Comparison

Chess Time vs Chess Prime 3D

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

Head to head
About

Chess Time

Engage in online chess matches with friends or players worldwide. This app supports correspondence play with extended move times and offers features like in-game chat and customizable themes. Track your progress with an auto-calculated ELO rating.

Highlights
  • Online correspondence chess
  • Play with friends
  • Global player matchmaking
  • In-game chat
  • Customizable chess sets and themes
  • Auto-calculated ELO rating
  • PGN export
Read full description

Free online chess - Invite your friends or play against anyone in the world. Chess Time is a full featured online correspondence chess app allowing a player up to multiple days to make a move. Create and play multiple at length chess games. Chess Time features: A global audience of real chess players. Invite friends to play online games. In-game chat. -- Play chess against friends that have other mobile devices. Multiple Chess sets and themes. Play un-rated games to train without affecting your score. -- Auto-calculated ELO chess rating. Export completed games as PGN. Chess Time will send a notification for each move and a reminder for you to move. We recommend enabling notifications. ——————————— -- SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE --- PREMIUM Membership Subscription Options: - Monthly Premium Subscription - Yearly Premium Subscription Premium Membership features: * No Ads * 75 Simultaneous Active Games — Additional 25! * Compete with Premium Members * Exclusive Premium Leaderboard * Daily PGN Emails — Completed game PGNs are emailed daily! Perfect for players studying their games. — TERMS & DETAILS — Chess Time Premium features are only guaranteed on up-to-date iOS devices. Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged the same amount for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a Free Trial, if offered, is forfeited when you buy a subscription. Prices may vary by location. Terms of Use: http://chesstimeapp.com/Terms-and-Conditions.php Privacy Policy: http://chesstimeapp.com/Privacy-Policy.php

About

Chess Prime 3D

Engage in classic chess with stunning 3D graphics and versatile play modes. Challenge yourself with puzzles, play against AI or friends online, and learn with helpful move indicators. Save games, customize the board, and master openings.

Highlights
  • 3D and 2D board views
  • Single player and two player modes
  • Online multiplayer with chat
  • Hundreds of chess puzzles
  • Adjustable AI difficulty
  • Legal move highlighting
  • Board setup and save/load
Features
Read full description

Chess Prime 3D is one of the best designed 3D chess games for the iPad / iPhone. It provides learning support for novice players, a real challenge for the experienced players and fun. Swipe in any of four directions to view the board from any angle and play the chess game in 3D / 2D. Chess Prime 3D supports both ‘one player’ and ‘two player’ game play, so you can play online with your friends or with millions of players around the world, or against a challenging computer opponent with adjustable difficulty level. Master your chess skills by solving hundreds chess puzzles. You can use hints if you get stuck. You can even edit the board and start the game from any predefined position. That allows you to test your skills in different game phases, common positions, solve chess puzzles, etc. Also you can save your game and then re-load it anytime you want. If you are a novice player you may take advantage of the feature that shows all legal moves for the current piece. -The full list of features:- • Excellent 3D graphics, sound effects and music • Configurable player names • Option to change the piece’s and board color • Option to play in 2D • Great AI engine with a flexible difficulty level that suits both novice players and experts • 200 ‘Mate in 2’ / ‘Mate in 3’ puzzles with stats, rewards and hints. • LIVE CHESS - invite your friends and play online. Or just play with a random player. Three difficulty levels, four time control settings, rating system, statistics and more. Confirm your move before submitting. Communication options - In-Game Chat, Rematch, Undo Move, Offer Draw, Resign, Postpone Match. • Versatile openings: Chess Prime AI engine plays like a human, not as a computer that always chooses the same move at the same position. It gives you an opportunity to play different famous openings to gain extensive experience in chess • SETUP game: Start the game from any predefined position with any number of pieces • UNDO function if you accidentally hit wrong piece or square. It works even if your king is checkmated • REDO function if you missed the opponent’s move. Just press EYE button and Chess Prime will show you the last opponent’s move • SAVE / LOAD feature gives you an opportunity to finish the game later or to play the chess puzzle which you can setup in the “Setup Game” module • CENTER function to align the board to the center • Option to show the LEGAL MOVES for current piece (very useful for novice players) • Option to ROTATE the board in ‘two player’ mode • Option to change the perspective angle, adjust the piece size, rotate knights • Help button with instructions for En Passant capture / Castling (activated automatically) • Option to limit ‘think time’ in ‘one player’ mode to 5, 15 or 30 seconds • Option to switch on / off sound effects and / or music. You can also listen to own music. • Automatically saves the current state of the game, so the game state would be automatically restored if you quit the application • Universal app (supports iPad / iPod touch / iPhone) If you love playing chess in portrait mode and in 2D, then download and try out our Chess Prime app! Enjoy!

