♟Free
Play, record & import
Move the pieces or type moves — every game autosaves. Import from Chess.com or Lichess, or load PGN/FEN/JSON.
Free to play · $5 unlocks the rest
Your chess analysis lab, library, and study companion.
Play, record, and import your games for free — forever. A one-time $5 unlocks Stockfish at full depth, on-device AI commentary, 26,000+ games, and 5,000+ puzzles. No subscription, no cloud, no ads.
Starting position
By the numbers
More chess than you can study in a year.
26,000+
Games in the library
9,254
Classic master games
11,336
Theory study games, 37 categories
5,037
Puzzles, rated 800–2500
5
Stockfish presets, Eco → Max
6
Assistive Coach ELO levels
7
Color themes + infinite HSL tuning
$5
Once, for everything else, forever
Features
Everything a serious chess habit needs.
Play and journal for free, forever. A single $5 unlock turns on engine depth, local AI, and the full library.
♞Eco free · rest $5
Stockfish engine analysis
The free "Eco" preset gives an eval bar, best line, and candidates. Unlock Fast, Balanced, Deep, and Max, plus the interactive eval graph and whole-game analyzer.
◆$5 unlock
On-device AI commentary
Qwen2.5 1.5B or Gemma 3 1B run locally via llama.cpp (desktop) or Transformers.js WASM (Android). No cloud, no API key, nothing leaves your device.
♜Yours free · rest $5
26,000+ game library
Your own games are free, autosaved, and searchable forever. Unlock once to add 9,254 classics, 11,336 theory games, and 5,037 puzzles.
✦$5 unlock
Puzzle system
5,037 mate puzzles rated 800–2500. Normal, Random, and adaptive Streak modes (+80 ELO per solve). Best streak saved forever.
▤$5 unlock
Theory / study system
11,336 master games across 37 categories: openings, middlegame, endgames, book collections. Progress tracked per game.
♚$5 unlock
Assistive Coach
Six ELO levels (800 → 2500). The engine plays at your level, then explains every move: centipawn loss, best move, positional summary.
◈Free
Opening detection
A 515 KB offline ECO database names the opening as you play, with an "out of book" marker and per-opening W/L/D stats.
⌕Free
Smart natural-language search
"catalan where I didn't blunder before move 25." Understands results, opponents, dates, ratings, castling, promotions, brilliancies — free, on your own library.
⇄Free
Chess.com & Lichess import
Enter a username and date range. Fetches your archives, detects your color, imports with full metadata. No unlock needed.
▦Free
Board editor
Set up any position by hand. Castling rights and en passant targets are derived automatically.
◐Free
Theme system
Seven presets plus infinite HSL fine-tuning, tinting every surface, square, and piece. Light, dark, and system modes.
See it in action
The real app. No mockups.
Every screenshot below is a real capture of Chess Journal running on desktop and Android.
Watch it move
Demo reels, straight from the app's own board.
Every clip below is rendered from the real piece set and real opening theory — nothing staged in a design tool.
How it works
From download to deep analysis in five steps.
01
Download
No signup, no account. A clean board, ready to play — free.
02
Play or import
Play a game, import PGN/FEN, or pull from Chess.com or Lichess — all free.
03
Unlock when ready
A one-time $5 payment turns on Stockfish's full depth, AI commentary, and the full library.
04
Analyze
Stockfish evaluates every position. AI commentary explains every move. The eval graph tells the story.
05
Study & improve
9,254 classics. 11,336 theory games. 5,037 puzzles. The coach guides you the rest of the way.
Pricing
Free to play. $5, once, unlocks everything else.
No renewals. No second paywall. No in-app purchases beyond this one unlock — ever.
Free forever
$0
Play and record your own games, on every platform, no time limit.
- Play, record, and autosave your own games
- Import from Chess.com and Lichess
- Board editor, 7 themes, autoplay
- Live opening-name detection (offline ECO database)
- Stockfish "Eco" preset — a quick eval on any position
- Smart natural-language search on your own library
- PGN / FEN / JSON import & export, PNG export
- No account, no ads, no time limit
$5 · one time
$5
Unlock everything else, forever — including every future update.
- Stockfish at full depth — Fast, Balanced, Deep, Max presets
- Whole-game analyzer with move-quality marks (!! ! ?! ? ??)
- On-device AI commentary — Qwen2.5 / Gemma 3, no cloud
- 9,254 classic master games
- 11,336 theory study games across 37 categories
- 5,037 puzzles — Normal, Random, and Streak modes
- Assistive Coach — 6 ELO levels, engine plays at your level
- PDF export & the Profile / Opening-stats dashboards
Where things stand today: the free tier above is exactly
what you get right now if you download Chess Journal. The $5 unlock is
built and works end-to-end in testing, but the storefronts aren't public
yet — the desktop/Linux checkout and the Android listing are both being
finalized. Download and play for free today; the unlock button will go
live here and in-app the moment checkout opens, at the same $5 price on
every platform.
| Chess Journal | Typical subscription | |
|---|---|---|
| To play & journal | Free | Often paywalled from day one |
| To unlock everything | $5, once | $50–$100+ / year |
| Renewals | None, ever | Every month or year |
| Updates | Included forever | Often gated behind higher tiers |
| Ads | None | Common on free tiers |
Download
Get Chess Journal.
