Comparison

ChessHut vs zenchess

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

Head to head
About

ChessHut

Features
Read full description

Chess for everyone. No account, no ads, and it works offline. PLAY THE COMPUTER Eight opponents with their own personalities, from a gentle beginner to the toughest boss. Beat one to unlock the next, and win without hints or take-backs to earn all three stars. Take-backs never run out, and you get 3 hints every game. 300 PUZZLE LEVELS Start easy and climb through 300 levels, from first checkmates to master tactics, earning up to three stars on each. A new daily puzzle every day, from over 8,000 puzzles in the Lichess open database. LEARN FROM EVERY GAME After each game, see your key mistake explained in plain words, step through it on the board and practice the idea with a puzzle. PLAY A FRIEND Two players on one device, with an optional clock from 3 to 30 minutes. MAKE IT YOURS App themes including a dark mode, board styles and piece sets. In 14 languages, on iPhone and iPad. CHESSHUT PRO: ONE PAYMENT, NO SUBSCRIPTION - Unlimited puzzles (free players get 5 a day, plus the daily puzzle) - Unlimited hints, each with the idea behind the move - Beat the Clock: solve as many puzzles as you can in three minutes - Every puzzle theme: forks, pins, sacrifices, endgames and more - Live coaching that rates every move you make - Every theme, board and piece set Your games and progress stay on your device. ChessHut collects only anonymous usage statistics, never your moves or personal details. Puzzles come from the Lichess.org open puzzle database, released into the public domain. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

zenchess

Enhance your chess skills with puzzles, visualization exercises, and tactical training. Practice blindfold chess, analyze your games, and track your progress with personalized coaching. Offers offline play and integration with online chess accounts.

Highlights
  • Blindfold puzzles and visualization
  • Tactical puzzle modes (Classic, Blink, Glyph)
  • Daily challenges with leaderboards
  • Online chess account integration
  • Targeted training games (Coordinates, Memory)
  • Opening study and analysis
  • Personalized coaching and analytics
Features
Read full description

House of all chess training. Train your mind to see the board. zenchess builds chess vision through blindfold puzzles, visualization exercises, and focused practice. PUZZLE MODES โ€ข Classic โ€“ Solve tactical puzzles from a highly curated list โ€ข Blink โ€“ See the position for a few seconds, then solve with the board hidden โ€ข Glyph โ€“ Position shown as notation only (PGN or piece list), solve without seeing the board Each mode has its own rating system. DAILY CHALLENGE One puzzle per day across all three modes. Global leaderboard and 14-day completion tracker. Streak tracking. PLATFORM INTEGRATION Link your favorite online chess account to track ratings directly inside zenchess. Monitor your blitz, rapid, and bullet ratings as they update. View recent games. Set improvement goals based on your real rating and track your progress over time. TRAINING GAMES โ€ข Coordinates โ€“ Identify squares quickly โ€ข Memory โ€“ Recall piece positions โ€ข Knight vs Queen โ€“ Endgame practice with optional blindfold mode โ€ข Colors โ€“ Square color recognition Leaderboards and statistics for each game. OPENING TRAINER Browse openings by ECO category. Filter by color. Interactive board for studying lines. COACHING Personalized training tasks based on your performance data. Identifies weaknesses and suggests what to work on. Goal tracking with progress visualization. ANALYTICS Rating history, tactical theme breakdown, activity tracking, and detailed performance insights. PROGRESSION Unlock new pieces by ranking higher, levels, achievements, and global leaderboards. ADDITIONAL FEATURES โ€ข Offline mode โ€ข No ads โ€ข Free tier with daily limits โ€ข Premium for unlimited access, coaching, and full analytics Terms of Use: https://zenchess.app/terms

Screenshots

ChessHut4 screens
zenchess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: zenchess at 15.0 against ChessHut's 17.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. ChessHut sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and zenchess sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on November 8, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 7 level
ChessHut versus zenchess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessHutzenchess
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviewsโ€”100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetizationโ€”Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS17.015.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size23 MB125 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDharmaraju Pilliata kaan bulut

In-app purchases

3 purchases

ChessHut

One-time3
  • Small Tip$1.99
  • Big Tip$4.99
  • ChessHut Pro$9.99
3 purchases

zenchess

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription1 Year trial2 variants$29.991 Year

Questions

Is ChessHut free?
ChessHut is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is zenchess free?
zenchess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ChessHut or zenchess have ads?
Neither ChessHut nor zenchess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ChessHut or zenchess?
ChessHut ships an update weekly, and zenchess weekly. Most recently, ChessHut was updated on November 8, 2026 and zenchess on November 8, 2026.

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