Comparison

ChessBot vs idChess

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ChessBot

This app offers a comprehensive chess experience, allowing you to play against AI with adjustable difficulty, challenge friends, and analyze your games. It includes a detailed guidebook with lessons, openings, and puzzles to improve your skills.

Highlights
  • Play vs. AI with scalable ELO
  • Human vs. Human mode
  • Game management and sharing
  • PGN import/export
  • Board analysis and statistics
  • Chess openings, puzzles, and lessons
  • Play with friends via iMessage
Features
Read full description

ChessBot is an elegant chess app designed for Apple platforms — play, learn, and analyze on iPhone and iPad. Whether you are picking up your first pawn or refining a tournament repertoire, ChessBot pairs a strong chess engine with a clean, focused board. KEY FEATURES • Play against the computer or a friend — Human vs Human and Human vs Computer modes. • Strong engine hints — get the best next move whenever you are stuck, powered by a modern NNUE engine. • Encyclopedia of Chess Openings — explore and learn named openings from the full ECO catalog. • Classic or 3D board — switch between a crisp 2D board and a real-time 3D board. • Import & export PGN — bring in your games or share them anywhere, and preview PGN files right in the Files app. • Save & share games — keep your games organized and send positions to friends. • Play over iMessage — challenge friends to a game without leaving Messages. • Beautiful, native design — thoughtfully built for iPhone and iPad. Questions or suggestions? We would love to hear from you at chessbotapp@outlook.com.

About

idChess

This app uses computer vision to recognize and digitize chess moves played on a physical board in real-time. It records games in standard notation, allowing for analysis and broadcasting. Turn any chessboard into a digital one for learning and sharing.

Highlights
  • Real-time move recognition
  • Digitizes physical chess games
  • Saves games in PGN and GIF formats
  • Broadcasts games to an audience
  • Offline game digitization
  • AI-powered piece recognition
  • Replaces expensive electronic boards
Features
Read full description

idChess is a mobile app for recognizing, digitizing, and broadcasting offline chess games, played on a real board. The app recognizes chess moves during the game in real time, records them in the form of chess notation, and saves them on your smartphone in PGN and GIF formats. idChess digitizes games, including blitz and rapid games. It can be used to broadcast chess games to a wide audience. Download the idChess mobile app for free and play chess offline in a technologically advanced way! **idChess for chess players and chess organizations** Chess federations, schools, and clubs use idChess both to conduct chess broadcasts and to teach children to play chess. Also, idChess is suitable for individual use by players. In the process of self-study, idChess helps you simplify the chess learning process, keep a history of online and offline games, track your progress and improve your game. **idChess is used by chess players all over the world** The idChess app is already actively used in Russia, India, Bahrain, Turkey, Armenia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, and other countries. As part of the World Chess Olympiad 2022 in India, the classical tournament was digitized and broadcast using the idChess app and its chess recognition feature. idChess is an innovative product for chess players that has no analogs in the world. **Recognize and broadcast chess games** idChess is based on computer vision and machine learning technologies. Using artificial intelligence, idChess recognizes chess pieces on the board and automatically records the chess notation of your game. To record and broadcast games, all you need is the idChess app installed on your smartphone and a tripod to securely mount your smartphone above the board. You can recognize games even offline. The idChess app does not require an Internet connection to digitize games. **Turn your regular chessboard into an electronic one with idChess!** The idChess mobile app replaces expensive electronic boards for digitizing and broadcasting chess games. You can play on a regular chessboard: magnetic, wooden, plastic, or any other, and then immediately view the game in the form of a chess diagram on your smartphone and analyze it. The size of a chessboard does not affect the operation of the app. The only criterion is that chess pieces must be made according to the classical Staunton model. **How to start recording chess games** To record games, you only need a smartphone with the idChess app installed and a tripod to mount the smartphone above the board. To start using the application, you need: 1) Attach a tripod to the table where the chessboard is located. 2) Place chess pieces in their starting position. 3) Fix the smartphone in a tripod with the screen facing up so that the camera points at the chessboard, and the entire playing field falls into the lens. 4) Run the app and start recording. **Analysis and sharing of chess games** After completion, the game will be saved in the games library in the usual PGN or GIF format for chess players. Also, the app functions as a PGN viewer. The game recording will be available for sending to your coach via any convenient messenger, and it will also be possible to share the recording on social networks. For self-analysis of chess games, the Stockfish engine is built into the idChess mobile app. Even a child can handle the game analysis in the app! idChess highlights strong and weak moves in chess notation and ranks them by points. The app and our digital chess set are great helpers for chess kids, their parents, and coaches. Chess for children has never been so clear! idChess will be a great addition to the game of chess, as well as a chess timer / clock. It can replace a chess computer. Play chess with friends or a coach or analyze mistakes yourself in the idChess mobile app! **Online broadcasts of your games** Thanks to idChess, everyone can see your game on a regular board. EULA: https://idchess.com/legal/idChess/EULA

Screenshots

ChessBot4 screens
idChess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: idChess at 4.4 against ChessBot's 4.0. idChess also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). ChessBot's advantage is device support (5 vs 2). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. ChessBot sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and idChess sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

idChess holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 34 and 15 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of ChessBot's written reviews are positive against 70% of idChess's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ChessBot ships an update every 2 months, idChess every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 29, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ChessBot versus idChess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessBotidChess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (34 ratings)4.4 (15 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews69.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings34 — better15
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size163 MB315 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHengyu ZhouidSport LLC

Customer experience

ChessBot

All ratings34 ratings
Positive73.5%
Neutral5.9%
Negative20.6%
Written reviews33 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral6.1%
Negative27.3%

idChess

All ratings15 ratings
Positive86.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative13.3%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive69.6%
Neutral4.3%
Negative26.1%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

ChessBot

Subscriptions2
  • ChessBot Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • ChessBot Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • Master of Chess$29.99
4 purchases

idChess

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly subscription$8.991 Month
  • Biannual subscription$35.006 Months
  • Annual subscription7 Days trial$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Annual subscription$54.001 Year

Questions

Is ChessBot free?
ChessBot is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is idChess free?
idChess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ChessBot or idChess?
idChess is rated higher. ChessBot averages 4.0 out of 5 from 34 ratings, while idChess averages 4.4 from 15 ratings.
Do ChessBot or idChess have ads?
Neither ChessBot nor idChess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ChessBot or idChess?
ChessBot ships an update every 2 months, and idChess every 5 weeks. Most recently, ChessBot was updated on August 29, 2026 and idChess on September 23, 2026.

Other comparisons