Chess.com review: price, free version and privacy

Our verdict

Chess.com is the best all-in-one choice for most players who want to play and improve. Parents of young children may prefer ChessKid, and players who want no ads or tracking should look at a smaller trainer.

What Chess.com is

Chess.com is one of the largest chess platforms, and its app covers playing, puzzles and lessons in one place. The description lists free online play with friends and tournaments, variants such as Chess960, over 1,000,000 puzzles with a rated mode, hundreds of lessons and videos by masters, a coach that reviews your games, and over 100 bots.

Who it suits

• Players of any level who want games, puzzles and lessons in one app
• Teens and adults who want to play online

Strengths

• Online play with friends is free, according to the description, with time controls from one minute to daily games.
• Over 1,000,000 puzzles with a rated mode that adjusts to your level.
• Lessons by masters and a coach that reviews your games move by move.
• Available in 52 app languages, rated 4.8 from about 867,000 ratings, updated in November 2026.

Limits

• The age rating notes advertising and messaging and chat.
• Browsing history and usage data are declared for tracking.
• Requires iOS 17 or later.
• The listing does not spell out the limits of a free account or what each membership tier adds.

What the free version does

The description says two-player online chess is entirely free and that you can play offline games against the computer. It does not say how many puzzles, lessons or game reviews a free account gets.

Price

On the US App Store in November 2026, Gold memberships are listed from $4.99 to $29.99, Platinum from $6.99 to $79.99 and Diamond from $14.99 to $119.99. The item names do not state billing periods.

Privacy

The privacy label says browsing history and usage data may be used to track you. Contact info and identifiers are linked to you; browsing history, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics are also collected without being linked.

What the screenshots show

The screenshots show a chess board under a player-count banner and a live game with a clock and a level picker (New to Chess, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced).