Comparison

SocialChess vs Chessify

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

Head to head
About

SocialChess

Play chess online with friends or random opponents, with options for fast-paced live games or relaxed daily matches. Improve your skills with game reviews, insights, and strategy tools. Enjoy a clean, ad-free experience with social features like chat and profiles.

Highlights
  • Live and daily chess games
  • Play with friends via invite link
  • Random opponent matching
  • Game reviews and insights
  • Chess960 and premoves
  • Chat and group chat
  • Cross-device syncing
Features
Read full description

Play chess online with friends: fast games on the clock, or relaxed daily games you can move whenever you have a moment. Clean, beautiful, and never any ads. PLAY YOUR WAY • Live games from 1 to 90 minutes, with optional increments • Daily games with 1, 3 or 5 days per move. Keep many going at once • Play a Friend: send your personal invite link and start playing • Get matched with a random opponent, or find players by username • Chess960, premoves, conditional moves and optional takebacks • Push notifications when it's your move • Your account and games sync across all your devices and the web IMPROVE YOUR GAME • Game reviews with an accuracy score and a move-quality chart • Insights: plain-English explanations of why a move worked, or didn't • Second Chance: replay your mistakes and find the better move • Strategy Board: explore any position with engine lines SOCIAL • Chat and group chat • Profiles with photo, comments and a location map • Browse any player's games, and their opponents' games • Elo ratings and player rankings • Watch live games MEMBERSHIP SocialChess is free to play forever, or upgrade to a membership to unlock more features: • Up to 100 daily games at a time • Unlimited game reviews with Insights • Second Chance on any player's games • Elo charts and per-opponent statistics • All board styles • PGN export and a server archive of your games • Unrated games • Chat images and translation OUR PRINCIPLES • No ads, ever • Your privacy and data are respected • Features are chosen carefully and shaped by your feedback Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

About

Chessify

This app offers advanced chess analysis tools, including a real-time chessboard scanner, powerful cloud-based engines, and a unique video finder. Analyze games, puzzles, and learn chess theory with comprehensive features for players of all levels.

Highlights
  • Real chessboard scanner
  • Superfast cloud chess engine analysis
  • Video finder for chess positions
  • Offline play against Stockfish
  • Opening Explorer with Lichess database
  • Import/export FEN/PGN
  • Online real-time Blitz
Features
Read full description

Chessify is an all-in-one chess platform built for players who want to improve with professional-level chess tools. Analyze with powerful cloud engines running on servers up to 1024 threads and 1 Billion NPS speed, explore databases of 12 million+ professional games, scan real chessboards and books, prepare openings, and review games from anywhere. Features that once required heavy desktop software are now available in a single mobile app designed for players of all levels. Whether you’re solving puzzles, training openings, or analyzing tournament games, Chessify combines advanced chess tools into one fast and easy-to-use experience. Features: ZIUK — YOUR AI CHESS ASSISTANT Ziuk is your AI chess assistant that helps you analyze games, understand positions, learn from mistakes, and explore openings. Unlike traditional chess engines that show you the best moves and evaluations, Ziuk explains the ideas behind them. Ask questions in your own language and get explanations that help you understand the game. Ziuk combines artificial intelligence, powerful chess engines, and Chessify’s analysis tools in one conversation. Connect your Chess.com or Lichess account to import your games and analyze them with Ziuk. - Powerful Cloud Engine Analysis Analyze with Stockfish 18, Lc0, Berserk, Caissa, Crystal, Patricia, Viridithas, AsmFish, ShashChess, Koivisto, RubiChess, and Sugar AI chess engines on cloud servers with up to 1024 threads, reaching up to 1BN/s speed. - Mega Database Search through 10 million+ professional FIDE-rated games with move statistics, player ratings, and opening trends. - Correspondence Chess Database Study the 2 Million+ official ICCF database games played with deep engine-assisted preparation. - Scan 2D & 3D Chessboards Scan real boards and diagrams from books or screens with high accuracy and instantly analyze the position with Stockfish 18. - Chess PDF Scanner Import chess PDF books and scan positions directly from pages for quick analysis and study. - Play Against Stockfish Challenge one of the world’s strongest chess engines with adjustable strength settings. Play from initial or any given position. - PGN & Move Notation Create analysis files with multiple variations and comments or import your existing files and review them with your phone at any time. - Save Games & Analysis Store your games, analysis, and studies locally or in the cloud and access them anytime. - Import, Export, and Share PGN/FEN Easily import your games or export positions and analysis to share with chess friends or students. Whether you’re a beginner, club player, coach, or grandmaster, Chessify provides powerful analysis and training tools for every stage of your chess journey. Privacy Policy: https://chessify.me/privacy-policy Terms of Use / End User License Agreement (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

