Comparison

ChessUp vs ChessCoda

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

Head to head
About

ChessUp

This app enhances your chess experience with a smart chessboard. It offers game archives, analysis, and live AI assistance. Connect to play remote opponents on various platforms.

Highlights
  • Chess game archives
  • Game analysis
  • Live AI assistance
  • Remote opponent play
  • BLE connectivity
Features
Read full description

ChessUp is a companion app for the ChessUp smart chessboard. The app provides chess game archives and analysis. The app can link with the chessboard over BLE to provide live Ai assistance. The app can also provide an internet connection for the board in order to play remote chess opponents on various chess platforms.

About

ChessCoda

Features
Read full description

ChessCoda is chess coaching from your own games. Your AI Coach finds the moment that decided each game, explains what you missed in plain language, and turns it into practice. REVIEWS THAT TALK YOU THROUGH IT Import your games from Lichess or Chess.com, or play right in the app. Every game is analyzed by the ChessCoda Coach Engine. Your coach talks you through the key moments on the live board: what happened, why you missed it, and what to play instead. TWENTY OPPONENTS, ONE AT YOUR LEVEL Spar any time against twenty opponents rated 800 to 2000, each with a style of their own: attackers, tricksters, grinders and strategists. They play the moves a real person at their rating would play, not perfect engine chess. Finished games land in your library and get reviewed like any other game. DRILLS FROM YOUR OWN GAMES An endless stream of puzzles built from the mistakes you actually make, themed around what your coach wants you to sharpen next. The positions you got wrong come back until the pattern sticks. INSIGHTS THAT TRACK YOUR PROGRESS See your recurring weaknesses and how they change over time, which phase of the game costs you the most, and your opening repertoire with the move where you usually leave theory. HONEST BY DESIGN We can't promise rating points. Nobody honestly can. What we promise is that you'll always know the single most useful thing to work on next. FREE AND PLUS Free: analysis of every game with accuracy and move-quality marks, puzzles at your level, progress insights, one coached review and 10 Coach games each week. Plus: the one lesson of every game and why it happened, reviews your coach picks for you plus 2 of your choice each week, deeper Insights into your leaks, and practice drills built from your own mistakes. Available monthly or yearly. Subscriptions are billed to your Apple Account and renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of Service: https://chesscoda.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://chesscoda.com/privacy

Screenshots

ChessUp4 screens
ChessCoda4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ChessUp at none against ChessCoda's 2. ChessCoda's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. ChessCoda sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. ChessUp asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ChessUp ships an update every 2 weeks, ChessCoda weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
ChessUp versus ChessCoda: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessUpChessCoda
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (2.7K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews54.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings2.7K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size218 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBryght Labs Inc.Maritacas OÜ

Bugs and requests

ChessUp

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Moves not registering
  • Bluetooth connectivity issues
  • Crashes and freezes
  • Sync issues between app and board
  • Lessons not working properly
Show 1 more
  • Chess.com integration problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add chess openings lessons
  • Implement position setup and export/import
  • Add post-game review mechanism
  • Improve AI difficulty scaling
  • Add chess puzzles

ChessCoda

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

ChessUp

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

ChessCoda

Subscriptions2
  • Plus Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Plus Yearly$49.001 Year

Questions

Is ChessUp free?
ChessUp is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ChessCoda free?
ChessCoda is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ChessUp or ChessCoda have ads?
Neither ChessUp nor ChessCoda shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ChessUp or ChessCoda?
ChessUp ships an update every 2 weeks, and ChessCoda weekly. Most recently, ChessUp was updated on October 22, 2026 and ChessCoda on October 14, 2026.

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