Chess.com vs Lichess: Which One to Choose to Improve at Chess?
June 18, 2026 · ChessPivot · Guide
Chess.com and Lichess are the two dominant online chess platforms today. Both let you play around the clock, solve puzzles, review your games, and track how your level evolves. For a player between 800 and 1400 ELO, either one offers far more than enough to climb several rungs.
So the question is not which platform is objectively better. Both are strong and widely trusted. What really matters is finding the one that fits your budget, your learning style, and your consistency.
This comparison walks through their concrete differences, section by section, then gives you a simple method to decide. It is useful even if you never touch any other tool.
Whether you are just starting out or have been stuck for a few months, the goal is to save you time: understand in a few minutes what each platform brings, and leave with a clear decision rather than a vague impression.
Between 800 and 1400 ELO, the quality and consistency of your work matter far more than the logo at the top of the screen.
Two platforms, two philosophies
The first difference between Chess.com and Lichess is not technical but philosophical. It then explains most of the gaps you will notice in daily use.
Chess.com is a company built on a freemium model. A share of its content is free, but the most advanced learning features sit behind paid memberships. The experience is designed to be guided, complete, and highly social.
Lichess, by contrast, is a free, open-source nonprofit funded by donations. Everything is available with no payment and no ads. The spirit is that of an open toolbox: fewer prescribed paths, more freedom left to the player.
Here is an at-a-glance overview to place both platforms side by side:
| Criterion | Chess.com | Lichess |
|---|---|---|
| 💳 Model | Freemium (free + memberships) | Free, nonprofit (donations) |
| 🔍 Analysis | Unlimited when paid, capped when free | Unlimited and free |
| 🧩 Puzzles | Daily cap on the free tier | Unlimited, sorted by theme |
| 📖 Opening explorer | Yes | Yes, Lichess database (millions of games) |
| 🎓 Guided lessons | Rich structured paths | Plainer, self-direction needed |
| 👥 Community | Very large, social, events | Large, ad-free |
| 🖥️ Interface | Rich, gamified, ads on free tier | Clean, ad-free |
| 🎯 Best for | Guided framework, willing to pay | Everything free, self-directed player |
This contrast is not trivial. It shapes the kind of experience you live with day to day: an environment that takes you by the hand and always proposes the next step, or a more neutral space where you decide for yourself what to work on. Neither approach is inherently better; they answer different temperaments.
What actually drives improvement from 800 to 1400 ELO
Before comparing features, it helps to know what truly drives progress at this level. That keeps you from judging the platforms on secondary criteria.
Between 800 and 1400 ELO, gains almost never come from sophisticated opening theory. They come from cutting out gross blunders and recognising basic tactical patterns quickly.
Here are the levers that genuinely matter, regardless of platform:
- Play with a thinking time control. Favour rapid over blitz or bullet: you need time to calculate and learn from each move.
- Review your own games. This is the highest-return source of progress, because your recurring mistakes show up clearly.
- Train tactics every day. A handful of daily puzzles is enough to embed the motifs: the fork, the pin, the skewer, the double attack.
- Understand opening principles instead of memorising moves: control the centre, develop your pieces, get your king safe.
- Master elementary endgames: king and pawn versus king, checkmate with the queen, checkmate with the rook.
- Learn not to leave pieces hanging, by systematically checking your opponent’s threats before you move.
A word on time controls, since the point comes up often. Very fast games are fun, but they mostly train your reflexes, not your thinking. To learn, a pace that lets you form a plan and check for threats is far more instructive.
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Frequently asked questions
- Is Lichess really 100% free?
- Yes. Lichess is an open-source nonprofit funded by donations. Analysis, puzzles, the opening explorer, and studies are all available with no payment and no ads. There is no premium tier that unlocks hidden features: what is available is available to everyone. This is one of its main differences from Chess.com’s freemium model.
- Chess.com or Lichess for a complete beginner?
- Both work, but the angle differs. Chess.com offers more guided paths and structured lessons, which is reassuring when you do not know where to begin. Lichess is just as accessible but plainer, and leaves the beginner a little more on their own. If you like being guided, start with Chess.com; if you are comfortable exploring on your own, Lichess will do the job perfectly.
- Do you need a Chess.com membership to improve?
- No, it is not essential. The free version already lets you play, solve puzzles, and review games, but with daily limits. A membership becomes useful mainly if you want unlimited analysis and lessons. To improve without spending anything, Lichess offers those features with no limits at all, which makes it a genuine free alternative.
- Is my rating the same on Chess.com and Lichess?
- No. Each platform has its own rating system and its own player pool, so the same player often shows different numbers from one site to the other. These ELO figures are not directly comparable to the FIDE rating either. What matters is not the absolute number, but how it evolves over time on a single platform. Compare your curve to yourself, not to others.
- Can you use Chess.com and Lichess at the same time?
- Absolutely, and many players do. Nothing stops you from playing your games on one platform and analysing them on the other, or switching depending on the period. Both accounts are independent and free to create. The key is not to scatter your effort: a clear routine beats a disorganised use of both.