On this page
The best free place to play American mahjong online is Mahjong 4 Friends: it runs in a browser and on phones, uses the 2026 League card, and fills any empty seat with a computer player. If your group wants a paid game with voice chat, pick Real Mah Jongg or I Love Mahj; if you want to practice alone, get American Mahjong Practice.
Every place on this page plays the American game, with the Charleston, jokers and a yearly card. Watch for that: most results for "free mahjong online" are mahjong solitaire (matching pairs of tiles off a pile) or the Chinese game, which has no jokers and no card. Prices are as of October 2026.
The apps and sites at a glance
| Where | Free? | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mahjong 4 Friends | Yes, with ads | Ad-free upgrade $5.99 | Free games, with friends or computer players |
| American Mahjong Practice | 2018 hands only | $17.99 for the 2026 hands, or $3.99 a month | Practicing alone, even offline |
| MyJongg | 4 games a day | $4.99 a month to $39.99 a year | A free daily game on a computer, no ads |
| Real Mah Jongg | 2-week trial | $6.99 a month | A weekly group, with voice chat |
| I Love Mahj | 2-week trial | $6 a month or $60 a year | Groups that also meet in person |
Where can you play American mahjong online for free?
Mahjong 4 Friends is the one I'd open first. It plays the 2026 League card (and the Marvelous card), with the Charleston, jokers and scoring, and it has no paywall and no limit on games. You can sit with computer players, invite friends to a table, or mix the two, and it runs in a browser as well as on iPhone, iPad and Android. The catch is ads: removing them is a $5.99 in-app purchase on the App Store. It also plays Chinese, Hong Kong and British mahjong, so check that your table is set to American before you deal.
MyJongg is free with an account, for four games a day (the counter resets at 3:00 a.m. Central time). Four games is one full trip around the table, enough for an evening's practice. It has no ads; past four games a day, Premium costs $4.99 a month, $12.99 for three months, $22.99 for six or $39.99 a year. You play in a web browser, on a computer or a tablet; it says a phone may work but the screen will feel small.
The best app to practice American mahjong alone
American Mahjong Practice, from Eight Bam, is built for one player. You play every hand to the end against computer players, as fast as you like, and it works offline, which makes it a good app for a waiting room or a plane. It suggests the lines on the card that match your tiles, sorted by how many you already hold, and it corrects illegal moves as you make them, so a beginner learns the rules by playing.
Is American Mahjong Practice free?
The download is free, and the 2018 hands are free to play. The current card is paid: on the App Store, the 2026 hands cost $17.99 once, or there's a $3.99 monthly subscription that brings in the new hands every year. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows PCs through Google Play Games.
Playing online with your mahjong group
When your four can't meet, you need a place where friends can sit at one private table and talk. Three are built for it, and MyJongg can do it too.
Real Mah Jongg plays the League card, plus The Big Card and the Mah Jongg Press card. You can invite friends, play strangers, fill seats with the computer, and talk by voice or text while you play. Hand suggestions show the lines closest to your tiles, and a scorecard tracks the hands you've completed. It runs in a browser and on iPhone, iPad and Android.
I Love Mahj is a browser site built around groups: you join as many groups as you like, play unlimited online games, play against bots when no one's around, and test your audio and video before the game. Its in-person game organizer automates the planning for large groups that meet at a real table, which is handy if your club does both.
MyJongg also has private tables: you choose how many computer players sit with you, and a game code lets your friends join.
How much does the Real Mah Jongg app cost?
Real Mah Jongg starts with a free two-week trial with unlimited games. After that, it's $6.99 a month on the App Store, renewing until you cancel.
What changes when you play online
The rules are the same as at the table: the same Charleston, the same calls, the same jokers. What changes is the work around them. The app shuffles, builds the wall and deals, and the apps that check your moves (American Mahjong Practice corrects them as you go) stop a joker from going where the League forbids one.
The app is asking for your three tiles for the first pass right. One tile on this rack can never be passed. Tap it.
A joker can stand in for a tile in a group of three or more. It can never fill a single tile or a pair, online or off.
What you lose is your table's say. The League lets each table choose a few things, like whether to stop the second Charleston, how the courtesy pass goes and how payments are settled; online, the app's settings decide, and your group's habits may not carry over. If your group plays a certain way, check the table settings before you deal, and keep the League's version in mind (the rules on one page).
The League's own online game
The National Mah Jongg League, which publishes the card each year, runs its own online game, NMJL Online. Its online game page explains how to join and what's required, so it's worth a look if you'd rather play on the League's own site.
Do you still need the card to play online?
Several of these apps put the current year's hands on screen and suggest the closest ones, so you can play without the card in your hand. Your own card is still worth having beside the screen: you see every line at a glance, and you'll need it at a real table. If you're new to it, here's how to read the mahjong card, line by line.
My advice for your first online game
Start with the computer, not with strangers. Sit at a table of computer players on Mahjong 4 Friends, which has the 2026 card for free, play five or six hands, and let the app's suggestions show you which lines your tiles fit. Once the Charleston feels automatic, invite your friends to a private table. And when you're ready to play with real tiles, start with how to play American mahjong, then pick from the American sets worth buying.
