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Free academy website with paid plans.

Alternative · 2026

A Chessido alternative that runs fees and reminders for you

Recurring invoices are generated on their own, class reminders go out 24 and 2 hours before class, and fee reminders follow the schedule you switch on. The copilot drafts the rest and asks before it changes a record. ChessCore is a Chessido alternative for academies that want students training and the business running in one product. Both give students puzzles, homework and a live classroom board. ChessCore adds make-ups, coach payroll, India billing and coach-reviewed AI report drafts.

Chessido details below are sourced from their own site, read on 16 October 2026. We do not invent competitor facts; re-check before deciding.

Request a demoSee ChessCore pricing

Who each option fits

  • Choose Chessido

    if you want to start free with live sessions, video and voice in the class, automatically graded homework and simuls, and you can ask Chessido for paid pricing.

  • Choose ChessCore

    if you want student practice and live classes alongside the full back office: make-ups, payroll, UPI AutoPay, a family ledger and human-approved reporting.

Chessido details as read on 16 October 2026.

Side by side

At a glance

The jobs a chess academy does every week, ChessCore beside Chessido. A Chessido cell repeats its own site as read on 16 October 2026.

Comparison of ChessCore and Chessido across the jobs a chess academy does. Chessido details sourced from https://chessido.com, read on 16 October 2026.
The jobChessCoreChessido
Operations (records, scheduling, billing)ChessCoreChessidoFee and invoice management, attendance, coach management
Make-ups, substitutions & payroll preparationChessCoreChessidoNot published on the pages read
Puzzle libraryChessCore6,095,563 puzzlesChessido1M+ self-study puzzles
HomeworkChessCoreDue dates, to one student or a whole batchChessidoAuto-graded: score, accuracy, time, weak topics
Live classroom (shared board)ChessCoreChessido
Built-in classroom videoChessCoreVideo and audio where enabledChessidoVideo and voice built in
Engine-verified game review for the coachChessCoreChessidoPGN game report, rating sync
Parent reportsChessCoreAI drafts a coach approvesChessidoTerm reports, one-tap parent reports
TournamentsChessCoreSwiss, Arena, round-robin, knockout, teamChessidoArena, under the academy’s name
Roster importChessCoreCSV or Excel, with preview and 24-hour undoChessidoNot published on the pages read
SimulsChessCoreChessidoLive Simul listed
Free academy websiteChessCoreFree academy website on paid plans, designed and built by the ChessCore team and hosted free while on a paid plan (domain not included), plus a public academy page with demo bookingChessidoFree academy website for every coach
Event certificatesChessCoreMastery certificatesChessidoInstant branded certificates for every participant
India billing (UPI AutoPay / WhatsApp)ChessCoreUPI AutoPay, Grow plan and upChessidoNot published on the pages read

Feature by feature

Every feature, side by side

53 features appear on Chessido’s own site, each beside ChessCore’s version. ChessCore tracks 159 other capabilities, including planned work, with availability shown below.

What Chessido lists, and ChessCore’s version

Admissions and CRM3

  • Email campaigns

    What Chessido’s site saysAutomates templated reminders and re-engagement emails.
    ChessCoreSetup required: Send email campaigns to lead and family lists from the academy’s own sender, with open and click tracking.

  • Enquiry and lead capture forms

    What Chessido’s site saysCaptures trial enquiries into the platform.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Build enquiry forms with a drag and drop builder, share or embed them, and every submission lands in your leads.

  • Academy website and profile page

    What Chessido’s site saysBuilds an academy website for each academy.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Each academy gets a public page with its programs, camps, coach directory and booking links for new families.
Scheduling and attendance2

  • Attendance tracking

    What Chessido’s site saysTracks student attendance.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Mark a whole batch present, late, absent or excused in a few taps, with a history parents can see.

  • Batches and class groups

    What Chessido’s site saysGroups students, schedules sessions and assigns work.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Create batches with a coach, program, centre and capacity, and get warned before a batch clashes with a coach’s timetable.
Fees and billing1

  • Invoices and receipts

    What Chessido’s site saysProvides school fee and invoice management.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Issue numbered invoices with a PDF copy, send them to families, and keep a receipt for every payment.
Staff3

  • Coach profiles

    What Chessido’s site saysAssigns coaches to batches and oversees classes.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Keep each coach’s photo, bio, tags, login and schedule, with an optional listing in the public coach directory.

