Comparison

SimpleChess vs Chess

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

Head to head
About

SimpleChess

Engage in a straightforward and rapid chess experience. Compete globally, customize your board and pieces, and track your ELO ranking. Enhance your skills with tactical training and puzzle battles.

Highlights
  • Online multiplayer chess
  • Customizable chessboards and pieces
  • Tactical training modules
  • Puzzle battles
  • ELO ranking tracking
  • Chess960 variant
Features
Read full description

Play chess online - it's that simple! Simple, practical and fast, SimpleChess makes playing chess as easy as child's play! • It's free! • Compete against opponents from all over the world • Customize your chessboard, with 20 piece types and 40 chessboard designs • 10 different themes (5 dark, 5 light) • Choose your game rating: fast, blitz, bullet, or create the rating of your choice • Track your progress with your ELO ranking • Make progress with our tactical training modules • Challenge other players to a puzzle battle • Play Chess960, a variant of the chess game • Earn XP experience points with every game Become a member and enjoy additional features: • Analyze your games by computer • Find your friends easily • And enjoy full access to our training modules!

About

Chess

Engage in classic chess matches, honing your strategy and tactics. This app offers adjustable AI difficulty, a two-player mode, and daily challenges with puzzles. Enjoy customizable boards and graphics while learning the game's intricacies.

Highlights
  • Play against AI with 10 difficulty levels
  • Two-player local multiplayer mode
  • Daily challenges and classic chess puzzles
  • Customizable boards and pieces
  • Hint and undo functions
  • Automatic save function
Read full description

Chess is an excellent board logic game that can train your strategy and tactics. The game is played on an 8×8 chessboard with two players. Each player starts with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. The objective is to checkmate the opponent's king by placing it under an inescapable threat of capture. With our game you will learn the basics and the best moves thanks to the hint option. You can also select the difficulty level suit to you. Whether you are a beginner or a chess master, you will absorb the knowledge and find the joy of playing chess. Play against the AI or with your friends and develop your skills even without the chessboard. FEATURES: - You can play with your friends! (Two player mode) - Daily Challenge and Classic Chess Puzzles! - Awesome graphics - Customized Board and Chess! - Outstanding AI engine with 10 levels of difficulty - Undo function - Daily Challenge and Classic Chess Puzzles! - Automatic Save Function

Screenshots

SimpleChess4 screens
Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess at none against SimpleChess's 8. Chess also leads on review sentiment (67% vs 53%) and ratings volume (46 vs 8). SimpleChess's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 8 months). On price, rating, monetization model 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. SimpleChess sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Chess asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess has 46 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 53% of SimpleChess's written reviews are positive against 67% of Chess's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SimpleChess ships an update every 8 days, Chess every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
SimpleChess versus Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimpleChessChess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (8 ratings)4.2 (46 ratings) — better
Positive reviews52.7% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings846 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 8 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size82 MB74 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEurope EchecsAged Studio Limited

Customer experience

SimpleChess

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews55 reviews
Positive52.7%
Neutral10.9%
Negative36.4%

Chess

All ratings45 ratings
Positive75.6%
Neutral11.1%
Negative13.3%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral11.1%
Negative22.2%

In-app purchases

8 purchases

SimpleChess

Subscriptions4
  • Essential Pack (Monthly plan)$2.991 Month
  • Premium Pack (Monthly plan)$3.991 Month
  • Essential Pack (Annual Plan)$24.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Premium Pack (Annual Plan)$34.991 Year
One-time4
  • 1 month extend$0.99
  • 3 months extend$1.99
  • 6 month extend$3.99
Show 1 more
  • 1 year extend$5.99
None

Chess

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SimpleChess free?
SimpleChess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess free?
Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SimpleChess or Chess?
Chess is rated higher. SimpleChess averages 4.0 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Chess averages 4.2 from 46 ratings.
Do SimpleChess or Chess have ads?
Chess shows ads; SimpleChess does not.
Which is updated more often, SimpleChess or Chess?
SimpleChess ships an update every 8 days, and Chess every 8 months. Most recently, SimpleChess was updated on October 29, 2026 and Chess on October 24, 2026.

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