hero Tier, from $2.99 a month, removes the cap. Monsters from books you own there are unlocked, and your players’ character sheets come in from the campaign.
Game Master 5th Edition
The biggest app in the category, with 1,595 App Store ratings at 4.7 and 500K+ downloads on Google Play. It covers a campaign, notes, treasure and a creature scaler as well as combat. The Android version was updated in August 2025. The iPhone version still shows 24 September 2020, so we would not start a new campaign in it on an iPhone.
BattleTrack Initiative Tracker
An Android tracker by TechTev with 10K+ downloads and SRD monsters bundled. It plans several encounters ahead and logs every change in a fight. Google Play shows ads and in-app purchases, and its last update was 15 October 2024.
Initiative Tracker: DM Tools, ours
Free with a banner on the party screen and in Settings, never on the tracker, on the App Store and Google Play. It carries all 675 SRD 5.1 and 5.2 creatures, the fifteen conditions with durations, death saves and legendary actions, with no account. It has no campaign manager or maps, and no ratings yet.
What these do better than ours
Encounter+ has battle maps, an external display and no ads at all. Improved Initiative and Shieldmaiden sync across devices, and ours keeps everything on one phone. D&D Beyond has the non-SRD monsters from books you own, which no SRD-only app can include. Game Master does campaign notes and treasure, and every app here has more players than ours. If you run a long campaign from an iPad, start with Encounter+.
- App Store — Encounter+ Virtual Tabletop (QBIT)
- Improved Initiative — the combat tracker
- Patreon — Improved Initiative, its tiers
- Shieldmaiden — pricing page
- D&D Beyond — subscription plans
- App Store — Game Master 5th Edition (Lion's Den)
- Google Play — Game Master 5th Edition
- Google Play — BattleTrack Initiative Tracker (TechTev)
- App Store — Initiative Tracker: DM Tools, ours
- Google Play — Initiative Tracker: DM Tools, ours