Comparison

OpenMate vs ChessBased

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

Head to head
About

OpenMate

Master chess openings and play against a powerful engine with integrated coaching. This app offers a private, offline experience with visual guidance and strategy tips to improve your game. Enjoy uninterrupted play with no ads or distractions.

Highlights
  • Strong, fast chess engine
  • Fully offline functionality
  • Visual coaching with move suggestions
  • Built-in opening knowledge
  • Strategy tips and explanations
  • Play at your own pace, no clock
  • Undo moves freely
Features
Read full description

Learn chess openings, or play chess against a strong, fast engine with built-in coaching and analysis tools. OpenMate runs entirely on your device. No internet connection, no accounts, and no data collection. Everything is local, private, and instant. Designed for both play and improvement, OpenMate combines engine strength with visual guidance and practical coaching to help you understand the game as you play. Features: • Strong, fast engine with instant responses: ~4M nodes per second on an iPhone 16 (half on Low Power Mode), ~2800 ELO at 3s/move! • Fully offline: no network access required • Hint mode with visual coaching: - Opening guidance with move suggestions and lists (multicolor arrows) - Engine-recommended moves (green arrows) - Threat visualization (red arrows) • Built-in opening knowledge to guide early play • Strategy tips with both chess terminology and plain-English explanations • Play as White or Black • Flip the board anytime • Undo moves freely at any point • No clock: play at your own pace without time pressure OpenMate is designed to remove friction and distractions. There are no ads, no sign-ups, and no interruptions. Just chess. Whether you want to practice openings, analyze positions, or simply play strong games offline, OpenMate gives you a focused and responsive experience. Built for iPhone and iPad, tested across devices, and optimized for smooth performance.

About

ChessBased

Analyze chess openings with millions of games and advanced engine evaluations. Prepare like a grandmaster with a seamless interface, win-loss statistics, and move-by-move exploration. Save your favorite lines for later study on your iPhone or iPad.

Highlights
  • Millions of games database
  • Stockfish 18 engine evaluations
  • Win-loss statistics
  • Move-by-move exploration
  • Save favorite lines
  • Seamless UI
Features
Read full description

Now with Stockfish 19!! The only chess app with the strongest chess player on the planet in your pocket. ChessBased:Stockfish 19 takes opening analysis to a whole new level. At a glance, users see a seamless UI of openings databases with millions of games, win-loss statistics, and depth 60+ (!!) Stockfish 19 evaluations. That's right. With trillions of positions in the engine database, we did the hard work for you when it comes to looking at evals in your favorite chess openings. Now you can prepare like Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, without having to spend thousands on expensive hardware. Explore openings move by move, compare master-game trends, review engine-backed recommendations, and save your favorite lines in Lichess-like fashion for later study. ChessBased is built for fast, focused preparation on iPhone and iPad, whether you’re checking a tournament line, building a repertoire, or just curious what a depth 60+, 192 core engine thinks. Simple UI. Powerful engine. Better prep.

Screenshots

OpenMate4 screens
ChessBased3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: OpenMate at 5.0 against ChessBased's 4.0. OpenMate also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, review sentiment, 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. ChessBased sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. OpenMate asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

OpenMate holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OpenMate has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OpenMate ships an update every 6 days, ChessBased every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
OpenMate versus ChessBased: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpenMateChessBased
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better4.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRAMINE ROANEENVISIONAIRY LLC

Customer experience

OpenMate

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ChessBased

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

OpenMate

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

ChessBased

One-time1
  • ChessBased: Stockfish 18$4.99

Questions

Is OpenMate free?
OpenMate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ChessBased free?
ChessBased is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, OpenMate or ChessBased?
OpenMate is rated higher. OpenMate averages 5.0 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while ChessBased averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do OpenMate or ChessBased have ads?
Neither OpenMate nor ChessBased shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OpenMate or ChessBased?
OpenMate ships an update every 6 days, and ChessBased every 2 weeks. Most recently, OpenMate was updated on September 26, 2026 and ChessBased on October 12, 2026.

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