AroundChess vs Vaultora
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AroundChess
Analyze your chess games with detailed metrics, track your progress with interactive charts, and train with tactical puzzles and endgame scenarios. Experiment with positions in an interactive playground to improve your strategy and win more games.
- Deep game analysis with PGN import and Chess.com linking
- Move-by-move accuracy metrics and mistake breakdowns
- Opening explorer with success rate statistics
- Interactive rating charts and win/loss/draw stats
- Endgame and tactical drills powered by Stockfish
- Interactive playground for position experimentation
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PLAY CHESS. IMPROVE YOUR GAME. CLIMB THE LEADERBOARD. AroundChess is your personal chess playground and training companion. Play against 70+ AI opponents across different skill levels, earn Elo with every game, analyze your mistakes, and build your chess skills through targeted training. Whether you're just starting out or looking to sharpen your game, AroundChess gives you everything you need to play, learn, and improve. PLAY AGAINST 70+ AI OPPONENTS Choose from more than 70 AI opponents with different Elo ratings and playing styles. Find the right challenge for your level - or push yourself against a stronger opponent. Every rated game gives you the chance to earn Elo and improve your position on the leaderboard. CLIMB THE LEADERBOARD See how your Elo compares with other AroundChess players. Track your progress, move up the rankings, and compete with players from around the world. Can you make it to the top? ANALYZE YOUR MISTAKES Every game is an opportunity to learn. Analyze your games to discover mistakes, missed opportunities, and critical moments. Understand what went wrong and why, so you can avoid the same mistakes in your next game. TRAIN YOUR CHESS SKILLS Improve specific parts of your game with fun and challenging training exercises: • Chess Puzzles - Test your tactical skills • Board Vision - Improve your ability to see the board • Endgame Training - Master essential endgame positions Train your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. BUILD YOUR PERSONALIZED TRAINING PLAN Create a training plan tailored to your goals and focus on the areas where you need the most improvement. Whether you want to sharpen your tactics, improve your board vision, or master common positions, AroundChess helps you train with purpose. LEARN WITH THE CHESS HANDBOOK Explore common chess scenarios and learn how to handle them with confidence. The Chess Handbook gives you practical knowledge you can apply directly to your games. YOUR GAMES. YOUR PROGRESS. YOUR CHESS. Play against AI. Earn Elo. Analyze your mistakes. Train your skills. Climb the leaderboard. Start your chess journey with AroundChess. AroundChess Premium Subscription: Upgrade to AroundChess Premium and unlock full access to advanced features, unlimited analysis, exclusive puzzles, and priority insights tailored to your growth. Whether you’re reviewing your latest tournament games, diving into tactical puzzles, or mastering endgames, AroundChess Premium gives you everything you need to play smarter and win more. Subscription Terms: Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal in your Account Settings after purchase. Privacy Policy: https://aroundchess.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Vaultora
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Vaultora is an encrypted recording vault for people who want to record discreetly – material they are entitled to record. Audio, video and photo series go straight into a vault, encrypted file by file, and stay on this iPhone. No cloud, no accounts, no analytics. The limits first, because they are the product: The vault is excluded from iCloud backup; a .vaultora archive is the only way to back it up. If you lose the phone, the recordings are gone. If you forget your PIN, only the optional recovery passphrase you wrote down yourself can help – there is no master key and no support route that can open the vault. What nobody can recover for you, nobody can open against you. TWO VAULTS, TWO PINS Both vaults are created at setup. One entry field; the PIN decides which vault opens. Wrong entries are delayed exponentially, with no counter, and the delay survives a restart. Face ID or Touch ID optional for one vault. RECORD BEHIND A QUIET SCREEN While a recording runs, the display shows a black screen, a wallpaper or a plain view of your choice, dimmed if you like. This concerns Vaultora's own interface only: the iOS indicators for camera and microphone stay visible, always. Audio in segments, video with preview, photo series at intervals – everything is encrypted before it touches storage; plaintext is never cached. BROWSE, PLAY, EDIT Encrypted thumbnails, folders, playback straight from the vault, trim and split without altering the original. Scan documents, import media from Files. EXPORT AND BACKUP Single recordings via the share sheet or Files. The whole vault as a .vaultora archive with its own passphrase – that is your backup, and it opens on a new phone too. Wi-Fi transfer to your own computer, only on the addresses shown, encrypted. RECOVERY PASSPHRASE (NEW) For each vault you can have a ten-word passphrase generated. It is shown once and stored nowhere. With it, "Forgot PIN?" opens exactly that vault and you choose a new PIN. Without it, a forgotten PIN is final. INTRUSION LOG (OPTIONAL) After several failed attempts Vaultora can take one photo with the front camera and store it with a timestamp, so you can see who was holding the phone. PURCHASE Vaultora is bought once and is complete at that price: both vaults, recording, playback, export and import. One optional purchase, "Vaultora Pro", removes the limit of fifteen items per vault and adds Wi-Fi upload, alternate app icons and Apple Watch control. No subscriptions. LEGAL Vaultora is not marketed, described or designed as a tool for secretly recording other people. The app shows a legal notice at first launch and before the first audio recording. Whether a recording is lawful is your responsibility. Privacy: Vaultora collects no data. Nothing leaves the device unless you export it yourself.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Vaultora at none against AroundChess's shown. AroundChess's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, 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. AroundChess sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.49 per month and Vaultora sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
AroundChess ships an update every 2 weeks, Vaultora every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AroundChess | Vaultora |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.2 (6 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 16.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 157 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | aroundchess AG | Tobias Zehndbauer |
In-app purchases
AroundChess
- Monthly Premium Subscription2 variants$4.491 Month
- Premium Subscription (Monthly)1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- Premium Subscription (Monthly)$9.991 Month
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- 6-Month Premium Subscription$19.996 Months
- Yearly Premium Subscription$39.991 Year
- Premium Subscription (Yearly)$79.991 Year
- 1 Analysis Token$0.49
- 5 Analysis Tokens$1.49
- 10 Analysis Tokens$2.79
Vaultora
- Vaultora Pro$8.99









