Comparison

Pente Live vs Five In a Row

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

Head to head
About

Pente Live

Engage in strategic board game battles on a 19x19 grid. Compete globally in turn-based or live matches, test your skills against AI, and join tournaments. Explore various Pente and Gomoku variants with unique rules and capture mechanics.

Highlights
  • Turn-based and real-time online play
  • Play against computer opponents
  • Participate in tournaments
  • King of the Hill mode
  • Game database search
  • Multiple Pente and Gomoku variants
Features
Read full description

Pente is a board game that is easy to learn, difficult to master. Compete with players all over the world on a 19x19 board. There is - turn-based play, - realtime (live) play, - play against 2 different computer players, - participate in tournaments, - play King of the Hill and earn a crown, - search the game database by position for the most popular or best move! Gomoku: To win, place 5 (not more) of your stones in a straight continuous line (either horizontally, vertically or diagonally). Pente is like Gomoku but you can win by getting more than 5 in a row. In Pente you can capture stones by enclosing a pair of your opponent's stones. For example, if the stones are like this XOO and you place your stone so it becomes XOOX, then your opponents' stones are removed from the board, leaving X__X. You can also win at Pente by capturing 10 or more of your opponents stones. You can't play into a capture. Rated games have a "Tournament Rule". It restricts player 1's second move so that player 1's second move must be at least 3 intersections away from the center of the board. Keryo-Pente is like Pente but you can also capture 3 stones in a row. G-Pente restricts player 1's second move, like the tournament rule. It additionally prohibits playing on the 4th and 5th intersections away from the center of the board that are one the same horizontal or vertical line as player 1's first move. (These are the most common 2nd moves for white). D-Pente: Player 1 places 2 white and 2 black stones as a first move. Then player 2 decides to play as player 2, or decides to swap seats and take over as player 1! Afterwards, play continues like regular Pente. Poof-Pente: The main difference is that you can play into a capture! (e.g., from XO_X player plays XOOX) then the stones are "poofed" (removed from the board and counted as captures). Normal captures are still allowed and the number of captures to win remains at 10 stones. Up to 5 stones could be poofed in one move! Also note that my current implementation performs the following actions in sequence after a move: Check if move captured any opponents stones, if so remove stones from the board. Check if move creates a poof position, if so remove stones from the board. Check if player has a 5-in-a-row, if so the player wins. A player could capture and be poofed in the same move and the capture count could end up as 10-10. The game keeps going until one player has an advantage (i.e., gets more captured stones or gets five-in-a-row). There are no draws. Boat-Pente differs in the end game. Once a Pente is made (5 stones in a row), the game continues as long as the opponent is able to capture across the Pente! Capturing 5 pairs is still a win like in Pente and the tournament rule is used for rated games. Connect6: The goal is to be the first player to get 6 pieces in a row, either vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Player one plays one stone at the center of the board. After that each player gets to place two stones on the board at a time. DK-Pente is D-Pente with Keryo-Pente rules. O-Pente combines Keryo, Poof, and Boat Pente Go is also available on 3 different board sizes: 19x19, 13x13, and 9x9. Swap2-Pente is Pente with Swap2 rules. Swap2-Keryo is Keryo-Pente with Swap2 rules. ------ This app offers a 1 year auto-renewable subscription for $4.99 USD/year. Payment will be charged to your iTunes account, and your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off at any time by going to your settings in the iTunes Store after purchase. Prices may vary in countries other than the U.S. and are subject to change without notice. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period. If you don’t choose to purchase a subscription you can simply continue playing for free. The privacy policy and TOS can be found at https://pente.org/help/helpWindow.jsp?file=privacyPolicy

About

Five In a Row

Challenge friends or AI in this classic strategy board game. Connect five pieces of your color in a line to win. Perfect for quick challenges, relaxation, or teaching strategy.

