The best backgammon apps in 2026, compared

By Valentin Updated 10 October 2026 apps comparison fairness

Written by Valentin, founder of Orion. Facts checked on 10 October 2026 from each app's store listing and website.

The best backgammon app depends on what you want from it: serious analysis and training, a big online community, a long nardy or tavla app in your own language, or dice you can verify yourself. We make Orion, so we compare every app here, ours included, on criteria you can check on the store pages, and we say plainly where other apps are the better choice.

If you are new to the game, read the rules first: every app below plays the same board, and knowing it makes the differences between them obvious.

For the questions to ask of any app, including ones not listed here, our checklist goes into more detail, and the Learn page has every guide we have written.

How did we compare the apps?

Each app is judged on the same nine points, taken from its own App Store page, Google Play page or website on 10 October 2026. When a listing does not say something, we write "not stated" rather than guess.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android, browser, desktop.
Price model: free, paid once, subscription, in-app purchases.
Ads: what the listing says, including Google Play's "Contains ads" label.
Real money: whether money can be won.
Dice fairness: how the app presents it, from provably fair dice you can check, to a certified RNG, to nothing at all.
Analysis or training tools: hints, tutor, error rates, rollouts.
Variants: rule sets other than standard backgammon.
Languages: as listed.
Last update: the latest version date on the store or the latest release.

Star ratings are left out on purpose. They change every day and they mostly measure how many people downloaded an app, not whether it suits you.

Backgammon Galaxy

An online backgammon community with training built in, run by Tadorne Ventures Limited. It is the most complete package here for a player who wants to play people online and study their own games in the same place.

Platforms: iPhone and iPad, Android, and the web at backgammongalaxy.com.
Price: free, with in-app coin packs and paid Star and Star Pro memberships.
Ads: none shown on Google Play; the App Store page does not mention ads.
Real money: not stated; the stores describe coin games with virtual coins.
Dice fairness: a general fair-play statement and dice statistics, with no certification or verifiable dice stated.
Analysis: match analysis, error-rate and luck statistics, a blunder log, quizzes and hints; rollouts are a membership benefit.
Variants: Rushgammon, an arcade-style mode; no other variants stated.
Languages: the App Store lists English; the website offers English, Spanish, German, French, Japanese and Turkish.
Last update: September 2026.

XG Mobile (eXtreme Gammon)

The mobile version of eXtreme Gammon, the analysis program many strong players use on Windows. The iOS app is published by Open Roll, LLC. Its strength is the engine, which many strong players still use as their reference.

Platforms: iPhone and iPad. The website links a Google Play listing that returned "not found" on 10 October 2026. The full eXtreme Gammon is a Windows program.
Price: free, with a Premium upgrade at $9.99 on iOS. eXtreme Gammon for Windows costs from $59.95, with a 14-day trial.
Ads: the App Store page does not mention ads; the XG Mobile site lists "No Ads" as a Premium feature.
Real money: not stated.
Dice fairness: the help pages say the dice come from a Mersenne Twister generator seeded randomly at start; no certification stated.
Analysis: tutor mode, hints with equity, pip count, position setup, dice statistics, and export for analysis on a computer.
Variants: backgammon and nackgammon.
Languages: English.
Last update: iOS version 1.31, 1 September 2017.

GNU Backgammon

Free software from the GNU project, and the standard free tool for analysing your own games. It is a desktop program, not an app, and it is where you go to learn rather than to find an opponent.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux and BSD. No mobile app, no browser version.
Price: free download, source code included.
Ads: none.
Real money: not stated.
Dice fairness: not stated on the project page.
Analysis: automatic and manual analysis, extendable rollouts, cubeful play, bearoff databases, and import and export of match files.
Variants: not stated on the project page.
Languages: 15 translations complete or in progress, including Turkish, Greek and Russian.
Last update: version 1.08.003, April 2024.

bgammon.org

A free, open source backgammon server created by Trevor Slocum, playable in a browser with nothing to install. It is the only app here that offers acey-deucey.

