Comparison

Deep Green vs SpellbookMaster

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

Head to head
About

Deep Green

This app provides a classical chess experience with a clean, native interface and customizable piece designs. It supports open game formats, offers a unique chess engine with adjustable strength, and features a private, ad-free environment.

Highlights
  • Clean, native user interface
  • Customizable chess piece designs
  • Open game format (PGN/FEN)
  • Adjustable strength chess engine
  • Private and ad-free experience
  • System-level integration
Read full description

A no-nonsense classical chess app. - CLEAN UI: Deep Green offers a distraction-free experience in a clean, native user interface, with Liquid Glass on iOS 26 and later. - CUSTOM PIECE DESIGN: Beautiful chess set designed specifically for Deep Green and rendered at high resolution in both outline and 3D throughout the app. - MADE FOR IPAD: Dedicated menu bar, multiple windows, and refined trackpad, mouse, and Apple Pencil support. Squares highlight as you hover over the board. - MADE FOR IPHONE DUO: Adapts to both displays and every pose. The board centers on the fold like a folding chess board, and the game controls follow the system into the vertical bar. - TIGHT SYSTEM INTEGRATION: System-level sharing, drag and drop, AirDrop, undo/redo, contextual menus, Quick Look previews of chess files, Dark Mode, high contrast support and more. - OPEN GAME FORMAT: Games can be shared, saved, copied, pasted, imported, exported in the ubiquitous, open source PGN and FEN formats. Deep Green can open chess files straight from the Files app. - UNIQUE CHESS ENGINE: Enjoyable opponent with adjustable strength, praised for its humane gameplay, developed for Deep Green on the Apple Newton more than 25 years ago. - TWEAKABLE APPEARANCE: Engage the knights in the game by having them turn towards the center of the board, apply a humane, slightly random placement of the pieces. - IN YOUR LANGUAGE: Available in English, German, and Danish. - MODERN ARCHITECTURE: Written in Swift as a fully native app – modern, maintainable, and prepared for the future. - PRIVATE, AD-FREE: No ads, no tracking, no analytics, no nonsense. If you like Deep Green, please rate it favorably on the App Store.

About

SpellbookMaster

This app provides quick access to Dungeons & Dragons v3.5 and Pathfinder RPG spells. Easily browse, search, and import spells from reference sites or text files. Share spellbooks across devices and edit them on a Mac.

Highlights
  • Fast spell lookup
  • Browse by name, level, domain, class
  • Search by any term
  • Import d20 System Reference spells
  • Import Pathfinder reference spells
  • Import custom spells from text files
  • Share spellbooks across devices
Features
Read full description

Spells at your fingertips. Literally. The Killer App for D&D v3.5 (d20) and Pathfinder RPG Gamers SpellbookMaster for iPhone and iPad makes it easy to find Dungeons & Dragons v3.5 (d20) and Pathfinder spells fast and see detailed information for them. You can browse spells by name, level, domain and class. For each class, see spells sorted by name or by level for easy access. Searching allows you to find spells by any search term. To get you started, SpellbookMaster can automatically import d20 System Reference spells from www.systemreferencedocuments.org or Pathfinder reference spells from d20pfsrd.com. You can also import your own spells from text files. Spellbooks can be shared among iPhones, iPod touches and iPads using the application. Spells can be edited on a Mac running SpellbookMaster for Mac 2.3, a free application, and then imported to the iOS app. See http://petteri.kamppuri.fidisk.fi/spellbookmaster/ for more information. Dungeons and Dragons is a registered trademark of Wizards of the Coast. Pathfinder is a registered trademark of Paizo Publishing, LLC.

