Chess.com API vs Lichess API

Two free Games & Comics APIs compared on access, reliability and developer ratings, using data from our daily health checks.

The verdict

Choose Chess.com API if you want to start without an API key.
Choose Lichess API if you want faster responses.

Side by side

	Chess.com API	Lichess API
What it does	The PubAPI is a read-only REST API that responds with JSON-LD data.	Access to all data of users, games, puzzles and etc on Lichess.
Provider	Chess.com	Lichess.org
API key	Not needed	OAuth
HTTPS	Yes	Yes
CORS (browser calls)	Unknown	Unknown
Status today	Online · 2587 ms	Online · 919 ms
Uptime (30 days)	Up	Up
Developer rating	Not rated yet	Not rated yet
Price	Free / free tier	Free / free tier

Chess.com docs ↗Lichess docs ↗

Chess.com API

The PubAPI is a read-only REST API that responds with JSON-LD data.

The PubAPI is a read-only REST API that responds with JSON-LD data. The API re-packages public data from the website and makes it available via the PubAPI. "Public Data" is information available to people who are not logged in, such as player data, game data, and club/tournament information. This e…

Strengths

No API key needed
HTTPS

Ratings, reviews and FAQ →

Lichess API

Access to all data of users, games, puzzles and etc on Lichess.

Strengths

HTTPS

Ratings, reviews and FAQ →

How to choose between them

Prototyping or a tutorial? Pick the one that needs no API key.
Calling from a web page? You need CORS. Otherwise route requests through your own server or a serverless function.
Going to production? Favour HTTPS, a strong uptime record and a provider with clear rate limits and terms. Check each API's docs before you commit.
Still unsure? Both are free to try: send one request to each and compare the data you get back.

Chess.com vs Lichess FAQ

Which needs an API key, Chess.com API or Lichess API?

Lichess API requires an API key; Chess.com API doesn't, so Chess.com API is quicker to try.