Comparison

ChessView vs Chess2PGN

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

Head to head
About

ChessView

Scan chess positions from photos, books, or screenshots and instantly play them out on a digital board. Analyze PGN files, import your online games, and explore classic matches. Offers optional AI commentary for deeper insights.

Highlights
  • Scan positions from photos/screenshots
  • Import PGN and FEN files
  • Replay and branch off game moves
  • Full move validation
  • Import Chess.com games
  • Built-in classic games
  • Optional AI commentary
Features
Read full description

See a chess position anywhere — in a book, on another screen, on the table in front of you — and have it on a board you can play with, in seconds. ChessView is a study tool, not another place to play. Scan a position with the camera or from a screenshot, open a PGN file, or pull in your Chess.com games — then replay them, branch off, and work out what actually happened. Free, offline, no account, no ads, no tracking. SCAN A POSITION FROM A PHOTO Point the camera at a real board, or choose a screenshot from Chess.com, Lichess or a chess book. ChessView reads the position and puts it on your board. Anything it misreads, you fix in the position editor — then start playing it out. PLAY IT OUT ON A REAL BOARD Full move validation: legal moves, en passant, castling, promotion. Drag the pieces, step back and forth through the whole game, flip the board, and branch off wherever you want to see what would have happened. OPEN PGN AND FEN FROM ANYWHERE PGN files from Files, Mail, Messages or any app that can share them. Paste a FEN string and it loads. Export any position or game as PGN, FEN or a PNG image, and share it in one tap. YOUR CHESS.COM GAMES, OFFLINE Type your username, pick a month, and your games are in the library — ready to replay any time, with or without a connection. STUDY THE CLASSICS Famous games come built in — Byrne–Fischer, Morphy, Short–Timman, Lasker–Thomas — so there is always a position worth looking at. SEE THE EVALUATION Evaluations and main lines come from the Lichess cloud database: free, fast, no account needed. For positions the database doesn't know, ChessView offers a sensible continuation of its own. OPTIONAL: COMMENTARY IN PLAIN WORDS Add your own OpenAI API key and ChessView will explain a position or a whole game in sentences — the plan, the key ideas, the moment it turned. Entirely optional: everything above works without it. Your key is stored in the iOS Keychain, used only from your device, and never sent to us. PRIVACY, ACTUALLY No account. No ads. No analytics. No tracking. Your games and your settings stay on your iPhone and iPad. WHY I BUILT IT Getting a chess position onto my phone used to be absurdly hard. A diagram in a book, a screenshot from a game, a FEN string someone sent me — none of it could just be opened and played through on an iPhone. PGN files were worse. So I built the app I wanted: open anything, put it on a real board, move the pieces. — Pavel, solo developer Designed for iPhone and iPad.

About

Chess2PGN

Features
Read full description

Chess2PGN helps players, parents, and coaches instantly convert handwritten chess scoresheets into clean, digital PGN files. Simply snap a photo and the app reconstructs the full game—no more struggling to read messy notation or replay moves by hand. Review your game with built-in analysis, discover mistakes and tactics, and get helpful coaching insights. Every game is saved in your personal library so you can track progress over time. Whether you’re a tournament player or a chess parent, Chess2PGN makes studying games fast, easy, and accurate. Features: • Scan a scoresheet and auto-convert to PGN • Game reconstruction with smart move correction • Engine analysis with tips and key moments • Save and organize your games in one place • Share PGN with coaches and friends • Works for kids, scholastic tournaments, and adults

Screenshots

ChessView4 screens
Chess2PGN3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Chess2PGN at 15.1 against ChessView's 26.0. On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
ChessView versus Chess2PGN: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessViewChess2PGN
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB37 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperPavel GnatyukTriet Nguyen

In-app purchases

None

ChessView

No in-app purchases

None

Chess2PGN

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ChessView free?
ChessView is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess2PGN free?
Chess2PGN is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ChessView or Chess2PGN have ads?
Neither ChessView nor Chess2PGN shows ads.

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