Comparison

Chess.com vs Chess puzzles!

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

Head to head
About

Chess.com

Engage in online and offline chess matches with millions of players worldwide. Improve your skills through interactive lessons, over 500,000 puzzles, and powerful AI opponents. Compete in tournaments and explore various chess variants.

Highlights
  • Online multiplayer chess
  • Offline play against AI
  • Extensive puzzle library
  • Interactive chess lessons
  • Tournament participation
  • Chess variants
  • Game analysis
Features
Read full description

Play chess lessons online with over 265 million players from around the world! Chess is known as the best strategy board game in the world! Enjoy unlimited 3D offline pocket chess games and improve your chess rating with 500,000+ puzzles, more than 20 million chess games a day, lessons, and over 100 powerful bot opponents. Unlock your inner chess master today! PLAY CHESS ONLINE: - 2 Player online chess mode is entirely free to enjoy with your friends. - Join tournaments with players online or friends and become a master. - Play games in real-time from one minute per game to 30 minutes or longer with friends. - Review your strategy and game lessons and lay out daily correspondence in online chess. - Play exciting chess variants in our app: chess960 (Fischer-Random), blitz chess, puzzle rush, bullet chess, puzzle battle, or blindfold. CHESS PUZZLES: - Enjoy 500,000 + unique puzzles. - Rated mode automatically adjusts to your skill level to help you improve. - Race the clock with a timer to beat your high score in Puzzle Rush. - Practice puzzles with specific themes in this strategy board game (checkmate in 1, in 2, in 3, blindfold, endgames, fork, skewer, sacrifice, timer, etc.) CHESS LESSONS: - Hundreds of quality chess lessons and online videos made by masters (Learn and practice your skills with chess problems) - Interactive puzzles tutorials with tips and game recommendations. - Learn all the chess rules and strategies in a step-by-step lesson plan (opening, endgame...) CHESS COACHING: - Learn from helpful and immersive visual chess coach lessons. - Review your games with the coach and learn the strategy of the board game for every move. - Play games with the coach, who will guide you through the fundamentals move by move and provide helpful hints as you play. PLAY CHESS ONLINE AGAINST THE COMPUTER: - Choose the level of computer opponent you want to play and set a timer. - Analyze your chess games offline and learn to see where you went wrong and how you can improve. CHESS COMMUNITY: - Join a community of more than 200M online chess players. Find friends! - More than 20M games played each day. - Compete to get your own rating and try to join the best player online chess leaderboards against other players. - Watch the most popular superstars: Hikaru, GothamChess, or Magnus! ... and MUCH MORE: - Play chess games offline against the computer and the clock with a timer. - Articles by the best coaches and masters. - Explore openings like Queen´s Gambit or Sicilian Defense. - Challenge and play with your friends in an online chess game. - Choose from 20+ board themes and 3D pieces. - Get in-depth performance stats about your games, puzzles, and lessons. Playing pocket chess online has never been so easy! Chess.com is the place to play chess games online with your friends and other players! Share your suggestions and comments. Our support team is happy to help you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year! ABOUT CHESS.COM: Chess.com was created by chess players and people who love chess! Team: http://www.chess.com/about

About

Chess puzzles!

Engage in mind-teasing chess challenges designed for all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned players. Test your strategic thinking with various puzzle difficulties and enjoy a fun variation of the classic board game.

Highlights
  • Tutorial levels for beginners
  • Simple tap and drag controls
  • Mate in 1 challenges
  • Mate in 2 challenges
  • Alternate chess challenges
  • Categorized difficulty levels
Features
Read full description

Do you love chess & puzzle challenges? Well, you’ll love Chess Puzzles! This fun variation of the chess game includes mind-teasing challenges categorized in levels that are sure to test your chess skills and problem-solving thinking. Can you pass all levels? Great for anyone! From beginner to seasoned chess player! WHY YOU’LL LOVE CHESS PUZZLES! - Tutorial levels included (great for beginners) - Simple tap & dragging controls - Mate in 1, mate in 2 challenges and some alternate challenges - Cool variation of the classic board game Now, it’s chess puzzle time! Download the app for free!

