Lichess

Free, ad-free and open-source chess server for playing, puzzles and analysis.

Verified facts: 5 of 5
Alternatives ranked: 3
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About Lichess

Lichess is a chess website and app run as a non-profit by volunteers and funded by donations. Thibault Duplessis started it in 2010 as a hobby project and published the code, and it now hosts millions of games a day. Everything is free for everyone: live and correspondence games, eight chess variants, arena and Swiss tournaments, puzzles, lessons, studies for sharing annotated analysis, opening explorers and server-side Stockfish analysis. There are no ads and no tracking, and a paid Patron account unlocks no extra features; it just helps pay for the servers. It runs in the browser and has apps for iPhone and Android, plus a public API and game database. Compared with commercial sites, it has fewer structured video courses and no built-in coach character, but nothing important sits behind a paywall.

Best for: Players who want every chess feature free, with no ads or tracking.

What works

All features free for every account, forever
No ads or tracking
Unlimited studies, cloud analysis and puzzles
Open source with a public API and game database

Why people leave

Fewer structured lessons and video courses than Chess.com
Server-side deep analysis is capped at 40 games a day
Relies on donations rather than a paid support team

Top Lichess alternatives

See all 3

1
PlayOK
Lightweight site for casual chess that also offers draughts, backgammon and card games.
79.8
2
Chess.com
Larger player base plus guided lessons, bots with personalities and a coach mode, with a paid tier.
66.5
3
Board Game Arena
Good if your group wants chess and many modern board games in one place.
61.8

Why people left Lichess

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Lichess, review the app you switched to and tell us why.

Reviews

No approved reviews yet. How we verify reviewers

Write a review of Lichess

Your rating of Lichess

Name

Never shown publicly. A work email helps us verify you.

Title

Your review

What did you use it for, and what was good or bad? At least 40 characters.

Did you switch from another app?

Why did you leave it?

How can we verify you use it? (optional)

A GitHub username, your company domain, or say you can send a screenshot. Verified reviews count more.

I received money, credit or a gift for writing this review. (Incentivized reviews are shown but don't count toward rankings.)

By submitting, you confirm you're at least 16 and agree to our terms. Your name, rating, review and the date are published; your email isn't. See our privacy policy.

Lichess: common questions

Is Lichess free?

Yes, Lichess is free to use.

Is Lichess open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at lichess-org/lila.

What platforms does Lichess run on?

Lichess is available for Web, iOS and Android.

What are the best alternatives to Lichess?

The highest-ranked Lichess alternatives right now are PlayOK, Chess.com and Board Game Arena. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 3 Lichess alternatives

Lichess facts

5 of 5 verified

Price: Free for all features; Checked Nov 1, 2026lichess.org(opens source in a new tab); “We believe every chess player deserves the best, and so: All features are free for everybody, forever!”
Ads and tracking: None; Checked Nov 1, 2026lichess.org(opens source in a new tab); “Zero advertisement, no tracking”
License: AGPL-3.0; Checked Nov 1, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab); “License: AGPL-3.0 (GNU Affero General Public License v3.0).”
Founded: 2010; Checked Nov 1, 2026lichess.org(opens source in a new tab); “In 2010, Thibault Duplessis began work on Lichess as a hobby project.”
Daily games: 5 million+; Checked Nov 1, 2026lichess.org(opens source in a new tab); “Today, Lichess users play more than five million games every day.”