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LearnChess vs Lichess

Lichess shows you the eval. LearnChess explains it.

Lichess is free, ad-free, open source and the place to play; LearnChess has no live play. What LearnChess adds is the explanation: why a move was a mistake, in plain language, and which mistakes repeat across your games. You can sign in with your Lichess account and use both.

Sign in with LichessSee the full table

Who each one is for

Lichess is for you if

You want to play: any time control, tournaments, variants, correspondence, on any device, for free, with no ads. Also if you want data and tools: the explorer, the tablebase, a free engine, Studies, an open API and downloadable databases, or you want to read and build on the source.

LearnChess is for you if

You already play, on Lichess or Chess.com, and want to understand your games: plain-language explanations of why a move was a mistake, the mistakes that recur across many games, and a guided path of Academy, opening, endgame and tactics lessons to fix them.

Side by side

FeatureLearnChessLichess
Understand your games
Game review
YesFull Stockfish review on every plan
Yes40 games/day, free
Explains why a move is wrong
YesPlain language, in your language
NoEvals and lines, no prose
AI coach you can ask
YesKnighty, grounded in Stockfish
NoNo AI coach
Finds recurring weaknesses
YesCoach ranks your recurring leaks
PartlyInsights: statistics, not leaks
Imports your games
YesChess.com and Lichess by username
PartlyOne PGN at a time, by paste
Learn
Structured learning path
YesAcademy: 34 units
PartlyBasics plus Practice, no path
Interactive lessons
YesInteractive, with the why; no video
Partly32 drills; Studies
Opening lessons and explorer
Yes100+ explained lessons
PartlyExplorer; no guided lessons
Repertoire trainer
PartlyFree, 90-day re-test
PartlyStudies; no tester or review
Endgame training
Yes20+ verified lessons
Partly7 Practice drills
Train
Puzzles
Partly10 rated/day free
Yes6,000,000+, unlimited, rated
Puzzles from your own games
YesFrom your blunders (Knight and up)
PartlyLearn from your mistakes mode
Community-made puzzles
YesCreate and share your own
NoNot found; Studies instead
Position from a screenshot
Yes5/day free
NoNot found; FEN/PGN only
Play
Play online
NoNo live play, bots or tournaments
YesTournaments, 8 variants
Price and access
Usable free plan
YesPawn: free forever, no card
YesEverything, free forever
Premium pricing
YesFrom $4.99/mo
YesNone; Patron is a donation
Ad-free
YesNo ads on any plan
YesNo ads, no tracking
Web, iOS and Android
PartlyWeb, iOS, Android; needs internet
YesWeb, iOS, Android; offline puzzles
Languages
Partly13 languages
Yes140+ on the web
Open source or data export
NoClosed source, no export yet
YesAGPL source, CC0 data, API

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

Where Lichess is better

  • Free, for everyone, on principle

    Every feature is free for everyone, with no ads and no tracking; Patron donations unlock nothing but profile wings. LearnChess has a free plan, but Knight and Queen are paid.

  • Playing

    Live and correspondence games, arena and Swiss tournaments, simuls and 8 variants. LearnChess has no live play at all.

  • Puzzle volume and modes

    6,000,000+ rated, theme-tagged puzzles with Streak, Storm and Racer, all unlimited. LearnChess's catalog is a small selection drawn from this very database, with a daily cap on the free plan.

  • Reach

    A website in 140+ languages and an official iOS and Android app with offline puzzles and a local engine. LearnChess has 13 languages and needs a connection for the engine and the coach.

  • Open data and tools

    AGPL source, CC0 game and puzzle databases, a public API, an explorer built on billions of games and a 7-piece tablebase. LearnChess is closed source and exports nothing today.

Where LearnChess is better

  • The explanation

    Knighty explains why a move is a mistake in plain language and answers follow-up questions, grounded in Stockfish, the Lichess explorer and an opening book. Lichess shows engine output without an explanation.

  • Recurring mistakes, named

    Coach looks across your imported games for the mistakes that repeat and ranks them. Lichess Insights reports statistics and leaves the diagnosis to you.

  • A guided path

    A 34-unit Academy, 100+ opening lessons, 20+ tablebase-verified endgame lessons and a tactics series in one sequence. Lichess has basics lessons, 32 Practice drills and user-made Studies.

  • Training on your own games

    Puzzles built from your own blunders, community-made puzzles and a free repertoire builder with a mastery test and a 90-day review, which is a fixed re-test, not spaced repetition.

  • Getting games in

    A screenshot board scan, a Chrome extension and imports by username from both Lichess and Chess.com. Lichess imports one pasted PGN at a time.

Use them together

Play your games on Lichess; it is the better place for that. LearnChess's opening data comes from the Lichess explorer and its puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database, so what you learn here matches what you see there. The free Lichess analysis board and tablebase stay useful alongside.

  1. 1

    Play on Lichess

    Keep your games, tournaments and analysis board where they are.

  2. 2

    Sign in with Lichess

    LearnChess uses Lichess OAuth, so there is no new password to make.

  3. 3

    Import by username

    Bring in your Lichess games (100 free) and get the explained review and Coach's list of recurring leaks.

  4. 4

    Keep both open

    Check a line in the Lichess explorer, then ask Knighty why it works.

Sign in with Lichess

Questions about LearnChess and Lichess

See what your own games say

Import a game and get the full Stockfish review free, on every plan. No card, no ads.

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