The Short Answer
Quick answer: Chess.com has over 100 bot personalities, run by the Komodo engine, from 250 to 3200 strength, but free accounts only get about 20 of them. Lichess has eight computer levels, run by Stockfish, plus hundreds of community bots, all free. Pick Chess.com for variety and hints, Lichess for free, plain practice.
I read Chess.com's help page on bots and the Lichess bot list on October 18, 2026. I also checked the Lichess code that sets each computer level.
Here's how they compare, piece by piece.
Two Very Different Ideas of a Computer Opponent
The two sites build their computer opponents in opposite ways.
Chess.com gives each bot a name, a face and a personality. Its help page says the bots each have their own quirks and playing styles. Some chat with you during the game.
Lichess keeps it plain. You pick a level from one to eight, a color and a time control, and you play.
So the choice is partly about taste. If a character with a story keeps you playing, Chess.com fits. If you just want a board and an opponent, Lichess does the job with less on the screen.
How Chess.com Bots Work
On Chess.com, you find the bots under Play, then Play Bots.
Chess.com's help page on playing bots says there are over 100 bot personalities, all powered by Komodo, a chess engine Chess.com owns.
The main list comes in four groups:
- Beginner: 15 bots from 250 to 850.
- Intermediate: 15 bots from 1000 to 1400.
- Advanced: 20 bots from 1500 to 2100.
- Master: 10 bots from 2200 to 2450.
On top of those, there are adaptive bots, celebrity bots and seasonal bots. At the bottom of the list, an Engine option lets you set any strength from 250 to 3200 with a slider.
Adaptive and Celebrity Bots
Two kinds of Chess.com bots stand out.
Adaptive bots change their strength during the game. The help page says they challenge you more if you're doing well and ease off if you make mistakes. That keeps the game close, which is good for confidence.
Then there are bots modelled on real people. The help page names MrBeast, IM Danny Rensch and GM Hikaru Nakamura, plus others. Seasonal bots show up now and then too.
These are fun, but don't treat a celebrity bot as a copy of that player. It's a personality with a rough strength, not a scan of their real games.
What's Free on Chess.com
Here's the catch with Chess.com.
The help page says some bots are locked for Basic members and show a lock icon. Chess.com's membership help page lists the free account as getting 20+ distinct personalities. To unlock all of them, you need a paid plan.
The same page lists bots among the features of all three paid plans, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. So the cheapest plan is enough if bots are what you want.
Our guide to Chess.com Gold vs Platinum vs Diamond compares what else each plan adds.
For most beginners, 20 free bots are plenty to start with.
How the Lichess Computer Works
Lichess calls it playing with the computer. You set a level from one to eight, a color, a time control and a variant, then start.
Lichess runs on Stockfish. Its FAQ says its computer analysis is powered by Stockfish, and the code for the computer levels sets Stockfish's own skill setting for each one.
You can also start from any position, not only the normal setup. That's handy for practicing an endgame or a line you keep getting wrong.
The whole site is free. Its own description promises no registration, no ads and no plugin required.
What Each Lichess Level Really Means
Lichess doesn't give its levels a rating. The code shows what changes instead.
I checked the Lichess code that sets each level, in its open source fishnet project on GitHub. Each one sets three things: how long the engine thinks, how deep it looks, and Stockfish's skill setting.
Level 1 thinks for 50 milliseconds per move, at the lowest skill setting. Level 8 thinks for one full second, at full skill, and looks 22 moves deep in its search.
Levels 1 to 5 all look only 5 moves deep. Level 6 looks 8 deep and level 7 looks 13 deep.
So the jump from level 6 to level 8 is big. Expect it.
Lichess Level 8 Is Very Strong
Level 8 plays at full skill, so don't expect to beat it often.
The Lichess FAQ tells a fun story about it. A streamer called ZugAddict spent about two hours on stream trying to beat level 8 in a one minute game, without success.
Thibault, the founder of Lichess, promised him a unique trophy if he managed it on stream. One hour later, he won, and the FAQ says the promise was kept.
That tells you two things. Level 8 is hard, and it's beatable only in odd conditions, like a one minute game where the clock matters as much as the moves.
Lichess Bots Are a Separate List
Lichess has more than the eight levels. It also has bot accounts, run by people who connect their own engines.
When I opened the Lichess online bots list, it showed 397 bots online.
The featured ones are the most interesting. Maia1, maia5 and maia9 are described as human like engines. Each was trained on over 10 million Lichess games between players rated around 1100, 1500 and 1900.
There are odds bots too, like LeelaQueenOdds and LeelaRookOdds. They play on purpose with a piece missing, so you can practice against a strong engine that starts behind.
Do Bot Games Count for Rating?
On Chess.com, no. The help page says games against bots or the engine are always unrated, whatever the result.
On Lichess, games against the computer levels are unrated too. The code that sets up a computer game marks it as not rated.
That's good news for practice. You can try a new opening, lose ten games in a row, and your rating won't move.
Lichess bot accounts show their own ratings on the bot list, though. So they're a separate case from the eight computer levels. Check the bot's profile before you challenge it.
Help During the Game
Chess.com gives you far more help on the board.
Its options include an evaluation bar, threat arrows that mark pieces in danger, suggestion arrows for good moves, move feedback and an engine line. You can also take hints and undo moves.
There's a reward for playing without them. The help page says beating a bot with no help earns three crowns. One to three hints or undos earns two, and four or more earns one.
Lichess keeps the board clean during a computer game. You review afterwards instead. Our guide on reviewing a game against a computer shows how to make that review count.
Which Should a Beginner Use?
For a true beginner, Chess.com is easier.
The beginner bots start at 250 strength. The adaptive bots ease off when you struggle. The arrows show you threats you'd miss. That's a gentle way to learn, as long as you turn the help down over time.
Lichess level 1 is weak too, since it plays at the lowest skill setting with almost no thinking time. It just won't explain anything.
If you're stuck at a specific bot level, our guide on how to beat 1500 rated chess bots covers what changes as bots get stronger.
Which Should an Improving Player Use?
Once you're past the basics, Lichess has the edge for serious practice.
It's free with no locked levels, and you can start from any position. That lets you drill one middlegame or endgame again and again.
The Maia bots are worth a look too. Because they learned from human games, they're meant to play more like people at those ratings.
Chess.com's Master bots, from 2200 to 2450, are a strong test as well. But most of the bot list sits behind the paid plans.
Whatever you pick, play a mix of bots and humans. Our Chess.com vs Lichess comparison covers the rest of each site.
Practice One Opening Against a Bot
Neither site's standard bot list is built around a single opening.
On Lichess, you can paste a position from your opening into the computer setup and start from there. On Chess.com, you play from the normal start and hope the bot heads into your line.
The CheckmateX bot trainer takes another approach. You pick a strength from 800 to 2800, choose your side, and can start the game from a chosen opening line.
That's useful when you've just learned a line and want to see what happens after it, rather than the first few moves alone.