Club Ladder vs Lichess Classes
Lichess Classes is free, has no ads, and is the best tool there is for teaching a group that plays only on Lichess. If all your students are on Lichess and you mostly want to manage their accounts, use it. Club Ladder is for groups where some students play on chess.com, and for coaches who want a page that parents and the club can see.
| Lichess Classes | Club Ladder | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free for 15 players; $19 once for unlimited |
| Sites | Lichess only | Lichess and chess.com, side by side |
| Rating change over a period | Yes, for a number of days you pick | 7 days, 30 days or a season, per time control on each site |
| Creating student accounts | Yes, with restricted chat. Good for young children | No. Students use their own accounts |
| Messaging students | Yes | No |
| Size limit | 100 students per class, counting inactive ones | 15 free; 500 per ladder with the Club pass |
| Report for parents | No | A monthly page per student, in plain words |
| Public club page and embed | No; classes are private | Yes, if you choose public |
| Weekly awards and Discord post | No | Yes |
| Benchmarks | No | How a student's month compares with players at the same rating |
Using both
Many coaches will want both: Lichess Classes for accounts and messages, Club Ladder for the cross-site view and parents. Nothing conflicts. Students in a class can join a ladder with the same Lichess account.
Moving over
On your ladder's admin page, paste the class list, one student per line: name, Lichess username, chess.com username. Each student gets a personal link with their usernames filled in.
See your club on both sites.
Free for up to 15 players.
Lichess details checked October 2026 from lichess.org/class and the Lichess forum. Club Ladder isn't affiliated with any of these products. Other comparisons: ChessKid report cards ยท ChessCore