Comparison

Deep Green vs Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles

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

Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles

Easily log and organize your chess games with an intuitive interface. Track your win rates, export games in standard formats, and solve puzzles from Lichess. Ideal for players and coaches to manage and analyze their matches.

Highlights
  • Intuitive game recording
  • Standard game export
  • Win rate statistics
  • Match organization
  • Lichess puzzle solver
  • Minimalist design
Features
Read full description

Take your chess record-keeping to the next level with Chess Journal. Whether you’re a casual player or a tournament competitor, this app is designed to help you log your chess games quickly and efficiently, with some extra features sprinkled all over. Key Features: • Game Recording Made Simple: Make the moves of your chess games in an intuitive and easy-to-use interface without needing to write down the notation • Export with Ease: Export your recorded games in standard formats for sharing or analysis. • View Statistics: Check how often you crushed your opponent or what your win rate is. • Organize Your Matches: Keep all your chess games neatly organized and accessible at any time. • Solve puzzles: Sourced from Lichess, you can solve as many puzzles as you want in different game modes. • Minimalist Design: Focused on functionality, with a clean and distraction-free interface. Ideal for players and coaches looking to track progress, revisit past matches, or share games with friends and colleagues. Chess Journal is your chess game companion, simplifying the way you record and manage your games.

Screenshots

Deep Green4 screens
Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles at free against Deep Green's paid. Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 66%) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 4 months). Deep Green's advantage is ratings volume (77 vs 1) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.1). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.9 for Deep Green against 4.0 for Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Deep Green has 77 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 66% of Deep Green's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Deep Green ships an update every 4 months, Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Deep Green versus Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDeep GreenChess Journal, Clock & Puzzles
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (77 ratings)4.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings77 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.1
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCocoa StuffORFEO ISAIAH KAPLOW

Customer experience

Deep Green

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

Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Deep Green

No in-app purchases

None

Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Deep Green free?
Deep Green is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles free?
Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Deep Green or Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles?
Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles is rated higher. Deep Green averages 3.9 out of 5 from 77 ratings, while Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Deep Green or Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles have ads?
Neither Deep Green nor Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Deep Green or Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles?
Deep Green ships an update every 4 months, and Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles every 9 days. Most recently, Deep Green was updated on October 31, 2026 and Chess Journal, Clock & Puzzles on November 4, 2026.

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