Next Chess Move vs SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
This chess application leverages the powerful Stockfish engine to help you improve your game. It offers detailed analysis, game review with comments, and progress tracking. Enjoy a clean interface with features like blunder checking and opening books, all without ads or in-app purchases.
- Stockfish chess engine integration
- Game review with comments
- Study Stockfish's thought process
- Progress tracking
- Blunder checking
- Graphical game evaluation
- Opening books
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SmallFish is a project based on the Stockfish chess engine. It uses the latest Stockfish chess engine (Stockfish 19), rated about Elo 3600+ and is the strongest chess app on the App Store. SmallFish offers you three distinct ways to improve your game. You can review your game with comments, or study how Stockfish thinks, or track your progress. No in-app purchase, no ads, no data tracking. SmallFish is simply amazing. It's small but powerful, you'll be surprised. Features --------- - Blunder checking - Multiple line analysis - Graphical evaluation of your game - Game previews - Dark mode support - Endgame tablebase - Opening books - Import from Chess.com and Lichess Why not just download and try it yourself?
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SmallFish Chess for Stockfish at none against Next Chess Move's 1. SmallFish Chess for Stockfish also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs monthly) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). Next Chess Move's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $4.99). On review sentiment, ads 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
Next Chess Move costs $2.99 and SmallFish Chess for Stockfish $4.99 up front. Next Chess Move sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. SmallFish Chess for Stockfish asks for nothing beyond the download.
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmallFish Chess for Stockfish has 4.5K ratings behind it against 134, 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 79% of SmallFish Chess for Stockfish's.
Next Chess Move ships an update monthly, SmallFish Chess for Stockfish every 3 days. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | Next Chess Move | SmallFish Chess for Stockfish |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (134 ratings) | 4.8 (4.5K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 76.3% of reviews | 79.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 134 | 4.5K — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #50 | #12 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 143 MB | 195 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Next Chess Move LLC | Ted Wong |
Customer experience
Next Chess Move
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
User reviews
Next Chess Move
From 134 App Store ratingsWhat 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
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
From 4.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful chess engine
- 👍 Intuitive and clean interface
- 💡 Customizable board and piece styles
- 🚀 Fast move calculations
- 👍 Helpful analysis and suggestions
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Issues with board and coordinate display
- 🐛 Inconsistencies in engine difficulty levels
- 🐛 Problems with PGN file handling
- 👎 Complicated user interface
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
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- 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
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- 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
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when setting up positions
- Incorrect move suggestions and engine evaluations
- Freezing and unresponsiveness during gameplay
- Issues with board and coordinate display alignment
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for variations and multiple analysis lines
- Implement a two-player mode with piece flipping
- Add PGN file sorting, searching, and folder support
- Provide an option to hide the board and show captured pieces
- Integrate with chess.com and other platforms
In-app purchases
Next Chess Move
- NCM Pro$18.99
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Next Chess Move free?
Is SmallFish Chess for Stockfish free?
Which has better reviews, Next Chess Move or SmallFish Chess for Stockfish?
Do Next Chess Move or SmallFish Chess for Stockfish have ads?
Which is updated more often, Next Chess Move or SmallFish Chess for Stockfish?
Which is more popular, Next Chess Move or SmallFish Chess for Stockfish?
Other comparisons
