The best apps to learn chess in 2026

The best app to learn chess for most people is Chess.com, because one free download combines online games, puzzles, lessons, bots and game review, and you only pay to unlock more of them. If you are starting from zero, Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf is the gentlest way in, with a coach that explains each move out loud. For free practice beyond Chess.com, Chess Tactics and Lessons says you can solve as many tactics as you want for free, and Chess without ads gives 40 free beginner lessons with no ads, no account and no internet needed.

Quick answer

• Best overall: Chess.com. Free online play plus puzzles, lessons, bots and a coach, with Gold, Platinum and Diamond memberships for more.
• Best for beginners: Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf. A talking coach and 50+ lessons that start from how the pieces move.
• Best for kids: ChessKid. A kid-safe, ad-free version of online chess, with lessons, bots and puzzles.
• Best for structured courses: Chessable. 1,000+ courses from strong players, drilled with spaced repetition.
• Best free tactics trainer: Chess Tactics and Lessons. 30,000+ tactics that adjust to your level, free to play.
• Best for opening repertoire: Chessbook. Builds and drills your openings and checks your online games for mistakes.
• Best offline option: Chess without ads. A coach that suggests moves, works offline, and collects no data.

Comparison table

How to choose a chess app

• If you do not know the rules yet, start with Dr. Wolf, or with the free introductory lessons in Chess without ads.
• If you know the rules and want to play people, Chess.com is the obvious base. Add a tactics trainer to practice between games.
• If you are choosing for a child, ChessKid is built for kids and the description says it is ad-free. Chess.com's age rating notes advertising and chat.
• If you want to improve your rating, daily tactics (Chess Tactics and Lessons or Chess.com puzzles) usually pay off faster than opening study for players under intermediate level.
• If you already play a lot online, Chessbook and Chessable help you remember openings with spaced repetition, the same method used by flashcard apps.
• If you care about privacy or play without signal, Chess without ads, Chessable and Chessbook all declare no data collected.

Chess.com: Best overall

Chess.com is one of the biggest chess platforms, and its app covers every part of learning in one place. The description lists free online play with friends and tournaments, time controls from one minute to days, variants such as Chess960, over 1,000,000 puzzles with a rated mode that adjusts to your level, hundreds of lessons and videos by masters, a coach who reviews your games and guides you move by move, and over 100 bots. The screenshots show a game with a level picker (New to Chess, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) and a puzzle screen with a puzzle rating and timer.

On the US App Store in November 2026, the price list includes Gold memberships from $4.99 to $29.99, Platinum from $6.99 to $79.99 and Diamond from $14.99 to $119.99. Online games are free; the paid tiers are what unlock more lessons, puzzles and game reviews.

Strengths: everything in one app, 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, the privacy label declares tracking of browsing history and usage data, it requires iOS 17, and the listing does not spell out the free account's limits.

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf: Best for beginners

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf, also from Chess.com, is a coach rather than a playing site. The description says Dr. Wolf plays alongside you, speaks his explanations out loud, points out strategic ideas, flags your mistakes and goes over them again later. There are over 50 lessons from the basics to intermediate strategy and tactics, and four coach personalities with different voices and styles. A recent update lets Dr. Wolf play the opening you just studied. The screenshots show the coach's tips beside the board, a lesson on the pieces, and a lesson map with "Mastered" badges.

On the US App Store in November 2026, the price list includes coaching at $5.99 or $6.99 a month, $39.99 or $49.99 a year, a family item at $49.99, and 30 days at $4.99. Without paying, the description says Dr. Wolf coaches you for 3 free games, so you can try his teaching style first.

Strengths: patient, spoken explanations for true beginners, rated 4.8 from about 27,100 ratings, runs from iOS 13.

Limits: no tracking is declared, but seven data types are linked to you, including location. The listing does not mention online play against people, so you will need another app for that.

ChessKid: Best for kids

ChessKid is Chess.com's app for children, schools and coaches. The description says kids can play free games online or offline, against friends or 10 bots, follow interactive lessons, and solve puzzles from a pool of over 350,000, in what it calls a safe and ad-free environment. A recent update added Puzzle Worlds, where solving puzzles unlocks themed destinations. The screenshots show cartoon characters, a weekly challenge, and a gallery of robot bots.

The description says free users can solve up to three puzzles a day. On the US App Store in November 2026, the price list includes Monthly at $14.00, 3 Months at $29.00, 6 Months at $27.99 and 1 Year at $59.00.

Strengths: built for children, ad-free per the description, no tracking and no data linked to you, 28 app languages.

Limits: only three free puzzles a day, the monthly price is high compared with the yearly one, and the cartoon style will not suit teens or adults.

