Chess Studio Lite vs Chessvis
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chess Studio Lite
Manage and analyze chess games and databases in PGN format. Study openings, practice against engines, and solve puzzles with advanced analysis tools. Supports multiple devices and cloud storage integration.
- PGN database management
- Game analysis with Stockfish 18
- Opening book creation and import
- Diagram recognition
- Cloud storage integration
- Play against engine (standard & Chess 960)
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Chess Studio is the first and only application for iPhone and iPad able to completely manage chess database and games in PGN format. Chess Studio is an application designed and built for those players who really want to deepen their knowledge in the field of chess, studying chess regularly and participate in tournaments. Chess Studio allows you to: • Read database and games in PGN format (also with extended notation of moves). • Create, delete and modify folders and databases. • View games with annotations and textual comments and keep track of the displayed games. • Use a double chessboard on the same screen for better game analysis. • Visualize moves and variants in compact mode or indented mode. • Modify existing games with move annotation and textual comments. • Insert new games and positions. • Insert moves with annotations and textual comments. • Insert variation, subvariations etc. • Insert and visualize graphical annotation (colored arrows and highlighted squares). • Share Databases and Games through Airdrop. • Download chess database from internet. • Download chess database from PGN Mentor site. • Import games, database and Opening Books from other applications. • Merge two or more databases. • Copy/Paste games and positions. • Analyze games with Stockfish 19 Engine with the support of the Neural Networks (up to 5 lines of analysis simultaneously) and see the results also through the Engine Evaluation Bar. • See graphic visualization of moves suggested by Stockfish 19 engine. • See Win-Draw-Loss (WDL) probabilities during engine analysis. • Replay games automatically. • Visualize Pawn structure. • Manage Variations and sub-variatons: delete and promote variations. • Read the weekly Magazine The Week In Chess and download the games. • Uploading and Downloading PGN database to/from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive. • Three different modes for moving pieces. • Analyse endgames with Endgame Tablebases. • Analyse and study Chess Openings. • Creation and management of Opening Books in Polyglot format. • Import and management of ChessBase Opening Books (ctg, cto, ctb format). • Automatically classify a database according to ECO code. • Replay, enter and analyze Chess 960 games (Fischer Random Chess). • Play against the engine both in standard mode and in Chess 960 mode. • Solving Puzzles. • Diagram Recognition: this feature allows the user to take and/or upload photos of chess diagrams and convert them into PGN format positions. Other features and technical details: • Modify the board size tapping on the board or through the Settings menu. • Professional chess fonts and figurines for moves notation and annotation. • Preview of the game in the board tapping the Info button. • Advanced search feature. • Visualization of ECO code and Opening during game replay or game insertion. • Visualization of Book Openings during game replay or game insertion. • Complete management of Null Moves with Tutorial. • Portrait/Landscape mode for all devices. • Support of Slide Over and Split View mode. • Function to move up within variants and subvariants. • Online manual frequently updated. • iOS 26 compatible and optimized for all the devices. • Sharing of databases across devices via iCloud Drive. • Sound option. • Support for iPad Pro Keyboard or bluetooth keyboard. • VoiceOver/Accessibility support. • Direct contact via email with the developer. • Languages: English, Italian, Spanish and German. Complete description at the following address: https://chessstudio.wordpress.com/chess-studio/ The application is continuously updated with new features and improvements. Chess Studio Lite is a smaller version of Chess Studio where some features are limited. To view the terms of service visit https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ No registration! No advertising! No sharing of personal data! If you own an iMac or a MacBook try the new Chess Lab!
Chessvis
Enhance your chess skills with unique visualization exercises, including blindfold chess and progressive move following. Prepare openings by focusing on common opponent moves and practice with spaced repetition. Access millions of categorized puzzles with customizable difficulty and rating controls.
