Comparison

Lichess vs ChessDataLab

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

ChessDataLab

Features
Read full description

UNLIMITED CHESS ANALYSIS. FULLY OFFLINE. Import your Chess.com and Lichess games, analyze them with Stockfish, and improve from your own games. No subscription. No ads. Buy once and keep all features forever. UNLIMITED OFFLINE ANALYSIS Analyze as many games as you want directly on your device. • Embedded Stockfish engine • Unlimited game analysis • No internet connection required • Your data stays on your device • No usage limits Review every move and discover: • Accuracy score • Move classifications (Theory, Excellent, Good, Inaccuracy, Mistake, Blunder) • Stockfish best moves • Position evaluations • Detailed game review Understand not only what went wrong, but why. OPENING INSIGHTS Discover your chess opening repertoire and identify where you perform best. • Most played openings • Win rates by opening • Number of theoretical moves played • Opening performance statistics • Related games Access a built-in database of games played by top players and compare your choices with established theory. Find the openings that bring the best results and identify where improvement is needed. TRAIN ON YOUR OWN MISTAKES Most chess apps tell you where you made mistakes. ChessDataLab goes one step further. Mistakes and blunders detected during analysis are automatically converted into personalized training exercises based on positions from your own games. Instead of solving random puzzles, you practice the positions that actually caused you problems. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS Monitor your improvement over time: • Rating progression • Accuracy trends • Blunder reduction • Complete game history Open any game directly from the statistics screens and review the positions that impacted your results. IMPORT CHESS.COM AND LICHESS GAMES Analyze games from: • Chess.com • Lichess • Bullet • Blitz • Rapid • Classical WHY CHESSDATALAB? • Unlimited analysis • Fully offline • No subscription • No ads • No in-app purchases • Personalized training from your own games • Opening statistics and theory tracking • Embedded Stockfish engine • Data stays on your device Buy once. Keep all features forever.

Screenshots

Lichess4 screens
ChessDataLab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Lichess at Free against ChessDataLab's $3.99. Lichess also leads on chart position (#54 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.6). On update cadence, 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

Lichess is free to download; ChessDataLab costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lichess ships an update fortnightly, ChessDataLab monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Lichess versus ChessDataLab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLichessChessDataLab
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.1 (662 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews53.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings662 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
Best chart rank#54 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB99 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLICHESS.ORGguillaume moudic

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

ChessDataLab

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Lichess

No in-app purchases

None

ChessDataLab

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lichess free?
Lichess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ChessDataLab free?
ChessDataLab costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Lichess or ChessDataLab have ads?
Neither Lichess nor ChessDataLab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lichess or ChessDataLab?
Lichess ships an update fortnightly, and ChessDataLab monthly. Most recently, Lichess was updated on October 21, 2026 and ChessDataLab on October 19, 2026.

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