Chess Acuity vs Chaal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Chess Acuity
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Chess Acuity turns any chess position into insight โ entirely on your device. Set up a position and Stockfish 17, running locally on your iPhone, shows you the best moves and lines. No account, no ads, no analytics, no internet connection required. The app is free and open source. FOUR WAYS IN โข From a photo โ share a screenshot from any chess app or website, or pick one from your photo library. A built-in recognizer reads the board on-device and sets up the position. โข From a game โ paste a PGN, step through the moves, and analyse any position along the way. โข By hand โ set up the board in a clean, fast editor. โข By FEN โ paste a position directly. ANALYSIS โข Powered by the Stockfish 17 chess engine, running natively on your device. โข Multiple lines (MultiPV) with evaluations, searched by depth or thinking time. โข Step through any line move by move on the board. โข Plain-language explanation of the engine's choice. PLAY โข Play a full game against Stockfish at eight strength levels. โข Take a hint when you're stuck, then hand the finished game straight to the analyser. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything โ board recognition, engine analysis, move explanations โ runs on your device. The app makes no network requests and collects no data. Screenshots you import are processed locally and never uploaded. OPEN SOURCE Chess Acuity is free software under the GNU GPLv3. The complete source code is available at github.com/alexostar/chess-acuity-app. FAIR PLAY Chess Acuity is made for study and review. Please don't use it for assistance during live or rated games โ that breaks the fair-play rules of every chess site and spoils the game for everyone.
Chaal
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Chaal is a chess position analyzer for screenshots, photos, and printed chess diagrams. Import a board without rebuilding it by hand, then get the best move, alternatives, evaluation, winning chances, and a clear explanation. Import a position by: - Taking a photo - Choosing or pasting an image - Sharing an image from another app - Entering FEN or PGN - Pasting a board image link Recognition runs on your device and works with different board and piece styles. Recognition is in beta. If Chaal is unsure about a square, you confirm the piece before analysis instead of letting the app guess. How it works 1. Import a position from a screenshot, app, or chess book. 2. Confirm the board and choose the side to move. 3. Review the best move, alternatives, evaluation, winning chances, and explanation. Chaal saves every result automatically. Search previous analyses, see opening names when available, and share your analysis with others. Chaal Pro includes unlimited analyses, Deep analysis, and Continue the Line. Your image stays on your device. Chaal sends the confirmed chess position, not the image, for remote analysis. Built for chess study and post-game review. Do not use engine assistance during live or rated games. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://privacy-dxb.pages.dev/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess Acuity at none against Chaal's 1. On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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
Both are free to download. Chaal sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Chess Acuity asks for nothing beyond the download.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess Acuity | Chaal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | Every 4 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No โ better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad โ better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 โ better | 17.0 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 135 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sigfus Bjarnason | Hisa Hashisaka |
In-app purchases
Chess Acuity
No in-app purchases
Chaal
- Chaal Pro$2.991 Month