Chess Journal · Windows, Linux, and Android.
Public downloads aren't live yet. Chess Journal is
still finishing its build and release pipeline — this section will
turn into real download buttons the moment it is. Check back soon.
How it compares
One app, four pillars no single competitor covers.
| Feature | Chess Journal | Chess.com | Lichess | ChessBase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free to play / $5 unlock | $14.99/mo | Free / Patron ~$5/mo | $500+ |
| Desktop app | Yes (Windows, Linux) | Web only | Web only | Yes |
| Android app | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| On-device AI commentary | Yes, local | No | No | No |
| Offline analysis | Full | No | No | Yes |
| Built-in game library | 26,000+ | — | — | — |
| Natural-language search | Yes | No | No | No |
| No subscription, ever | Free + $5 unlock | No | Partial | Yes ($500+ upfront) |
Who it's for
Built for people tired of subscriptions and cloud dependency.
"Free to play. $5 once unlocks Stockfish at any depth. My games, my data. No subscription."
"Free to start, no commitment. When I'm ready, $5 unlocks AI explanations in plain language."
"Free to try, ChessBase-level analysis for $5. I can recommend it to every student without hesitation."
"Safe, ad-free, no chat, free to try. One predictable $5 payment instead of another bill to remember."
"Free to play, fair $5 unlock straight to an indie dev. No ads, no data harvesting, modern stack."
"Free to try. $5 unlocks 9,254 classic games from Morphy to Carlsen — clean, offline, no bills."
Privacy & security
Your games never leave your device.
Engine analysis, AI commentary, your library, puzzles, and theory all run entirely offline. No telemetry, no analytics, no cloud sync — ever, on the free tier or unlocked. Read the full Privacy Policy and Terms & License.
Support the project
Chess Journal is built by one person.
The $5 unlock is the main way to support development. If you'd like to do more, here's another option.
Unlock for $5
The most direct way to support ongoing development — coming soon, see Pricing.
Get in touch
Feedback, ideas, or just want to say hi — always welcome.
Email sazardev@gmail.com
Always shipping
Recent changes.
Pulled live from the project's own CHANGELOG.md — never manually duplicated.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is Chess Journal really free?
Yes. Download it and play — record your games, import from Chess.com or Lichess, browse your library, edit positions, and switch themes, all free forever. A one-time $5 payment unlocks Stockfish's full depth, on-device AI commentary, the Classics and Theory libraries, all 5,037 puzzles, and the Assistive Coach.
Can I buy the $5 unlock right now?
Not yet through this site or the app — the checkout (LemonSqueezy on Windows/Linux, Google Play Billing on Android) is built and tested internally but the storefronts aren't public. Download and use the free tier today; this page and the in-app unlock screen will go live the moment checkout opens.
What exactly does the $5 unlock?
Stockfish presets beyond "Eco" (Fast, Balanced, Deep, Max), the whole-game analyzer and move-quality report, on-device AI commentary, 9,254 classic games, 11,336 theory games, 5,037 puzzles, the Assistive Coach, PDF export, and the Profile/Opening-stats dashboards. Every future update to any of it is included.
Does it require internet?
No, for both the free and unlocked features — engine analysis, AI commentary, the game library, puzzles, and theory all work offline. Only Chess.com/Lichess import, checkout, and update checks need internet.
What platforms are supported?
Windows (installer), Linux (AppImage), Android (APK today, Play Store listing coming) — free to play on all three, same $5 unlock everywhere. iOS/macOS are not currently available.
How does AI commentary work without the cloud?
Chess Journal downloads a small language model (Qwen2.5 1.5B or Gemma 3 1B) to your device once you've unlocked it. All inference runs locally via llama.cpp (desktop) or Transformers.js WASM (Android).
Is my data private?
Yes. Everything stays on your device, free tier or unlocked. No telemetry, no analytics, no cloud sync. Your games, your analysis, your data. See the Privacy Policy for the few network calls the app does make (imports, update checks, checkout).
Do I have to pay again for future updates?
No. Your one-time $5 unlock covers every update Chess Journal ever ships to the unlocked features — new puzzles, new models, all of it. One payment, no renewals.
Is Chess Journal open source?
No — Chess Journal is proprietary, closed-source software. See Terms & License for what the free tier and the $5 unlock each allow.
Have feedback or found a bug?
Bug reports and feature requests are always welcome — email sazardev@gmail.com and it'll directly shape what ships next.