chess .com vs lichess

I found a way to pay cheaper for diamond membership in chess.com. I think chess.com is the best one of all.

Both are good, depends what you are looking for. As a retiree for whom every dollar counts, I prefer lichess, but both sites have plenty to offer. Ratings on lichess are absurdly high, and most of the people I know are on chess.com. Chess.com social structure accommodates teams more readily. But I do like unlimited tactics, opening explorer, game analysis etc. on lichess.

If you don't mind spending some money why not use both? Nothing says you have to use one or the other exclusively.

As an aside, this reminds me of the old debates about ICC vs FICS and similar arguments were made.

Lichess has less cheaters. Their rating system is further removed from the FIDE rating system, so less people care about it. Also, it seems Lichess players accept more gambits than decline them. All of their study material is free, you can completely build an opening repetoire there and save it/work on it, or study with others. When a game finishes with someone, you can enter the review board and still chat with the player and can nail down where the game went south for whoever lost etc. They only accept donations, so no money out of your pocket.

Lichess has less of most things. Fewer cheaters is merely the scale. The percentage is likely higher because the resources for rooting then out are limited.

Lichess studies are a great resource. Also useful is an opening explorer that represents all games played on the site. Chessdotcom cannot do that because the number of games played is massively greater.

Chess.com is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better

I like both. I think that Chess.com is great if you're willing to spend the money for a premium membership. But with Lichess you get amazing value for free.

How about this. Instead of debating which is better, just use both. Both have useful resources.

Even better, be a paying member here and a patron there.

Lichess has the better User Interface (centered small board, faster, more responsive, etc).
Chess.com has better "daily chess" tournaments and more players.

Support this post to make user interface on chess.com more like lichess:
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/site-feedback/screen-layout-of-widgets

Some of us prefer chessdotcom's interface.

I JUST joined Lichess 5 minutes ago! It'll take some getting used to but it seems to be more about chess and less about how many friends you can collect.

The competition is far better at least at lower levels here on Chess.com. It's very competitive.
Lichess was more casual, more chatting also.

They are simply two virtual environments that offer services and tools for chess players. They are not alternatives, one does not exclude the other. Both can be used profitably.

^^^^^^
This

Even so, it can be useful to explore details about the distinctive advantages of each.

It would be better to have 1 site that has the best of both worlds! It would be nice if they merged. Lichess is open source -- chesscom has 400 developers. They should merge the best features of each site:

Lichess has the better user interface (cleaner, faster)... chesscom has the better tournaments/clubs features. It's a shame you have to bounce between the two to try and get the best chess experience.

Chessdotcom is gobbling up much of the variety in the world of chess. They killed Chess24, which was a great site for broadcasts (I’ve never found Chessdotcom broadcasts particularly inviting), and okay for occasional play.

Suggesting that they merge with lichess is the worst idea I’ve seen since Albertson’s bought Safeway and became what it acquired. Now they want to kill Kroger.

What's best depends on each person's needs and preferences. What is best for one may not be best for another.

Sincerely, I don't like mergers. Mergers always involve the loss of something good, and never fuse together the best of the components. I hope that the two sites will always continue on their own path, without losing their uniqueness. Variety is richness.