Comparison

Openit vs KarpaChess

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

Head to head
About

Openit

Learn chess openings through interactive play and guided lessons. This app offers a gamified approach to understanding and memorizing opening moves, with modes for learning and practice. Sharpen your chess strategy from the first move.

Highlights
  • Interactive opening library
  • Coach-guided explanations
  • Gamified progression with streaks
  • Practice mode for reinforcement
  • Learn popular chess openings
Features
Read full description

Openit makes learning chess openings fun, fast, and effective. Forget rote memorization. With Openit, you play, interact, and truly understand openings step by step, guided by a friendly in-app coach. Learn Mode • Choose from a growing library of openings • Explore interactive lines directly on the board • Get clear, simple explanations for every move • Keep your daily streak Practice Mode • Train without hints by playing the correct responses • Strengthen memory and pattern recognition Whether you’re rated 600 or 2000 Elo, Openit provides structured, gamified training to sharpen your play from move one. Key Features • Popular openings like the Vienna Gambit, French Defense, Italian Game, and more • Gamified progression with streaks • Coach-guided learning with simple, practical tips • Practice mode to test and reinforce your knowledge Spend just 5 minutes a day, turn your openings into a weapon, and start winning games earlier. Terms of Service: https://www.louisraffin.com/openit/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://www.louisraffin.com/openit/privacy-policy

About

KarpaChess

Features
Read full description

KarpaChess teaches chess on the board. Every lesson shows you an idea, lets you play it, then asks you to prove it on a position you have never seen. Train on rated puzzles, play Stockfish 19 and study the masters, in twelve languages. Everything runs on your device: no account, no ads, no tracking. SEE IT, PLAY IT, OWN IT Each of the 100 lessons follows three beats. See the idea on the board, with arrows and moves played out for you. Play it yourself: if you are stuck, the hint is a sentence the lesson's author wrote for that exact position. Then own it, by solving a puzzle on a new position. The patterns you own go into your Pattern Book, and Sharpen brings them back before you forget them. EIGHT ARTS Foundations, The Story of Chess, The Blade (tactics), The First Moves (openings), The Finish (endgames), The Plan (strategy), The Hunt (attack) and The Chess World. They run from setting up the board to the Greek gift and the Lucena bridge. A RATED PUZZLE TRAINER 240 puzzles in twenty packs, rated from 600 to 2000, with solutions several moves deep. Your first try moves your puzzle rating. After that, replay any puzzle to beat your best. PLAY STOCKFISH 19 Four strengths, from beginner to full strength. Play with a real clock, increment included, or untimed. Ask for a hint, take a move back, and come back to an unfinished game where you left it. REVIEW EVERY MOVE When a game ends, every move is graded best, good, inaccuracy, mistake or blunder, and the turning point is explained. THE STUDIO A library of 240 short, decisive master games in 24 collections, from Paul Morphy in the 1850s to the present day. Import your own games as PGN, with their comments and variations kept. Brilliant moves are flagged, and the drawing tools put arrows, lines, highlights, shapes, a pen and text on the board. A HINT WHEN YOU ASK One hint button, answered on your device. It looks at material, king safety, pawn structure, development and loose pieces, and says what matters. MAKE IT YOURS Ten themes, five boards, ten original piece sets, three typefaces and three sound packs. TWELVE LANGUAGES English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Indonesian, Japanese, Hindi, Turkish, Italian and Portuguese. The app, every lesson and every puzzle are translated by hand. PRIVATE BY DESIGN KarpaChess collects no data. It never connects to the internet, and everything it keeps stays on your device. FREE SOFTWARE KarpaChess is free software under the GNU GPL, version 3 or later. Its complete source code is published at https://github.com/mourad-ghafiri/KarpaChessMobile

Screenshots

Openit4 screens
KarpaChess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: KarpaChess at none against Openit's 2. KarpaChess also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 10 days) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads 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. Openit sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. KarpaChess asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Openit ships an update every 10 days, KarpaChess every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Openit versus KarpaChess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpenitKarpaChess
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size102 MB171 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLouis RaffinMourad GHAFIRI

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Openit

Subscriptions2
  • Openit Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Openit Pro Annual7 Days trial$24.991 Year
None

KarpaChess

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Openit free?
Openit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is KarpaChess free?
KarpaChess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Openit or KarpaChess have ads?
Neither Openit nor KarpaChess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Openit or KarpaChess?
Openit ships an update every 10 days, and KarpaChess every 3 days. Most recently, Openit was updated on October 24, 2026 and KarpaChess on October 23, 2026.

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