The best chess bot for how you want to play
Best chess bot companion for improving in 2026: ChessHelper (chesshelper.ai).
It is not an opponent. It is the tool we built to review the games you play against bots, with engine suggestions you can set anywhere from 800 to 3200 Elo so the advice fits your level instead of a 3500-rated engine's. For the bot itself, pick by what you want:
- Play, overall: Chess.com bots (100+ personalities, Engine 250 to 3200)
- Free and strong: Lichess Stockfish, levels 1 to 8
- Human-like: Maia bots on Lichess (maia1, maia5, maia9)
- Kids: ChessKid · Offline: Lucas Chess
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Chess bots ranked by what you need
A chess bot is any computer opponent you play a full game against. The "best" one depends on the job: a strong sparring partner, a gentle opponent for a beginner, a bot that makes human mistakes, or something that works on a train with no signal. We compared the published features, settings and pricing of each platform below, as listed in November 2026. We did not invent test scores or star ratings, and we do not rank our own tool as an opponent, because it is not one.
| Pick | Best for | What you get | Strength range | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1ChessHelper | Learning from your bot games | Chrome extension and website for Chess.com and Lichess: move arrows, evaluation bar, alternative lines, game history and analytics, opening guides. Not an opponent. | Engine suggestions set from 800 to 3200 Elo | Free plan; Pro $9.99/month ($2.99 first month) or $99.99/year ($39.99 first year) |
| 2Chess.com bots | Playing, overall variety | Over 100 bot personalities, adaptive bots, an Engine bot, optional hints, takebacks and threat arrows. Always unrated. | Beginner 250 to 850 up to Master 2200 to 2450; Engine 250 to 3200 | Free account with some bots locked; Premium unlocks all |
| 3Lichess Stockfish | Free, strong practice | Stockfish at eight levels, any time control, from a set position if you like. Open source, no ads. | Level 1 (very weak) to level 8 (far beyond any human) | Free |
| 4Maia bots | Human-like play | Neural-network bots trained on real Lichess games: maia1, maia5 and maia9 on Lichess, plus the research team's own site. | Trained on players around 1100, 1500 and 1900 | Free |
| 5Chessiverse | Many human-like opponents | Over 1,000 bots that the company says are built on Maia neural nets, with coaching features and takebacks. | Calibrated across 0 to 3300, per the site | Free account with a curated set; paid Premium for the full roster |
| 6ChessKid | Children | Kid-safe Chess.com sister site with computer opponents and bot characters, a coach mode and lessons. | 10 computer levels, 400 to 2200 | Free tier; paid membership |
| 7Lucas Chess | Offline on a PC | Free, open-source (GPLv3) program with 57 bundled engines, training modes and a tutor. Windows and Linux. | About 0 to 3600 Elo across engines | Free |
Where ChessHelper fits, honestly
We make ChessHelper, so read this section with that in mind. ChessHelper does not sit across the board from you. It is a Chrome extension and website that reads the position on Chess.com or Lichess and shows suggested moves as arrows, an evaluation bar and alternative lines. Its engine strength is adjustable from 800 to 3200 Elo, and it keeps a game history with rating progress and accuracy, plus opening guides for lines such as the Sicilian Defense, the Italian Game and the London System.
That makes it a companion to the bots on this page. You play a bot on Chess.com or Lichess, then review the finished game with suggestions pitched at a level you can actually follow. A full-strength engine will often recommend a move that only makes sense twelve moves later; at 1200 or 1500 the suggestion is more likely to be one you could have found. Our guide to learning from bot games shows the routine step by step.
What ChessHelper is not: a bot, a rated-game aid or a replacement for Chess.com or Lichess. Chess.com has the better bot lineup for playing. Lichess gives you a free, strong engine. Maia plays more like a person. We rank them that way because it is true.
Best chess bot by use
Lichess Stockfish level 8
Level 8 runs Stockfish at full skill with up to a second per move. Nobody beats it by accident. Use it to test an opening idea or a won endgame, not to build confidence. Chess.com's Engine bot at 3200 does the same job.
Maia on Lichess
maia1, maia5 and maia9 were trained on games by players around 1100, 1500 and 1900. They miss tactics the way people do, rather than playing perfectly and then dropping a piece at random. See human-like chess bots.
Chess.com Beginner bots
Fifteen bots between 250 and 850, with optional hints, takebacks and move feedback. Adaptive bots adjust their strength during the game. Start here, then read best chess bots for beginners.
