Comparison

Next Chess Move vs Chess Move

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

Head to head
About

Next Chess Move

This application provides a powerful chess move calculator utilizing advanced engines like Stockfish 17.1 directly on your device. It also offers free access to numerous other engines running on remote hardware, with an optional upgrade for enhanced calculation strength and access to powerful servers and GPUs.

Highlights
  • On-device Stockfish 17.1
  • Free remote engine access
  • Large selection of chess engines
  • Optional Pro upgrade
  • Access to powerful cloud hardware
  • GPU acceleration for LcZero
Features
Read full description

NCM is a powerful chess calculator that runs Stockfish 19 directly on your device. The app also includes free access to a growing list of engines running on NCM's remote single core CPU hardware: • Stockfish latest official releases and development builds • Lc0 (all official networks and several contrib networks) • Akimbo • Alexandria • Altair • Arasan • Astra • asmFish • Avalanche • Berserk • Black Marlin • Booot • Caissa • Cinder • Cfish • Clover • Coda • Combusken • CorChess • Counter • Defenchess • Demolito • Devre • Ethereal • Fire • Frozenight • GNU Chess • Halogen • Hobbes • Horsie • Igel • Integral • Koivisto • Laser • Lc0 • Mantissa • Marvin • Minic • Motor • Nalwald • Nemorino • Obsidian • OpenTal • Patricia • Pawn • Pawnocchio • Peacekeeper • PlentyChess • Quanticade • Raphael • Reckless • Rice • RubiChess • Seer • ShashChess • Smallbrain • Starzix • Stash • Stockfish • Stormphrax • Sunfish • Tarnished • Titan • Triumviratus • Tucano • Vajolet2 • Velvet • Viridithas • Wasp • Weiss • Winter • Xiphos • Zahak The optional NCM Pro in-app purchase provides one year access to powerful hardware and features that significantly enhance the strength of calculations: • Ryzen 7950X 16 CPU-core servers • RTX 2080 GPUs for LcZero • 6-man syzygy tablebases on SSD drives

About

Chess Move

This app helps chess players find the best moves using a powerful cloud-based engine. It allows users to set up board positions manually or via camera scan, and customize analysis depth and engine settings for in-depth game review.

Highlights
  • Best move calculation
  • Cloud-based Stockfish engine
  • Board setup via drag-and-drop
  • Camera position scanning
  • Customizable engine presets
  • Multiple analysis lines
Features
Read full description

Introducing ChessMovePro, the all-new powerful move calculator that lets users find the best move in seconds! The app calculates the best lines using powerful dedicated servers running Stockfish 16 in the cloud. ChessMovePro offers a wide variety of customizations that allow users to find the best move quickly. Users can set up their board by dragging and dropping pieces onto the setup board to match the app to their current board position. Next head over to the analysis screen where you can see the best moves and lines at a glance. Customize the engine preset in order to increase depth, get more lines, change the elo target or increase think time. ChessMovePro allows users to use their camera to scan chess positions and find the best moves to play within seconds. The dedicated Stockfish servers ensure only the best moves are shown and that users can analzye games at the highest level. In the settings, users can customize the look of their app with various boards and app colors. Upgrade to ChessMovePro in order to unlock the full suite of customizations for the app and take your experience to the next level! How do I use Chess Move Pro? After opening the app users first have to setup their chess board. Take advantage of the apps scanning feature and pull out your camera to caputre the position or place the chess pieces in the correct squares. Next hit the analyze button and Chess Move Pro will analyze your current chess position using cloud Stockfish 15.1 servers that will find the best next chess move for you to play. If you don't like the next chess move that the app suggests hit the re-calculate button in order to calculate a new best move for the current position. Terms and Conditions: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Next Chess Move4 screens
Chess Move4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Next Chess Move at 76% against Chess Move's 27%. Next Chess Move also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.3) and chart position (#39 vs unranked). Chess Move's advantage is price (Free vs $2.99) and ratings volume (1.1K vs 129). On update cadence, 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

Chess Move is free to download; Next Chess Move costs $2.99 up front. Next Chess Move sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Chess Move sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Next Chess Move holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess Move has 1.1K ratings behind it against 129, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Next Chess Move's written reviews are positive against 27% of Chess Move's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Next Chess Move ships an update monthly, Chess Move every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Next Chess Move versus Chess Move: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNext Chess MoveChess Move
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (129 ratings) — better4.3 (1.1K ratings)
Positive reviews76.3% of reviews — better26.7% of reviews
Number of ratings1291.1K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#39 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size143 MB37 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNext Chess Move LLCSetse LLC

Customer experience

Next Chess Move

All ratings129 ratings
Positive89.1%
Neutral0.8%
Negative10.1%
Written reviews76 reviews
Positive76.3%
Neutral1.3%
Negative22.4%

