Chess.com vs PULSE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chess.com
Engage in chess with millions globally through online matches, tournaments, and lessons. Improve your skills with over a million puzzles, powerful bot opponents, and detailed game analysis. Explore various chess variants and track your progress with in-depth statistics.
- Online multiplayer chess
- Over 1 million chess puzzles
- Hundreds of chess lessons
- Play against AI opponents
- Chess variant modes
- Game analysis tools
- Community leaderboards
Read full descriptionHide full description
Play chess lessons online with over 280 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 1,000,000+ 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 1,000,000 + 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
PULSE
Place magnets to attract or repel a steel ball, guiding it into a goal. This physics-based puzzle game features 54 handcrafted levels with increasing difficulty and unique elements like portals and mines. Earn coins, use power-ups, and enjoy stunning sci-fi visuals.
- Place attract and repel magnets
- Guide steel ball into goal
- 54 handcrafted levels
- Real physics simulation
- Power-ups like Slow Time and X-Ray Path
- Earn coins and daily bonuses
- Sci-fi visuals and haptic feedback
Read full descriptionHide full description
PULSE — Magnetic Puzzle Think you understand magnets? Think again. Place attract and repel magnets on the field to guide a steel ball into the goal. Simple to learn, impossible to put down. HOW IT WORKS • Tap to place magnets — red attracts, blue repels • Drag to reposition, tap to remove • Press Launch and watch the ball follow real magnetic physics • Reach the green goal to complete the level 54 HAND-CRAFTED LEVELS Progress through 5 chapters of increasing difficulty: — First Contact: Learn the basics — Precision: Smaller targets, tighter paths — Chaos: Multiple forces, complex paths — Portals: Teleporters, bumpers, and tight gaps — Mastery: Mines, Faraday shields, and the ultimate challenge REAL PHYSICS ELEMENTS • Magnetic field visualization with force arrows • Trajectory prediction shows where the ball will go • Portals teleport the ball across the field • Bumpers bounce the ball like a pinball machine • Magnetic mines explode on contact — avoid them! • Faraday zones block all magnetic forces — plan your angle carefully POWER-UPS • Slow Time — doubles your timer • Extra Magnet — one more than the level allows • X-Ray Path — see the exact trajectory for 3 seconds • Heat Map — visualize field strength in color EARN & COLLECT • Earn coins by completing levels with top ratings • Daily bonus coins every day you play • Watch optional ads for extra coins • Star ratings based on speed — think fast, launch smart BEAUTIFUL DESIGN • Stunning sci-fi visuals with particle effects • Satisfying ball-in-hole animation • Smooth 60fps gameplay • Haptic feedback on every interaction • Full iPad support with adaptive layout No wifi required. No accounts. Just pure magnetic puzzle fun. Can you master all 54 levels with 3 stars?
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Chess.com at 64% against PULSE's 0%. Chess.com also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (874K vs 1). On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. Chess.com sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and PULSE sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Chess.com holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess.com has 874K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Chess.com's written reviews are positive against 0% of PULSE's.
| Parameter | Chess.com | PULSE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (874K ratings) — better | 3.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 64.4% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 874K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | — |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #1 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 456 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chess.com | Andrey Kiselev |
Customer experience
Chess.com
PULSE
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
PULSE
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Chess.com
- Gold Membership7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Gold Membership7 Days trial$6.991 Month
- Platinum Membership7 Days trial$6.991 Month
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- 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$79.991 Year
- Diamond Membership7 Days trial$99.991 Year
- Diamond Membership7 Days trial$119.991 Year
PULSE
- 100 Coins$0.99
- Remove Ads$2.99
- 500 Coins$3.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- 1500 Coins$9.99