SocialChess4 screens
Chessify4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SocialChess at 82% against Chessify's 48%. SocialChess also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. SocialChess sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year and Chessify sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SocialChess holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SocialChess has 7.3K ratings behind it against 398, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of SocialChess's written reviews are positive against 48% of Chessify's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SocialChess ships an update weekly, Chessify monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
SocialChess versus Chessify: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSocialChessChessify
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (7.3K ratings) — better4.4 (398 ratings)
Positive reviews82.1% of reviews — better48.3% of reviews
Number of ratings7.3K — better398
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size106 MB140 MB
Age rating12++4
DeveloperWoodchop Software LLCChessify Inc.

Customer experience

SocialChess

All ratings7,256 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral2.8%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews1,226 reviews
Positive82.1%
Neutral4.0%
Negative13.9%

Chessify

All ratings398 ratings
Positive85.4%
Neutral2.8%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews87 reviews
Positive48.3%
Neutral11.5%
Negative40.2%

User reviews

SocialChess

From 7.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent app for playing chess
  • 👍 Clean, user-friendly interface
  • 👍 Large player base and easy to find opponents
  • 👍 Ability to play slow or fast games
  • 👍 No ads or distractions

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional glitches and bugs
  • 🔋 Potential battery drain issues
  • 💰 Subscription fees for some features
  • 🤖 Concerns about cheating and bots
  • 🤬 Issues with toxic/abusive players

Chessify

From 398 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📸 Accurate chess board scanning from photos
  • 🚀 Fast and efficient position analysis
  • ☁️ Cloud-based powerful chess engine (Stockfish)
  • 💾 Easy PGN export and saving functionality
  • 📚 Perfect for studying chess books

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezes
  • 📸 Inconsistent scanning accuracy
  • ❌ App doesn't work on iOS 18 and older versions
  • 💰 Expensive paywall with limited free features
  • 🔥 Device overheating issues reported

Bugs and requests

SocialChess

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Freezing or crashing during gameplay
  • Inaccurate game statistics and ratings
  • Delayed or unresponsive move registrations
  • Inability to cancel or delete games

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add chess analysis and training tools
  • Implement anti-cheat measures
  • Improve game history and statistics tracking
  • Allow customization of board and piece designs
  • Add tournament and team play modes

Chessify

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Black screen in camera view during scanning
  • Scanning omits first or last rank of board
  • App crashes when loading images
  • Buttons not clickable on certain iOS versions
  • Position not recognized from screenshots
Show 7 more
  • App closes immediately after opening
  • Board rotation lock resets to landscape
  • Analysis not visible unless switching apps
  • Scanning fails 3 out of 5 times
  • Subscription billing issues (wrong tier shown)
  • App doesn't load past starting screen
  • Photo library order reversed for board photos

Requested features

12 requests
  • Add move comments and annotations capability
  • Board flip option during gameplay
  • Auto-save functionality to prevent position loss
  • Ability to edit and extend saved games
  • Tactics puzzle mode with move verification
Show 7 more
  • Automatic analysis on position scan
  • Lc0 engine option
  • iPad version support
  • Lichess app integration
  • Move sound toggle persistence
  • Better indication of which side has advantage
  • Depth control for analysis (stop at specific depth)

In-app purchases

3 purchases

SocialChess

Subscriptions1
  • Annual Membership$14.991 Year
One-time2
  • 1 Year Membership$14.99
  • 1 Year Gift Membership$14.99
4 purchases

Chessify

One-time4
  • Starter Pack$5.99
  • Standard Pack$11.49
  • Popular Pack$29.49
Show 1 more
  • Ultimate Pack$117.99

Questions

Is SocialChess free?
SocialChess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chessify free?
Chessify is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SocialChess or Chessify?
SocialChess is rated higher. SocialChess averages 4.7 out of 5 from 7.3K ratings, while Chessify averages 4.4 from 398 ratings.
Do SocialChess or Chessify have ads?
Neither SocialChess nor Chessify shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SocialChess or Chessify?
SocialChess ships an update weekly, and Chessify monthly. Most recently, SocialChess was updated on November 8, 2026 and Chessify on November 6, 2026.

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