♟️

Lichess

Free

Open-source chess server — completely free, no ads, no premium paywalls. Play online, study tactics, analyze games with a strong engine. The best chess site on the web.

Catalogued April 15, 2026 · Curated by PWA Directory team

Open App

♟️Lichess

lichess.org

Lichess, as it opens in a browser tab.

Works Offline

Installable

Cross-Platform

✓

Free

Not sure how to add Lichess to your home screen? Step-by-step for Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge — it takes about ten seconds, and there is no app store involved.

Own Lichess? Have us re-run this measurement — we open it in a real browser, cut the network, and send you what survived.

How to install Lichess as a PWA

Chrome / Edge

Menu (⋮) → Add to Home screen

Safari (iOS)

Share (↑) → Add to Home Screen

Firefox

Menu (⋮) → Install

Screenshots

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Lichess in our guides

A list of progressive web apps worth installingThere is no App Store for progressive web apps, which is why a list is the only way to find them. The ones worth installing cluster in a few places: drawing and design (Excalidraw, Photopea, Penpot), developer references (DevDocs, regex101, Squoosh), notes and documents (Notesnook, AppFlowy, CryptPad), games (Lichess, PROXX, 2048), and maps (Organic Maps, OpenStreetMap). Install from the browser's address bar — there is nothing to download.Read the answer →

Free apps that install from the browserProgressive web apps skip the app stores entirely, so there is no 30% platform cut pushing developers toward paid tiers — and a lot of the best ones are free. Lichess, DevDocs, Excalidraw, PROXX, Squoosh, GeoGebra and Organic Maps are all free to use, and several are open source. Install from the browser: no store account, no payment method on file, nothing to download.Read the answer →

Browser games you can installBrowser games install straight from the address bar — no store, no download, no account. Lichess covers chess with full analysis, PROXX is a minesweeper variant built by Google, 2048 and Wordle need no introduction, and Soodoku handles sudoku. Single-player games cache their own code and keep working with no connection; live multiplayer cannot, since the moves have to travel.Read the answer →

PWA examples: 578 tested, 243 kept working with the network offOf the 578 installable web apps catalogued here, 243 keep working with the network disconnected — 42%. The rest install, show an icon, open in their own window, and then show nothing useful offline. So a PWA example is only an example of the format; whether it delivers the format's defining promise is a separate question, and it has to be tested app by app. The 243 that pass span every category: development tools, utilities, games, productivity, education.Read the answer →

Games you can play with no internet, straight from the browserYes, browser games can work entirely offline — once installed, a game with a service worker caches its code and assets and runs with no connection at all. That covers puzzle games, chess, and anything that does not need a live opponent. What cannot work offline is real-time multiplayer, since it depends on a server relaying moves. Install from the browser, load once while connected, and the game is available on a plane or in a tunnel.Read the answer →

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