Noctie Chess Trainer vs ChessBase Mobile Chess
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Noctie Chess Trainer
This app offers a unique chess training experience by simulating human opponents who adapt to your skill level. It provides instant feedback, custom puzzles from your games, and tools to master openings and endgames. Designed for serious improvement, it focuses on deliberate practice without distractions.
- Human-like AI opponents
- Adaptive difficulty levels
- Opening repertoire training
- Instant move feedback
- Puzzles from your games
- Position builder
- Endgame lessons
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Most chess apps make you play a machine. Noctie gives you a training partner. Noctie is a premium chess trainer that plays like a human, adapts to your level, and turns every game into focused practice. Play the opening you like, get puzzles from your game, have fun. No weird engine moves, just real games against a realistic opponent, with instant feedback that shows you how to improve on every move. TRAIN AGAINST HUMAN-LIKE AI OPPONENTS Train against a chess AI that adapts to your level and makes natural, human mistakes instead of perfect computer moves. Improve through 25 difficulty levels of humanlike chess bots, from beginner to master. MASTER YOUR OPENINGS THE RIGHT WAY Choose among your favorite chess openings or import your own repertoire, and train against an AI that follows the lines humans actually play. You don't just memorize theory; you learn to play it. GET INSTANT VISUAL FEEDBACK WHILE YOU PLAY See color-coded move-quality feedback the moment you play. Spot tactical mistakes and brilliant moves in real time, so every game teaches you something. SOLVE PUZZLES FROM YOUR ACTUAL GAMES After each game, practice custom chess tactics from the exact positions where you struggled. Your puzzles are saved for spaced-repetition practice, so you never repeat the same mistake twice. SET UP ANY POSITION, STUDY LESSONS & ENDGAMES Use the position builder to set up any chess position, or play scenarios from our instructive lessons — covering everything from positional imbalances to theoretical endgames. Drill king-and-pawn endgames until they're second nature. BUILT FOR PLAYERS SERIOUS ABOUT IMPROVING Noctie is a focused, premium chess training tool — no ads, no distractions, just deliberate practice that turns into real rating gains. Start with a free trial and train like you mean it. ** Requires internet connection ** SUBSCRIPTION Noctie is an auto-renewing subscription that starts with a free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase, and renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of use: https://apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy: https://noctie.ai/privacy
ChessBase Mobile Chess
Access a vast chess game database, save and analyze your own games, and practice openings. This app offers advanced notation and sharing features, with a free tier and optional premium upgrades for more extensive cloud storage and search capabilities.
- Access 13+ million chess games
- Save and sync personal game databases
- Analyze games with built-in engine
- Live opening book statistics
- Create and practice opening repertoires
- Advanced game notation and sharing
- PGN file compatibility
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ChessBase Mobile is the training, playing, and analysis platform for chess players who track their progress by the numbers. ChessBase Mobile is built by ChessBase, the company behind the standard desktop software used by world champions and club players alike for over 30 years. Solve tactics puzzles rated by difficulty and watch your Elo rise or fall with every attempt. No participation trophies, your rating reflects exactly where you stand. The tactics database draws from positions in real games, not synthetic exercises, so the patterns you train are the patterns you encounter at the board. Puzzle Fight puts you head-to-head against another player in a timed series of 24 tactical positions. Both players solve the same puzzles simultaneously. The one who solves more, faster, wins - and gains Elo. Structured competition, not a casual minigame. Play live games in Blitz and Rapid formats against opponents worldwide. Premove support, legal moves shown as you pick up a piece, clean interface, no clutter. Follow live tournaments as they happen: standings, schedules and player profiles, grouped into current, upcoming and finished events. Watch games live with engine analysis and an evaluation bar. The ChessBase Online Database contains over 14 million games. Search by player, position or opening, and filter by correspondence, classical, rapid or blitz. Review grandmaster games, study endgame structures, track opening trends - the same database used by professionals, accessible from your phone. Cloud analysis with several engines, including Fritz and Lc0. Engines included in your membership are marked as Included. For deeper analysis, scalable cloud servers are available, from Large to Gargantuan, paid per minute in ducats. Lc0 brings neural network evaluation for positions where classical engines struggle. The engine panel shows evaluation, depth, and principal variation. Build and maintain your opening repertoire in the cloud. 300 opening overviews with repertoire suggestions help you get started with new systems. A live opening book provides up-to-date statistics for every position. Three practice modes let you drill your variations until they stick. Annotate your games with comments, symbols, variations, arrows, and markings. Save games and analyses in cloud databases that synchronise across all your devices. Share positions and games via link, image, GIF, FEN, QR code, or PGN. Upload and download PGN files for full compatibility with desktop software. AI Kibitzer provides live commentary during games and puzzles with personality. Chess-legend anecdotes, opinions, the occasional bad joke. Like a friend with too much chess trivia sitting next to you. Audio output included. Available in 27 languages. Customisable board colours, piece sets, and notation display. Light and dark mode across all screens, or set to follow your device preference. No ads. No energy systems. No artificial gating. Open the app, train, close the app. Free to use, all functions are available at no cost. ChessBase Premium unlocks expanded cloud storage and unlimited database search results. Free: search the online database (max 50 games displayed), up to 10 cloud databases (10 MB total), cloud clipping for up to 10 games. Premium: unlimited database search, up to 200 cloud databases (500 MB total), cloud clipping for up to 400 games. Privacy policy: https://en.chessbase.com/pages/security Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Noctie Chess Trainer at 4.7 against ChessBase Mobile Chess's 2.9. Noctie Chess Trainer also leads on review sentiment (74% vs 41%) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). ChessBase Mobile Chess's advantage is monetization model (freemium vs subscription). 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
Both are free to download. Noctie Chess Trainer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $13.90 per month and ChessBase Mobile Chess sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Noctie Chess Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Noctie Chess Trainer has 639 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Noctie Chess Trainer's written reviews are positive against 41% of ChessBase Mobile Chess's.
Noctie Chess Trainer ships an update every 3 weeks, ChessBase Mobile Chess every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Noctie Chess Trainer | ChessBase Mobile Chess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (639 ratings) — better | 2.9 (18 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 74.4% of reviews — better | 40.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 639 — better | 18 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Freemium — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Noctie AB | ChessBase GmbH |
Customer experience
Noctie Chess Trainer
ChessBase Mobile Chess
Bugs and requests
Noctie Chess Trainer
Reported bugs
6 issues- Lost opening library and progress after update
- User flow to rebuild opening library is terrible
- Material difference calculation breaks with promoted queens
- Layout cuts off chessboard in portrait mode on iPad
- AI doesn't adjust strength based on user rating
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- Hints and feedback can be inaccurate
Requested features
11 requests- Lifetime tier option
- Realistic time management for bots
- Dark mode
- Choice of colors and chessboards
- Import games from Lichess/Chess.com for flashcards
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- More moves in opening hints
- Ability to play specific opening branches on mobile
- Detailed computer analysis in game reviews
- Guided demo for new users
- Option to open PGN on Lichess from review page
- Export PGN after game
ChessBase Mobile Chess
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Noctie Chess Trainer
- Club Noctie7 Days trial$13.901 Month
- Club Noctie Yearly7 Days trial$99.991 Year
ChessBase Mobile Chess
- ChessBase Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
Questions
Is Noctie Chess Trainer free?
Is ChessBase Mobile Chess free?
Which has better reviews, Noctie Chess Trainer or ChessBase Mobile Chess?
Do Noctie Chess Trainer or ChessBase Mobile Chess have ads?
Which is updated more often, Noctie Chess Trainer or ChessBase Mobile Chess?
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