Chess.com - Play and Learn vs Lichess

How do Chess.com - Play and Learn and Lichess compare on difficulty, ad pressure, in-app-purchase pressure and what real reviewers say? A side-by-side look, grounded in App Store data.

	Chess.com - Play and Learn	Lichess
Genre	Strategy	Strategy
Price	Free	Free
Difficulty	variable	variable
Ad intensity	high	none
In-app-purchase pressure	high	none
Typical session	variable	variable
Rating	4.8 / 5	4.0 / 5
Ratings count	810,779	546
Reviews say	What players like Learn chess with built-in lessons and coach features Huge online player base for real-time matches Extensive puzzle library with 500k+ problems Common complaints Aggressive pop-up ads and forced ads between games Heavy paywall on puzzles and lessons per day App crashes during game analysis features	What players like 100% free with no ads Open-source and volunteer-supported Massive player base for instant matchmaking Common complaints New app version introduced matchmaking/search delays Frequent cheating and inadequate reporting mechanisms Login authentication broken in new version

Chess.com - Play and Learn — Master chess against millions online with puzzles, lessons, and real-time gameplay across all skill levels. (rated variable difficulty, high ad pressure) Lichess — Free, open-source chess platform with real-time multiplayer, puzzles, tournaments, and zero ads. (rated variable difficulty, none ad pressure)

Data: Apple App Store, as of 2026-08-24. Last updated 2026-08-24.