  • Roles and permissions

    What Chessido’s site saysSupports multiple administrative roles.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Use built-in staff roles or create custom ones that grant only chosen permissions, never more than the creator holds.

  • Affiliated clubs

    What Chessido’s site saysManages affiliated clubs while preserving club branding.
    ChessCoreIn development (partially implemented): Manage affiliated clubs under one organisation while each club keeps its own name and branding.
Parents and communication2

  • Scheduled monthly reports

    What Chessido’s site saysAutomatically creates term reports for parents.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Schedule monthly progress digests that are built from the academy’s records and emailed to parents automatically.

  • Student progress reports

    What Chessido’s site saysSends parents reports covering scores, ratings and attendance.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Create a monthly report per student covering attendance, chess activity and coach notes, previewed and emailed to guardians.
Teaching8

  • Ready-made course content

    What Chessido’s site saysProvides grade-based and term-based curriculum.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Install ready-made starter puzzle packs, graded lesson plans, quiz banks and a foundations curriculum on day one.

  • Curriculum and syllabus builder

    What Chessido’s site saysStructures progression from beginner to advanced play.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Build a curriculum of levels and skills that programs follow, and track how far each batch has covered it.

  • Homework and assignments

    What Chessido’s site saysAssigns puzzles by theme and difficulty with tracking.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Assign puzzles, game reviews, opening drills, games against the computer and lessons, then grade what students submit.

  • Lesson plans per session

    What Chessido’s site saysProvides guided teaching scripts and solutions.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Set the lesson for each session from the syllabus, a study or a note, or accept the suggested next step.

  • Opening repertoire trainer

    What Chessido’s site saysDrills taught openings and positions with immediate feedback.
    ChessCoreIn development (partially implemented): Students drill the academy’s opening lines move by move, with instant feedback and repeats on the moves they miss.

  • Puzzle library

    What Chessido’s site saysClaims over one million practice puzzles.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Browse 6,095,563 rated puzzles from the open Lichess database by rating and theme, and copy any set into homework.

  • Chess quizzes

    What Chessido’s site saysCreates position assessments and tracks scores.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Schedule timed quizzes for a batch with attempt limits, leaderboards and team, streak and survival modes.

  • Interactive studies and PGN chapters

    What Chessido’s site saysUploads, annotates and shares games.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Build lessons as interactive chapters of positions, puzzles, questions, explanations, videos and play against the computer.
Student engagement6

  • Play against classmates

    What Chessido’s site saysAllows children to play inside a closed school environment.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Students challenge classmates in their academy to real games, played inside the student portal.

  • Points, streaks, badges and leaderboards

    What Chessido’s site saysRuns timed class puzzle competitions and leaderboards.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Students earn points, badges and daily streaks, level up through the curriculum and climb the weekly academy leaderboard.

  • Chess mini-games

    What Chessido’s site saysOffers over ten chess mini-games.
    ChessCorePlanned: Students practise with chess mini-games that drill piece moves, captures, checkmates and board vision in short rounds.

  • Play against the computer

    What Chessido’s site saysSupports engine drills with live coach oversight.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Students play human-like computer opponents, and coaches can set Stockfish at strength levels 1 to 20.

  • Student app

    What Chessido’s site saysProvides a student practice portal; native store distribution unspecified.
    ChessCoreIn development (partially implemented): Students get their own app for homework, puzzles, games, courses and progress, under the academy’s name.

  • Live tournament broadcasts

    What Chessido’s site saysStreams live chess events in the student portal.
    ChessCoreIn development (partially implemented): Students follow live chess events move by move inside the student portal.
Live classes2

  • Shared board the coach drives

    What Chessido’s site saysSynchronizes coach and student boards.
    ChessCoreAvailable: The coach moves pieces on one shared board and every student’s screen updates live during class.

  • Built-in video and audio

    What Chessido’s site saysIncludes classroom audio and video.
    ChessCoreSetup required: Live classes have built-in video and audio for coach and students, with no outside meeting app needed.
Games and ratings7

  • Chess.com game sync

    What Chessido’s site saysSynchronizes student ratings from Chess.com.
    ChessCoreSetup required: Link a student’s Chess.com account and their games arrive in the academy automatically for review.

