Pinochle vs Ultimate 500 Lite
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pinochle
Experience a full-featured card game with configurable options for single- or double-deck play. Enjoy bidding, melding, and trick-taking against AI opponents. Updates include user-suggested features and AI improvements.
- Single- or double-deck play
- Configurable bidding options
- Meld bids and shoot the moon
- Play with AI opponents
- User-suggested features
- AI improvements
Read full descriptionHide full description
Full-featured, ad-supported pinochle app for iPhone and iPad. Play single- or double-deck with configurable options including meld bids and shoot the moon. Pinochle is updated frequently with user-suggested features and AI improvements. Also available in the App Store is a paid version with NO advertising. Pinochle is a card game played with a 48- or 80-card deck of 9s, 10s, jacks, queens, kings and aces. The game consists of a repeating sequence of bidding (for the right to name the trump suit and optionally to pass cards), melding, and trick-taking. Players score points by melding various card combinations and by taking tricks. In this version, one human player (South) plays with a computer partner (North) and two computer opponents (West and East). BIDDING: Each player bids the number of points she thinks she can make with her hand. Player to the dealer's left is required to bid, and bidding proceeds to the left. Players who pass are out of the bidding for that hand. A typical high bid is 35 points (for 48 cards) or 60 (for 80 cards). High bidder names the trump suit for the hand and optionally exchanges cards with her partner. MELDING: Players get points by showing various card combinations. A run (or straight) in the trump suit is worth 15 points. Aces in all four suits is 10 points. Pinochle (queen of spades and jack of diamonds) is 4 points, or 30 points for double pinochle (two of each). TRICKS: Play begins with the high bidder, and proceeds around the table to the left, 4 cards per trick. Each trick has a winner, who gets 1 point per ace, ten or king. SCORING: If the high bidder fails to make the bid (his team's total meld plus trick points is less than the bid), the bid amount is subtracted from the team score. Play continues until one team goes out.
Ultimate 500 Lite
Enjoy a popular card game with intelligent AI opponents or challenge friends locally. Customize game rules, use personal photos for card tables, and track your progress with a local leaderboard. This version offers core gameplay with helpful features for an enhanced experience.
- Play against AI opponents
- Local multiplayer (pass and play)
- Customizable game rules
- Use personal photos for game visuals
- Undo feature
- Intelligent bid/play suggestions
- Local leaderboard
Read full descriptionHide full description
The free version of the ultimate 500 card game with following features: - - Play against intelligent AI opponents. - Play against friends on same device using pass and play - Take photo's or use images on your device to appear as your card table or the card's themselves! - Customise rules to allow different variations of your game as per the 500 wiki. - Undo feature after each move - Intelligent Suggest feature to recommend what to bid or even what card to play - Ability to control game pace between tricks and between games - Local leaderboard to keep track of all game statistics - Play in landscape or portrait on iPad with improved interface Any bugs, support questions or ideas for improvements please go to Facebook Community page http://www.facebook.com/ultimate500community
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Pinochle at 4.7 against Ultimate 500 Lite's 3.5. Pinochle also leads on review sentiment (54% vs 17%) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). Ultimate 500 Lite's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). 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
Both are free to download. Ultimate 500 Lite sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pinochle asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pinochle holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pinochle has 27K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of Pinochle's written reviews are positive against 17% of Ultimate 500 Lite's.
Pinochle ships an update monthly, Ultimate 500 Lite every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pinochle | Ultimate 500 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (27K ratings) — better | 3.5 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 53.6% of reviews — better | 17.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 27K — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 38 MB | 79 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | fishdog.net | Mark Deitch |
Customer experience
Pinochle
Ultimate 500 Lite
Bugs and requests
Pinochle
Reported bugs
4 issues- Partner passing poor cards instead of trumps
- Partner overbidding or underbidding
- Opponents getting unrealistic meld hands
- Computer players making suboptimal plays
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to set minimum bid value
- Partner bidding and play options
- More realistic card dealing
- Online multiplayer mode
Ultimate 500 Lite
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Pinochle
No in-app purchases
Ultimate 500 Lite
- Remove Ads$0.99