- Unique visualized puzzles
- Blindfold chess training
- Opening repertoire preparation
- Progressive move following
- Customizable puzzle categories and ratings
- Offline puzzle access
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Chessvis is designed to help you get better at the game. Its unique, "found nowhere else", puzzle, blindfold chess and progressive move following exercises will sharpen your visualization skills. Now with Version 11, all puzzle exercises are free - including working offline. There's a new menuing system that makes navigating around the huge 'toolbox' of features much easier. The opening repertoire preparation routines are also unique focusing on the "moves you'll see" and finding the "moves that work". Plus you can pull in your own games to see what's working for you. And now, use AI to help uncover the opening that will work for you. Puzzles The Chessvis puzzle collection starts with millions of categorized and rated puzzles from Lichess and adds several unique features including: Category and Rating Control Chessvis lets you set both the category and rating of the puzzles you’re challenged with. Want to try easy forks one day and hard multiple move mates the next? Do it! You’ll never be forced to only do puzzles around some hypothetical rating you’ve “earned”. The entire puzzle collection is always available for you. Visualized Puzzles A unique feature of Chessvis is the "Visualized" puzzle. It presents a puzzle showing the diagram from some number of moves before the actual tactic sequence starts. You're told the number of moves to "visualize" and then solve the problem from a board position that only exists in your mind. This is what got Chessvis started and it’s the only app with it. Other Puzzle Collection Features The “no repeat pledge” - with such an extensive puzzle collection, Chessvis is able to make sure you don’t see the same puzzle twice. Want to focus on solving puzzles quickly? Turn on the timer. Going to be away from the internet? Pull puzzles down to your device and work off-line. See your puzzle history. Download the puzzles you’ve done. All that is in Chessvis. Opening Preparation Build your repertoires focusing on the "moves you'll see". Chessvis believes that you need to think about the moves your opponents actually play and not some complex way too deep repertoire designed by a master who doesn't play anything like the way you do. At ever step in the repertoire design process, Chessvis shows you the moves your opponents actually make and highlights ones you need to think about. Then once you've built your repertoire, practice it with daily spaced repetition. Blindfold Chess Play against the computer with "stepping stones" to help ease your way into blindfold chess. Start with all pieces sharing one color then go to two color disks, one shared color disk and then eventually an empty board. Subscribers had the stockfish and Maia chess engines to the free-to-use Komodo engine. Who’s Guarding Whom A deceptively simple visualization exercise that forces you to mentally track piece movements and how they interact. (No other app has this.) Move Following & Static Boards Track a sequence of moves and then update the board to that point. Or memorize a board layout, then recreate it. Start off easy with just a few pieces and work your way up. Analyze Your Games Download your chess.com and lichess.org games for opening analysis. See what you've been playing, what's been played against you and the results. Videos What better way is there than videos to see Chessvis in action? You can watch the videos within the app. They're all kept short and to the point. Chessvis has always had unique tools to visualize the chessboard and win more games. A famous chess coach said: "Don't think about the pieces being exchanged, visualize how the board will look when the pieces are gone". Move a piece and you affect two places. But it's illegal to physically move the piece and see the effects -- you must learn to visualize. Chessvis is designed to help with that process. Download it today. Our Terms of Service can be found at: https://www.chessvis.com/tos.php
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess Studio Lite at none against Chessvis's 3. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Chessvis sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Chess Studio Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Chess Studio Lite against 4.4 for Chessvis. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 21 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 64% of Chess Studio Lite's written reviews are positive against 70% of Chessvis's.
Chess Studio Lite ships an update fortnightly, Chessvis monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and August 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess Studio Lite | Chessvis |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (11 ratings) | 4.4 (21 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 63.6% of reviews | 70.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 11 | 21 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 237 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Giordano Vicoli | Conceptual Software, Inc. |
Customer experience
Chess Studio Lite
Chessvis
In-app purchases
Chess Studio Lite
No in-app purchases
Chessvis
- Chessvis Monthly Subscription$3.991 Month
- Chessvis Annual Subscription$29.991 Year
- Chessvis Perpetual$99.99
Questions
Is Chess Studio Lite free?
Is Chessvis free?
Which has better reviews, Chess Studio Lite or Chessvis?
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Which is updated more often, Chess Studio Lite or Chessvis?
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