  • Stockfish game analysis

    What Chessido’s site saysAnalyzes uploaded games and custom positions.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Every recorded game is analysed by Stockfish, flagging blunders, mistakes and inaccuracies and giving an accuracy score.

  • PGN game import

    What Chessido’s site saysImports student games in PGN format.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Import games by uploading a PGN file or pasting a Lichess or Chess.com game link.

  • Lichess game sync

    What Chessido’s site saysSynchronizes student ratings from Lichess.
    ChessCoreSetup required: Link a student’s Lichess account and their games arrive in the academy automatically for review.

  • Rating progress graphs

    What Chessido’s site saysTracks academy-wide rating growth.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Show each student’s rating over time as a graph for every rating system they play in.

  • FIDE ID linking

    What Chessido’s site saysLinks player records to FIDE identifiers, not a verified rating feed.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Link each player’s record to their FIDE ID so profiles, entries and reports match the federation record.

  • Shareable game reports

    What Chessido’s site saysCreates shareable engine reports with a child-oriented presentation.
    ChessCoreIn development (partially implemented): Turn an engine review into a shareable report written for children and their parents.
Tournaments8

  • Round robin tournaments

    What Chessido’s site saysProvides round-robin events.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Run all-play-all round robin events with the full pairing schedule generated automatically.

  • Live public standings

    What Chessido’s site saysPublishes live event standings.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Public standings update live as results come in, including provisional results from games still in play.

  • Swiss tournaments

    What Chessido’s site saysRuns classroom challenges with automatic leaderboards.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Run Swiss tournaments with automatic round pairings from a real Swiss pairing engine.

  • Tournament certificates

    What Chessido’s site saysGenerates and delivers participant certificates from standings.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Print certificates for every player with rank, score, academy logo and a QR code that verifies them online.

  • Arbiter tools

    What Chessido’s site saysProvides event controls for arbiters.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Arbiters enter results, set byes, withdraw players and correct pairings from one event control screen.

  • Tournament archives

    What Chessido’s site saysStores championship archives.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Every past event stays in a public archive with its final standings, pairings and results.

  • Simultaneous exhibitions

    What Chessido’s site saysSupports coach-versus-many games.
    ChessCoreAvailable: A coach plays many students at once, each on their own board, while parents follow from the portal.

  • Tiebreak calculation

    What Chessido’s site saysCalculates Buchholz, Sonneborn-Berger and head-to-head tiebreaks.
    ChessCoreIn development (partially implemented): Tiebreaks such as Buchholz, Sonneborn-Berger and head-to-head are calculated automatically and shown in the standings.
Branding and white label4

  • Branded certificates

    What Chessido’s site saysApplies event branding to certificates.
    ChessCoreIn development (partially implemented): Certificates carry the academy’s name, logo and colours, with a QR code linking to a verification page.

  • Your own custom domain

    What Chessido’s site saysPublishes academy websites on their own domains.
    ChessCoreIn development (partially implemented): Custom domains are partially implemented for chains, with operator-assisted setup and branding on the sign-in page.

  • Academy logo and colours

    What Chessido’s site saysApplies academy branding to its website.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Upload the academy’s logo and set its brand colour once, and they appear across the app, invites and portals.

  • White label under your brand

    What Chessido’s site saysOffers an academy-branded tournament platform.
    ChessCoreIn development (partially implemented): Chain head office sets branding for branches; ChessCore branding remains, and complete white label is in development.
Analytics4

  • Attendance analytics

    What Chessido’s site saysAnalyzes attendance across the academy.
    ChessCoreAvailable: See attendance trends over time by batch, coach and centre, and spot students who are slipping.

  • Academy dashboard

    What Chessido’s site saysTracks scores, submission rates and student progress.
    ChessCoreAvailable: One home dashboard shows fees collected, active students, attendance and new leads, compared with the previous period.

  • CSV and PDF exports

    What Chessido’s site saysExports federation reports.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Export any analytics table to CSV, or download the whole report as a PDF.

  • Talent scouting shortlists

    What Chessido’s site saysUses cross-club performance to build talent shortlists.
    ChessCorePlanned: Find promising players across clubs and centres from their results and build shortlists for squads or scholarships.
Platform and trust3

  • Free plan

    What Chessido’s site saysOffers free starting access; ongoing limits unspecified.
    ChessCoreAvailable: Start on a free plan with no credit card, covering a small roster with scheduling and Stockfish analysis.

