ChessLab vs Heatmap Chess
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ChessLab
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ChessLab is a complete chess trainer, a chess game, and — new — a reel studio that turns your games into videos. Study 10,000+ openings, solve 11,000+ puzzles, play Stockfish across 7 skill levels, and share your best move as a vertical video built for Reels, Shorts and TikTok. Works offline. From your first move to grandmaster strategy — ad-free with Premium. NEW: AI REEL STUDIO Paste a PGN. The engine finds the moment worth watching and builds a vertical video around it. • AI picks the key move and writes the title • Cinematic effects — pieces slam, the board reacts, the camera follows • Frame-by-frame camera control: your own zooms, shot lengths and cuts • Move call-outs (BRILLIANT, BLUNDER) in five text styles and three sizes • Any colour you like — presets or a full colour picker • Title and end cards you can restyle, resize or switch off • Lay your own music under it, and pick which part of the track to use • Move sounds mixed into the exported file • Build reels from your game, a famous game, or a puzzle PLAY CHESS • Play vs AI — 7 ELO-tuned levels: • Beginner Bot I (500) — Learn the basics • Beginner Bot II (900) • Intermediate (1300) • Advanced (1700) • Expert (2000) — Club strength • Master (2400) • Grand Master (2700) — Powered by Stockfish • Play vs Friends — Pass-and-play on one device, offline • Play Online — Challenge real players in live matches • Board Editor — Set up any position and play it against the engine CHESS OPENINGS Study 10,000+ openings covering every ECO code: • Ruy Lopez • Sicilian Defense • French Defense • Caro-Kann Defense • King's Indian Defense • Queen's Gambit • Italian Game • English Opening • Hundreds more Every opening includes move-by-move PGN playback. GAMBITS Aggressive opening traps and attacks: • Halloween Gambit • Scotch Gambit • Englund Gambit • King's Gambit • Benko Gambit • Many more TACTICS & PUZZLES 11,000+ puzzles in 57 themed sets, so you can drill one pattern until it sticks: • Checkmate Patterns — back rank, smothered, Anastasia's, Arabian, 18 in all • Tactical Motifs — pins, deflection, discovered attack, 19 in all • Attacking Play, Special Moves, Game Phase • Mate in 2 and Mate in 3 • Endgames — pawn, rook, bishop, knight and queen Daily practice is one of the fastest ways to raise your rating. COURSE A structured path from zero to grandmaster — the fundamentals in order, so you never have to guess what to learn next. GAME REVIEW & ANALYSIS • Import any PGN • Stockfish analysis, entirely on your device • Ten grades: Brilliant, Great, Best, Excellent, Good, Book, Inaccuracy, Mistake, Miss, Blunder • Sacrifices and only-moves recognised, opening theory marked as book • See what you should have played • Share games as PGN, or turn one straight into a reel GAME STATS & PERFORMANCE Connect your Chess.com or Lichess account: • Rapid, Blitz, Bullet & Classical ratings • Win / Draw / Loss breakdown • Current & Peak ELO, with rating history graphs • Best & worst openings vs database averages • Common mistakes and phase-by-phase weaknesses • Toughest opponents and best-ever wins GRANDMASTER GAME LIBRARY Replay legendary games from Carlsen, Kasparov, Fischer, Anand, Nakamura, Gukesh, Tal, Capablanca, Karpov, Alekhine, Morphy and Judit Polgar — plus World Championship archives. FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE • 40 piece sets • 64 board themes • 6 sound themes • Dark Mode • Undo / Redo during practice WHO IT'S FOR Beginners learning the rules, club players (800–1500), intermediate (1500–2000), advanced (2000+), and anyone who wants to play offline. Everything except online play and imported stats works with no internet. Download ChessLab and start improving — one move at a time.
Heatmap Chess
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Heatmap.Chess teaches you to read a chess board the way grandmasters do — as a map of control, not a list of pieces. EVERY NUMBER IS A THREAT Each square shows how many pieces want to attack it. A "3" means three pieces are converging on that square. Drop your dock pieces in the right places, and every correct placement cools the heat by one. Get all numbers to zero — puzzle solved. WHAT'S INSIDE • Hand-crafted themed rooms with graduated difficulty • Fresh daily puzzles — keep your streak alive • Heart system + combo bonuses • Cross-device sync — pick up where you left off • Quiet, focused dark UI built for one hand • One-time purchase removes ads + unlocks every room SHARPEN YOUR CHESS VISION No openings to memorize, no notation to decode. You start seeing what grandmasters see when they sit down at a board — the geometry of attacks. A training tool for beginners and experienced players alike. DESIGNED FOR FOCUS No social feeds. No leaderboards screaming at you. Just numbers, pieces, and the small satisfaction of every count dropping to zero.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ChessLab at every 4 days against Heatmap Chess's every 2 months. Heatmap Chess's advantage is iOS requirement (13.4 vs 15.0). 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
Both are free to download. ChessLab sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.99 per month and Heatmap Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
ChessLab ships an update every 4 days, Heatmap Chess every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ChessLab | Heatmap Chess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 167 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Aman Singh | Utku Kucu |
In-app purchases
ChessLab
- Unlock Premium$1.991 Month
Heatmap Chess
- Unlock Everything$4.99
Questions
Is ChessLab free?
Is Heatmap Chess free?
Do ChessLab or Heatmap Chess have ads?
Which is updated more often, ChessLab or Heatmap Chess?
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