Offline · No account · Training-first
A Xiangqi.com alternative
for the games you study, not the games you play online.
Xiangqi.com is where English-speaking xiangqi players meet — real-time games against people, friend challenges, tournaments, bots, puzzles and lessons, on iPhone, Android and the web, free to play. Xiangqiful is the practice room next to it: ten AI opponents with personalities, Pikafish going through every game on your device, each mistake named the way a xiangqi teacher would name it, and training built from what you missed. No account, no ads, nothing collected. The two do different jobs.
How does Xiangqiful compare to Xiangqi.com?
An online platform and a training app. Here's where each one fits.
Core purpose
Xiangqiful: Single-player training — play ten AI opponents, get every game reviewed, then train what the review found.
Xiangqi.com: Online play — real-time games against people, friend challenges, chat, tournaments and leaderboards, with bots, puzzles and lessons alongside.
Xiangqi.com: Online play — real-time games against people, friend challenges, chat, tournaments and leaderboards, with bots, puzzles and lessons alongside.
Engine analysis
Xiangqiful: Pikafish runs on your device with its 53 MB NNUE network. Every move is graded on seven steps from best to blunder, with accuracy for both sides, and mistakes are named in xiangqi terms — a screenless cannon, a trapped horse, broken advisors, a missed Iron Bolt mate.
Xiangqi.com: In-app engine analysis for reviewing your games. Xiangqi.com credits Pikafish too, so the engine isn't the difference — what Xiangqiful adds is the naming and the training built from it.
Xiangqi.com: In-app engine analysis for reviewing your games. Xiangqi.com credits Pikafish too, so the engine isn't the difference — what Xiangqiful adds is the naming and the training built from it.
Reading the pieces
Xiangqiful: Three piece sets — traditional characters, western symbols, and a hybrid that carries both. Traditional or simplified characters; WXF or Chinese notation; an optional 3D board.
Xiangqi.com: Traditional pieces and an International style with western symbols — a genuinely good on-ramp for players who don't read Chinese.
Xiangqi.com: Traditional pieces and an International style with western symbols — a genuinely good on-ramp for players who don't read Chinese.
Puzzles & lessons
Xiangqiful: 902 mate problems, mate-in-1 to mate-in-7, most from eight classical manuals such as the Shiqing Yaqu (1570), each line re-checked by the app's own solver. 150+ drills in nine modules and 80 lessons in 8 tracks.
Xiangqi.com: Thousands of puzzles from beginner to expert, plus interactive lessons for beginners and improving players.
Xiangqi.com: Thousands of puzzles from beginner to expert, plus interactive lessons for beginners and improving players.
Offline & privacy
Xiangqiful: Fully offline — no account, no server, no ads, no tracking. App Store privacy label: Data Not Collected.
Xiangqi.com: An online service with accounts; a recent update added an offline mode for computer and local two-player games. Its privacy label lists data linked to you, including email, gameplay content and usage data.
Xiangqi.com: An online service with accounts; a recent update added an offline mode for computer and local two-player games. Its privacy label lists data linked to you, including email, gameplay content and usage data.
Price & platforms
Xiangqiful: Free; Premium $1.99/month or $9.99/year (one-week free trial), or $19.99 once. iPhone, iPad and Mac with one purchase.
Xiangqi.com: Free to play, with an optional ad-free subscription. iPhone and iPad, plus Android and the web.
Xiangqi.com: Free to play, with an optional ad-free subscription. iPhone and iPad, plus Android and the web.