Screenshots

Deep Green4 screens
SpellbookMaster4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: SpellbookMaster at free against Deep Green's paid. SpellbookMaster also leads on rating (4.2 vs 3.9) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.4). Deep Green's advantage is ratings volume (76 vs 6). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SpellbookMaster holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Deep Green has 76 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 66% of Deep Green's written reviews are positive against 60% of SpellbookMaster's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Deep Green ships an update every 4 months, SpellbookMaster every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Deep Green versus SpellbookMaster: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDeep GreenSpellbookMaster
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (76 ratings)4.2 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.0% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings76 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 7 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.413.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCocoa StuffPetteri Kamppuri

Customer experience

Deep Green

All ratings76 ratings
Positive71.1%
Neutral5.3%
Negative23.7%
Written reviews212 reviews
Positive66.0%
Neutral9.9%
Negative24.1%

SpellbookMaster

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews60 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral18.3%
Negative21.7%

User reviews

Deep Green

From 76 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Elegant and polished design
  • 🤖 Strong chess engine
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 🎨 Beautiful graphics and animations
  • 🕹️ Smooth gameplay and controls

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • ⚠️ Lack of features (e.g. game saving, online play)
  • 🔍 Difficulty settings too challenging for some users
  • 🔕 Missing audio/sound effects
  • 📏 Board/pieces not optimized for larger screens

SpellbookMaster

From 6 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Nice interface
  • 📚 Complete spell list
  • 💰 No add-ons needed
  • ⏳ Time saver
  • 🖱️ Smooth interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Mac app no longer works
  • 💰 Expensive ($8)
  • 🤷 Limited spell downloads (basic SRD)
  • 🐛 Default references don't download
  • 🐛 Pathfinder Spellbook not updating

Bugs and requests

Deep Green

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes when promoting pawns
  • Board orientation issues when rotating device
  • Unresponsive UI elements
  • Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Game saving and loading functionality
  • Online/multiplayer mode
  • Customizable board/piece themes
  • Difficulty settings for beginners
  • Indicators for check, checkmate, and draw

SpellbookMaster

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • Mac app no longer works on newest MacOS
  • Default references don't download correctly
  • Pathfinder Spellbook not updating
  • Spell names listed as website URLs
  • Tables in spell descriptions not formatted correctly
Show 12 more
  • Pathfinder RPG descriptions gone
  • App crashes when hitting Spellbooks
  • App crashes when opening
  • Cannot create spellbook on iPad
  • SRD files imported incorrectly (Saving Throws and SR omitted or mixed up)
  • Cannot get new spells
  • Crashes when hitting the spellbook button
  • Some spell names are listed as a website url
  • Some of the very new spells are not in it
  • Corrupted spell books from d20 data import
  • Cannot delete corrupted spell books
  • App crashes when opening or hitting spellbook button

Requested features

29 requests
  • Create new Mac version
  • Better filter system (level, class, school simultaneously)
  • Keep track of prepared/used spells
  • Mark used spells
  • Ability to create multiple spellbooks
Show 24 more
  • Save spellbook by character
  • Prep and cast spells tracking
  • Track spell components
  • Windows PC compatible desktop app
  • Create custom spell lists
  • Filter by all three filters at once
  • Create spell books within the application
  • Add spells to spell books
  • Ability to input spells on iPod Touch
  • Differentiate spells into known and not known
  • Mark/check spells and toggle view
  • Ability to input character stats, class, domains
  • Better ways to add/modify spells individually
  • Easier ways to add additional spellbooks
  • Searches across multiple spellbooks
  • Delete individual spells
  • Delete spellbooks
  • Add spells from expanded source books (Spell Compendium, etc.)
  • Add invocations and psionics
  • Make a 4th Ed version
  • Add powers of classes and races for 4th edition D&D
  • Add more spells
  • Create and save customized spell lists for characters
  • Mark when spells are used and reset when rested

In-app purchases

None

Deep Green

No in-app purchases

None

SpellbookMaster

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Deep Green free?
Deep Green is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SpellbookMaster free?
SpellbookMaster is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Deep Green or SpellbookMaster?
SpellbookMaster is rated higher. Deep Green averages 3.9 out of 5 from 76 ratings, while SpellbookMaster averages 4.2 from 6 ratings.
Do Deep Green or SpellbookMaster have ads?
Neither Deep Green nor SpellbookMaster shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Deep Green or SpellbookMaster?
Deep Green ships an update every 4 months, and SpellbookMaster every 7 months. Most recently, Deep Green was updated on October 14, 2026 and SpellbookMaster on October 17, 2026.

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