Comparison

Simple Chess Trainer vs Zenmate

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

Head to head
About

Simple Chess Trainer

Features
Read full description

Simple Chess Trainer is a focused practice tool for chess players who want faster board recognition, sharper annotation skills (for beginners), and tighter opening repertoire memory (for all levels) โ€” all free, with no subscriptions or accounts. Square Recognition. Drill all 64 squares with timed sessions, custom filters (whole board, light/dark only, ranks 1โ€“4, etc.), and a focus list that biases toward squares you've missed in the last 90 days. Toggle coordinates off when you're ready to find squares from memory. Annotation Drill for Beginners. Step through any PGN game move-by-move, identify mistakes, and let the engine queue tough positions for review. The Review Queue surfaces moves you've gotten wrong three times running until you've beaten them three times in a row. Opening Repertoire & Move Trainer (All levels). Drag the right move (or type it) for both sides of any game or opening line in your library. The new Random Review mode picks games weighted by how much you've struggled โ€” your hardest lines surface first; mastered ones come up rarely so you don't drill what you already know. Library. Import any standard PGN file to build your own repertoire or review your own games. The app indexes thousands of games in seconds and ships with 20 verified historical classics on first launch โ€” Morphy's Opera Game, Anderssen's Immortal, the Game of the Century, Kasparov's Immortal, and more. Stats. 7-day / 30-day / 90-day / all-time views of accuracy, response time, square-error heatmap, piece-error breakdown, and per-game Move Trainer mastery. Export everything as JSON anytime. Works fully offline. Private by default. Every drill, import, and statistic stays on your device. No accounts, no servers, no chess-data analytics, no subscriptions โ€” ever. Ads are served by Google AdMob and gated by App Tracking Transparency; remove them permanently with a one-time in-app purchase. Designed for iPhone and iPad. Built for iOS 18.

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

Simple Chess Trainer4 screens
Zenmate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Zenmate at none against Simple Chess Trainer's 1. Zenmate also leads on ads (none vs shown). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Simple Chess Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Zenmate asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Simple Chess Trainer versus Zenmate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple Chess TrainerZenmate
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyโ€”Every 6 weeks
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size8 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOleksandr IoffeTimothy Nice

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Simple Chess Trainer

One-time1
  • Remove All Adds (One-Time)$12.99
None

Zenmate

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Simple Chess Trainer free?
Simple Chess Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Zenmate free?
Zenmate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Simple Chess Trainer or Zenmate have ads?
Simple Chess Trainer shows ads; Zenmate does not.

Other comparisons