Platforms: web browser, a desktop client for Windows and Linux (also on Steam), an Android download from the site, and a terminal client.
Price: free and open source (AGPL).
Ads: none; the site says it is free without any ads.
Real money: none stated.
Dice fairness: the FAQ says every roll comes from a single cryptographically secure random number generator, and it publishes roll statistics; no third-party certification.
Analysis: Glicko-2 ratings per match type and downloadable replays; no move analysis stated.
Variants: backgammon, acey-deucey and tabula.
Languages: English and 13 others, including Turkish, French and German.
Last update: 14 September 2026, the latest change to its source repository.

Backgammon NJ

A long-standing paid app by Jimmy Hu, built around playing and training offline. It packs real analysis tools into a phone, for a one-time price.

Platforms: iPhone (Backgammon NJ), iPhone and iPad (Backgammon NJ HD), and Android.
Price: paid upfront, $4.99 for NJ and $7.99 for NJ HD on iOS, $7.99 on Android, with optional in-app add-ons such as an analysis package.
Ads: none shown on Google Play; the App Store page does not mention ads.
Real money: not stated.
Dice fairness: dice from a Mersenne Twister generator, with a note on the developer's site explaining why the game is honest; no certification stated.
Analysis: tutor mode, hints, win chances and equity, top moves, cube decisions, error-rate statistics, and match analysis as an add-on.
Variants: standard backgammon and nackgammon.
Languages: English.
Last update: October 2024 on iOS, September 2024 on Android.

Backgammon: Lord of the Board

A large social backgammon game by Beach Bum Ltd, with more than 10 million downloads on Google Play. It is built for quick, casual games with a big player base.

Platforms: iPhone and iPad, Android.
Price: free, with in-app purchases from $0.99 to $99.99.
Ads: the App Store age rating lists advertising; no "Contains ads" label on Google Play.
Real money: no. Both stores say winning valuable items or money is not possible.
Dice fairness: the App Store says the dice use a sophisticated RNG; Google Play says the game is RNG certified, without naming who certified it.
Analysis: none stated, beyond player statistics and leaderboards.
Variants: none; the listing says nardi, tavla and shesh besh share the same rules in the app.
Languages: 9, including Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish.
Last update: October 2026 on iOS, 28 September 2026 on Android.

Backgammon Plus (Tavla Plus in Türkiye)

Zynga's backgammon app, listed on Google Play in Türkiye as Tavla Plus and the first result for "tavla" there on 10 October 2026.

Platforms: iPhone and iPad, Mac, Android; Google Play also says it can be played in a browser.
Price: free, with in-app gems and chips from $1.29 to $19.99.
Ads: yes, "Contains ads" on Google Play and "Contains Advertising" on the App Store.
Real money: not stated.
Dice fairness: both stores say the RNG is certified by the World Backgammon Federation.
Analysis: a manual move suggestion feature in the iOS release notes; nothing else stated.
Variants: the listings name narde, nardi, takhte, tavli and tavla, without saying whether these are separate rule sets.
Languages: 11 on iOS, including Turkish, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew and Russian.
Last update: October 2026 on iOS, 2 October 2026 on Android.

Backgammon: Narde (long nardy)

For long nardy, the game Russian speakers usually mean by nardy, the most installed app in Google Play searches for it on 10 October 2026 was Backgammon: Narde by AAStudio, with more than 10 million downloads. On the App Store it is called Long Narde.

Platforms: Android, iPhone and iPad.
Price: free, with in-app purchases on Google Play and a premium mode on iOS.
Ads: yes, "Contains ads" on Google Play; the App Store age rating lists advertising.
Real money: not stated.
Dice fairness: not stated.
Analysis: hints, and ELO-rated online games.
Variants: long nardy, in quick and classic modes, following the Russian Sports Backgammon Federation rules according to its listing.
Languages: 12 on iOS, including Russian, Ukrainian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Turkish and Arabic.
Last update: 7 October 2026 on Android, October 2026 on iOS.

