Comparison

Chessful vs ChessMate

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

Head to head
About

Chessful

This app acts as a private chess coach, analyzing your games to identify mistakes and provide personalized training. It focuses on improving your play through tailored exercises based on your weaknesses, without ads or requiring an account.

Highlights
  • Personalized mistake analysis
  • Daily training based on weaknesses
  • Track five key chess skills
  • Play against 40 AI opponents
  • Offline functionality
  • Private by design (no accounts/tracking)
Features
Read full description

Understand why you lose. Train what you actually miss. A private chess coach on your device — powered by Stockfish, built around your own games. No ads. No accounts. Fully offline. — WHY CHESSFUL — Most chess apps help you play more. Chessful helps you play better. Instead of confusing engine numbers, Chessful explains every mistake in plain language and turns it into focused, daily training. — UNDERSTAND YOUR MISTAKES — After every game, Chessful shows you: • Where you went wrong • What you missed • Why it mattered Nine mistake categories — from hanging pieces to back-rank weaknesses — explained without jargon. — TRAINING BUILT FROM YOUR GAMES — Your daily plan adapts to your weaknesses, not a generic curriculum. Hang pieces? You'll see more puzzles on hanging pieces. Lose endgames? Endgames take priority tomorrow. Spaced-repetition review locks in what you've learned. — TRACK FIVE SKILLS, NOT JUST RATING — Watch your real progress across: • Tactics • Defense • Positional play • Endgames • Openings — KNOW YOUR OPENINGS — Chessful builds your opening repertoire from your own games — the lines you really play, your win rate in each, and the exact move where you most often go wrong, alongside the engine's better move. Play the London 60% of the time? See precisely where it slips on move 6, then drill it. — PLAY 40 OPPONENTS WITH PERSONALITY — Eight tiers, from Novice to Master. Aggressive, defensive, positional, tactical, endgame specialists — each with a distinct style. Win twice to advance. Optional Game Center leaderboards and achievements. — STOCKFISH, ON YOUR DEVICE — The world's strongest open-source engine, embedded with neural-network evaluation. No cloud calls. No latency. No data leaves your phone. — PRIVATE BY DESIGN — • No accounts • No tracking • No ads • Your games stay on your device — DESIGNED FOR FOCUS — Calm dark interface. No streak guilt. No notifications begging you back. Native on iPhone, iPad and Mac — with a 3D board on the larger screens. — PREMIUM — Unlock unlimited analysis, the full daily training engine, deeper coach hints, your complete opening repertoire, all 40 opponents, and your full skill profile. Monthly, yearly, or one-time lifetime — your choice. — WHO IT'S FOR — You'll feel at home in Chessful if you: • Want to improve but feel stuck • Find engine numbers more confusing than helpful • Prefer structure over endless scrolling • Want a chess tool that respects your attention Free to download. Start with one game. See what you've been missing. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

ChessMate

Features
Read full description

ChessMate is live online chess and serious training in one clean, focused app. Play rated games against real opponents, warm up against an always-available practice opponent, and sharpen your tactics with a library of more than 1,000 rated puzzles. LIVE ONLINE MULTIPLAYER Jump into a live rated game in seconds. Choose bullet, blitz, rapid, or classical, tap Find Game, and matchmaking pairs you with another player in real time. Every rated game counts towards your Elo, so each win moves you up the ladder. CHESSMATE COACH Never wait for an opponent. When the queue is quiet, ChessMate Coach — your always-available practice opponent — steps in so you can start a live game straight away. Perfect for warming up before a rated match or fitting in a quick game at any hour. DAILY PUZZLE Start each day with a fresh tactical puzzle. The daily puzzle is free for everyone and rotates every 24 hours, so there is always a new problem waiting when you open the app. PUZZLE LIBRARY Work through more than 1,000 rated tactical puzzles covering forks, pins, skewers, discovered attacks, and the other patterns that decide most games at club level. Each puzzle is rated from beginner to master, so you are always challenged at the right level. PLAY THE COMPUTER Prefer a solo game? Play against the computer at a level that suits you whenever you want a game entirely on your own terms. GAME ANALYSIS Review your games move by move after you play. Spot the turning points, learn from your mistakes, and bring the lessons into your next game. LEADERBOARD See where you stand against the wider ChessMate community. The global leaderboard ranks players by rating, so you always know who is climbing and how far you have to go. ELO RATINGS Track separate Elo ratings for bullet, blitz, rapid, and classical play, plus an overall rating that summarises your form. Your profile keeps a record of every rated game so you can watch yourself improve over time. CLEAN, MODERN INTERFACE ChessMate has a focused, distraction-free interface with a tasteful dark mode, a familiar piece set, and accessibility-friendly contrast. Everything is one tap away from the main board. SIGN IN WITH APPLE ChessMate supports Sign in with Apple alongside email-and-password accounts. You stay in control of your data, and account deletion is one tap away from the Settings screen. SUBSCRIPTION TIERS ChessMate is free to download and play. Optional auto-renewing subscriptions support development and unlock additional content as it becomes available: Gold — 1-month subscription, £2.99/month Gold — 12-month subscription, £29/year (≈£2.42/month) Platinum — 1-month subscription, £4.99/month Platinum — 12-month subscription, £49/year (≈£4.08/month) Diamond — 1-month subscription, £9.99/month Diamond — 12-month subscription, £99/year (≈£8.25/month) Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed and auto-renewal turned off in your Apple ID Account Settings after purchase. PRIVACY ChessMate does not sell your data and does not show third-party ads. You can delete your account, including all rating history and gameplay data, directly from the Settings screen. Download ChessMate today — play live, solve the daily puzzle, and watch your rating climb. Terms of Use (EULA): https://chessmate.wolftechnologies.co.uk/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://chessmate.wolftechnologies.co.uk/privacy.html

Screenshots

Chessful4 screens
ChessMate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Chessful at every 5 days against ChessMate's every 2 weeks. ChessMate's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Chessful sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and ChessMate sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chessful ships an update every 5 days, ChessMate every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Chessful versus ChessMate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessfulChessMate
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size161 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAntti AittamaaWolf Technologies Ltd

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Chessful

Subscriptions2
  • Chessful Pro Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Chessful Pro Yearly7 Days trial$17.991 Year
One-time4
  • Support the Developer Coffee$1.99
  • Support the Developer Supporter$4.99
  • Support the Developer Huge Support$9.99
Show 1 more
  • Chessful Pro Lifetime$29.99
6 purchases

ChessMate

Subscriptions6
  • Gold Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Platinum Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Diamond Monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Gold Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Platinum Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Diamond Yearly7 Days trial$99.991 Year

Questions

Is Chessful free?
Chessful is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ChessMate free?
ChessMate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chessful or ChessMate have ads?
Neither Chessful nor ChessMate shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chessful or ChessMate?
Chessful ships an update every 5 days, and ChessMate every 2 weeks. Most recently, Chessful was updated on October 28, 2026 and ChessMate on October 8, 2026.

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