Comparison

ChessGrind vs PGN Chess Recorder

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

Head to head
About

ChessGrind

Features
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ChessGrind is a tracker for chess players who want to improve. Log your games, see your real numbers, build your opening repertoire, and keep a list of the mistakes that cost you, with a fix for each. No account, no tracking. Everything lives on your device and in your private iCloud, and syncs across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. A GAME JOURNAL THAT ADDS UP Log every game with the result, the side you played, the time control, the opponent, and the opening. Filter by result and watch the journal grow into your record. YOUR REAL NUMBERS ChessGrind computes your win rate and your record split by color and by time control, so you learn that you score well with White in rapid but leak points in blitz as Black. The numbers come only from the games you log. A RATING CHART YOU CONTROL Note your rating whenever you check it and ChessGrind plots the trend. Keep separate lines for Chess.com blitz, Lichess rapid, or your over the board rating, and see the change over the last thirty days at a glance. A STUDY ROUTINE AND A STREAK Log study blocks by theme: tactics, endgames, openings, strategy, and game review. A streak counts the days you keep it up, a two week strip shows your rhythm, and a chart breaks down where your time actually goes. Turn on a daily reminder to protect the streak. THE LEAK LIST YOU ACTUALLY FIX Name the mistakes that keep costing you games. Give each one a category, the pattern behind it, and the fix you will use instead, then advance it from open to working to fixed with a tap. This is the feature that turns review into progress. OPENING REPERTOIRE Save the openings you play with the main line, the ECO code, and the plans and ideas behind them. Pull one into a game entry with a tap. EXPORT WHAT IS YOURS (PRO) Generate a one page PDF performance report with your record, win rates, streaks, rating, and open leaks, ready to print or share with a coach. Export your games, ratings, and leaks as CSV files with ISO dates for any spreadsheet. ON EVERY DEVICE ChessGrind syncs across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud. The iPad and Mac layout puts your dashboard and charts side by side. FREE VS PRO Free includes 20 games and 3 leaks with every tool: the journal, win rate stats, the rating chart, study streaks, and opening repertoire. ChessGrind Pro unlocks an unlimited game journal, unlimited leak tracking, and the PDF and CSV exports. ChessGrind Pro is a subscription at $3.99 USD per month or $24.99 USD per year, or a one time Lifetime unlock at $59.99 USD. Pro subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation, and the subscription renews unless you turn off auto renew at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions; cancellation applies at the end of the current period. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

PGN Chess Recorder

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Chess Recorder lets you record chess games by speaking your moves. Say square names, pieces, captures, castling, and undo in plain language — the board updates live, the move list builds as you play, and you can export everything as PGN. Built to capture PGN from games on older chess computers and devices that don’t offer export capabilities— and just as useful for over-the-board play, training, and quick analysis on iPhone and iPad. VOICE DICTATION • On-device speech recognition tuned for chess moves • Support for English and German language dictation • Live transcript while you record • Teach custom phrases when recognition misses something • Optional touch input when you prefer to tap moves instead BOARD & NOTATION • Clear interactive board with move navigation and scrubbing • ECO code and opening name as you play • Browse opening continuations from the current position • Multi-game archive with PGN copy and export • Flip the board and customize colors, coordinates, piece size, and many more ENGINE ANALYSIS • On-device Stockfish analysis via LucidEngine • Evaluation, win probability, main line, and best-move arrow • Each display option can be turned on or off MOVE QUALITY • Background assessment of played moves • Inaccuracy, mistake, blunder, and miss marks in the move list • Accuracy summary with charts for White and Black • Optional assessment symbols in exported PGN When supported, speech recognition runs on your device. Microphone access is used only for move dictation. Chess Recorder is free and open source (GPLv3).

Screenshots

ChessGrind4 screens
PGN Chess Recorder4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PGN Chess Recorder at none against ChessGrind's 3. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. ChessGrind sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. PGN Chess Recorder asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference · 5 level
ChessGrind versus PGN Chess Recorder: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessGrindPGN Chess Recorder
PriceFreeFree
Update frequency—Daily
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.0 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB113 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperInnovaLabWorksPhilipp Guntermann

In-app purchases

3 purchases

ChessGrind

Subscriptions2
  • ChessGrind Pro$3.991 Month
  • ChessGrind Pro$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • ChessGrind Lifetime$2.99
None

PGN Chess Recorder

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ChessGrind free?
ChessGrind is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PGN Chess Recorder free?
PGN Chess Recorder is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ChessGrind or PGN Chess Recorder have ads?
Neither ChessGrind nor PGN Chess Recorder shows ads.

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