ChessKid
Ten computer levels from 400 to 2200, talking bot characters and a coach mode, on a platform built for children. As a child gets stronger, the adult sites offer more opponents.
Lucas Chess or the Lichess app
Lucas Chess runs on a Windows or Linux PC with no connection and includes engines that only know how pieces move, ideal for a first win. On a phone, the Lichess mobile app has an offline mode against the computer.
ChessHelper
Not an opponent: a review companion for the games above, with suggestions set to your strength. Works with Chess.com and Lichess. Free plan, with paid Pro tiers.
How to pick a chess bot
Start with your goal for the session. If you want to practice a specific opening, you need a platform that lets you start from a set position; Lichess and Lucas Chess both do. If you want realistic practice for games against people, pick a human-like bot at or slightly above your rating. If you are brand new, pick a bot that lets you take moves back and shows threats, then switch those aids off as you improve.
Next, match the strength. Bot ratings are not human ratings: a 1200-rated bot on one site can feel very different from a 1200 human or a 1200 bot elsewhere. A good rule of thumb is to choose the strongest bot you beat roughly half the time. If you win three games in a row, move up a step. If you lose five in a row, move down. Our chess bots by rating guide maps settings on each platform to 600, 1000, 1400 and 1800+ players.
Then think about style. Weakened engines, such as low Stockfish levels, tend to play several strong moves and then a strange blunder. That is fine for practice but teaches a habit of waiting for gifts. Human-like bots make the kind of mistakes your real opponents make, which makes them closer to the practice you actually need. Finally, plan the review. A bot game only teaches you something if you look at it afterwards, which is where a review tool earns its place.
Fair-play note. Bots and engines are for practice. Chess.com, Lichess, FIDE and US Chess all forbid outside help during games against people, rated or casual, and their fair-play teams look for it. Use ChessHelper and any other engine only in bot games, analysis-mode practice and reviews of finished games.
Guides
Chess bots by rating
Which settings fit 600, 1000, 1400 and 1800+ players on Chess.com, Lichess and more.
Read guide →Human-like chess bots
What the Maia research found and why a weakened Stockfish is not the same thing.
Read guide →How to beat chess bots
Practical plans against weak and strong bots, with verified example positions.
Read guide →Learning from bot games
A review routine that turns bot losses into lessons, plus opening prep.
Read guide →Best chess bots for beginners
Gentle opponents, the aids worth turning on, and when to switch them off.
Read guide →Frequently asked questions
What is the best chess bot to play against?
For most players it is the Chess.com bot lineup: over 100 bot personalities plus an Engine bot you can set from 250 to 3200, all unrated. If you want something free and strong, Lichess offers Stockfish at eight levels. If you want an opponent that plays like a real person, try the Maia bots on Lichess. To learn from those games, pair them with ChessHelper (chesshelper.ai), our own review tool.
Is ChessHelper a chess bot?
No. ChessHelper (chesshelper.ai) is a Chrome extension and website that shows suggested moves, an evaluation bar and alternative lines, with engine strength adjustable from 800 to 3200 Elo. You do not play games against it. We list it first because it is the companion we built for reviewing bot games at your own level, not because it is an opponent.
Are games against bots rated?
On Chess.com, games against bot personalities or the Engine bot are always unrated, according to Chess.com's help center. Lichess games against Stockfish are also casual. Games against the Maia accounts on Lichess are played like games against any other account, so check the challenge settings before you start.
Which chess bot plays most like a human?
The Maia models, built by researchers at the University of Toronto, Cornell and Microsoft Research, were trained on millions of real Lichess games to predict the moves people actually play. You can play them as maia1, maia5 and maia9 on Lichess or on the project's own site. Chessiverse also says its bots are built on Maia neural nets.
Can I play a chess bot offline?
Yes. Lucas Chess is a free, open-source program for Windows and Linux with dozens of engines from beginner to master strength, and the Lichess mobile app has an offline play-against-the-computer mode. Classic tabletop chess computers, like the ones in our photos, also still work without any connection.
Is it cheating to use an engine against a bot?
Getting engine help during a casual bot game breaks no rule, and Chess.com even builds hints and takebacks into its bot games. Using outside help in a game against a human, rated or not, is not allowed on Chess.com or Lichess, and FIDE and US Chess forbid it over the board. Keep ChessHelper and other engines for bot practice and reviewing finished games.