dotChess vs Chess Variants Studio
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.
Chess Variants Studio
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Play any of nine variants of chess with 8 levels, 1200-2100, against the custom Pulsar engine. Review games with variant engine analysis. Styles supported are Chess960, Crazyhouse, Atomic, Losers, Giveaway, Three Checks, Advanced Pawns, Reversed Pawns and Random Pieces. The rules are included in-app. No signup. Ad Free. Works Offline. The playing program is one i've designed and tested at different levels on internet chess servers in order to come up with the ratings on the board. Ratings range from 1200 to 2100 or 2200 depending on variant. Try the app for free. There's 10 free plays of pure variants like atomic, crazyhouse and loser's and 10 free plays of chessic variants like chess960 and 30 free views of played games with analysis. A single one-time purchase unlocks unlimited play and variant engine analysis. Played games are logged and can also be viewed/analyzed. When reviewing the player's games, users can override the moves and start making their own moves. Back up to main line to undo. If the user goes looks at the Moves while reviewing, the game can be copied to the clipboard. The app comes with two skin themes, a reddish wood and a teal. Also here are multiple board and piece choices to choose from in settings.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: dotChess at none against Chess Variants Studio's 1. On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Chess Variants Studio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. dotChess asks for nothing beyond the download.
dotChess ships an update every 5 days, Chess Variants Studio every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on June 5, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | dotChess | Chess Variants Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 9 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 193 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thomas Baric | Michael Adams |
In-app purchases
dotChess
No in-app purchases
Chess Variants Studio
- Unlimited Plays and Views$3.99