Chessable: Best for structured courses

Chessable, part of Chess.com, is a course platform. The description lists over 1,000 courses on openings, tactics and endgames from players such as Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri and Judit Polgar, studied through MoveTrainer, a spaced repetition system that brings moves back just before you forget them. The screenshots show courses with progress counts, such as "1001 Chess Endgame Exercises" and "The Beginner's Black Repertoire", and a board exercise awarding XP.

The PRO membership adds 300+ short courses, unlimited previews of paid courses and offline study, with a 7-day free trial. On the US App Store in November 2026, the price list includes a monthly membership at $11.99 and an annual one at $74.99.

Strengths: the most serious study tool here, a privacy label that declares no data collected, rated 4.8.

Limits: the description refers to paid courses beyond the membership, so PRO does not unlock the whole catalog. Offline study needs PRO, the app is English only, and it assumes you already know how to play.

Chess Tactics and Lessons: Best free tactics trainer

Chess Tactics and Lessons is a tactics trainer with lessons and opening practice on the side. The description lists over 30,000 tactics, lessons and openings, difficulty that adjusts as you play, lessons that include positions from "The Queen's Gambit" and World Championship games, explanations with engine analysis, and a community where users comment on and create puzzles. It says you can play as many tactics as you want for free. The screenshots show a tactic board, a lesson that explains why Ke5 is strong, and a menu with tactics, lessons, training and openings.

On the US App Store in November 2026, the price list includes PRO at $3.99 a month or $29.99 a year, ad removal at $0.99, and board themes at $0.99.

Strengths: unlimited free tactics, low prices, rated 4.8 from about 5,100 ratings, updated in October 2026.

Limits: it requires iOS 26, so older iPhones cannot install it. The age rating notes advertising and user-generated content, and six data types are linked to you.

Chessbook: Best for opening repertoire

Chessbook helps you build and remember an opening repertoire. The description lists custom repertoires, spaced repetition training, automatic detection of gaps, move statistics from master games, engine evaluations and results at your level, handling of transpositions, middlegame plans from top players, and review of your Lichess and Chess.com games for opening mistakes. The screenshots show White and Black repertoires with completion percentages, daily tasks, a move picker with master, engine and peer statistics, and a note on the biggest gap in the repertoire.

The description says free users can add 400 moves. On the US App Store in November 2026, the price list includes Chessbook Pro at $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year.

Strengths: a clear, data-driven way to fix your openings, a privacy label that declares no data collected, rated 4.9.

Limits: it is useful only once you play regularly, it does not teach the rules or tactics, and the app is English only.

Chess without ads: Best offline option

Chess without ads, from the developer of Chess Tiger, is built for learning by playing against a coach. The description says there are no ads, no account to create and no internet needed. Beginners get introductory lessons, of which the first 40 are free. In games, the coach shows the four best moves, and after each game it reviews your good and bad moves. The screenshots show a game against a 1200 Elo trainer with threat and suggestion buttons, a post-game analysis ("Good move. However, it may not have been the best move."), and a message explaining why a pinned piece cannot move.

On the US App Store in November 2026, the price list includes PRO from $0.49 for a week to $12.99 for life, and a "Learn chess" item at $4.99.

Strengths: private (no data collected), cheap, works anywhere, rated 4.7 from about 38,700 ratings.

Limits: the description focuses on games against the computer, not online play with people, and the screenshots show a dated look.

What we left out

• Magnus Trainer: a Chess.com training game, but not updated since April 2021.
• Chessreps: a well-rated opening trainer, close to Chessbook, with weekly to yearly plans from $6.99 to $49.99.
• Lichess: the free, open-source chess site has an iOS app, but it did not come up in the App Store results this comparison is based on, so we did not review its listing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free app to learn chess?

Chess.com is the strongest free starting point, since online games are free and the app includes some lessons and puzzles without paying. For unlimited free tactics, Chess Tactics and Lessons says its tactics are free. For complete beginners who want no ads and no account, Chess without ads includes 40 free lessons.

Is Chess.com free?

The app is free to download and online games are free, according to the description. Gold, Platinum and Diamond memberships, listed from $4.99 to $119.99 on the US App Store in November 2026, unlock more lessons, puzzles and game analysis. The free version shows ads, per the age rating.

What is the best chess app for kids?

ChessKid is built for children, is ad-free according to its description, and declares no tracking. Free users can play games and solve three puzzles a day. For a younger child who does not know the rules, Dr. Wolf's spoken lessons are another option.

Should I use Chessable or Chess.com?

They do different jobs. Chess.com is where you play, solve puzzles and review games. Chessable is where you study courses and memorize lines with spaced repetition, and both are owned by the same company. Most improving players use a playing app plus one study app.

Can you learn chess from zero with an app?

Yes. Dr. Wolf, Chess without ads and Chess.com all start with how the pieces move. After the rules, regular games and daily tactics matter more than any single app, so pick one you will open every day.