| Feature | Xiangqiful | Xiangqi.com |
|---|---|---|
| Core mechanic | Play → review → train, against ten AI opponents | Live online games against people, plus bots |
| Online play against people | No (intentional) | Yes — real-time games, friend challenges, tournaments |
| Works offline | Yes — everything runs on device | Offline mode for computer and local games; online features need a connection |
| Account | None | Account-based online service |
| Engine analysis | Pikafish on device — seven-step grades, accuracy for both sides | In-app engine analysis (Pikafish credited) |
| Mistakes named in xiangqi terms | Yes — screenless cannon, trapped horse, broken advisors, missed mates | Not a listed feature |
| Puzzles | 902 mate problems, mate-in-1 to mate-in-7, solver-checked | Thousands of puzzles |
| Lessons | 80 lessons in 8 tracks | Interactive lessons |
| Western-style pieces | Western and hybrid sets | International piece style |
| Ads | None, in either tier | Ad-free experience is a paid subscription option |
| App Store privacy label | Data Not Collected | Data linked to you — email, gameplay content, usage data and more |
| Price | Free; Premium $1.99/mo or $9.99/yr (one-week free trial), or $19.99 lifetime | Free; optional ad-free subscription |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad and Mac | iPhone and iPad, plus Android and the web |
| Best for | Structured, offline improvement at your own pace | Playing people and joining the English-language xiangqi community |
Xiangqi.com details were checked on 1 October 2026 against its US App Store listing, its app page and its public release notes, and can change — verify features, the subscription price and the privacy label on the current listing before installing.
Honest verdict — the arena and the practice room
Pick Xiangqiful if you want…
- Every game reviewed by Pikafish on your own device, with each mistake named in xiangqi terms
- Training, drills and mate problems chosen from your own weaknesses
- Untimed games against ten opponents with personalities, from strength 400 to 1900
- No account, no ads and nothing collected — it plays the same in airplane mode
- One purchase across iPhone, iPad and Mac, capped at $19.99 lifetime
Pick Xiangqi.com if you want…
- Real-time games against people, any time of day
- Tournaments, leaderboards, chat and an English-speaking community
- A free app that also runs on Android and in a browser
- Bots, puzzles and lessons in the same place you play online
If you want opponents with a pulse, Xiangqi.com is the place; if you want to understand why your games went wrong and fix it offline, add Xiangqiful.
About Xiangqiful
Questions
FAQ
What is the best Xiangqi.com alternative for training?
Xiangqiful, if what you want is to improve rather than play online. Xiangqi.com is built around games against people, with bots, puzzles and lessons alongside. Xiangqiful is built around the improvement loop: you play ten AI opponents, Pikafish grades every move on your device and names each mistake in xiangqi terms, and your next drills and mate problems come from what you missed. It runs fully offline with no account on iPhone, iPad and Mac. For online play, keep Xiangqi.com.
Does Xiangqiful have online play like Xiangqi.com?
No, deliberately. Xiangqiful is a single-player training app with no accounts, no servers and no matchmaking. Its ten AI opponents run from strength 400 to 1900 on Xiangqiful's own scale (not Elo), games are untimed, and you unlock the next opponent by beating the current one twice. For games against people, Xiangqi.com is the better tool.
Xiangqi.com is free. Why would I pay for Xiangqiful?
You don't have to. Xiangqiful's free tier never expires: unlimited games against all ten opponents, all 80 lessons, the first drill set in every drill module, 2 full game analyses a day, 3 training puzzles a day and 2 coach hints a day, with no ads. Premium ($1.99/month or $9.99/year with a one-week free trial, or $19.99 once) removes the daily limits and unlocks every drill, deep multi-line analysis and the skill radar and trends. Xiangqi.com is free to play too, so on price alone it wins; Xiangqiful's case is offline, private coaching.
Do Xiangqi.com and Xiangqiful use the same engine?
Xiangqi.com's release notes credit Pikafish, and Xiangqiful runs Pikafish, the open-source engine derived from Stockfish that tops the computer-xiangqi rating lists. The difference is what happens around it: Xiangqiful runs the engine on your own device with no account, grades every move on seven steps from best to blunder, names each mistake in xiangqi terms and turns those mistakes into your next training session.
Can I play either app without reading Chinese characters?
Yes. Xiangqi.com offers an International piece style with western symbols. Xiangqiful has three piece sets — traditional characters, western symbols, and a hybrid that shows both so you learn the characters as you play — plus traditional or simplified characters and WXF or Chinese notation.
Can I use both Xiangqi.com and Xiangqiful?
Yes, and that is the pattern we'd suggest: play people on Xiangqi.com, then train offline in Xiangqiful. If you have a game's moves as WXF or ICCS movetext, you can import it into Xiangqiful and analyze it; XQF files are not supported in this version, and Xiangqiful does not sync with any online account.
Try it
Open Xiangqiful
Play, find out why, train — on your own device. No account, no ads.