You go hunting for a chess app to get started and end up buried under dozens of names, every one of them “number one” and “highly recommended.” Finding a good app isn’t the hard part, most of them are fine. The hard part is finding the one that fits what you want to do right now, at your level. An app that’s brilliant for a club player can be a brick wall for a genuine beginner.

Here are the criteria that matter, in order.

Separate playing from learning

That’s the first split to make, and it heads off a lot of wrong turns. Two families of apps get mixed up constantly.

Playing platforms, Chess.com or Lichess, are built first and foremost for playing games, against people or the computer. They throw in some learning too, but it sits as a side module next to the games.

Learning tools, like Prologue for openings, aren’t where you go for rated games. They drill you on one specific skill, properly.

Ask yourself what you’re short on: more games, or a better grip on what you’re doing? That answer already makes half the decision for you.

Look for active practice, not consumption

This is what separates the apps that actually make you better from the ones that just fill time. A good app makes you do something: play a move, solve a puzzle, commit to an answer. An app that mostly parks you in front of videos and text leaves you feeling like you learned, with nothing to show for it.

That holds for any skill, but it’s glaring with openings. Watching an opening lesson won’t make you play it in a game; replaying it yourself will. That’s the whole premise of Prologue, where you learn each opening by playing it move by move, guided then from memory, instead of just looking at it. Before you commit, check whether the app puts your hands on the board or sits you back in an armchair. I dig into that gap in flashcards vs playing the opening.

Check that it is built for your level

An app can be excellent and completely wrong for a beginner. Be wary of powerful tools that drop you in front of an opening explorer bristling with statistics, or an engine spitting out evaluations: with no frame of reference, you won’t know what to do with any of it.

What you need early on is a path. An app that tells you where to start, structures the steps, and keeps you from drowning in options. Total freedom is a trap when you’re starting out; you’ll want it later, once you know what you’re looking for. This is the crux of the comparison between Prologue and Lichess studies.

Look at the cost, but after everything else

Price matters, but it’s the last filter, not the first. Plenty of apps hand you more than enough to start for free: Lichess is free top to bottom, Prologue opens the whole Italian family without paying, Chess.com is free to play. So you can test the method and the feel before spending a cent.

Don’t pay until you’ve answered the earlier questions. A paid app that’s wrong for your level costs you more than a free one that actually gets you practicing. Start free, see what keeps pulling you back, and pay only when you hit a real wall. The cost breakdown is in how much it costs to learn openings.

In short, the question to ask yourself

Before you download anything, run through this: do I want to play more, or understand more? Does the app make me act or just watch? Does it guide me or leave me to fend for myself? Cost comes after all of that.

If you’re a beginner and your worry is knowing your openings, a tool that makes you play them, guided, with a free way in, checks the boxes. If you’d rather play games first, a platform serves you better. And there’s nothing wrong with keeping both. To compare the options, see the best apps for learning openings.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best chess app for a beginner?

Depends what you need. For playing games, Chess.com or Lichess. For learning openings by playing them, a dedicated tool like Prologue. The “best” app is the one that matches what you want to work on first, not the one with the longest feature list.

Do you need one app to play and one to learn?

Often yes, and it’s a sound approach. Plenty of players play on one platform and learn their openings somewhere else, each tool handling what it’s good at. Nothing says one app has to do everything.

How many apps should you install to start?

One or two, plenty. A platform to play on, maybe a dedicated tool for openings. Stacking up apps just scatters your attention; a couple used regularly beats a dozen used never.

Is a free app enough to get started?

Yes, easily. Free covers a beginner’s needs with room to spare, whether you’re playing or learning your first openings. Paying only pays off later, once you hit a specific limit. Details in learning openings for free.