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Fair questions.

The ones worth asking before you trust a tool with your show prep. Straight answers, no spin.

Isn't this just a spreadsheet?: You can export to one — but the spreadsheet is the finish line, not the tool. mgz-pkmn finds the cards (Swipe, Browse, or Search), prices each against several open data sources, and works out your negotiation comps before you ever open a cell. A blank spreadsheet doesn't know what a Base Set Charizard sold for last week. This does — and hands you the sheet already filled in, plus a printable binder and a checklist.
Why should I trust the prices?: They aren't ours to invent. Prices come from open data sources — pokemontcg.io, TCGdex, PriceCharting, and eBay sold/active comps — and every card shows market plus four comps (80, 85, 90, 95% of market) so you see the whole spread, not a single number you have to take on faith. Where a source didn't contribute, you get a dash, not a guess.
It's a side project — will it stick around?: It's open source and MIT-licensed, built in the open precisely so it doesn't hinge on one person's spare time. The code, the pricing pipeline, and your exports are all yours. Worst case — I stop tomorrow — you can run it yourself and keep everything. Nothing lives behind a login you can be shut out of.
Why not just use one of the big apps?: Use whatever helps. But most of the big apps are walled gardens — your collection goes in and never comes back out in a form you can use anywhere else. (TCGplayer closed its public developer API after the eBay acquisition; most collection apps offer a CSV dump at best.) mgz-pkmn is collector-first and built to be open: real exports today, and first-class pull/push integration endpoints on the roadmap, so your data can move between tools instead of being held hostage.
Is this for flipping cards?: No. It's built by a real collector for real collectors. The point is to help you complete the collection you actually want, at a fair price — not to treat cardboard like a ticker symbol. The comps exist so you can negotiate from facts at the table, not so you can day-trade Pikachu.
Do I have to install anything?: Not unless you want to. The web app runs in your browser — open the demo and start swiping, no account needed. If you'd rather live in the terminal, there's a CLI that runs the same engine. Same results either way.
Is my data locked in?: No, by design. Everything exports — spreadsheet, 3×3 binder PDF, checklist, JSON — and the long-term bet is open, documented integration endpoints so other tools can read and write your data too. Lock-in is the thing we're trying to fix, not add.
Is it free?: Yes. Open-source, MIT-licensed, nothing to pay and no account required to try it. If it saves you money at a show, you can buy me a pizza — but you never have to.

Still wondering something? Ask in Discussions, or just try the demo and see for yourself.