Comparison

SmartGo One vs Go

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

Head to head
About

SmartGo One

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
Read full description

SmartGo One is the only Go app you’ll need, whether you’re just getting started or already a seasoned player. Learn, play, study, and improve with SmartGo One. Experience the ancient game of Go on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac in a whole new way. Also known as igo (囲碁), wéiqí (围棋), or baduk (바둑), Go begins with an empty board that gradually fills as players surround territory and capture stones. Start with a 9x9 board and move up to 13x13 and 19x19 as your skills grow. SmartGo One adapts to your strength, automatically adjusting handicaps so games remain competitive and enjoyable. And when you’re ready for a serious challenge, the powerful KataGo-based engine delivers strong, rewarding play. But SmartGo One is far more than a way to play Go. Read interactive Go books while replaying the moves they describe to deepen your understanding. Explore a collection of more than 138,000 professional game records spanning both modern and historical masters. Improve your reading and decision-making skills with a growing library of Go problems and tutorials. Want to know how a master would handle a position on your board? SmartGo’s pattern matching technology compares your game with historical pro games and shows how strong players approached similar situations. No matter your level, SmartGo One helps you continue improving. Features include: • 9x9, 11x11, 13x13, and 19x19 board sizes • Powerful KataGo-based engine • Fast and responsive gameplay • Manual or automatic handicap adjustment • Record, annotate, and edit your games • Territory estimator • Hints and move analysis • Undo and replay controls • Tutorial with over 100 problems • Extensive user manual We value your privacy and only collect the minimum information necessary to make our apps work well for you. Learn more at https://smartgo.com/privacy.html. This app is licensed under Apple’s standard Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Go

Engage in a strategic board game where the goal is to surround more territory than your opponent. Capture enemy stones by surrounding them. The game concludes when both players consecutively pass their turn.

Highlights
  • Surround territory to win
  • Capture surrounded enemy stones
  • Game ends on consecutive passes
  • Deep territory analysis
  • Convenient move navigation
  • Pleasant gameplay and interface
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

A logical game with a deep strategic content and simple rules: — The winner is the one who will surround more territory — A stone or a group of enemy stones that you have surrounded with your stones is removed from the board. — The game ends when both players in turn skip the turn Features: — Deep analysis of territories — Convenient navigation on the moves — Pleasant gameplay and interface

Screenshots

SmartGo One4 screens
Go4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SmartGo One at Free against Go's $1.99. SmartGo One also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 45 months) and ratings volume (1.9K vs 1). Go's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 46) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On ads 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

SmartGo One is free to download; Go costs $1.99 up front. SmartGo One sells 46 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Go asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Go holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmartGo One has 1.9K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 77% of SmartGo One's written reviews are positive against 63% of Go's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SmartGo One ships an update every 2 weeks, Go every 45 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
SmartGo One versus Go: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmartGo OneGo
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.8 (1.9K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.5% of reviews — better62.5% of reviews
Number of ratings1.9K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 45 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#179 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size140 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmart Go, Inc.Stepan Grachev

Customer experience

SmartGo One

All ratings1,914 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral2.2%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews166 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral8.4%
Negative15.1%

Go

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative25.0%

Bugs and requests

SmartGo One

Reported bugs

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

Requested features

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

Go

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

46 purchases

SmartGo One

Subscriptions2
  • SmartGo One Pro – Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Pro Games and Features14 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time44
  • Just Enough Japanese 1Free
  • Key Concepts in Life and Death$2.99
  • Go Problems Master Collection$3.99
Show 41 more
  • Go Problems Add-on 2: Medium$3.99
  • Go Problems Add-on 1: Easy$3.99
  • Go Problems Add-on 3: Hard$3.99
  • Counting Liberties$4.99
  • The Monkey Jump$4.99
  • Double Digit Kyu Games$5.99
  • Go: A Complete Introduction$5.99
  • How Not to Play Go$5.99
  • Encyclopedia of Go Principles$5.99
  • Want to Play Go? Level 1$5.99
  • Black to Play 30-25 Kyu$5.99
  • The Workshop Lectures 1$5.99
  • Rethinking Opening Strategy$6.99
  • Learn to Play Go 1$7.99
  • Learn to Play Go 2$7.99
  • Learn to Play Go 3$7.99
  • Correct Joseki$7.99
  • “The Theory of Go”$7.99
  • Learn to Play Go 4$7.99
  • Buddhist Philosophy Game of Go$8.99
  • Graded Go Problems 1$9.99
  • Graded Go Problems 2$9.99
  • Want to Play Go? Level 2$9.99
  • Basic Techniques of Go$9.99
  • Graded Go Problems 3$9.99
  • Get Strong at Life and Death$9.99
  • Mastering Mini Go by Mark Tomlinson$11.99
  • Fuseki Revolution$11.99
  • Fundamental Principles of Go$11.99
  • The Basics of Life and Death$11.99
  • Joseki Revolution$11.99
  • Life and Death$11.99
  • A Survey of the Basic Tesujis$11.99
  • Tesuji$11.99
  • AlphaGo to Zero, vol. 4$14.99
  • Trouble Master, volume 2$14.99
  • Trouble Master, volume 1$14.99
  • AlphaGo to Zero, Vol. 2$14.99
  • Invincible$24.99
  • Essential Go Proverbs$24.99
  • Pro – Lifetime Unlock$99.00
None

Go

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SmartGo One free?
SmartGo One is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Go free?
Go costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SmartGo One or Go?
Go is rated higher. SmartGo One averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while Go averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do SmartGo One or Go have ads?
Neither SmartGo One nor Go shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SmartGo One or Go?
SmartGo One ships an update every 2 weeks, and Go every 45 months. Most recently, SmartGo One was updated on September 22, 2026 and Go on September 21, 2026.

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