  • Multi-language interface

    What Chessido’s site saysSupports these languages in student tools and certificates.
    ChessCoreIn development (partially implemented): Use the app in several languages, including English and Hindi, and send messages in each guardian’s own language.

  • Setup done for you

    What Chessido’s site saysSets up the academy website.
    ChessCoreAvailable: A setup wizard gets a new academy running, and ChessCore staff can set up and move the academy’s data for it.

In ChessCore, not listed on Chessido’s site

159 ChessCore capabilities, including planned work, across 14 areas. Not listed on Chessido’s site means we found no mention on the pages we read, not that Chessido cannot do it.

  • AI-drafted messages and reports
  • Human approval of AI drafts
  • Puzzles from students’ own mistakes
Show all 159 by area

Admissions and CRM13

  • A/B testing for campaigns (Available)
  • SMS campaigns (Setup required)
  • WhatsApp broadcast campaigns (Setup required)
  • Lead scoring (Available)
  • Online admission and registration (Available)
  • Lead pipeline and stages (Available)
  • Referral program (Available)
  • Demo and trial class booking (Available)
  • Waitlists for full classes (Available)
  • AI ad copy writer (Planned)
  • Drip sequences for leads (Setup required)
  • Meta lead ads sync (Planned)
  • Partner school programs (Available)

Scheduling and attendance17

  • Google Calendar sync (In development (partially implemented))
  • Coach availability (Available)
  • Holiday calendar and closures (In development (partially implemented))
  • Online, offline and hybrid classes (Available)
  • Make-up classes and credits (Available)
  • Multiple branches and locations (Available)
  • Recurring class timetable (Available)
  • Room booking (Available)
  • QR code self check-in (Available)
  • Substitute coach cover (Available)
  • Day, week and month views (Available)
  • Camps and intensives (Available)
  • Reschedule or cancel single classes (Available)
  • Self-booking for private lessons (Available)
  • Student records (Available)
  • Timezones for online classes (In development (partially implemented))
  • Outside meeting links (Available)

Fees and billing22

  • Recurring fees and autopay (Setup required)
  • Sibling discounts, coupons and scholarships (In development (partially implemented))
  • Expense tracking (Planned)
  • Razorpay, Stripe and Cashfree payments (Setup required)
  • Family ledger and partial payments (Available)
  • Multi-currency billing (In development (partially implemented))
  • UPI, card and net banking payments (Setup required)
  • Class packs and pay per class (Available)
  • Fee refunds (Available)
  • Automatic fee reminders (Available)
  • GST and VAT invoices (Available)
  • Sell courses and paid webinars (In development (partially implemented))
  • Lesson credit reversals (In development (partially implemented))
  • Prepaid and earned funds apart (In development (partially implemented))
  • Gift cards (In development (partially implemented))
  • Invoice cancellation (Available)
  • Automatic late fees (Setup required)
  • Event entries and licence sales (In development (partially implemented))
  • No-show and cancellation fees (In development (partially implemented))
  • One-time fees (Available)
  • Overdue account access control (In development (partially implemented))
  • Pause or cancel subscriptions (Available)

Staff5

  • Second approver for sensitive actions (Available)
  • Coach performance and ratings (Available)
  • Coach payroll calculation (Available)
  • Coach payouts (In development (partially implemented))
  • Coach payout ledger (In development (partially implemented))

Parents and communication12

  • Class and academy announcements (Available)
  • In-app chat with parents (Setup required)
  • Email to parents (Setup required)
  • Parent feedback and surveys (In development (partially implemented))
  • Parent mobile app (In development (partially implemented))
  • Parent portal (Available)
  • Push notifications (Setup required)
  • SMS to parents (Setup required)
  • WhatsApp messages to parents (Setup required)
  • In-app notifications (Available)
  • Message template library (Available)
  • Shared support inbox (Setup required)

