Comparison

ARChess vs Chess Era

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

Head to head
About

ARChess

Experience classic chess with an augmented reality twist. Enjoy a realistic 3D design and interactive gameplay on any flat surface. Take back moves, automatically rotate the board, and reposition it during your game.

Highlights
  • Augmented reality chess board projection
  • Realistic 3D design
  • Hot-seat multiplayer mode
  • Play against AI
  • Take back moves
  • Automatic board rotation
  • Board repositioning
Features
Read full description

Something simple and fundamental, like classic chess game, gets a real AR boost in this app. Now all chess fans can shift from their regular boards and enjoy the game on the phone. With super cool 3D design, it’s now more realistic than ever. For starters, the functionality is limited to hot-seat game mode, i.e. two players play on 1 device or 1 player conduct a battle with the machine. We decided to leave something from a classic indoor game, at least players can discuss the game in real or beat a computer genius. In the future versions, it will be possible to support multi device mode to play the game by two players remotely on one chess board. Furthermore, chess tournaments, results saving ranking table are in the plan. We’ve used the ARKit in surface recognition (any contrasting horizontal surface can be used for chess board projection). Besides, we’ve taken into account the main complaints and wishes on the chess app market. Unlike the majority on the App Store, our app allows: - taking back moves (if you accidentally drop the piece on the wrong square, now there is an option to correct it) - automatically turning board around when playing - repositioning a board during the game Chess is our favorite office game. This ARChess app gives a new life to the classic game, moving it to the ‘new dimension’.

About

Chess Era

This online chess school connects students, coaches, schools, and parents. Students can play, challenge friends, and track progress. Coaches can conduct tournaments and provide live online lessons, while schools manage classes and students.

Highlights
  • Play with other students
  • Challenge friends
  • Track progress
  • Collaborative study
  • Conduct tournaments
  • Online coaching with video
  • Student game analysis
  • School management dashboard
Read full description

Congratulations on choosing Chess as one of the means to improve our child's critical thinking and problem solving skills. Chess Era is an Online Chess School built around 4 key stake holders: Students, Coaches, Schools and Parents. 1. Starting with Students, they can: 1. Play with other students 2. Challenge their friends 3. Track their progress 4. Share their ideas with others to have a collaborative study 2. We have some excellent tools for the Coaches as well. They can: 1. Conduct tournament among students 2. Do Online Coaching with Board and Live Video 3. Can analyse every student's game and work 4. Have full control on student's progress and tracking 3. Now the most important feature the Chess Era provides is for the School managements: 1. Gives you a dashboard for the class and the student 2. Can do announcements 3. Assign coaches for the batches and track them 4. Handle multi school/branches with tracking 4. Parents also benefit from the Chess Era as it ensures 1. Their child's engagement and enthusiasm 2. And help them track the progress of their Child

Screenshots

ARChess3 screens
Chess Era4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: ARChess at none against Chess Era's shown. ARChess also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ARChess ships an update every 5 weeks, Chess Era every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
ARChess versus Chess Era: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterARChessChess Era
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (16 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews—25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings16 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS11.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size308 MB106 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperCHISW Development LTDKREEDALOKA PRIVATE LIMITED

Customer experience

ARChess

All ratings16 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative12.5%

Chess Era

Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%

In-app purchases

None

ARChess

No in-app purchases

None

Chess Era

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ARChess free?
ARChess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Era free?
Chess Era is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ARChess or Chess Era have ads?
Chess Era shows ads; ARChess does not.
Which is updated more often, ARChess or Chess Era?
ARChess ships an update every 5 weeks, and Chess Era every 3 weeks. Most recently, ARChess was updated on October 15, 2026 and Chess Era on October 1, 2026.

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