StonePath vs Learn Baduk
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
StonePath
This app is a dedicated trainer for the 9x9 Go board, offering interactive play for openings, shapes, and master games. It provides detailed move analysis and multiple AI opponents, all running locally on your device.
- Interactive 9x9 Go board play
- AI opponents from 20K to 1D
- Detailed move analysis and verdicts
- Live opening book with KataGo evaluations
- 1,958 Go problems, including classics
- Life-and-death shape training
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StonePath is a 9x9 Go trainer. Not a book, not a collection of diagrams โ every position on every screen is a board you play on. WHY 9x9 The small board is usually treated as a warm-up for 19x19. StonePath is built around 9x9, and on a board this size the engine can look deep: the app ships 23,915 positions rated by KataGo. NOTHING TO READ โ PLAY IT OUT Shapes, openings, problems and master games are all live boards. Tap an attacking move in a corner shape and the line plays out, with the opponent answering. Play off the book and the move is not refused: the board hands you free play, so you can try your own idea and watch how it ends. Master games step through move by move, and where the book gives a variation, one tap replaces the rest of the game with it. A 9x9 OPENING BOOK, EVERY POSITION RATED 43 openings in four families, 229 branches, 1,613 positions โ every one with a KataGo evaluation: win rate and score. THE BOOK DOESN'T STOP WHERE THE DIAGRAM STOPS Two computed layers sit on top of it. 1,745 positions carry the engine's verdict on every reasonable continuation past the last book move, so you can keep playing and see why the best move is best. 20,557 more answer a different question: you just gave away the advantage โ here are the three strongest ways to punish it. TEN OPPONENTS FROM 20K TO 1D The bots are not just Go engines running a shallow search. They use KataGo's network trained on human games: each bot picks moves the way players at its rank do. Each bot's strength was measured in games against a Go program whose rating is known from games with human players. The results place every bot close to its stated rank on both 9x9 and 13x13. The same ten opponents play on both board sizes. EVERY MOVE, NAMED After a game each of your moves gets a verdict on one scale: best, great, good, inaccuracy, mistake, blunder. The thresholds are set in points and tuned for 9x9, and on 13x13 they grow with the board โ losing four points on 81 intersections is not the same mistake as on 361. HELP WHILE YOU PLAY Three layers you can switch on mid-game: the three best moves lettered on the board, who is ahead and by how much, and the territory map. 1,958 PROBLEMS, 1,932 OF THEM CLASSICS Gokyo Shumyo (1812) and Guanzi Pu (1660) โ the collections generations of players learned from. Difficulty is measured for every problem, and the next one is chosen for your level. ALSO INSIDE 96 life-and-death shapes, named and settled. Techniques and theory written for the 9x9 board. Chinese or Japanese rules, your choice. A full KataGo engine running on the Neural Engine โ no server, no account, no internet. On an iPhone 15 Pro it evaluates 531 positions per second, faster than a rented GTX 1080. WHAT STONEPATH IS NOT No 19x19 play against the bot, no online play against people. StonePath is not all of Go โ it is learning to play, on the board small enough to understand whole. FREE, AND WHAT THE SUBSCRIPTION ADDS Free forever: the lessons, the 9x9 theory, the whole opening book, two opponents, and the start of every problem and shape section. The first seven days open everything. StonePath Pro adds the engine: position evaluations, the three best moves lettered on the board, play past the end of the book, punishment for a bad move, the territory map, game review, adaptive training, all ten opponents and all 1,958 problems. $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year. Payment is charged to your Apple ID; the subscription renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends, and is managed in your Apple ID settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://kai-go.com/privacy
Learn Baduk
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A beginner-friendly app for learning the game of Go (baduk). No hard jargon, no crushing AI โ just tap the board and learn the rules of Go one move at a time. โ Interactive rules tutorial Placing stones, liberties, atari, capture, two eyes (life), and counting territory โ you learn Go by doing, not by reading. Gentle, step-by-step guidance built for absolute beginners. โ Step-by-step Go puzzles Start with simple captures and build up. Solve "one move to capture" Go problems to grow your reading. Correct moves get warm praise; mistakes just invite you to try again. โ Play real Go against the AI Put what you learned into practice. Start with Capture Go (beginner match), then step up to real 9x9 Go with full rules. Play with a handicap (five stones to even) that fits your level, and unlock the next rung when you win. The AI is tuned so beginners can actually win โ with an atari coach and undo to keep it stress-free. โ Warm design made for beginners A warm wooden board and large, clear type instead of a cold, intimidating screen. A learn-to-play-Go experience that says "I can do this too." โ Great for ยท Anyone who wants to learn Go but doesn't know where to start ยท Learners who want to really understand the rules (liberties, atari, capture, territory) ยท Parents starting Go with their kids ยท Returning players brushing up the basics Place your first stone with First Go today.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: StonePath at none against Learn Baduk's shown. Learn Baduk's advantage is iOS requirement (15.5 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases 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. StonePath sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Learn Baduk sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
StonePath ships an update weekly, Learn Baduk every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | StonePath | Learn Baduk |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | โ |
| Update frequency | Weekly โ better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No โ better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | โ |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod โ better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.5 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 245 MB | 62 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alexey Volvak | Jaeyoun Kim |
In-app purchases
StonePath
- StonePath Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- StonePath Pro - Yearly$29.991 Year
Learn Baduk
- Remove Ads$2.79









