SmallFish Chess for Stockfish vs Lichess
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
This app leverages the powerful Stockfish chess engine to help you improve your game. Analyze your matches with detailed comments, study the engine's thought process, and track your progress. It offers advanced features like blunder checking and graphical evaluations without any ads or in-app purchases.
- Blunder checking
- Multiple line analysis
- Graphical game evaluation
- Game previews
- Dark mode support
- Endgame tablebase
- Opening books
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SmallFish is a project based on the Stockfish chess engine. It uses the latest Stockfish chess engine (Stockfish 19), rated about Elo 3600+ and is the strongest chess app on the App Store. SmallFish offers you three distinct ways to improve your game. You can review your game with comments, or study how Stockfish thinks, or track your progress. No in-app purchase, no ads, no data tracking. SmallFish is simply amazing. It's small but powerful, you'll be surprised. Features --------- - Blunder checking - Multiple line analysis - Graphical evaluation of your game - Game previews - Dark mode support - Endgame tablebase - Opening books - Import from Chess.com and Lichess Why not just download and try it yourself?
Lichess
Play chess online with millions of users, participate in tournaments, solve puzzles, and analyze games. This free and open-source application offers a comprehensive chess experience for players of all levels, with features for learning and casual play.
- Real-time and correspondence chess
- Arena tournaments
- Chess puzzles
- Game analysis with Stockfish
- Interactive study feature
- Chess clock
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Lichess is a free/libre, open-source chess application powered by volunteers and donations. Today, Lichess users play more than five million games every day. Lichess is one of the most popular chess websites in the world while remaining 100% free. The following features are available right now: - play real time or correspondence chess - play arena tournaments - play against online bots - solve chess puzzles from a wide variety of themes, online or offline - race against the clock in Puzzle Storm - analyse your games with latest Stockfish locally or on the server - board editor - study chess with a collaborative and interactive study feature - learn board coordinates - play over the board with a friend - watch live chess broadcasts from all major chess tournaments - watch Lichess TV and online streamers - use a chess clock for your over the board games - many different board themes and piece sets - custom background themes - translated into 55 languages
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Lichess at Free against SmallFish Chess for Stockfish's $4.99. SmallFish Chess for Stockfish's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (79% vs 53%). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and chart position 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
Lichess is free to download; SmallFish Chess for Stockfish costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmallFish Chess for Stockfish has 4.5K ratings behind it against 785, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of SmallFish Chess for Stockfish's written reviews are positive against 53% of Lichess's.
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish ships an update every 4 days, Lichess fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SmallFish Chess for Stockfish | Lichess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (4.5K ratings) — better | 4.1 (785 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 79.1% of reviews — better | 53.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4.5K — better | 785 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #18 — better | #44 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 195 MB | 109 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ted Wong | LICHESS.ORG |
Customer experience
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
Lichess
User reviews
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
From 4.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful chess engine
- 👍 Intuitive and clean interface
- 💡 Customizable board and piece styles
- 🚀 Fast move calculations
- 👍 Helpful analysis and suggestions
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Issues with board and coordinate display
- 🐛 Inconsistencies in engine difficulty levels
- 🐛 Problems with PGN file handling
- 👎 Complicated user interface
Lichess
From 785 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great interface
- 🚀 Smooth performance
- 💡 Useful resources for learning and analysis
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional UI issues
- 💡 Room for more customization options
Bugs and requests
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when setting up positions
- Incorrect move suggestions and engine evaluations
- Freezing and unresponsiveness during gameplay
- Issues with board and coordinate display alignment
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for variations and multiple analysis lines
- Implement a two-player mode with piece flipping
- Add PGN file sorting, searching, and folder support
- Provide an option to hide the board and show captured pieces
- Integrate with chess.com and other platforms
Lichess
Reported bugs
1 issue- Swipe-to-go-back gesture interferes with piece placement
Requested features
3 requests- Name of opening in opening explorer
- Ability to add and subtract additional things on the homepage
- Reset/replay button on puzzles
In-app purchases
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
No in-app purchases
Lichess
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SmallFish Chess for Stockfish free?
Is Lichess free?
Which has better reviews, SmallFish Chess for Stockfish or Lichess?
Do SmallFish Chess for Stockfish or Lichess have ads?
Which is updated more often, SmallFish Chess for Stockfish or Lichess?
Which is more popular, SmallFish Chess for Stockfish or Lichess?
Other comparisons
