Lagerland Apps

Guide · Updated October 2026 · Free options first

The best shogi apps for iPhone
for people who don't read Japanese (yet).

Most "best shogi app" lists online are six one-sentence blurbs or were last updated when the iPhone 6 was new. This one is current. It covers what each app is best at, which ones work in English, what is free, and how much the kanji matter. One disclosure first: Shogiful is our app. We say so every time it appears, and we say when something else is the better pick.

The short version

Best free all-rounder: PiyoShogi
40 finely graded AI levels (you will always find a winnable game), kifu analysis, and a daily mate problem. Free, with an English iOS version. It is the community's usual pick for beginners, and it deserves to be. App Store →
Best for learning & improving: Shogiful (ours)
Built around the kanji barrier, with three piece styles: Traditional, International (kanji with movement arrows), and Chess (no kanji). YaneuraOu checks your games on your device, each mistake is explained in plain words, and daily training aims at your top weakness. Free with daily limits; Premium from $1.99/mo, $19.99 lifetime. Full details →
Best for online ranked play: Shogi Wars
The official Japan Shogi Association app, with live matchmaking, kyu/dan ranks the JSA recognizes, fast time controls, and a huge player base. A few games a day are free; unlimited play needs a subscription. Most competitive shogi is played here. App Store →
Best free web platform: Lishogi
The Lichess of shogi: open-source and entirely free, with online play, server analysis, puzzles, and tournaments. There is no native iOS app, so you use it in the browser, but no other free option comes close on features. lishogi.org →

All seven compared

Summarised from each app's public listing and our own testing on iPhone, June 2026.

App Best at Offline English-friendly Price
PiyoShogiFree graded AI play (40 levels) + kifu analysisYes (AI play)Yes, English iOS versionFree
Shogiful (ours)Coaching: plain-language analysis, weakness training, no-kanji piecesYes (purchases need a connection)Yes, built for itFree; Premium from $1.99/mo, $19.99 lifetime
Shogi WarsRanked online play, official JSA ranksNoYes, internationalized UIFree (3 games/day); subscription
LishogiFree web platform: play, analysis, puzzlesNo (browser)Yes, fully EnglishFree
Kakinoki ShogiClassic offline AI with Western piece optionYesPartialPaid app
Kanazawa ShogiDeep difficulty ladder vs a classic engineYesVaries by editionPaid app
ShogiQuestInstant casual online matchesNoYes, simple UIFree with ads

Deeper one-on-one comparisons: Shogiful vs PiyoShogi · vs Shogi Wars · vs Lishogi · vs 81Dojo · vs ShogiQuest · vs Kanazawa Shogi

Honorable mention: if what you actually want is to watch professional shogi rather than play it, Shogi Live, the Japan Shogi Association's official app, streams and replays pro games. That is a different job, and Shogi Live is the right tool for it.

The kanji question

If you tried shogi before and gave up, the board was probably the reason, more than the rules. Every shogi piece is the same pentagonal wedge, told apart only by its characters, so if you can't read them every piece looks the same. Apps handle this in different ways. PiyoShogi and Kakinoki offer simplified or internationalized piece options and expect you to learn by playing. Shogiful (ours) treats it as the central design problem. You pick one of three piece styles: Traditional kanji, International (the kanji plus arrows showing how each piece moves), or Chess (chess-style icons with no kanji), and you can switch in Settings. The design story is in our journal post on making shogi readable. Whichever app you choose, you don't need the kanji to start. You will pick them up faster once you know how the pieces move.

A sensible path from zero to rated games

1. Learn the pieces by playing
Start offline against an AI that loses convincingly, such as PiyoShogi's lowest levels or Shogiful's first opponent, Koishi. Play untimed games with no rank at stake. If the kanji stopped you before, start with a piece style that has no kanji.
2. Build the drop habit
Drops are where chess instincts fail: a piece in hand is an attacking threat that no chess game prepared you for. Tsume (checkmate) puzzles train exactly this. Shogiful's daily training brings back the ones you miss with spaced repetition, and PiyoShogi posts one daily.
3. Understand your losses
Most players skip this step. An evaluation graph won't tell you that you keep weakening your own castle on move 30, but plain-language analysis will. (Shogiful was built for this job, so read this as our opinion.)
4. Then go online
Shogi Wars has official ranks, Lishogi has free open play, and 81Dojo has the international teaching community. Timed games against people are the deep end, and much more fun once you've stopped hanging pieces to drop forks.

Our entry, for transparency

Shogiful Play shogi, see why you lost, and train on it. Shogi app for iPhone, iPad & Mac. Play without kanji, see each mistake explained by on-device YaneuraOu, and train with 501 tsume problems. Free · ProiPhone · iPad · Mac

Questions

FAQ

What is the best shogi app for iPhone?
It depends on the job. PiyoShogi is the best free all-rounder, with 40 graded AI levels, an analysis function, and a daily mate problem. Shogiful is the best app for learning and improving in English: two of its three piece styles let you play before you can read kanji, and the YaneuraOu engine checks your games on your device so each mistake is explained in plain words (disclosure: Shogiful is made by the publisher of this guide). Shogi Wars is the best for ranked online play and is the official Japan Shogi Association app. Most improving players end up with two apps: one to play humans, one to train.
What is the best shogi app for beginners who can't read kanji?
Shogiful (ours) was designed around that problem. It has three piece styles, all free: Traditional kanji, International (kanji with movement arrows on each piece), and Chess (chess-style icons with no kanji). PiyoShogi and Kakinoki Shogi also have internationalized piece options, but they expect you to learn the pieces by playing. If the kanji are what stopped you before, start with Shogiful; if you're happy to learn the pieces as you go, the free PiyoShogi is excellent.
What is the best free shogi app?
PiyoShogi. It's free, has 40 finely graded AI difficulty levels so you can always find a winnable game, includes an analysis function, and posts a daily mate problem. For free online play against humans, Lishogi (open-source, in the browser) and ShogiQuest (quick matches) are both free. Shogiful's free tier includes unlimited untimed games against all 40 engine opponents (each unlocks when you beat the one before it twice), 2 game analyses, 3 training puzzles, and 2 coach hints a day, and 381 tsume problems.
Which shogi app do Japanese players use?
Mostly Shogi Wars, the official Japan Shogi Association app, with live matchmaking and kyu/dan ranks that the JSA recognizes. Kanazawa Shogi and Kakinoki Shogi are the long-running classics for playing against the computer. If you want to play rated games against Japanese players eventually, Shogi Wars or 81Dojo is where that happens. Train first, though, because both put you straight into timed games against people.
Can I play shogi offline on iPhone?
Yes, that is what the play-the-computer apps are for. Shogiful runs the YaneuraOu engine on-device, so play, analysis, and training work offline with no account (only purchases and Game Center go online), PiyoShogi's AI play works offline, and Kanazawa Shogi and Kakinoki Shogi are classic offline AI opponents. Shogi Wars, Lishogi, 81Dojo, and ShogiQuest all need a connection because they're built around human opponents.
Should I learn shogi if I already play chess?
Shogi is the most rewarding next board game for a chess player because of what's different. Captured pieces return to the board as drops, so material never simplifies and endgames turn into attacking races. The rules take an evening. The drop habit takes longer, because no chess instinct covers it. Start with an app that explains drops as well as allowing them, then take your games online once you stop hanging pieces to drop forks.

Start here

Curious which mistakes you'd make?

Shogiful checks your games move by move with YaneuraOu, explains each mistake in plain words, and aims your daily training at your top weakness. It is free to try with daily limits, needs no account, and plays and analyzes on a plane.

See Shogiful Or compare it with PiyoShogi

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