Teaching19

  • Puzzles from students’ own mistakes (Available)
  • Endgame training (In development (partially implemented))
  • Guess the move training (Available)
  • Spaced repetition review (Available)
  • Video lessons and courses (Available)
  • Adaptive lessons (In development (partially implemented))
  • Blindfold tactics training (Planned)
  • Coach training and webinars (Planned)
  • Drip course content (Planned)
  • Recurring error detection (Available)
  • Send positions as live puzzles (Available)
  • Position memory training (Planned)
  • Move replay practice (In development (partially implemented))
  • Opening explorer database (In development (partially implemented))
  • Opening tree (Planned)
  • Custom puzzle editor (Available)
  • Puzzle set generator (Available)
  • Puzzles by rating (Available)
  • Woodpecker method training (Planned)

Student engagement5

  • Skill certificates (Available)
  • Placement and rating test (Available)
  • Live polls and class quizzes (Planned)
  • Position playground (In development (partially implemented))
  • Proctored online assessments (In development (partially implemented))

Live classes9

  • AI class recaps (Setup required)
  • Attendance from live classes (In development (partially implemented))
  • Class recording and playback (Setup required)
  • Screen sharing (Planned)
  • Classroom whiteboard (Planned)
  • Legal and free teaching modes (In development (partially implemented))
  • Class controls for coaches (In development (partially implemented))
  • Live game monitoring (In development (partially implemented))
  • Class waiting room (Available)

Games and ratings6

  • AI move and game explanations (Setup required)
  • FIDE and national rating tracking (Available)
  • Internal academy ratings (Available)
  • Games flagged for review (In development (partially implemented))
  • Master game database (In development (partially implemented))
  • Opponent preparation reports (Planned)

Tournaments7

  • Arena tournaments (In development (partially implemented))
  • Embeddable standings widget (Available)
  • FIDE and federation rating reports (In development (partially implemented))
  • Knockout tournaments (Available)
  • Elo and Glicko rating calculation (Available)
  • Online tournament registration (Available)
  • Team tournaments (Available)

AI11

  • AI-drafted messages and reports (Setup required)
  • AI tutor for students (In development (partially implemented))
  • AI syllabus and lesson planning (Setup required)
  • AI copilot for academy records (Setup required)
  • Human approval of AI drafts (Available)
  • Personal data masked for AI (In development (partially implemented))
  • AI admin assistant (Setup required)
  • AI enquiry chatbot (Planned)
  • Counselling call transcription (In development (partially implemented))
  • AI voice agent for enquiries (Planned)
  • AI answers from past classes (Planned)

Branding and white label5

  • Installable parent and student web app (In development (partially implemented))
  • Branded emails from your sender (In development (partially implemented))
  • Branded parent, payment and consent pages (Available)
  • Embeddable website widgets (Available)
  • Branded student reports (In development (partially implemented))

Analytics5

  • Coach utilisation (Available)
  • Enrolment funnel (Available)
  • Retention and churn analysis (Available)
  • Revenue reports (Available)
  • Batch health checks (In development (partially implemented))

Platform and trust23

  • Open REST API (Available)
  • E-signed waivers and contracts (Available)
  • Data export (Available)
  • Free trial of paid plans (In development (partially implemented))
  • Data import and migration help (Available)
  • Installable mobile web app (Available)
  • iOS and Android apps (Planned)
  • Offline access (In development (partially implemented))
  • Flat capacity pricing (Available)
  • DPDP, GDPR and COPPA tools (Available)
  • Two-factor sign-in and audit log (Available)
  • Email support and guided help (In development (partially implemented))
  • Workflow automations (Available)
  • Chain and franchise management (Available)
  • Discord posts for students (In development (partially implemented))
  • Protected course videos (Planned)
  • Google Chat alerts for staff (Planned)
  • MCP server for AI agents (Available)
  • Slack alerts and slash commands (In development (partially implemented))
  • Single sign-on (Planned)
  • Microsoft Teams alerts for staff (In development (partially implemented))
  • Website integration (In development (partially implemented))
  • Zapier and webhooks (In development (partially implemented))

Source: chessido.com, pages read on 17 October 2026.

Price at your roster

What it costs at your size

  • 30students

    ChessCore
    Core: $69 a month billed annually, $89 monthly. With UPI AutoPay, Grow: $109 a month billed annually, $139 monthly
    Chessido
    Free to start with no credit card; paid plan prices not published on the pages read

    What it meansBoth start free. Above the free tier ChessCore is Core at $69 billed annually, or Grow at $109 billed annually with UPI AutoPay. Chessido’s paid price at this size is a question for Chessido.

