Comparison

Stockfish Chess vs Chessify

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

Head to head
About

Stockfish Chess

This free chess program offers a strong playing experience with adjustable difficulty and diverse play styles. It includes a comprehensive opening book, engine analysis, and the ability to set up custom positions. Users can save, load, and share games, and customize the visual appearance.

Highlights
  • Adjustable playing strength
  • Multiple play styles
  • Extensive opening book
  • Engine analysis display
  • Custom board position setup
  • Save and load games (PGN)
  • Customizable piece sets and colors
Features
Read full description

Strong free chess program. Features: * Free, but much stronger than most commercial iPhone chess apps! * Plays aggressive and dynamic chess, and is not afraid of sacrificing material for initiative or attacking chances. * Adjustable playing strength. * Choose between several styles of play: "Passive", "Solid", "Active", "Aggressive" or "Suicidal". * Big, deep and varied opening book. Choose between three levels of book variety. * Displays book moves and engine analysis, including search depth, evaluations and main lines. * Allows you to easily set up board positions. * Able to think during the opponent's time, for maximum playing strength (disabled by default, in order to save battery life). * Supports saving and loading games to PGN files, sending games by e-mail, and transferring PGN files between your device and your computer. * Play against the machine, or play both sides, with or without book moves and engine analysis displayed on the screen. * Choose from nine piece sets and eight color schemes. * Complete source code available under the GNU General Public License.

About

Chessify

This app offers advanced chess analysis tools, including a real-time chessboard scanner, powerful cloud-based engines, and a unique video finder. Analyze games, puzzles, and learn chess theory with comprehensive features for players of all levels.

Highlights
  • Real chessboard scanner
  • Superfast cloud chess engine analysis
  • Video finder for chess positions
  • Offline play against Stockfish
  • Opening Explorer with Lichess database
  • Import/export FEN/PGN
  • Online real-time Blitz
Features
Read full description

Chessify is an all-in-one chess platform built for players who want to improve with professional-level chess tools. Analyze with powerful cloud engines running on servers up to 1024 threads and 1 Billion NPS speed, explore databases of 12 million+ professional games, scan real chessboards and books, prepare openings, and review games from anywhere. Features that once required heavy desktop software are now available in a single mobile app designed for players of all levels. Whether you’re solving puzzles, training openings, or analyzing tournament games, Chessify combines advanced chess tools into one fast and easy-to-use experience. Features: ZIUK — YOUR AI CHESS ASSISTANT Ziuk is your AI chess assistant that helps you analyze games, understand positions, learn from mistakes, and explore openings. Unlike traditional chess engines that show you the best moves and evaluations, Ziuk explains the ideas behind them. Ask questions in your own language and get explanations that help you understand the game. Ziuk combines artificial intelligence, powerful chess engines, and Chessify’s analysis tools in one conversation. Connect your Chess.com or Lichess account to import your games and analyze them with Ziuk. - Powerful Cloud Engine Analysis Analyze with Stockfish 18, Lc0, Berserk, Caissa, Crystal, Patricia, Viridithas, AsmFish, ShashChess, Koivisto, RubiChess, and Sugar AI chess engines on cloud servers with up to 1024 threads, reaching up to 1BN/s speed. - Mega Database Search through 10 million+ professional FIDE-rated games with move statistics, player ratings, and opening trends. - Correspondence Chess Database Study the 2 Million+ official ICCF database games played with deep engine-assisted preparation. - Scan 2D & 3D Chessboards Scan real boards and diagrams from books or screens with high accuracy and instantly analyze the position with Stockfish 18. - Chess PDF Scanner Import chess PDF books and scan positions directly from pages for quick analysis and study. - Play Against Stockfish Challenge one of the world’s strongest chess engines with adjustable strength settings. Play from initial or any given position. - PGN & Move Notation Create analysis files with multiple variations and comments or import your existing files and review them with your phone at any time. - Save Games & Analysis Store your games, analysis, and studies locally or in the cloud and access them anytime. - Import, Export, and Share PGN/FEN Easily import your games or export positions and analysis to share with chess friends or students. Whether you’re a beginner, club player, coach, or grandmaster, Chessify provides powerful analysis and training tools for every stage of your chess journey. Privacy Policy: https://chessify.me/privacy-policy Terms of Use / End User License Agreement (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Stockfish Chess4 screens
Chessify4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Stockfish Chess at none against Chessify's 19. Stockfish Chess also leads on review sentiment (70% vs 46%) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 16.0). Chessify's advantage is rating (4.4 vs 4.0). On price, ratings volume, 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. Chessify sells 19 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Stockfish Chess asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chessify holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 219 and 398 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 70% of Stockfish Chess's written reviews are positive against 46% of Chessify's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Stockfish Chess versus Chessify: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStockfish ChessChessify
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (219 ratings)4.4 (398 ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.8% of reviews — better46.2% of reviews
Number of ratings219398 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS7.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB140 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTord RomstadChessify Inc.

