Comparison

Chessight vs Zenmate

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

Head to head
About

Chessight

Features
Read full description

Chessight is the fastest way to analyze, review, and learn from your chess games — all on your iPhone. Import your own games or analyze chess.com matches from any username. A full Stockfish 18 engine runs locally on your device to classify every move as brilliant, great, best, inaccuracy, mistake, or blunder — exactly like the big chess sites, but without an account or monthly subscription. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Analyze any PGN — paste a game or import via share sheet • Pull chess.com games by username with one tap • See move-by-move accuracy, classifications, and eval graph • Tap any move for a detailed breakdown with best alternatives • Explore variations freely — play "what if" lines and get instant evaluation • Share positions with a single tap PLAY & TRAIN • Play against Stockfish at adjustable depth (1–20) • Solve the daily chess.com puzzle • Browse 37+ famous checkmate patterns • Edit any position with a flexible board editor PRIVACY FIRST • The Stockfish engine runs entirely on your device — your games never leave your phone • No account required • Chess.com game data fetched through their public API FREE OR PREMIUM • One free deep analysis every day • Watch a short ad to unlock additional analyses • Or buy Premium once — unlimited analyses, no ads, forever • Premium is Family Shareable WHAT'S INCLUDED • Stockfish 18 with NNUE neural evaluation • Interactive board with legal-move highlighting • Opening book detection • Accuracy stats across games • iPad-optimized two-column layout • Works on iPhone and iPad (portrait and landscape) Download Chessight today and start analyzing every move you make.

About

Zenmate

Features
Read full description

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

Chessight4 screens
Zenmate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Zenmate at none against Chessight's 1. Zenmate also leads on ads (none vs shown). Chessight's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 6 weeks) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price 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. Chessight sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Zenmate asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chessight ships an update every 9 days, Zenmate every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 2 level
Chessight versus Zenmate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessightZenmate
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size186 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJayanth S PTimothy Nice

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Chessight

One-time1
  • Chessight Premium$4.99
None

Zenmate

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chessight free?
Chessight is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Zenmate free?
Zenmate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Chessight or Zenmate have ads?
Chessight shows ads; Zenmate does not.
Which is updated more often, Chessight or Zenmate?
Chessight ships an update every 9 days, and Zenmate every 6 weeks. Most recently, Chessight was updated on October 17, 2026 and Zenmate on October 1, 2026.

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