Comparison

Lichess vs Flamingo Chess

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Lichess

Play chess online with millions of users, participate in tournaments, solve puzzles, and analyze games. This free and open-source application offers a comprehensive chess experience for players of all levels, with features for learning and casual play.

Highlights
  • Real-time and correspondence chess
  • Arena tournaments
  • Chess puzzles
  • Game analysis with Stockfish
  • Interactive study feature
  • Chess clock
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Lichess is a free/libre, open-source chess application powered by volunteers and donations. Today, Lichess users play more than five million games every day. Lichess is one of the most popular chess websites in the world while remaining 100% free. The following features are available right now: - play real time or correspondence chess - play arena tournaments - play against online bots - solve chess puzzles from a wide variety of themes, online or offline - race against the clock in Puzzle Storm - analyse your games with latest Stockfish locally or on the server - board editor - study chess with a collaborative and interactive study feature - learn board coordinates - play over the board with a friend - watch live chess broadcasts from all major chess tournaments - watch Lichess TV and online streamers - use a chess clock for your over the board games - many different board themes and piece sets - custom background themes - translated into 55 languages

About

Flamingo Chess

Features
Read full description

Flamingo Chess is plain chess for you and your friends: in Messages, live in the app, or across the table on one phone. No login, no tracking, no engine. Just a game of chess between people. PLAY IN MESSAGES Start a game right in a conversation and take turns whenever it suits you. Your opponent's move plays out on the board when you open it. Games in Messages are serverless: your moves travel in the conversation between your iPhones and are never stored on our servers. PLAY LIVE IN THE APP Pick a color, start a game, and share its five-letter invite code. Your friend types in the code and takes the other seat. Moves appear the moment they are made, and every game you play in the app waits in your games list, titled with both players' names, like "blueberry764 vs orange489." PLAY HOT SEAT Two people, one phone. The board turns to face whoever moves next, you can take moves back, and the game stays on your phone until you come back to it. SHARE YOUR GAMES Share any online or hot seat game as a scoresheet: plain text laid out like the paper sheet at a tournament, with the date, both players, the result, and every move in numbered rows. Send it to your opponent or keep it in your notes. KEEP YOUR GAMES Finished games go to the archive, where you can replay them move by move. AND ALSO • Offer a draw or resign, just like over the board • Speak your move: hold the Speech button and say "Move pawn to D3" • Playable with VoiceOver: every square announces its name and its piece, and legal moves are called out • Two board themes, Neon and Standard • Choose your own display name in Settings Have fun everyone!

Screenshots

Lichess4 screens
Flamingo Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Flamingo Chess at every 5 days against Lichess's fortnightly. Lichess's advantage is chart position (#41 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lichess ships an update fortnightly, Flamingo Chess every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Lichess versus Flamingo Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLichessFlamingo Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (785 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews53.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings785 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
Best chart rank#41 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size109 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLICHESS.ORGMartin Kim Đưng-Phạm

Bugs and requests

Lichess

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • Swipe-to-go-back gesture interferes with piece placement

Requested features

3 requests
  • Name of opening in opening explorer
  • Ability to add and subtract additional things on the homepage
  • Reset/replay button on puzzles

Flamingo Chess

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Lichess

No in-app purchases

None

Flamingo Chess

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lichess free?
Lichess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Flamingo Chess free?
Flamingo Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Lichess or Flamingo Chess have ads?
Neither Lichess nor Flamingo Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lichess or Flamingo Chess?
Lichess ships an update fortnightly, and Flamingo Chess every 5 days. Most recently, Lichess was updated on October 30, 2026 and Flamingo Chess on October 28, 2026.

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