Comparison

Chess King vs Sjakki

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

Head to head
About

Chess King

Master the game of chess with this comprehensive learning app. It offers interactive lessons, puzzles, and analysis for all skill levels, from beginner to advanced. Improve your tactics and strategy with a personal chess trainer, available online and offline.

Highlights
  • 100+ learning courses
  • Interactive theoretical lessons
  • High-quality, double-checked puzzles
  • Personal chess trainer
  • Computer analysis
  • Offline support
  • Chess tasks for kids
Features
Read full description

Don't just play chess. Train like a master. Chess King teaches the game the way strong players are actually built — with a rigorous, structured curriculum, not a random feed of puzzles. 147 complete courses take you from your first move to advanced play, step by step. WHY CHESS KING IS DIFFERENT Most chess apps let you play. Chess King trains you. Every course is a real lesson built on classical training methods refined over 30 years — the same approach behind CT-ART, the tactics trainer used by serious players worldwide. You don't just solve a position and move on. Chess King gives you hints when you are stuck, explains the idea behind the right move, and shows you the striking refutation of the mistakes you might make. That is how understanding is built — not memorized. WHAT YOU GET - 147 structured courses covering tactics, strategy, openings, the middlegame, and endgames, organized by level from beginner to master. - Chess King University: 7 guided learning paths and 44 courses that give you a clear, ordered route to real improvement — no guessing what to study next. - Interactive theory: read the lesson, then play the moves on the board yourself. Learning by doing, not just reading. - Thousands of carefully selected exercises with graphic hints and full explanations. - Play against the computer to put what you have trained into practice. - A progress report for every lesson, so you always see how far you have come. TRAIN ON EVERY DEVICE Your subscription, purchases, progress, and rating sync automatically across web, iPhone, iPad, and Android. Train on your phone on the commute, continue on the web at home — your progress follows you. TRY IT FREE Preview courses before you commit. When you are ready, choose a monthly or yearly plan, or buy individual courses to keep forever. Chess King — train like a master. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Sjakki

Features
Read full description

Sjakki is Norway's chess club in an app. Everything you need to learn, train and play chess is free. No ads, no paywall. The app is in Norwegian. DAILY PUZZLE One puzzle a day with a shareable emoji result. Build your crown streak and protect it with earned freezes. LEARN WITH MATT The Pawn School takes you from your first pawn move to your first checkmate in 40 lessons, guided by Matt the monkey, who cheers and never scolds. The reference section explains every chess rule with boards you can try, quizzes, the exchange calculator and the six mate patterns everyone should know. PLAY Eight bots from friendly Matt to masterful Vilma the Owl, fully offline. Live games against players across Norway with rating, or friendly games via link and QR. Two players on one board for the kitchen table, and a built-in chess clock for the physical board with Fischer increment and seven time controls. PUZZLES GALORE Themed puzzle training and Puzzle Storm: three minutes against the clock with jungle music and a Norwegian leaderboard. GAME REVIEW Deep analysis of your games, move by move, with brilliancies, blunders and best moves drawn as arrows on the board. Paste any game in PGN format, or connect your chess.com account for statistics and reviews of those games too. Share your games as PGN. FOR SCHOOLS Class codes make Sjakki classroom ready: the teacher creates a class, students join without an account, and the weekly overview shows solved puzzles and XP per student. SAFE FOR KIDS Chat consists of thirty friendly preset phrases and can be hidden entirely. Nothing else can be written. Any game can be reported with one tap. No ads, guest mode without an account, and profiles cannot be searched. Made in Norway by Peter (14) and family. Contact: peter@sjakki.no

Screenshots

Chess King4 screens
Sjakki4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sjakki at none against Chess King's 17. Sjakki also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (daily vs every 3 weeks). Chess King's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). On price 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. Chess King sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Sjakki asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess King ships an update every 3 weeks, Sjakki daily. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Chess King versus Sjakki: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess KingSjakki
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (2.5K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings2.5K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksDaily — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size109 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChess KingTrond Klæboe

Bugs and requests

Chess King

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes on M1 Macs
  • Doesnot work with iOS 13 dark mode
  • Doesnot show board and pieces in exercises
  • Cannot restore purchases
  • Doesnot sync progress across devices

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add dark mode option
  • Improve user interface and design
  • Add more opening courses
  • Provide better explanations for moves
  • Allow resetting progress
Show 2 more
  • Improve syncing across devices
  • Add online chess mode

Sjakki

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

17 purchases

Chess King

Subscriptions6
  • CT-ART: The Best Tactics7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Chess King University7 Days trial$11.991 Month
  • Chess King Courses3 Days trial$11.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Chess King Maximum Pack1 Month trial$17.991 Month
  • Chess King Courses3 Days trial$89.991 Year
  • Chess King Maximum Pack1 Year trial$119.991 Year
One-time11
  • Mate in 1 move (Chess Puzzles)$3.99
  • Chess Endings for Beginners$7.99
  • Chess: From Beginner to Club$12.99
Show 8 more
  • Chess Combinations Vol. 1$12.99
  • Chess Tactics for Beginners$12.99
  • Chess Opening Blunders$12.99
  • Chess Opening Lab (1400-2000)$12.99
  • Chess Strategy for Beginners$12.99
  • Elementary Chess Tactics 1$12.99
  • CT-ART 4.0 (Chess Tactics)$17.99
  • Total Chess Endgames 1600-2400$17.99
None

Sjakki

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess King free?
Chess King is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sjakki free?
Sjakki is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Chess King or Sjakki have ads?
Chess King shows ads; Sjakki does not.
Which is updated more often, Chess King or Sjakki?
Chess King ships an update every 3 weeks, and Sjakki daily. Most recently, Chess King was updated on October 29, 2026 and Sjakki on October 17, 2026.

Other comparisons