Play on Chess.com. Understand on LearnChess.
Chess.com has live play, bots, tournaments and a video library; LearnChess has no live play at all. What LearnChess does is review every game you import with Stockfish on every plan, explain the mistakes in plain language and find the ones that keep repeating. Many players use both.
Who each one is for
Chess.com is for you if
You want to play live against a huge pool of players, drill tactics and learn from a large video-course library with titled instructors. It suits people who play there daily and treat training as an add-on to playing.
LearnChess is for you if
You want to understand why you lose: an explained review of your own games, detection of the mistakes you repeat and a structured path of lessons, with no ads and no live play. It suits players who already play on Chess.com or Lichess and want a separate place to study.
Side by side
| Feature | LearnChess | Chess.com |
|---|---|---|
| Understand your games | ||
| Game review | YesFull Stockfish review on every plan | Yes1/day free |
| Explains why a move is wrong | YesPlain language, in your language | PartlyNeeds Diamond; templated |
| AI coach you can ask | YesKnighty, grounded in Stockfish | PartlyNo chat; Play Coach bot |
| Finds recurring weaknesses | YesCoach ranks your recurring leaks | PartlyInsights stats, Diamond only |
| Imports your games | YesChess.com and Lichess by username | PartlyOwn games natively |
| Learn | ||
| Structured learning path | YesAcademy: 34 units | YesBy level; free tier capped daily |
| Interactive lessons | YesInteractive, with the why; no video | YesGM video; daily cap on free |
| Opening lessons and explorer | Yes100+ explained lessons | YesExplorer of millions of games |
| Repertoire trainer | PartlyFree, 90-day re-test | PartlyLine drills vs bot, no review |
| Endgame training | Yes20+ verified lessons | YesCourse category; drills |
| Train | ||
| Puzzles | Partly10 rated/day free | Yes3 rated/day free |
| Puzzles from your own games | YesFrom your blunders (Knight and up) | PartlyEngine-picked from member games |
| Community-made puzzles | YesCreate and share your own | NoNo submission system |
| Position from a screenshot | Yes5/day free | NoNot built in |
| Play | ||
| Play online | NoNo live play, bots or tournaments | YesLive, bots, variants, events |
| Price and access | ||
| Usable free plan | YesPawn: free forever, no card | PartlyUnlimited play; tight study caps |
| Premium pricing | YesFrom $4.99/mo | Partly$14.99/mo for Diamond |
| Ad-free | YesNo ads on any plan | PartlyAds on free; none from Gold |
| Web, iOS and Android | PartlyWeb, iOS, Android; needs internet | YesWeb, iOS, Android, more |
| Languages | Partly13 languages | Yes57 languages |
| Open source or data export | NoClosed source, no export yet | PartlyRead-only API, PGN archives |
A yes is always the better outcome for a learner. Prices are in USD and vary by region.
Facts checked on October 3, 2026
Sources
- Chess.com support, membership comparison
- Chess.com membership page
- App Store listing, IAP price ranges, 500,000+ puzzles, 53 languages
- Chess.com support, Insights (Diamond)
- Chess.com support, Play Coach (1 game/month free)
- Chess.com support, Game Explorer (~3M master games)
- Chess.com support, puzzle sources
- Chess.com support, Practice
- Published-Data API
- Chess.com price-change notice (Sept 2022, no figures)
- Wikipedia, Chess.com (members, 57 languages, owner)
- Third-party, price table dated 2026-02-17
- Third-party, US prices as of 2025-10-01 (monthly differ)
- Staff forum post, coach explanations Diamond-only
- Trustpilot (1.4/5, 1,794 reviews)
- Chess.com lessons catalogue
Where Chess.com is better
Live play
Online games against 250M+ members, bots, variants and tournaments. LearnChess has no live play, no bots to play against and no tournaments.
Puzzle volume
500,000+ puzzles, plus Puzzle Rush and Puzzle Battle. LearnChess has a far smaller catalog.
Video from titled players
Courses by GM instructors, Magnus Carlsen among them, grouped in four levels from beginner to mastery. LearnChess lessons are interactive and have no video.
Master-game explorer
A Game Explorer of millions of master games, updated weekly. LearnChess has no browsable explorer; its opening data reaches you through the coach and the lessons.
Reach
57 languages and apps down to Apple Watch and TV. LearnChess has 13 languages on web, iOS and Android.
Where LearnChess is better
Game review on every plan
Every imported game gets the full Stockfish review, free; the only cap is imports. Chess.com gives 1 review a day free and unlimited review from Platinum.
Explanations you can question
Knighty explains a move in plain language and answers follow-up questions, grounded in Stockfish, the Lichess explorer and an opening book. Chess.com explanations on every move need Diamond and are not a conversation.
Price, and no ads
Knight is $4.99 a month and Queen $12.99; Chess.com Diamond is $14.99 a month or $119.99 a year. LearnChess shows no ads on any plan; Chess.com is ad-free from Gold.
Recurring leaks, ranked
Coach reads your imported games and ranks the habits that cost you points; Queen turns the top ones into a four-week plan. Chess.com Insights is Diamond-only statistics.
More ways to train on your own games
Puzzles built from your own blunders, community-made puzzles, a screenshot scan and a Chrome extension. Chess.com has no puzzle submission and no built-in board scan.
Use them together
Play on Chess.com, study on LearnChess. Importing needs only your username: games arrive through Chess.com's public read-only API, so there is no password to enter and nothing is written back. Free Chess.com is enough for this.
- 1
Import by username
Enter your Chess.com username. The free plan imports up to 100 games, Knight 1,000.
- 2
Review the losses
Run the explained review on each loss and ask Knighty why the turning point happened.
- 3
Fix what repeats
Let Coach rank your recurring leaks and train on puzzles built from your own blunders.
- 4
Keep playing there
Chess.com stays your place for live games and its video library.
Questions about LearnChess and Chess.com
See what your own games say
Import a game and get the full Stockfish review free, on every plan. No card, no ads.