Tsumego Pro (Go problems) vs SmartGo One
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tsumego Pro (Go problems)
Enhance your Go skills with a vast library of tsumego puzzles. Learn from detailed solutions and explore variations to understand mistakes. Features daily problems, adaptive difficulty, and customizable game settings.
- Daily tsumego problems
- Adaptive difficulty modes
- Detailed solutions and bad variations
- Color selection (black, white, random)
- Hint system
- Book theme
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Improve your Go game (weiqi, baduk) with Tsumego Pro and its large collection of tsumego problems! Each problem contains all valid answers and a lot of bad variations, to help you know why you are wrong. Features: - 6 daily problems - A simple mode: try to solve all problems in each package - A progress mode: the difficulty increases or decreases depending on your level - Choose your color (black, white, random) - Browse the solution, or just get a hint - A book theme (black and white)
SmartGo One
Learn, play, and improve at the ancient game of Go. This app offers adjustable board sizes, a strong AI opponent, and tools to study professional games and solve Go problems. It's designed for players of all skill levels, from beginners to masters.
- Adjustable board sizes (9x9 to 19x19)
- Strong KataGo game engine
- Study professional game records
- Solve Go problems and tutorials
- Pattern matching for move suggestions
- Territory estimator
- Game recording and annotation
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SmartGo One is the only Go app you’ll need, whether you’re just getting started or already a seasoned player. Learn, play, study, and improve with SmartGo One. Experience the ancient game of Go on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac in a whole new way. Also known as igo (囲碁), wéiqí (围棋), or baduk (바둑), Go begins with an empty board that gradually fills as players surround territory and capture stones. Start with a 9x9 board and move up to 13x13 and 19x19 as your skills grow. SmartGo One adapts to your strength, automatically adjusting handicaps so games remain competitive and enjoyable. And when you’re ready for a serious challenge, the powerful KataGo-based engine delivers strong, rewarding play. But SmartGo One is far more than a way to play Go. Read interactive Go books while replaying the moves they describe to deepen your understanding. Explore a collection of more than 138,000 professional game records spanning both modern and historical masters. Improve your reading and decision-making skills with a growing library of Go problems and tutorials. Want to know how a master would handle a position on your board? SmartGo’s pattern matching technology compares your game with historical pro games and shows how strong players approached similar situations. No matter your level, SmartGo One helps you continue improving. Features include: • 9x9, 11x11, 13x13, and 19x19 board sizes • Powerful KataGo-based engine • Fast and responsive gameplay • Manual or automatic handicap adjustment • Record, annotate, and edit your games • Territory estimator • Hints and move analysis • Undo and replay controls • Tutorial with over 100 problems • Extensive user manual We value your privacy and only collect the minimum information necessary to make our apps work well for you. Learn more at https://smartgo.com/privacy.html. This app is licensed under Apple’s standard Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: SmartGo One at none against Tsumego Pro (Go problems)'s shown. SmartGo One also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 weeks). Tsumego Pro (Go problems)'s advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and in-app purchases 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. Tsumego Pro (Go problems) sells 12 one-off in-app purchases and SmartGo One sells 46 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
SmartGo One holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.8K and 1.9K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Tsumego Pro (Go problems)'s written reviews are positive against 77% of SmartGo One's.
Tsumego Pro (Go problems) ships an update every 3 weeks, SmartGo One every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tsumego Pro (Go problems) | SmartGo One |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1.8K ratings) | 4.8 (1.9K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 74.1% of reviews | 76.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.8K | 1.9K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 140 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Emmanuel Mathis | Smart Go, Inc. |
Customer experience
Tsumego Pro (Go problems)
SmartGo One
User reviews
Tsumego Pro (Go problems)
From 1.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Stimulate thinking
- 👍 Minimalistic, Gets the Job Done
- 👍 Great app for learning Go on the move!
