Comparison

Chess Scanner vs ChessManager

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

Head to head
About

Chess Scanner

Digitize your chess games by scanning score sheets. Extract moves, correct errors with suggestions, and export games as PGN. Analyze your games on Lichess or Chess.com.

Highlights
  • Scan chess score sheets
  • Digitize games from images
  • Correct recognized moves
  • Export games as PGN
  • Analyze in Lichess/Chess.com
  • Categorize games by tournament
Features
Read full description

Turn your handwritten chess score sheets into digital games in seconds. Take a photo of your score sheet, and Chess Scanner reads the moves, generates the game and shows it next to your handwriting, so you can check every move at a glance. HOW IT WORKS • Scan the score sheet with the camera or pick a photo from your library • The move grid, the notation and the last move are detected automatically • Generate the game with Basic (fast and reliable) or Pro (for hard to read score sheets) • Check the result: each move is shown next to the handwritten field, and the color shows how confident the recognition is • Misread moves are corrected automatically where possible, and uncertain moves are marked for a quick look • Fix a move in seconds with suggestions sorted by probability, filtered by piece if needed ORGANIZE AND SHARE • All games in one place, with search and filters by tournament, round, result and favorites • Group games into tournaments and add player names, ratings, date and round • Export single games or whole tournaments as PGN, or import your existing PGN files • Open games in Lichess or Chess.com • Analyze games and see the accuracy of both players, their mistakes and the evaluation over the game • Find your games with Spotlight search FOR TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS Add the score sheets of both players. Both are used to generate the game, which makes the result even more reliable. Long games can span several sheets. MADE FOR EVERY SCREEN Works on iPhone and iPad, with the games list and the game side by side on iPad, and with dedicated layouts for iPhone Duo, folded and unfolded. SUPPORTED NOTATIONS • English: N/B/R/Q/K • German: S/L/T/D/K • Dutch: P/L/T/D/K • Spanish / Italian: C/A/T/D/R • French: C/F/T/D/R • Portuguese: C/B/T/D/R • Czech / Slovak: J/S/V/D/K • Turkish: A/F/K/V/Ş Other notations can be set up as well; they are read based on a similar supported notation, so recognition may be less accurate. To generate a game, the score sheet images are sent to our servers. Generation usually takes a few seconds, depending on the legibility, the length of the game and your connection. PREMIUM • Pro generation for hard to read score sheets • Score sheets of the second player • Game analysis • PGN export • Open games in Lichess and Chess.com • Cloud synchronisation of your games • Unlimited chessboard scans The core features stay free. Questions or suggestions? Write to steffen@chessscanner.com Terms of Use (EULA): https://chessscanner.com/eula

About

ChessManager

Read full description

Chess Manager makes Tournament Management easy and intuitive thanks to a suite of carefully crafted features: - Tournament formats for Swiss, Double Swiss, Round Robin, Double Round Robin and Knockouts - Create player profiles and add them to your tournament - Search for existing players in the FIDE database - Get pairings and log the results with ease - View cross table or standings easily exported or printed - Manage your players and track your favorites - iCloud syncs your data, private and secure: start on your iPhone, view later on Mac

Screenshots

Chess Scanner4 screens
ChessManager4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ChessManager at none against Chess Scanner's 7. ChessManager also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Chess Scanner sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. ChessManager asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Scanner ships an update every 3 weeks, ChessManager daily. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Chess Scanner versus ChessManager: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess ScannerChessManager
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (22 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings22 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.4
Further details — not scored
Size157 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSteffen Ratzke von StoyentinORFEO ISAIAH KAPLOW

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Chess Scanner

Subscriptions5
  • Weekly Plan3 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • Monthly Plan$2.991 Month
  • Monthly Plan$4.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Yearly Plan$14.991 Year
  • Yearly Plan2 variants$22.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium$89.99
None

ChessManager

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess Scanner free?
Chess Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ChessManager free?
ChessManager is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Chess Scanner or ChessManager have ads?
Neither Chess Scanner nor ChessManager shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Scanner or ChessManager?
Chess Scanner ships an update every 3 weeks, and ChessManager daily. Most recently, Chess Scanner was updated on October 30, 2026 and ChessManager on October 28, 2026.

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