Comparison

ChessFlow vs Chess Arcade

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

Head to head
About

ChessFlow

Features
Read full description

ChessFlow is the training app built for tournament players - openings, middlegames and endgames - and the only one that lets you drill them on a real electronic chessboard. Train your lines on screen, or connect your Chessnut board over Bluetooth and practice with real pieces in hand, guided by the board's LEDs. Then let spaced repetition bring each line back right before you'd forget it, so your prep actually sticks. TRAIN ON A REAL ELECTRONIC BOARD Connect your Chessnut (Go, Air, Air+, Pro) and train with the pieces in your hands. The LEDs guide you - steady light for your opponent's move, a blink for a hint, a fast blink when the app plays the move for you. Make a mistake? Retry, ask for a hint, or let the app show you. REMEMBER YOUR OPENINGS WITH SPACED REPETITION ChessFlow uses an SM-2 algorithm adapted for chess openings: every line returns right before you're likely to forget it. Only a perfect run speeds up the schedule; anything shaky comes back tomorrow. No line ever disappears for months. A seven-day forecast shows how many lines come due each day, so you always know when a backlog clears. DRILL YOUR WEAK SPOTS ChessFlow tracks the positions where you go wrong most often and serves them back as targeted puzzles. Turn on Drill random positions for an endless stream of positions from the lines you've trained in the open repertoire - a fast way to keep it sharp. PRACTICE ANYWHERE ON THE VIRTUAL BOARD No hardware needed. Train on screen with tap-to-move and premove, just like chess.com and lichess. Your iPad becomes a training station; your iPhone keeps your repertoire in your pocket. PLAY IT OUT AGAINST STOCKFISH Stop anywhere in a line and play the position out against Stockfish 19, at a strength you choose. Explore variations in free analysis, with a slim evaluation bar beside the board, and export them. With ChessTools, our free clock app, on your iPhone, ChessFlow presses the clock for you. YOUR REPERTOIRE, FROM ANY SOURCE Keep building your repertoire in the chess app you already use - Chess Studio, for example. Link its iCloud folder and ChessFlow reads those PGN files without ever changing them: you study and edit there, you train here. Add a variation there and it's waiting the next time you open the file, with all your progress kept. You can also import single PGN files or paste FEN positions. Attach a course PDF or your notes to any repertoire; PDFs even reopen at the page you left, on every device. BUILT TO KEEP YOUR DATA SAFE Everything syncs across your iPhone and iPad via iCloud - lines, progress and colors. Training progress is merged across devices, never overwritten. Automatic daily backups, plus manual export and import. EXPORT & SHARE Copy or share your lines as PGN for lichess and chess.com. Export your games versus the computer as PGN or a tournament-style PDF scoresheet. Free to try, with a 14-day full-access trial. Subscriptions unlock unlimited training on the virtual board, or everything including the physical board. Requires iOS 17 or later. iPhone and iPad, one app. Questions or feedback? developer@chesstools.it Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.chesstools.it/chessflow/privacy.html

About

Chess Arcade

Features
Read full description

LEVEL UP YOUR CHESS INSTINCT! Stop playing the game, start playing the moments. Step into the arena with Chess Arcade, a high-energy collection of bite-sized chess mini-games designed to test your tactical vision and positional intuition. Forget long, exhausting matches. Dive into a vibrant, arcade-inspired world where every correct guess is a high score and every puzzle is a heartbeat away. EPIC GAME MODES GUESS THE ELO: Scrub through a real high-level game and predict the players' ratings. Can you stay within 50 points of the actual Elo to unlock massive multipliers? GUESS THE EVAL: Trust your gut. Pick the winning side in Easy Mode, or nail the exact engine evaluation in Hard Mode to prove your precision. BLUNDER HUNTER: Replay a game and lock in the exact moment a player threw it all away. Track your streaks and hunt down strategic errors. FIND THE GRANDMASTER: Three games, but only one masterpiece played by a legend. Can you spot the grandmaster among the amateurs? FIND THE BRILLIANTS: Study sharp positions and hunt for that "!!" move. Accuracy is everything—trigger top-tier result states with clean solves. IS IT CHECKMATE?: A rapid-fire tactical verification. Decipher the board instantly and call the checkmate before the clock catches you. SURVIVAL RUN: The ultimate marathon. Lives, time-pressure, and a mix of every mode. How long can you survive the gauntlet? CLIMB THE RANKINGS EARN XP & LEVEL UP: Conquer puzzles to gain XP, unlock new titles, and rise from a Wood Pusher to a Grandmaster. GLOBAL LEADERBOARDS: Compete against players worldwide. Track your accuracy for Elo, Eval, and Blunder Hunter dominance. ACHIEVEMENTS: Unlock unique multi-tier badges (Bronze to Diamond) as you crush milestones and prove your chess IQ. DUELS: Challenge friends or random rivals in asynchronous head-to-head battles. Solve the same puzzles and see who has the superior instinct. WHY CHESS ARCADE? No boring menus. No dry lessons. Just pure, chess-themed arcade action. Whether you have 30 seconds or an hour, Chess Arcade turns positional understanding into a high-score chase. Download Chess Arcade today and prove your instinct!

Screenshots

ChessFlow4 screens
Chess Arcade4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: ChessFlow at none against Chess Arcade's shown. ChessFlow also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks). Chess Arcade's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, 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. ChessFlow sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Chess Arcade sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ChessFlow ships an update every 3 days, Chess Arcade every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
ChessFlow versus Chess Arcade: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessFlowChess Arcade
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size202 MB77 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGiorgio DonnoliNick Schouten

In-app purchases

4 purchases

ChessFlow

Subscriptions4
  • ChessFlow Virtual$4.991 Month
  • ChessFlow Premium$8.991 Month
  • ChessFlow Virtual$29.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • ChessFlow Premium$49.991 Year
2 purchases

Chess Arcade

Subscriptions2
  • Grandmaster Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Grandmaster Annually$39.991 Year

Questions

Is ChessFlow free?
ChessFlow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess Arcade free?
Chess Arcade is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ChessFlow or Chess Arcade have ads?
Chess Arcade shows ads; ChessFlow does not.
Which is updated more often, ChessFlow or Chess Arcade?
ChessFlow ships an update every 3 days, and Chess Arcade every 2 weeks. Most recently, ChessFlow was updated on October 24, 2026 and Chess Arcade on October 25, 2026.

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