dotChess vs Zenmate
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
dotChess
Engage in classic chess matches with friends, AI opponents, or players globally. This modern application allows you to track your statistics, communicate during games, and resume play across multiple devices.
- Play live games with friends
- Challenge AI bots
- Global matchmaking
- Account creation and stat tracking
- In-game chat
- Cross-device play
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dotChess is a modern chess app built for playing with real people. Play live games with friends, challenge AI bots, or get matched with players worldwide. Create an account, track your stats, chat during games, and pick up where you left off on any device.
Zenmate
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Zenmate is a calm, beautifully designed chess app built for focused play. Play a quiet game against the AI, start a match with friends through Game Center, or pass-and-play on one device. Zenmate keeps the interface simple and refined so the board stays central and every move has room to breathe. Features: - Play vs AI with multiple difficulty levels - Play with friends using Game Center - Local 2-player pass-and-play - Light and dark mode - Optional board coordinates - Flip board support - Clean timers and move-focused gameplay A quiet game of kings. Designed to slow you down, one move at a time.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: dotChess at every 5 days against Zenmate's every 6 weeks. dotChess also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
dotChess ships an update every 5 days, Zenmate every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | dotChess | Zenmate |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 193 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thomas Baric | Timothy Nice |
In-app purchases
dotChess
No in-app purchases
Zenmate
No in-app purchases
