Comparison

Chess with Friends vs Plan by Bone Dog Studios

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

Head to head
About

Chess with Friends

Engage in the classic game of chess with friends or solo. Learn the basics, test your skills against AI, and participate in daily challenges. This app fosters a community for chess enthusiasts of all levels.

Highlights
  • Play online with friends
  • Challenge friends directly
  • Play against the computer
  • Matchmaking
  • Daily Challenges
  • Learn chess basics
Features
Read full description

Chess with Friends is the chess app that fits how you actually play - a quick game against the computer, a long-distance match with a friend, a daily puzzle on your commute, or a face-to-face game on one phone. Powered by the Stockfish engine and playable completely offline, it's free to download and easy to start. FIVE WAYS TO PLAY - Play Computer - five difficulty levels powered by Stockfish, from your very first game to master strength. Works fully offline, no internet needed. - Online Match - get paired with a real opponent and play at your own pace. Elo-rated matchmaking finds someone near your level. - Private Multiplayer - invite a friend with a code and play your own game, wherever they are. - Over the Board - pass-and-play on a single device, perfect for teaching or a quick game in person. - Daily Challenge - a fresh chess puzzle every day to sharpen your tactics. REAL CHESS, DONE RIGHT - Full rules: castling, en passant, pawn promotion with a piece picker, check, checkmate, stalemate, threefold repetition and the 50-move rule. - Elo ratings that update after every game so you can watch yourself improve. - A scrolling move-history strip and inline Check / Checkmate status, so you always know where you stand. - Smooth piece animations, satisfying move and capture sounds, and haptic feedback. MAKE THE BOARD YOURS - Choose from multiple board themes with a live preview. - Swap in different piece sets to match your style. - Light and dark mode that follows your system automatically. - Play in your language - available in 11 languages. MEMBERSHIP (optional) Go completely ad-free and unlock exclusive board themes, piece sets and member perks for just $1.99/month. The full game is free to play without it. Whether you're a complete beginner learning how the pieces move or a club player hunting for a real challenge, Chess with Friends always has a board waiting. Download free and make your move.

About

Plan by Bone Dog Studios

Features
Read full description

Plan is a calendar built for the way your week actually works — your own schedule, the people in it, and the customers who book you. YOUR CALENDAR • Month, week, and day timeline views that stay fast • Events, multi-day and overnight events, and all-day items • A live "now" line and one-tap jump back to today • Works offline — your calendar is cached on device, so it opens before the network does • Light and dark themes YOUR PEOPLE • Connect with family and friends by link or QR code • Two privacy tiers: family and friends see different levels of detail on your events • Groups with a shared calendar everyone can see • Propose an event to someone and let them accept or decline — no group-chat scheduling • Push notifications for invites, responses, and changes YOUR WORK • Build a work schedule that matches real life: weekly, rotational, or hitch rotations • Set availability and day-by-day overrides • Optional biometric lock on the app FOR BUSINESSES Plan Business turns your calendar into a booking system: • A public profile customers can find and book from • Services with your own durations and pricing • Client list with per-client service overrides • Appointment requests that respect your real availability, so you can't be double-booked • Separate business and personal views of the same day Plan Business is a subscription. A free trial is included, and you can use everything else in Plan free, forever, without it. PRIVACY Your calendar is yours. Detail visibility is set per connection tier, and you can delete your account and all of its data from inside the app at any time. Built by Bone Dog Studios. PLAN BUSINESS SUBSCRIPTION • Plan Business Monthly — $10.00 USD per month, auto-renewable • Plan Business Annual — $100.00 USD per year, auto-renewable A free trial is included. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://bonedogstudios.com/plan/terms Privacy Policy: https://bonedogstudios.com/plan/privacy

Screenshots

Chess with Friends4 screens
Plan by Bone Dog Studios4 screens

Verdict

The call

Chess with Friends and Plan by Bone Dog Studios are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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 with Friends sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Plan by Bone Dog Studios sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $10.00 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess with Friends ships an update every 2 weeks, Plan by Bone Dog Studios every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Chess with Friends versus Plan by Bone Dog Studios: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess with FriendsPlan by Bone Dog Studios
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (775 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings775 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.1 — better15.5
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB58 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDxT LLCBone Dog Studios LLC

Bugs and requests

Chess with Friends

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Unable to connect on search for games
  • Cannot get into the game
  • App kills music while playing
  • Malicious ads encountered
  • Subscription errors
Show 2 more
  • Stuck with no response from opponents
  • Matchmaking feature is a slow bot

Requested features

7 requests
  • Option for different style boards and pieces
  • Option for untimed matches
  • Restore personal stats vs. individual players
  • Restore general population rating system
  • Acknowledge practice puzzle completion
Show 2 more
  • Improve matchmaking for online play
  • Fix the issue of the app killing music

Plan by Bone Dog Studios

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Chess with Friends

Subscriptions1
  • DxT Membership$1.991 Month
One-time2
  • Buy us a coffee$1.99
  • Remove Ads$2.99
2 purchases

Plan by Bone Dog Studios

Subscriptions2
  • Plan Business — Monthly1 Month trial$10.001 Month
  • Plan Business — Annual1 Month trial$100.001 Year

Questions

Is Chess with Friends free?
Chess with Friends is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Plan by Bone Dog Studios free?
Plan by Bone Dog Studios is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chess with Friends or Plan by Bone Dog Studios have ads?
Neither Chess with Friends nor Plan by Bone Dog Studios shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess with Friends or Plan by Bone Dog Studios?
Chess with Friends ships an update every 2 weeks, and Plan by Bone Dog Studios every 11 days. Most recently, Chess with Friends was updated on October 27, 2026 and Plan by Bone Dog Studios on October 24, 2026.

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