Orion Backgammon

Our app, by Arthea, LLC. It is built around online play against real players, a ranked season, a tournament every weekend, and provably fair dice that anyone can verify after the game.

Platforms: iPhone and iPad, Android. No browser or desktop version.
Price: free, with optional in-app purchases (gem packs and a premium season pass track).
Ads: none, and no advertising SDK in the app today.
Real money: no. Coins and gems are virtual, with no cash prizes and no withdrawal.
Dice fairness: provably fair. The server publishes a SHA-256 commitment to a secret seed before the first roll, derives every roll from it with HMAC-SHA256, and reveals the seed at the end; anyone can recompute every roll in a browser at orion.arthea.ai/verify.
Analysis: none. There is no analysis engine, no move suggestions, no rollouts and no error-rate report; an interactive tutorial covers the basics.
Variants: none. Orion plays international backgammon with the doubling cube and match play.
Languages: 44, including Turkish, Greek, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew and Persian.
Last update: App Store version 1.0.1, 3 October 2026.

Which backgammon app should you pick?

To study and improve seriously: GNU Backgammon on a computer, free, or eXtreme Gammon on Windows if you will pay for it. On a phone, Backgammon NJ has the most analysis for a one-time price.
To play people online and review your games in one place: Backgammon Galaxy, on the web and on both phones.
Free, open source, no ads, in a browser: bgammon.org, which also plays acey-deucey.
Quick social games with a very large player base: Lord of the Board.
Long nardy: Backgammon: Narde by AAStudio, which follows the Russian federation rules.
A Turkish-language tavla app with a certified RNG claim: Backgammon Plus, sold as Tavla Plus in Türkiye.
Dice you can verify yourself, no ads, ranked seasons and a weekend tournament: Orion.

When is Orion not the right choice?

If you want to analyse your own games, Orion has nothing to offer you yet: no engine, no move suggestions, no rollouts. GNU Backgammon, eXtreme Gammon, Backgammon NJ and Backgammon Galaxy all do this, and the first is free.

If you want long nardy, plakoto, fevga or acey-deucey, Orion does not play them. And if you want to play on a computer or in a browser, Orion is mobile only. We would rather you knew that before you install it.

Frequently asked questions about backgammon apps

What is the best free backgammon app?

It depends on the use. For analysis, GNU Backgammon is free and strong, on a computer. For online play in a browser with no ads, bgammon.org is free and open source. For online play on a phone with dice you can verify, Orion is free with optional purchases. Backgammon Galaxy and Lord of the Board are also free to start, with in-app purchases.

Which backgammon apps have no ads?

From the listings on 10 October 2026: bgammon.org says it has no ads, GNU Backgammon is free software with none, and Orion has no ads and no advertising SDK. Backgammon Galaxy and Backgammon NJ carry no "Contains ads" label on Google Play. Backgammon Plus and Backgammon: Narde say they contain ads.

Which backgammon apps let you check that the dice are fair?

Most apps describe their dice: a random number generator, sometimes a certified RNG, sometimes published roll statistics. Those are claims about the generator. Orion is the only app in this comparison whose listing describes provably fair dice, where a commitment is published before the game and the seed revealed after, so you can recompute every roll yourself with the public verifier.

Can I play tavla or long nardy rules in these apps?

Long nardy, yes: Backgammon: Narde is built for it. Tavla as most people play it is backgammon with local scoring customs, so any of these apps will feel familiar; Backgammon Plus is the one sold under the Tavla name in Türkiye. Orion plays the international rules only, and is listed as Orion Tavla in Türkiye.

If Orion fits what you want, it is free on iPhone, iPad and Android, and every roll of every game can be checked at orion.arthea.ai/verify.