Customer experience

Stockfish Chess

All ratings216 ratings
Positive72.2%
Neutral6.5%
Negative21.3%
Written reviews179 reviews
Positive69.8%
Neutral10.6%
Negative19.6%

Chessify

All ratings398 ratings
Positive85.4%
Neutral2.8%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews78 reviews
Positive46.2%
Neutral10.3%
Negative43.6%

Bugs and requests

Stockfish Chess

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Chessify

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Black screen in camera view during scanning
  • Scanning omits first or last rank of board
  • App crashes when loading images
  • Buttons not clickable on certain iOS versions
  • Position not recognized from screenshots
Show 7 more
  • App closes immediately after opening
  • Board rotation lock resets to landscape
  • Analysis not visible unless switching apps
  • Scanning fails 3 out of 5 times
  • Subscription billing issues (wrong tier shown)
  • App doesn't load past starting screen
  • Photo library order reversed for board photos

Requested features

12 requests
  • Add move comments and annotations capability
  • Board flip option during gameplay
  • Auto-save functionality to prevent position loss
  • Ability to edit and extend saved games
  • Tactics puzzle mode with move verification
Show 7 more
  • Automatic analysis on position scan
  • Lc0 engine option
  • iPad version support
  • Lichess app integration
  • Move sound toggle persistence
  • Better indication of which side has advantage
  • Depth control for analysis (stop at specific depth)

In-app purchases

None

Stockfish Chess

No in-app purchases

19 purchases

Chessify

Subscriptions10
  • Bronze 1 Month$0.991 Month
  • Silver 1 month$2.491 Month
  • Gold 1 Month$7.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • Bronze 12 months$7.991 Year
  • Amateur$12.991 Month
  • Silver 12 months$14.991 Year
  • Gold 12 months$49.991 Year
  • Master$59.991 Month
  • Amateur Yearly$129.991 Year
  • Master$559.991 Year
One-time9
  • SuperFast analysis - 1000 sec.$0.99
  • SuperFast analysis - 10000sec.$3.99
  • SuperFast analysis - 30000sec.$5.99
Show 6 more
  • Starter Pack$5.99
  • Standard Pack$11.49
  • SuperFast analysis - 100000sec$13.99
  • Popular Pack$29.49
  • SuperFast analysis - unlimited$34.99
  • Ultimate Pack$117.99

Questions

Is Stockfish Chess free?
Stockfish Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chessify free?
Chessify is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Stockfish Chess or Chessify?
Chessify is rated higher. Stockfish Chess averages 4.0 out of 5 from 219 ratings, while Chessify averages 4.4 from 398 ratings.
Do Stockfish Chess or Chessify have ads?
Neither Stockfish Chess nor Chessify shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stockfish Chess or Chessify?
Stockfish Chess ships an update monthly, and Chessify monthly. Most recently, Stockfish Chess was updated on October 23, 2026 and Chessify on October 22, 2026.

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