Highlights
  • Online multiplayer
  • 2 player mode on same device
  • 3 AI difficulty levels
  • Game Center achievements
  • Colorful themes
  • Global high-score ranking
Features
Read full description

Connect 5 pieces of your colour in a line before your opponent. The popular game is now in your hands every time you can spare a moment for a challenge or a bit of relax. Excellent for testing your skills or teaching strategy to kids. Have hours of fun with the 2 players mode, on the same device, or play online against friends or other players from all over the world. Or try to beat our virtual player! He can play at 3 levels of difficulty and you can see your improvements game by game on the Global High-Score, the Worldwide ranking with all the Gomoku players in the world. A classic! Start playing for free! :) What you get: - Play against real people! Online multiplayer or on the same device (2 players mode) - 3 Virtual opponents, very well trained at 3 difficulty levels (for your single player games) - Easy to get: just tap and play - Game Center achievements - Colourful themes - Superb for all ages - Kids will love it! - An expanded tic-tac-toe, but vastly superior! @outofthebit facebook/outofthebit

Screenshots

Pente Live3 screens
Five In a Row4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Pente Live at none against Five In a Row's shown. Pente Live also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 8 months). Five In a Row's advantage is review sentiment (70% vs 50%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and in-app purchases 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. Pente Live sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year and Five In a Row 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

Five In a Row holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 340 and 734 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Pente Live's written reviews are positive against 70% of Five In a Row's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pente Live ships an update every 2 days, Five In a Row every 8 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pente Live versus Five In a Row: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPente LiveFive In a Row
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (340 ratings)4.5 (734 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews70.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings340734 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 8 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB39 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperWalied OthmanOutOfTheBit Ltd

Customer experience

Pente Live

All ratings340 ratings
Positive84.1%
Neutral5.0%
Negative10.9%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral4.5%
Negative45.5%

Five In a Row

All ratings731 ratings
Positive87.7%
Neutral6.2%
Negative6.2%
Written reviews87 reviews
Positive70.1%
Neutral9.2%
Negative20.7%

User reviews

Pente Live

From 340 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great Pente app
  • 👍 Good community
  • 👍 Play local or online
  • 👍 Excellent platform
  • 👍 Many variants available

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Grid too small for fingers
  • 🐛 Game play is arbitrary
  • 🐛 No learning curve
  • 🐛 Distracting ads
  • 🐛 Difficult to read

Five In a Row

From 734 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great game
  • 🤩 Very addictive and fun
  • 🎮 Excellent quick game
  • 🎨 Really nice UI and customization settings
  • 🧠 Helps everyone to keep getting smarter

Room to improve

  • 🤖 AI is not smart enough to play with
  • 🚧 Game locks up so much
  • 📺 Too many ads that last way too long
  • 🛑 Endless ads
  • 🤯 Never seen that many adds which can't even stop

Bugs and requests

Pente Live

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Drops stone in wrong spot
  • Move ends up in different position
  • Changes last location
  • Freezes
  • Bumps out of a game
Show 7 more
  • App down
  • Screen frozen
  • App freezes
  • App keeps crashing intermittently
  • Crashes after every game
  • App quits every time to start a game
  • Game froze

Requested features

9 requests
  • Replay button
  • Landscape mode on iPad
  • Slower AI response time
  • Improved UI
  • Take back move option
Show 4 more
  • Pinch to zoom and separate 'finish move' button
  • Dark mode
  • Option to disable ads
  • Sign in with AppleID or Google

Five In a Row

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Multiplayer doesn't work
  • Game has too many bugs
  • Misplaced markers due to phone not responding or accidental touches

Requested features

4 requests
  • Option for up to 4 players
  • Harder levels
  • Undo button or hold to place token option
  • Better control of leaderboard scores

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Pente Live

Subscriptions1
  • Pente.org subscription$4.991 Year
One-time4
  • One month subscriber benefits$1.99
  • 10 vacation days$2.99
  • Extra vacation days (30)$4.99
Show 1 more
  • 60 vacation days$7.99
1 purchases

Five In a Row

One-time1
  • Gomoku Premium$1.99

Questions

Is Pente Live free?
Pente Live is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Five In a Row free?
Five In a Row is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pente Live or Five In a Row?
Five In a Row is rated higher. Pente Live averages 4.3 out of 5 from 340 ratings, while Five In a Row averages 4.5 from 734 ratings.
Do Pente Live or Five In a Row have ads?
Five In a Row shows ads; Pente Live does not.
Which is updated more often, Pente Live or Five In a Row?
Pente Live ships an update every 2 days, and Five In a Row every 8 months. Most recently, Pente Live was updated on October 24, 2026 and Five In a Row on October 24, 2026.

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