Comparison

Chessmax vs Chess Trainer

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

Head to head
About

Chessmax

Features
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Chessmax is an immersive 3D online chess platform built for both competitive players and casual fans. Whether you want intense ranked matches, relaxed custom games, or single-player AI challenges, Chessmax delivers a polished, social and highly customizable chess experience. Core features - Real-time 3D matches: Smooth camera controls and crisp visuals put you at the center of every game. - Deep customization: Personalize your profile with customizable pieces, boards, profile icons and emotes. Build a signature look and bring personality to the board. - Multiple modes: Play Ranked, Custom, or against AI (Easy / Medium / Hard). Weโ€™re constantly expanding modes and game types. - Tournaments & leaderboards: Join live tournaments, track standings and compete for prizes. Our Redis-backed leaderboards and tournament caching keep results fast and consistent. - Loadout & Randomize: Equip your favorite pieces, boards, icons and emotes in Loadout. Randomize is being expanded to include emotes and icons for fresh combinations and discovery. - Secure purchases: In-app purchases are verified and hardened to ensure reliable, secure transactions. Polish, performance & reliability This update brings a major profile and UI refresh, reduced build size through asset cleanup, and many behind-the-scenes improvements to server performance and caching. Profile loading, match history, and tournament queries are faster thanks to Redis-driven optimizations. We also improved IAP validation flows and version sync for more dependable updates. Why players love Chessmax - Express yourself with unique piece sets, boards and emotes. - Climb the ranks in competitive play or try new strategies against AI opponents. - Compete in well-managed tournaments with fast leaderboards and responsive matchmaking. - Regular updates, performance optimizations and active bug-fix cycles keep the game evolving. Get involved Join the Chessmax community: customize your loadout, climb leaderboards, and test new modes. If you find an issue, use the in-game Bug Report to help us improve. We read everything and push updates frequently. Download the update and step into Chessmax โ€” the next level of 3D online chess awaits.

About

Chess Trainer

Features
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Chess is not learned from a book โ€” it is learned on the board. Chess Trainer makes you PLAY every idea: every lesson ends with positions you must win yourself, and every pattern becomes a move your hands know. THE ROAD Short lessons you play, not read. Watch each idea arrive move by move, replay it as often as you like, then prove it โ€” three positions where you deliver the mate yourself, and a boss game to seal the unit. CHECKMATE PUZZLES Mate in 1, 2 and 3, every solution engine-verified. Learn the 29 named checkmate patterns โ€” back rank, smothered, Anastasia and the rest โ€” and collect them in the Mate-dex: a card is engraved the first time YOU deliver that mate in a real position. 5,000 RATED PUZZLES From 400 to 2400, by theme: forks, pins, mates, defence, endgames. A puzzle rating that moves after every puzzle, a daily puzzle for your level, and a streak. PLAY โ€ข Our own on-device bot: plays anywhere, no internet needed, free forever. โ€ข Rated levels from 1350 to 2850 Elo, powered by Stockfish โ€” the world's strongest open-source engine โ€” running on our servers. โ€ข Pass & play with a friend on one device. GAME REVIEW Every move graded, from Brilliant to Blunder, with an accuracy score for both sides. See what the engine would have played, step through the game move by move, and keep the review forever โ€” reopening it is free, even offline. Every mistake gets a sentence โ€” what it cost, what it allowed, what was better โ€” and you can retry the move. FAIR BY DESIGN Lessons, every Journey mission and the on-device bot are free. Every day you also get 10 rated puzzles, one Stockfish game and one game review. Coins buy one more; Chess Trainer Pro makes everything unlimited. No ads, ever. No account, no login. 13 languages. Built for iPhone and iPad. Subscription details Chess Trainer Pro is available as a monthly or yearly auto-renewing subscription, or as a one-time lifetime purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings โ†’ Apple ID โ†’ Subscriptions. Privacy Policy: https://chesstrainer-web.web.app/privacy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://chesstrainer-web.web.app/terms/

Screenshots

Chessmax4 screens
Chess Trainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Chessmax at 15.0 against Chess Trainer'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. Chessmax sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Chess Trainer sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chessmax ships an update weekly, Chess Trainer every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Chessmax versus Chess Trainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessmaxChess Trainer
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeekly โ€” betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better17.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size259 MB6 MB
Age rating17++4
DeveloperZOIHUB LLCYoussef Ziat

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Chessmax

One-time6
  • 64 Zoi Coins$0.99
  • 192 Zoi Coins$2.99
  • 320 Zoi Coins$4.99
Show 3 more
  • 640 Zoi Coins$9.99
  • 1280 Zoi Coins$19.99
  • 2560 Zoi Coins$39.99
6 purchases

Chess Trainer

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Pro$6.991 Month
  • Yearly Pro$19.991 Year
One-time4
  • 300 coins$1.99
  • 1,000 coins$4.99
  • 2,500 coins$9.99
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Pro$34.99

Questions

Is Chessmax free?
Chessmax is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess Trainer free?
Chess Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chessmax or Chess Trainer have ads?
Neither Chessmax nor Chess Trainer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chessmax or Chess Trainer?
Chessmax ships an update weekly, and Chess Trainer every 10 days. Most recently, Chessmax was updated on October 28, 2026 and Chess Trainer on October 31, 2026.

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