Comparison

Chess Combinations vs LearnChess Academy

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

Head to head
About

Chess Combinations

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The application offers solving chess problems, divided into sections by openings and their variations or types of tactical techniques. The goal of each task is to find a combination to mate the king, achieve an advantage, and win pieces. In most sections of the application, after solving each problem, you can see the entire chess game from which the position was obtained.

About

LearnChess Academy

Features
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Stop playing chess. Start improving at it. Whether you're learning the rules or grinding toward 2000 ELO, LearnChess meets you where you are. Use it for a 5-minute, daily practice during your commute, in-between calls, after your morning routine β€” or spend hours doing deep dives into new openings, endgames, or analyzing your recent games. LearnChess is the first chess learning app that combines a unique set of features to improve your game: PRACTICE β€£ Unlimited puzzles to practice tactics β€£ Drill themes (forks, mating patterns, zugzwang, ...) β€£ Learn from your mistakes on Lichess/chess.com THEORY β€£ Lessons to study 100+ openings and 20+ endgames β€£ Maintain your opening repertoire with quizzes β€£ Dedicated beginner track to learn the fundamentals ANALYSIS β€£ Upload board screenshots from anywhere β€£ Import games from Lichess/chess.com β€£ Stockfish meets AI chess coach COMMUNITY β€£ Share your own tactics to challenge others β€£ Like and comment on puzzles of others β€£ Collect "pawn points" to show up on the leaderboard Don't be a player of the game. Become a student of it. LearnChess gives you daily practice puzzles (10/day), beginner lessons, and screenshot uploads (5/day) for free. Unlock unlimited puzzles, advanced lessons, and unlimited AI coach messages with Knight ($3.99/mo) or Queen ($11.99/mo). Subscriptions auto-renew monthly unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage in your App Store account settings. Terms: https://www.learnchess.ai/terms. Privacy: https://www.learnchess.ai/privacy.

Screenshots

Chess Combinations4 screens
LearnChess Academy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: LearnChess Academy at weekly against Chess Combinations's every 2 weeks. Chess Combinations's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Chess Combinations sells 23 one-off in-app purchases and LearnChess Academy sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Combinations ships an update every 2 weeks, LearnChess Academy weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
Chess Combinations versus LearnChess Academy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess CombinationsLearnChess Academy
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksWeekly β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 β€” better15.1
Further details β€” not scored
Size40 MB122 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMaksim KolosovNikolas Burk

In-app purchases

23 purchases

Chess Combinations

One-time23
  • Knight forks$1.99
  • Sacrifice on e6$3.99
  • Scandinavian Defense (white)$4.99
Show 20 more
  • Italian Opening, black pieces$4.99
  • Queen Sacrifice$4.99
  • Caro-Kann (white pieces)$4.99
  • Sicilian Defense (Dragon)$5.99
  • Sicilian Defense (Najdorf)$5.99
  • Italian Opening, white pieces$5.99
  • Scandinavian Defense$5.99
  • Classic Caro-Kann$5.99
  • Sicilian Defense (Paulsen)$5.99
  • Sicilian Defense, white pieces$5.99
  • Scottish Gambit$5.99
  • Budapest Gambit$6.99
  • Grob's Attack$6.99
  • Slav Defense$6.99
  • Ruy Lopez Opening$6.99
  • London System$6.99
  • King's Indian defense$6.99
  • Queen's Gambit, black pieces$6.99
  • Catalan Opening$7.99
  • King's Gambit$8.99
2 purchases

LearnChess Academy

Subscriptions2
  • Knight$3.991 Month
  • Queen$11.991 Month

Questions

Is Chess Combinations free?
Chess Combinations is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LearnChess Academy free?
LearnChess Academy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chess Combinations or LearnChess Academy have ads?
Neither Chess Combinations nor LearnChess Academy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Combinations or LearnChess Academy?
Chess Combinations ships an update every 2 weeks, and LearnChess Academy weekly. Most recently, Chess Combinations was updated on October 3, 2026 and LearnChess Academy on October 13, 2026.

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