Screenshots

Chess Time4 screens
Chess Prime 3D4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Chess Prime 3D at 62K against Chess Time's 1.7K. Chess Prime 3D also leads on iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.6). Chess Time's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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 Time sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Chess Prime 3D sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Chess Time against 4.6 for Chess Prime 3D. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess Prime 3D has 62K ratings behind it against 1.7K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of Chess Time's written reviews are positive against 81% of Chess Prime 3D's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Time ships an update every 10 days, Chess Prime 3D every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 28, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Chess Time versus Chess Prime 3D: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess TimeChess Prime 3D
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.7K ratings) — better4.6 (62K ratings)
Positive reviews86.2% of reviews — better81.3% of reviews
Number of ratings1.7K62K — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.69.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB61 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperHaptic Apps LLCVinta Games

Customer experience

Chess Time

All ratings1,659 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral1.9%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews260 reviews
Positive86.2%
Neutral5.4%
Negative8.5%

Chess Prime 3D

All ratings62,131 ratings
Positive89.6%
Neutral5.3%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews897 reviews
Positive81.3%
Neutral5.7%
Negative13.0%

User reviews

Chess Time

From 1.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 🌍 Cross-platform play
  • 📊 Detailed player stats and rankings
  • 💬 In-game chat functionality
  • 🕰️ Flexible time controls for games

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional glitches and bugs
  • 🔍 Limited customization options
  • 💰 Ads can be intrusive
  • 🔒 Lack of robust anti-cheat measures
  • 🖥️ Outdated or basic user interface

Chess Prime 3D

From 62K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great app, easy to use
  • 👍 Versatile with customization options
  • 🎨 Excellent 3D graphics and visuals
  • 💡 Helpful for learning and improving chess skills

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional connection issues and glitches
  • ⏱️ Frustrating timer and move registration problems
  • 💰 Ads can be intrusive and disruptive
  • 🤖 Difficulty levels can be unbalanced and overly challenging

Bugs and requests

Chess Time

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game incorrectly declaring draws on checkmate
  • Inability to castle or move pieces in certain situations
  • Notification issues across different devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to invite friends to watch ongoing games
  • Option to disable move analysis for rated games
  • Faster move processing and real-time gameplay
  • More diverse chess piece and board designs
  • In-app purchase to remove ads permanently

Chess Prime 3D

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Pieces not moving as expected
  • Game freezing or crashing during play
  • Incorrect move registrations and stalemate issues

Requested features

4 requests
  • Online multiplayer with chat functionality
  • Ability to save and review game history
  • Option to play background music from device
  • Improved matchmaking and difficulty balancing

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Chess Time

Subscriptions2
  • Chess Time Premium$1.991 Month
  • Chess Time Premium - Annual$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • IOS Chess Time Pro$4.99
1 purchases

Chess Prime 3D

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99

Questions

Is Chess Time free?
Chess Time is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess Prime 3D free?
Chess Prime 3D is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess Time or Chess Prime 3D?
Chess Time is rated higher. Chess Time averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.7K ratings, while Chess Prime 3D averages 4.6 from 62K ratings.
Do Chess Time or Chess Prime 3D have ads?
Both Chess Time and Chess Prime 3D show ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Time or Chess Prime 3D?
Chess Time ships an update every 10 days, and Chess Prime 3D every 3 weeks. Most recently, Chess Time was updated on September 28, 2026 and Chess Prime 3D on September 28, 2026.

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