Screenshots

Chess.com4 screens
Chess puzzles!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Chess puzzles! at none against Chess.com's shown. Chess puzzles! also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 64%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). Chess.com's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks) and ratings volume (827K vs 1.3K). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Chess.com sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Chess puzzles! sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Chess.com against 4.7 for Chess puzzles!. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess.com has 827K ratings behind it against 1.3K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 64% of Chess.com's written reviews are positive against 78% of Chess puzzles!'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess.com ships an update weekly, Chess puzzles! every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Chess.com versus Chess puzzles!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess.comChess puzzles!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (827K ratings) — better4.7 (1.3K ratings)
Positive reviews64.0% of reviews78.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings827K — better1.3K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#5 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size445 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChess.comErik Brandsma

Customer experience

Chess.com

All ratings827,408 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.5%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews8,491 reviews
Positive64.0%
Neutral5.9%
Negative30.1%

Chess puzzles!

All ratings1,305 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive78.0%
Neutral7.3%
Negative14.6%

User reviews

Chess.com

From 827K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent app for learning and improving chess skills
  • 🎓 Comprehensive lessons, puzzles, and analysis tools
  • 🌍 Large player base for quick matchmaking
  • 📊 Detailed game statistics and progress tracking
  • 💻 Seamless integration between mobile app and website

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent connection issues and game freezes
  • ⏱️ Unreliable and inconsistent game timers
  • 🔒 Lack of transparency around anti-cheating measures
  • 💰 Aggressive paywall for advanced features
  • 🤖 Subpar AI opponents with questionable move choices

Chess puzzles!

From 1.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Challenging and engaging puzzles
  • 👍 No ads or in-app purchases
  • 👍 Helpful for improving chess skills
  • 👍 Fun and enjoyable experience
  • 👍 Realistic and creative puzzles

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Some puzzles have no solution or are buggy
  • 🔍 Lack of explanations or feedback on wrong moves
  • 🔍 Repetitive puzzle types (e.g., queen sacrifices)
  • 🔍 Inefficient navigation between puzzles

Bugs and requests

Chess.com

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Incorrect move suggestions in game analysis
  • Inability to leave or manage chess clubs within the app
  • Puzzle mode crashing when attempting to reveal the solution
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between Wi-Fi and mobile data
  • Pieces not registering correctly on the board during gameplay

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to customize board and piece themes
  • Option to pause and resume games at a later time
  • Improved game analysis with more detailed explanations
  • Enhanced social features for interacting with other players
  • Offline mode for practicing puzzles and tactics

Chess puzzles!

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Puzzle with no solution ("Mate in 3 - Queen pack - AAAAAAAY-OH")
  • Puzzle solution not recognized ("you have one move only ;)")

Requested features

4 requests
  • Reset puzzle option
  • Next puzzle button
  • Ability to make wrong moves in puzzles
  • Puzzle solution hints or explanations

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Chess.com

Subscriptions12
  • Gold Membership7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Gold Membership7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Platinum Membership7 Days trial$6.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • Platinum Membership7 Days trial$10.991 Month
  • Diamond Membership7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Diamond Membership7 Days trial$16.991 Month
  • Gold Membership7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Platinum Membership7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Gold Membership7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Platinum Membership7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Diamond Membership7 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • Diamond Membership7 Days trial$119.991 Year
4 purchases

Chess puzzles!

One-time4
  • Fun pack!$0.99
  • Human vs machine$0.99
  • Funky moves$1.99
Show 1 more
  • Remove all ads$1.99

Questions

Is Chess.com free?
Chess.com is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess puzzles! free?
Chess puzzles! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess.com or Chess puzzles!?
Chess.com is rated higher. Chess.com averages 4.8 out of 5 from 827K ratings, while Chess puzzles! averages 4.7 from 1.3K ratings.
Do Chess.com or Chess puzzles! have ads?
Chess.com shows ads; Chess puzzles! does not.
Which is updated more often, Chess.com or Chess puzzles!?
Chess.com ships an update weekly, and Chess puzzles! every 6 weeks. Most recently, Chess.com was updated on September 30, 2026 and Chess puzzles! on September 28, 2026.

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