  • 100students

    ChessCore
    Core: $69 a month billed annually, $89 monthly. With UPI AutoPay, Grow: $109 a month billed annually, $139 monthly
    Chessido
    Paid plan prices not published on the pages read

    What it meansChessCore is Core at $69 billed annually. Ask Chessido for a written quote at 100 students before you compare.

  • 300students

    ChessCore
    Grow: $109 a month billed annually, $139 monthly, UPI AutoPay included
    Chessido
    Paid plan prices not published on the pages read

    What it meansChessCore is Grow at $109 billed annually, UPI AutoPay included. Ask Chessido for a written quote at 300 students.

On ChessCore, Razorpay UPI AutoPay with Stripe, WhatsApp payment links and a custom domain start on the Grow plan, and automatic Lichess and Chess.com game sync starts on Pro. Chessido prices are shown in its own currency as read on 16 October 2026, with no conversion.

Decide in 60 seconds

Who should choose which

Answer each question. Every answer carries the fit this page already gives. Start with the chess academy management software overview, or see the full buyer’s guide.

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Your fit

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  • ChessCore0 of 3
  • Chessido0 of 3

The picker only lines up this page’s own fit notes against your answers. It is not a test of either product: run one batch in a trial before you decide.

About Chessido

What Chessido is good at

Chessido says its product is “Your Chess Academy, in One Connected Place”, “Built for coaches and delightful for students”, with separate pages for academies and schools. Chessido says it is free to start with no credit card, and it now advertises a “Free academy website for every coach” (its pages as read on 16 October 2026).

Chessido says every student sees the same synchronized board in a live session, with “Video + voice built in” so no Zoom is needed, and that homework score, accuracy, time and weak topics are generated the moment a student finishes. It lists a 1M+ self-study puzzle bank, a game report built from a pasted PGN in about 30 seconds, and rating sync from Chess.com and Lichess. For academies it says owners can add coaches, assign batches and oversee every class in one view, with pooled student limits and academy-wide analytics on ratings and attendance. Its school pages list fee and invoice management, attendance tracking and term reports sent to parents automatically. It also lists Live Simul, Arena for online tournaments under the academy’s own name and domain, and instant branded certificates for every participant. Plan prices are not published on the pages we read; its pricing page returned HTTP 404 on 16 October 2026.

ChessCore, differently

Fees run on schedule. AI-written reports wait for you.

The two products automate different jobs, so check which ones run on a schedule and which stay as drafts. ChessCore generates recurring invoices and sends enabled fee reminders automatically; AI-written report text waits for a person. It also covers leads and trials, batches, attendance, make-up credits, coach substitutions, coach payroll preparation, with payments outside ChessCore, several centres and a family ledger, with Razorpay UPI AutoPay and Stripe from the Grow plan. Students practise inside ChessCore too, with homework set for one student or a whole batch and rated puzzles from the open Lichess puzzle database. Built-in video and audio are available where enabled for the academy.

Your academy brand. Academy logos and colours are supported. Complete white label remains in development for chains on the Grow plan and up, and ChessCore branding remains. Custom domains are partially implemented for chains on the Grow plan and up, with operator-assisted setup. Families can install the web portal from a browser; the branded web app remains partially implemented on the Pro plan and up.

Illustrative screen from a made-up demo academy.

Worked through

Which teaching tasks would change if you moved?

Chessido’s own pages describe a teaching-first product: a synchronized board, automatically graded homework, simuls and a free academy website. ChessCore covers fees, make-ups, payroll preparation and parent reports, and its paid plans include a free academy website, new or redesigned by the ChessCore team, with free hosting while you stay on a paid plan. You supply the content and your own domain. Run the five tests below with both vendors before you decide. The Chessido column is what its pages said on 16 October 2026; where they were silent, the cell says so.

