# SmartGo One vs BadukPop Go

The clearest difference is update cadence: SmartGo One at every 2 weeks against BadukPop Go's every 2 months. BadukPop Go's advantage is ratings volume (6.8K vs 1.9K) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. SmartGo One sells 46 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and BadukPop Go sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for SmartGo One against 4.8 for BadukPop Go. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.9K and 6.8K respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 77% and 77% positive.

SmartGo One ships an update every 2 weeks, BadukPop Go every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SmartGo One | BadukPop Go |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.8 (1.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smartgo-one/id1465746992/reviews) | [4.8 (6.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/badukpop-go/id1472684271/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1.9K | **6.8K** |
| Positive reviews | 76.5% of reviews | **76.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 140 MB | 82 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **15.1** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Smart Go, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/290948289) | [CorePlane Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1472684270) |

## What reviewers say

### SmartGo One

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smartgo-one/id1465746992)

Learn, play, and improve at the ancient game of Go. This app offers adjustable board sizes, a strong AI opponent, and tools to study professional games and solve Go problems. It's designed for players of all skill levels, from beginners to masters.

**Highlights:** Adjustable board sizes (9x9 to 19x19), Strong KataGo game engine, Study professional game records, Solve Go problems and tutorials, Pattern matching for move suggestions, Territory estimator, Game recording and annotation

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (46)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SmartGo One Pro – Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| Pro Games and Features | $29.99 | per year |
| Just Enough Japanese 1 | Free | one-time |
| Key Concepts in Life and Death | $2.99 | one-time |
| Go Problems Master Collection | $3.99 | one-time |
| Go Problems Add-on 2: Medium | $3.99 | one-time |
| Go Problems Add-on 1: Easy | $3.99 | one-time |
| Go Problems Add-on 3: Hard | $3.99 | one-time |
| Counting Liberties | $4.99 | one-time |
| The Monkey Jump | $4.99 | one-time |
| Double Digit Kyu Games | $5.99 | one-time |
| Go: A Complete Introduction | $5.99 | one-time |
| How Not to Play Go | $5.99 | one-time |
| Encyclopedia of Go Principles | $5.99 | one-time |
| Want to Play Go? Level 1 | $5.99 | one-time |
| Black to Play 30-25 Kyu | $5.99 | one-time |
| The Workshop Lectures 1 | $5.99 | one-time |
| Rethinking Opening Strategy | $6.99 | one-time |
| Learn to Play Go 1 | $7.99 | one-time |
| Learn to Play Go 2 | $7.99 | one-time |
| Learn to Play Go 3 | $7.99 | one-time |
| Correct Joseki | $7.99 | one-time |
| “The Theory of Go” | $7.99 | one-time |
| Learn to Play Go 4 | $7.99 | one-time |
| Buddhist Philosophy Game of Go | $8.99 | one-time |
| Graded Go Problems 1 | $9.99 | one-time |
| Graded Go Problems 2 | $9.99 | one-time |
| Want to Play Go? Level 2 | $9.99 | one-time |
| Basic Techniques of Go | $9.99 | one-time |
| Graded Go Problems 3 | $9.99 | one-time |
| Get Strong at Life and Death | $9.99 | one-time |
| Mastering Mini Go by Mark Tomlinson | $11.99 | one-time |
| Fuseki Revolution | $11.99 | one-time |
| Fundamental Principles of Go | $11.99 | one-time |
| The Basics of Life and Death | $11.99 | one-time |
| Joseki Revolution | $11.99 | one-time |
| Life and Death | $11.99 | one-time |
| A Survey of the Basic Tesujis | $11.99 | one-time |
| Tesuji | $11.99 | one-time |
| AlphaGo to Zero, vol. 4 | $14.99 | one-time |
| Trouble Master, volume 2 | $14.99 | one-time |
| Trouble Master, volume 1 | $14.99 | one-time |
| AlphaGo to Zero, Vol. 2 | $14.99 | one-time |
| Invincible | $24.99 | one-time |
| Essential Go Proverbs | $24.99 | one-time |
| Pro – Lifetime Unlock | $99.00 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Awesome app
- 👍 Great for playing and learning Go
- 📚 Excellent integration with Go books
- 🔍 Powerful analysis and review features
- 💻 Seamless experience across devices

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
- 🤔 Unintuitive user interface for beginners
- 💰 Paywall for full 19x19 board and some features
- 🤖 AI too strong for novice players

**Reported bugs**

- Illegal move detection issues on certain board positions
- Problems with missing variations or incorrect answers
- Inconsistent behavior when passing moves

**Requested features**

- Add read-only mode
- Improve move suggestion explanations
- Introduce difficulty settings for AI
- Integrate online play functionality
- Provide more randomness in AI moves


### BadukPop Go

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/badukpop-go/id1472684271)

Learn the ancient board game Go with interactive lessons, daily puzzles, and AI opponents. Play against players worldwide and track your progress. Suitable for all skill levels, from beginner to professional.

**Highlights:** Interactive Go lessons for all levels, Over 4,000 Go problems (Tsumego), Play against AI opponents of varying strengths, Online play with global leaderboard, Correspondence games with friends, Automatic scoring for online games

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (7)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BadukPop Pro | $6.99 | per month |
| BadukPop Pro (1 Year) | $49.99 | per year |
| Pack of BadukPop Coins | $0.99 | one-time |
| Pack of BadukPop Coins | $4.99 | one-time |
| Pack of BadukPop Coins | $9.99 | one-time |
| Pack of BadukPop Coins | $19.99 | one-time |
| Pack of BadukPop Coins | $39.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Beginner-friendly
- 🚀 Excellent learning tools
- 💡 Great for practicing and improving
- 👍 User-friendly interface
- 👍 Helpful tutorials and explanations

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 AI resigns too early
- 🔒 Paywall for advanced features
- 🐛 Inconsistent difficulty levels
- 🐛 Lack of explanations for puzzle solutions

**Reported bugs**

- Paid subscription not working as expected
- Notifications causing music playback issues

**Requested features**

- More detailed explanations for puzzles and lessons
- Ability to review past games
- Option to disable AI resignations
- Improved matchmaking system


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SmartGo One free?

SmartGo One is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is BadukPop Go free?

BadukPop Go is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, SmartGo One or BadukPop Go?

SmartGo One and BadukPop Go are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.9K and 6.8K ratings respectively.

### Do SmartGo One or BadukPop Go have ads?

Neither SmartGo One nor BadukPop Go shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SmartGo One or BadukPop Go?

SmartGo One ships an update every 2 weeks, and BadukPop Go every 2 months. Most recently, SmartGo One was updated on September 22, 2026 and BadukPop Go on September 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*