Comparison

Chess.com vs Tower Clock

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

Tower Clock

A digital companion for physical brick-stacking games, this app introduces new rules and time-based challenges. Compete against friends and the clock in a fun, interactive way.

Highlights
  • Companion app for physical games
  • New game rules
  • Timed challenges
  • Multiplayer support
  • Stacking gameplay
Read full description

Play a tower-stacking game with your friends using the new rules and compete against the clock. This application is designed to be used in companion with any physical wooden brick-stacking board game.

Screenshots

Chess.com4 screens
Tower Clock2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Chess.com at Free against Tower Clock's $1.99. Chess.com also leads on rating (4.8 vs 1.0) and update cadence (weekly vs every 23 months). Tower Clock's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 12) and ads (none vs shown). On device support and iOS requirement 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

Chess.com is free to download; Tower Clock costs $1.99 up front. Chess.com sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Tower Clock asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess.com holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess.com has 827K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess.com ships an update weekly, Tower Clock every 23 months. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Chess.com versus Tower Clock: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess.comTower Clock
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.8 (827K ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews64.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings827K — better1
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 23 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#6 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size445 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChess.comAdam Kopec

Customer experience

Chess.com

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

Tower Clock

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

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

Tower Clock

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

Tower Clock

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess.com free?
Chess.com is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tower Clock free?
Tower Clock costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess.com or Tower Clock?
Chess.com is rated higher. Chess.com averages 4.8 out of 5 from 827K ratings, while Tower Clock averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Chess.com or Tower Clock have ads?
Chess.com shows ads; Tower Clock does not.
Which is updated more often, Chess.com or Tower Clock?
Chess.com ships an update weekly, and Tower Clock every 23 months. Most recently, Chess.com was updated on October 1, 2026 and Tower Clock on June 1, 2026.

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