Chess.com vs Lichess: Which Platform Should You Use?
By Corey Zapin
The Short Answer
Both platforms are excellent and you can use either one to play, learn, and improve at chess. Chess.com has more features and a larger player base. Lichess is completely free with no ads or paywalls. Many serious players use both.
Pricing
Lichess is 100% free. Every feature, every tool, no exceptions. It is funded by donations and run as a nonprofit. There are no ads, no premium tiers, and no limitations on free accounts.
Chess.com has a free tier that covers basic play and puzzles. The premium tiers (Gold, Platinum, Diamond) unlock unlimited puzzles, game review, opening explorer, and other training tools. Diamond membership costs about $99 per year. The free tier is perfectly fine for casual play, but serious learners will feel the limitations.
Player Base and Matchmaking
Chess.com has over 100 million registered accounts. At any given time, hundreds of thousands of players are online. This means near-instant matchmaking at every rating level and time control.
Lichess has a smaller but very active community. You might wait an extra few seconds for a match in less popular time controls, but for standard blitz and rapid games, matchmaking is fast. The overall quality of competition is comparable.
Rating Systems
Chess.com uses the Glicko system, and Lichess uses Glicko-2. The ratings are on different scales and should not be compared directly. A 1500 on Chess.com is not the same as a 1500 on Lichess. Generally, Lichess ratings run about 200 to 300 points higher than Chess.com ratings for the same player, though this varies by time control.
This confuses a lot of players. Your Lichess blitz rating might be 1700 while your Chess.com blitz rating is 1450, and both could represent the same actual skill level. Tools that aggregate cross-platform data can help you understand where you actually stand.
Analysis Tools
Lichess gives you unlimited free computer analysis on every game, powered by Stockfish. You can request server-side analysis or run the engine in your browser. The opening explorer and endgame tablebase are also free.
Chess.com limits free users to one game review per day. Paid members get unlimited reviews with a more polished interface that includes accuracy scores, mistake classifications, and suggested improvements. The Chess.com analysis is arguably more beginner-friendly in its presentation, but the underlying engine is the same Stockfish that Lichess uses.
Learning and Training
Chess.com has a bigger library of lessons, courses, and video content. Their puzzle system includes Puzzle Rush (timed challenges) and themed puzzle sets. The lesson content is well-produced and covers everything from absolute beginner to advanced topics.
Lichess has puzzles (sourced from real games), studies (user-created interactive lessons), and practice modes for specific positions. The puzzle quality is excellent, but the learning content is more community-driven and less structured than Chess.com's curated courses.
Interface and Experience
Chess.com has a polished, modern interface with animations and sound effects. Some players love it. Others find it cluttered compared to Lichess.
Lichess is cleaner and faster. The board loads instantly, the interface is minimal, and there is zero lag. The open-source community keeps it snappy. Many competitive players prefer Lichess for its speed and no-nonsense design.
The Best Choice
Use both. Seriously. Create accounts on both platforms and play where you feel like playing. Your games from both platforms contribute to your overall chess growth, and tools like CoreSquares can combine your data from both into a single unified profile so you never lose track of your progress.