Five teaching and operations tasks to test in Chessido and ChessCore
TaskChessido, as publishedChessCoreTest to run
Homework completion evidenceChessido, as publishedAutomatic grading is listed; score, accuracy, time and weak topics appear when a student finishesChessCoreDue dates, completion and accuracy for each assignment, and an overdue flag once the date passesTest to runGive the same 10 puzzles to 3 students in each tool and compare what the coach can see the next morning
Teacher oversight in classChessido, as publishedThe coach’s board mirrors to every student; bot drills with live coach oversight are listedChessCoreA live classroom board; the coach chooses which games Stockfish analysesTest to runRun one trial class and note what the coach sees for each student
SimulsChessido, as publishedLive Simul is listedChessCoreSimuls with each student on their own board, which parents can follow from the parent portalTest to runRun one simul with your largest group on a real connection
Public booking and websiteChessido, as publishedA free academy website for every coach, on the academy’s own domain, with enquiries going into ChessidoChessCoreA public academy page with demo booking and a calendar file for each booked trial; a free academy website on paid plans, designed and built by the ChessCore team and hosted free while on a paid plan (domain not included); portal on your own domain from the Grow plan upTest to runBook a trial from a phone and see what the family and the front desk each receive
Fee follow-upChessido, as publishedFee and invoice management is listed on its school pages; reminders are not described on the pages readChessCoreRecurring invoices are generated automatically and enabled fee reminders go out on a schedule; marking an invoice paid through the copilot needs a second approverTest to runAsk what happens on day 3 after a missed payment, and who is told

A due date and a completion record do not mean ChessCore lacks grading or that Chessido lacks oversight; the table shows what each side describes, and the test shows what you will actually see. For the wider shortlist, see the best chess academy software comparison, and check ChessCore pricing for the plan each payment and sync feature needs.

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Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is ChessCore like Chessido?

Both are chess-native and both give students puzzles, homework and a live classroom board. ChessCore uses 6,095,563 rated puzzles from the open Lichess catalog; Chessido says it has 1M+. ChessCore also runs make-up credits, coach payroll and UPI AutoPay billing. Chessido lists video and voice in its live class, Live Simul, a free academy website and Arena tournaments under the academy’s own name. ChessCore’s paid plans also include a free academy website, designed and built by the ChessCore team, with free hosting while you stay on a paid plan; you supply the content and your own domain.

Does ChessCore have a free tier like Chessido?

Yes, ChessCore has a free plan with no credit card, and flat capacity tiers above it. Chessido says it is free to start with no credit card, and one of its pages says “free to start, always”. We read its home page, its products page and its for-schools, for-academies, for-coaches and Chesslang-alternative pages on 16 October 2026 (all HTTP 200) and found no paid price and no limit on the free tier. Its /pricing address returned HTTP 404, which describes that one address only. Ask Chessido in writing for the price and the limits at your student count, and ask what changes the day you pass the free tier. Related: compare free starts with ongoing free plans.

Which fits an Indian academy?

ChessCore is built for Indian academies with UPI AutoPay mandates through Razorpay on the Grow plan and up, WhatsApp updates and a family ledger. India billing details were not published on the Chessido pages we read on 16 October 2026.

How do I move my academy from Chessido to ChessCore?

Put your student list in a spreadsheet; the template at /templates/chesscore-student-import-template.csv shows the columns. Import it from a CSV or Excel (.xlsx) file, mapping columns for student name, guardian name, email and phone, batch and date of birth. Every import is previewed first, with row-by-row errors, before anything is saved. Likely duplicates are flagged for you to decide on, and you can undo an import within 24 hours. The importer reads those roster fields, not attendance, fee history or homework records, and it has no importer for invoices, fee plans or opening balances, so set those up in ChessCore yourself. Students’ games come in once you link each student’s Lichess or Chess.com account: ChessCore syncs games from Lichess and imports Chess.com games from the public API. Ask Chessido how to download your student list; we have not read an export page of theirs.

How do I keep my lesson and homework records when I switch?

Save what you need from Chessido before you cancel and keep it outside any platform. The Chessido pages we read describe no export of homework results or lessons, so ask for one in writing. ChessCore does not import a course or a homework history. Its PGN importer takes games, up to 200 per file, as main lines only. Recreate active homework by assigning it again to one student or a whole batch with a due date, and keep past results as files for reference. A coach can also turn an AI-extracted class homework item into assignments for the batch after reviewing it.

Written by Abhishek Tiwari. See our editorial standards.

Bring your roster. We’ll set up the rest.

We set it up with you: roster import, Lichess and Chess.com connections, batches and fee plans. You start with your real students and batches, not an empty account.

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