Comparison

BlueChess vs Flamingo Chess

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

Head to head
About

BlueChess

Engage in strategic gameplay with powerful chess engines. Choose between the BlueChess engine or the highly-rated Stockfish engine for your matches.

Highlights
  • Play against BlueChess engine
  • Play against Stockfish engine
  • Strategic gameplay
  • Free to play
Read full description

Play a game of chess against the BlueChess engine or the Stockfish engine.

About

Flamingo Chess

Features
Read full description

Flamingo Chess is plain chess for you and your friends: in Messages, live in the app, or across the table on one phone. No login, no tracking, no engine. Just a game of chess between people. PLAY IN MESSAGES Start a game right in a conversation and take turns whenever it suits you. Your opponent's move plays out on the board when you open it. Games in Messages are serverless: your moves travel in the conversation between your iPhones and are never stored on our servers. PLAY LIVE IN THE APP Pick a color, start a game, and share its five-letter invite code. Your friend types in the code and takes the other seat. Moves appear the moment they are made, and every game you play in the app waits in your games list, titled with both players' names, like "blueberry764 vs orange489." PLAY HOT SEAT Two people, one phone. The board turns to face whoever moves next, you can take moves back, and the game stays on your phone until you come back to it. SHARE YOUR GAMES Share any online or hot seat game as a scoresheet: plain text laid out like the paper sheet at a tournament, with the date, both players, the result, and every move in numbered rows. Send it to your opponent or keep it in your notes. KEEP YOUR GAMES Finished games go to the archive, where you can replay them move by move. AND ALSO • Offer a draw or resign, just like over the board • Speak your move: hold the Speech button and say "Move pawn to D3" • Playable with VoiceOver: every square announces its name and its piece, and legal moves are called out • Two board themes, Neon and Standard • Choose your own display name in Settings Have fun everyone!

Screenshots

BlueChess4 screens
Flamingo Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Flamingo Chess at every 5 days against BlueChess's every 4 months. BlueChess's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BlueChess ships an update every 4 months, Flamingo Chess every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
BlueChess versus Flamingo Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlueChessFlamingo Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGreenChess.comMartin Kim Đưng-Phạm

In-app purchases

None

BlueChess

No in-app purchases

None

Flamingo Chess

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BlueChess free?
BlueChess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Flamingo Chess free?
Flamingo Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do BlueChess or Flamingo Chess have ads?
Neither BlueChess nor Flamingo Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BlueChess or Flamingo Chess?
BlueChess ships an update every 4 months, and Flamingo Chess every 5 days. Most recently, BlueChess was updated on November 1, 2026 and Flamingo Chess on October 28, 2026.

Other comparisons