Comparison

Chess.com vs Safari Chess

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 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.

Highlights
  • Online multiplayer chess
  • Over 1 million chess puzzles
  • Hundreds of chess lessons
  • Play against AI opponents
  • Chess variant modes
  • Game analysis tools
  • Community leaderboards
Features
Read 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

About

Safari Chess

Engage in a strategic board game with animal-themed pieces. Challenge friends online or test your skills against AI opponents of varying difficulty. Enjoy smooth graphics, engaging animations, and a polished gameplay experience suitable for all ages.

Highlights
  • Single player AI challenges
  • Online multiplayer with friends
  • Local 2-player mode
  • Customizable emotes
  • Collectible achievements
  • Cross-platform online play
  • Game log and replay
Features
Read full description

* 5 Stars Recommended by Tencent Games Play 'Safari Chess' which is also commonly known as Dou Shou Qi, Jungle Chess, or Animals Chess with anyone from all around the world. Play the multiplayer mode online with friends or try the single player mode to challenge and ultimately defeat the Dragon Master. Smooth and appealing graphics, animation suitable for all age groups. With great sound finish to the game, it is definitely a highly polished game and worth checking out. Features: • Single player with multiple difficulty AI levels suitable from beginners to advanced players. • Play live, compete online with friends or anyone from around the world. • Support 2 players to play against each other on the same device. • Custom emotes to express yourself to your friends or opponents alike. • Unique Safari Chess's achievements crests to be collected. • Cross-platform online multiplayer. • Online multiplayer game log and replay.

Screenshots

Chess.com4 screens
Safari Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Safari Chess at none against Chess.com's 10. Safari Chess also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 64%) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). Chess.com's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (872K vs 88). On price, ads and device support 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 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Safari Chess asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess.com holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess.com has 872K ratings behind it against 88, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 64% of Chess.com's written reviews are positive against 77% of Safari Chess's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess.com ships an update weekly, Safari Chess monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Chess.com versus Safari Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess.comSafari Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (872K ratings) — better4.4 (88 ratings)
Positive reviews64.4% of reviews76.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings872K — better88
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
Best chart rank#1 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size456 MB59 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChess.comWindigig

Customer experience

Chess.com

All ratings867,042 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral1.5%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews9,361 reviews
Positive64.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative29.7%

Safari Chess

All ratings88 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral3.4%
Negative10.2%
Written reviews47 reviews
Positive76.6%
Neutral4.3%
Negative19.1%

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

Safari Chess

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Chess.com

Subscriptions10
  • Gold Membership7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Gold Membership7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Platinum Membership7 Days trial$6.991 Month
Show 7 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$79.991 Year
  • Diamond Membership7 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • Diamond Membership7 Days trial$119.991 Year
None

Safari Chess

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess.com free?
Chess.com is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Safari Chess free?
Safari Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess.com or Safari Chess?
Chess.com is rated higher. Chess.com averages 4.8 out of 5 from 872K ratings, while Safari Chess averages 4.4 from 88 ratings.
Do Chess.com or Safari Chess have ads?
Both Chess.com and Safari Chess show ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess.com or Safari Chess?
Chess.com ships an update weekly, and Safari Chess monthly. Most recently, Chess.com was updated on November 6, 2026 and Safari Chess on November 1, 2026.

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