Chess Move

All ratings1,107 ratings
Positive82.6%
Neutral2.9%
Negative14.5%
Written reviews180 reviews
Positive26.7%
Neutral11.1%
Negative62.2%

User reviews

Next Chess Move

From 129 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great tool for analysis
  • 👍 Helpful for learning chess
  • 👍 Strongest engines available
  • 👍 Improves game understanding
  • 👍 Convenient mobile access

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Neglected and buggy mess
  • 🐛 Critical bugs break game
  • 🐛 Outdated and poorly maintained UI
  • 🐛 Feels abandoned while charging
  • 🐛 Waste of money

Chess Move

From 1.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Great app
  • 🚀 Works well
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🧠 Helpful for improving chess skills
  • 🏆 Allows beating difficult opponents

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription
  • 🔒 Locked behind paywall
  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🔄 Inconsistent performance after updates
  • 🤯 Confusing or misleading about free trial

Bugs and requests

Next Chess Move

Reported bugs

18 issues
  • Critical bugs that break the game (e.g., same color pieces moving consecutively)
  • App doesn't turn on
  • Update has challenges
  • Cannot play anything
  • LC0 version 0.30 with Networks Family T81 causes 'engine disconnected' error
Show 13 more
  • App is pretty buggy
  • App decides to delete a piece randomly
  • Subscription is gone after payment
  • No option to restore purchase
  • Every move suggested is a blunder
  • Error response most of the time
  • App crushes when copying or pasting PGN
  • Illegal move issues with PGN/FEN
  • Castling not handled correctly in PGN
  • Algorithm inconsistency (doesn't play the same move for the exact same play)
  • Login doesn't work for extra servers
  • UI could be better
  • Cannot find an option to delete saved games

Requested features

34 requests
  • Fix critical bugs
  • Update UI
  • Release a proper update
  • Maintain the app properly
  • Update to current stockfish 17
Show 29 more
  • Add self-play mode with different engines
  • Add Komodo latest version
  • Fix LC0 issues with T81 network family
  • Show a few candidate options
  • Add feature to use screenshot/photo of board
  • Add arrow or directional lines for best move
  • Make it more didactic
  • Add premium features for paid users
  • Add option to play engine vs engine
  • Add some themes
  • Add analysis arrows
  • Copy full PGN when playing engine vs engine
  • Add database for openings for free
  • Add iPad version
  • Allow landscape format on iPad
  • Increase analysis time beyond 30 seconds
  • Add option to switch turns after calculating a move
  • Improve ergonomics
  • Name boards and show names
  • Add instructions on how to use
  • Option to delete saved games
  • Improve UI
  • Handle illegal moves and castling correctly in PGN/FEN
  • Allow castling
  • Add feedback and suggestions
  • Cut and paste FEN
  • Automatic play of calculated move
  • Print positions after moves or games
  • Flip board only for current board

Chess Move

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Pieces not detected correctly
  • Moves suggested in wrong direction
  • App crashes on launch or during use

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add ability to save board positions
  • Improve piece detection and move suggestions
  • Provide more free analysis options

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Next Chess Move

One-time1
  • NCM Pro$18.99
17 purchases

Chess Move

Subscriptions17
  • ChessMovePro - Premium$3.997 Days
  • ChessMovePro - Monthly$3.991 Month
  • ChessMovePro - Premium$4.991 Month
Show 14 more
  • ChessMovePro - Premium$7.991 Month
  • ChessMovePro (Weekly)$7.997 Days
  • ChessMovePro - Hidden Discount$9.991 Year
  • ChessMovePro (Monthly)$9.991 Month
  • ChessMovePro - Premium$14.991 Year
  • ChessMovePro - Premium3 Days trial$14.991 Year
  • ChessMovePro - Premium3 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • ChessMovePro - Premium$19.991 Year
  • ChessMovePro (Quarterly)$19.993 Months
  • ChessMovePro7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • ChessMovePro (Yearly)$29.991 Year
  • ChessMovePro (Yearly)3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • ChessMovePro (Yearly)3 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • ChessMovePro7 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Next Chess Move free?
Next Chess Move costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Chess Move free?
Chess Move is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Next Chess Move or Chess Move?
Next Chess Move is rated higher. Next Chess Move averages 4.5 out of 5 from 129 ratings, while Chess Move averages 4.3 from 1.1K ratings.
Do Next Chess Move or Chess Move have ads?
Neither Next Chess Move nor Chess Move shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Next Chess Move or Chess Move?
Next Chess Move ships an update monthly, and Chess Move every 3 weeks. Most recently, Next Chess Move was updated on October 18, 2026 and Chess Move on October 16, 2026.

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