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Honest guide · Updated June 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 either six one-sentence blurbs or were last updated when the iPhone 6 was new. This is the current, honest version: what each app is actually best at, which ones work in English, what's genuinely free, and how the kanji barrier factors in. One disclosure up front: Shogiful is our app — we'll say so every time it appears, and we'll tell you 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. The community recommendation for beginners, and deservedly so. App Store →
🎓 Best for learning & improving — Shogiful (ours)
The only app built around the kanji barrier: Western pieces with movement indicators, every game analyzed by YaneuraOu and explained in plain English, training generated from your own mistakes. Free tier; Premium from $1.99/mo, $19.99 lifetime. Full details →
⚔️ Best for online ranked play — Shogi Wars
The official Japan Shogi Association app. Live matchmaking, kyu/dan ranks the JSA recognizes, fast time controls, huge player base. Free for limited daily games; subscription for unlimited. This is where shogi's competitive life happens. App Store →
🌐 Best free web platform — Lishogi
The Lichess of shogi: open-source, entirely free, online play, server analysis, puzzles, tournaments. No native iOS app — you use it in the browser — but nothing else free comes close on features. lishogi.org →

All seven, honestly 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: analysis in plain English, weakness training, no-kanji piecesYes — fullyYes — 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. Different job entirely, and the right tool for it.

The kanji question, answered honestly

If you've tried shogi before and bounced, it almost certainly wasn't the rules — it was the board. Every shogi piece is the same pentagonal wedge, distinguished only by characters. If you can't read them, every piece is the same piece. Apps handle this differently: PiyoShogi and Kakinoki offer simplified or internationalized piece options and assume you'll learn by playing. Shogiful (ours) treats it as the central design problem — symbolic Western pieces with movement indicators built into each icon, defaulting on outside Japan, with the traditional kanji taught progressively while you train. The design story is in our journal post on making shogi readable. Whichever app you choose: the kanji are the destination, not the entry fee, and you'll absorb them faster after you know how the pieces behave.

A sensible path from zero to rated games

1. Learn the pieces by playing
Start offline against an AI that loses convincingly — PiyoShogi's lowest levels or Shogiful's Hana (~500 strength). Untimed, no rank, no stakes. If the kanji stopped you before, use Western pieces first.
2. Build the drop habit
Drops are where chess instincts fail — pieces in hand are attack potential no chess game prepared you for. Tsume (checkmate) puzzles train exactly this; Shogiful schedules them with spaced repetition, PiyoShogi posts one daily.
3. Understand your losses
This is the step most players skip. An evaluation graph won't tell you that you keep weakening your own castle on move 30 — plain-language analysis will. (This is the job Shogiful was built for; we own this opinion.)
4. Then go online
Shogi Wars for official ranks, Lishogi for free open play, 81Dojo for the international teaching community. Timed human games are the deep end — far more fun once you've stopped hanging pieces to drop forks.

Our entry, for transparency

Shogiful icon
Shogiful
Master shogi. Move by move.
Shogi (Japanese chess) training app for iPhone, iPad & Mac. YaneuraOu analysis in plain English, Western pieces — no kanji needed. Tsume puzzles, offline.
games iOS · iPadOS · macOS

Questions

FAQ

What is the best shogi app for iPhone?
It depends on the job. PiyoShogi is the best free all-rounder; Shogiful (ours) is the best for learning and improving in English; Shogi Wars is the best for ranked online play. 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 is the only one designed around that exact problem — Western pieces with movement indicators, kanji taught progressively. PiyoShogi and Kakinoki offer internationalized piece options but assume you'll learn the pieces as you play.
What is the best free shogi app?
PiyoShogi — 40 graded levels, analysis, daily mate problem, free. For free online human play: Lishogi (browser) or ShogiQuest. Shogiful's free tier covers all 10 AI opponents, 2 analyses/day, and 3 puzzles/day.
Which shogi app do Japanese players use?
Shogi Wars, overwhelmingly — official JSA app with recognized kyu/dan ranks. Kanazawa and Kakinoki are the classic play-the-computer apps. For rated games against Japanese players, Shogi Wars or 81Dojo is where that happens.
Can I play shogi offline on iPhone?
Yes — Shogiful (fully, including analysis and training), PiyoShogi's AI play, Kanazawa, and Kakinoki all work offline. The online platforms (Shogi Wars, Lishogi, 81Dojo, ShogiQuest) need a connection.
Should I learn shogi if I already play chess?
Yes — it's the most rewarding next board game for a chess player, precisely because drops break your instincts: material never simplifies, and endgames are attacking races. The rules take an evening; the drop habit takes practice no chess game gave you.

Start here

Curious which mistakes you'd make?

Shogiful analyzes every game you play and explains your mistakes in plain English — drops, promotions, castles, tsume. Free to try, no account, works on a plane.

See Shogiful Or compare it with PiyoShogi