- 👍 Great app
- 👍 Amazing Go app
Room to improve
- 🐛 Do Not Buy All-Access Pack
- 🐛 Sometimes it says resolved when black loses
- 🐛 Not for beginners, not helpful at all
- 🐛 Decent - room for improvement
- 🐛 Lacking feedback, errors, & lack of control
SmartGo One
From 1.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Awesome app
- 👍 Great for playing and learning Go
- 📚 Excellent integration with Go books
- 🔍 Powerful analysis and review features
- 💻 Seamless experience across devices
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
- 🤔 Unintuitive user interface for beginners
- 💰 Paywall for full 19x19 board and some features
- 🤖 AI too strong for novice players
Bugs and requests
Tsumego Pro (Go problems)
Reported bugs
3 issues- Purchases do not work
- Incorrect problems
- Issues with the progress mode and problem selection
Requested features
6 requests- Explanation when a move is correct or incorrect
- More explanations and instructions for beginners
- Ability to play out variations and see different outcomes
- Consistent difficulty ratings for problems
- Ability to bookmark and revisit problems
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- More content and problem sets
SmartGo One
Reported bugs
3 issues- Illegal move detection issues on certain board positions
- Problems with missing variations or incorrect answers
- Inconsistent behavior when passing moves
Requested features
5 requests- Add read-only mode
- Improve move suggestion explanations
- Introduce difficulty settings for AI
- Integrate online play functionality
- Provide more randomness in AI moves
In-app purchases
Tsumego Pro (Go problems)
- +150 Basic Problems$0.99
- +150 Intermediate problems$0.99
- +150 Easy problems$0.99
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- Beginner problems$1.99
- Elementary problems$1.99
- Intermediate problems$1.99
- Advanced problems$1.99
- Advanced problems #2$1.99
- Basic tesuji$1.99
- Daily problems - Easy$1.99
- Daily problems - Hard$1.99
- All-Access Pass$9.99
SmartGo One
- SmartGo One Pro – Monthly$4.991 Month
- Pro Games and Features14 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Just Enough Japanese 1Free
- Key Concepts in Life and Death$2.99
- Go Problems Master Collection$3.99
Show 41 moreShow fewer
- Go Problems Add-on 2: Medium$3.99
- Go Problems Add-on 1: Easy$3.99
- Go Problems Add-on 3: Hard$3.99
- Counting Liberties$4.99
- The Monkey Jump$4.99
- Double Digit Kyu Games$5.99
- Go: A Complete Introduction$5.99
- How Not to Play Go$5.99
- Encyclopedia of Go Principles$5.99
- Want to Play Go? Level 1$5.99
- Black to Play 30-25 Kyu$5.99
- The Workshop Lectures 1$5.99
- Rethinking Opening Strategy$6.99
- Learn to Play Go 1$7.99
- Learn to Play Go 2$7.99
- Learn to Play Go 3$7.99
- Correct Joseki$7.99
- “The Theory of Go”$7.99
- Learn to Play Go 4$7.99
- Buddhist Philosophy Game of Go$8.99
- Graded Go Problems 1$9.99
- Graded Go Problems 2$9.99
- Want to Play Go? Level 2$9.99
- Basic Techniques of Go$9.99
- Graded Go Problems 3$9.99
- Get Strong at Life and Death$9.99
- Mastering Mini Go by Mark Tomlinson$11.99
- Fuseki Revolution$11.99
- Fundamental Principles of Go$11.99
- The Basics of Life and Death$11.99
- Joseki Revolution$11.99
- Life and Death$11.99
- A Survey of the Basic Tesujis$11.99
- Tesuji$11.99
- AlphaGo to Zero, vol. 4$14.99
- Trouble Master, volume 2$14.99
- Trouble Master, volume 1$14.99
- AlphaGo to Zero, Vol. 2$14.99
- Invincible$24.99
- Essential Go Proverbs$24.99
- Pro – Lifetime Unlock$99.00
Questions
Is Tsumego Pro (Go problems) free?
Is SmartGo One free?
Which has better reviews, Tsumego Pro (Go problems) or SmartGo One?
Do Tsumego Pro (Go problems) or SmartGo One have ads?
Which is updated more often, Tsumego Pro (Go problems) or SmartGo One?
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