Comparison

Chess Shield vs ChessScroll

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

Head to head
About

Chess Shield

This app helps chess players improve by blocking distracting apps and replacing them with chess puzzles. Solve puzzles to advance your ELO and identify tactical weaknesses. It offers a free tier with basic features and a Pro version for advanced tactics and unlimited app blocking.

Highlights
  • Blocks distracting apps
  • Replaces app opens with chess puzzles
  • Puzzles matched to ELO
  • Tracks ELO in real-time
  • Tactical insights
  • Unlimited puzzles (Free)
  • Block multiple apps (Pro)
Features
Read full description

For chess players who want to actually get better. Endless scrolling steals the hours you'd rather spend improving. Chess Shield blocks the apps that eat your chess time. Try to open one, and a puzzle takes over the screen. Solve it to get past. Every solve moves your ELO. HOW IT WORKS Pick the apps you reach for when you meant to study. Instagram, TikTok, X, whatever's eating you. When you try to open them, a puzzle takes over. Solve it to unlock the app for a few minutes. The puzzles match your level. Type your chess.com or Lichess ELO and we'll start there. Or skip the input and we'll test you with three puzzles. From then on, every puzzle is challenging enough to make you think, solvable enough that you'll get there. Insights show you which tactics keep tripping you up. Your ELO moves in real time on every solve. FREE INCLUDES – Unlimited puzzles, matched to your ELO – 6 starter tactics: Fork, Pin, Skewer, Mate-in-1, Mate-in-2, Back-rank – 1 shielded app – Full ELO tracking – Insights into what you solve and what you miss PRO UNLOCKS – All 52 advanced tactics. Mate-in-3, Discovered Attack, Zwischenzug, endgames. The full library, not just the starters. – See every blind spot. Insights unlocks every theme. Your full weakness map, no locked tiles. – Block every app you want, not just one. Plenty to start on Free. Pro is where you stop guessing what to study. 7-day free trial on the yearly plan. $4.99/month or $39.99/year. WHY IT'S DIFFERENT Most focus apps are guilt machines. Most chess apps want your scroll. Chess Shield does both jobs at once. Every minute in here is measurable progress, not just dopamine. If you've ever wished the time you waste scrolling could be real chess time, this is it. PRIVACY We don't collect anything. No accounts, no analytics, no backend. The apps you block are opaque tokens iOS hands us. We literally can't see them. Everything stays on your device. ——— Subscription details Chess Shield Pro is offered as a monthly ($4.99/month) or yearly ($39.99/year) auto-renewing subscription. The yearly plan includes a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation. The subscription auto-renews unless turned off at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in iPhone Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions. Privacy Policy: https://chessshield.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://chessshield.com/terms

About

ChessScroll

This app locks distracting applications behind chess puzzles. Solve a puzzle to earn minutes of screen time for your chosen apps. It aims to reduce screen time by integrating practice into existing habits.

Highlights
  • App locking with chess puzzles
  • Customizable scroll time per puzzle
  • Offline puzzle functionality
  • Personalized puzzle difficulty
  • Privacy-focused, no account needed
  • Reduces screen time through habit integration
Features
Read full description

Your feed costs a move now. ChessScroll seals the apps that eat your evenings — Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, whichever you choose — behind a chess puzzle at your level. Solve it and you earn minutes of scroll. Fail it and the position waits. That's the whole app. That's the whole deal. THE DEAL 1 puzzle = minutes of scroll. You set the exchange rate. HOW IT WORKS 1. Seal your apps. Pick the ones that eat you. 2. Reach for one, and a puzzle appears instead. 3. Solve it. The app opens and your clock starts running. 4. Minutes run out mid-scroll? In chess we call that flagging. Solve another. WHY IT WORKS You already reach for your phone dozens of times a day. ChessScroll doesn't fight that urge — it reroutes it. Every reach becomes one tactic at your level: twenty to forty seconds, and a real fight. It's the training every coach prescribes and nobody actually does, attached to a habit you already have. TWO NUMBERS, FACING EACH OTHER — Your puzzle rating, climbing. — Your daily screen time, falling. Everything else is supporting cast. REAL PUZZLES, AT YOUR LEVEL Nearly fourteen thousand positions from real games, each one rated by the players who tried it before you, and served at your rating rather than under it, so the rating you build is earned. Works fully offline. From 400 to 2700, the puzzle fits. THE CLIMB Fourteen chapters, one for each master: Morphy, Anderssen, Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Nezhmetdinov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov. Every six puzzles you solve lays a stone on their road, and the one you solved at midnight to get into Instagram counts the same as the one you chose to play. The road stops at twenty-eight of their own games, and every one you solve goes into your album as a card. You never have to open the tab for it to move. NO NEW ADDICTION Training sessions end by design. No infinite puzzle feed, no guilt notifications, no nagging. Paul Morphy said in 1859 that chess should never engross the mind. We're inclined to agree. PRIVACY Your app choices and screen-time data never leave your device — Apple's Screen Time framework enforces that by design. No account needed. MEMBERSHIP ChessScroll requires a membership: yearly with a 7-day free trial, or monthly. Subscriptions auto-renew until cancelled in Settings. Terms: https://chessscroll.com/terms — Privacy: https://chessscroll.com/privacy Earn your scroll.

Screenshots

Chess Shield4 screens
ChessScroll4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Chess Shield at 50% against ChessScroll's 0%. Chess Shield also leads on rating (3.7 vs 3.0) and monetization model (freemium vs subscription). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Chess Shield sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and ChessScroll sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess Shield holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Chess Shield's written reviews are positive against 0% of ChessScroll's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Chess Shield versus ChessScroll: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess ShieldChessScroll
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (3 ratings) — better3.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3 — better2
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB100 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlejandro Trevino SaldanaMICHAŁ ROSTKOWSKI

Customer experience

Chess Shield

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

ChessScroll

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Chess Shield

Subscriptions2
  • Chess Shield Pro7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Chess Shield Pro$39.991 Year
2 purchases

ChessScroll

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Membership$7.991 Month
  • Annual Membership3 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Chess Shield free?
Chess Shield is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ChessScroll free?
ChessScroll is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess Shield or ChessScroll?
Chess Shield is rated higher. Chess Shield averages 3.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while ChessScroll averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Chess Shield or ChessScroll have ads?
Neither Chess Shield nor ChessScroll shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Shield or ChessScroll?
Chess Shield ships an update weekly, and ChessScroll weekly. Most recently, Chess Shield was updated on October 7, 2026 and ChessScroll on October 3, 2026.

Other comparisons