The best way to play Commander online

Every option, compared

Rules enforcement key: Automated means the software resolves the stack and enforces legality. Manual means you get dedicated helper tools but make the calls. None means a generic sandbox with no Magic-specific tooling.

Figures verified June 2026. Free-tier caps and pricing can change; check each site for current details.

The deepest built-in Commander tooling of any table that is not a rules engine

Among browser tabletops, most are generic sandboxes: you fake mechanics by dragging cards and tracking counters by hand. Playgroup Live ships dedicated tooling for the mechanics other manual tables make you improvise, including newer set mechanics like disguise, foretell, and morph played face down. It is not a rules engine, you still make the calls, but the board does the bookkeeping.

If you want the rules enforced and resolved automatically, XMage and Magic Online go further than any manual table. They feel more like a video game and only run cards the software has coded, with no house rules. Playgroup Live keeps the table flexible and the calls in your hands.

The only place you play that also tells you which cards win

Most tables either do not track games at all, or stop at win-loss records. Playgroup Live's Card Insights reads your real recorded games and breaks performance down to the individual card. No separate tracker, no spreadsheet. You play, and the insights build themselves. Per-card analytics exist for MTG Arena, but among places you actually play Commander, this is close to unique.

The only table you can rewatch

Every other option on this list forgets your game the moment it ends. Webcam tools leave you a video at best. Browser tables and rules engines leave you a result. Playgroup Live rebuilds the whole game: open Watch Replay on a finished game and step through it move by move from turn zero, or let it run to the exact board you ended on. Replays are full reveal, so you see every hand, every draw, and the answer nobody found in time.

Practice alone, against something that fights back

Solo playtesting online usually means goldfishing: you draw, you play, nothing answers. EDHLAB does this, and so do we. Playgroup Live goes one step further with Sparring, where a phantom opponent counters your spells, removes your threats, and wraths your board at a cadence measured from thousands of real recorded games. Every reaction tells you why it fired, and you decide whether you had an answer. It is off by default, and you can dial it to Light, Realistic, or Cutthroat.

Where Playgroup Live does not win

No tool wins every category, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Here is where another option is the better pick.

• Rules enforced automatically XMage and Magic Online are full rules engines. Playgroup Live gives helper tools but you still make the calls.
• More than 6 players Convoke seats 8, and Tabletop Simulator and XMage go to 10. Playgroup Live caps at 6.
• Your own physical cards Webcam tools like SpellTable and Convoke use the real collection you already own. Playgroup Live uses digital card images.
• Voice and text chat are table stakes Several browser tables, including EDHLAB and untap.in, have built-in voice and chat too. We do as well. It is not a reason to switch on its own.
• Playing on a phone Playgroup Live plays on desktop, and on tablets in an open beta. Phones play too, on a dedicated landscape board with one player visible at a time and a seat switcher.
• Replays are not free for everyone Playing is free, but rewatching a game needs a Supporter Pack at that table. One player having one unlocks the replay for the whole pod, so nobody at a table with a supporter pays twice, but a table with no supporter at all cannot rewatch.

Prefer your real cards? Play over webcam.

Not everyone wants digital cards. If you would rather shuffle up your actual decks and play remotely, point a camera at your battlefield and play face to face, the way SpellTable popularized.

Here is where Playgroup goes further. Our partner Convoke turns webcam play into a Playgroup.gg-ready match log. Connect your Playgroup API key in Convoke, pick your event and decks before the game, and when you finish, the full event log, result, and ratings flow into your Playgroup history. Whether you play on our virtual tabletop or with your real cards on camera, the same stats and leaderboards track it all.

Already on SpellTable and weighing a move? See our SpellTable alternative comparison.

The other options, briefly

• TableCommander is the closest browser rival. Free with optional paid tier, multi-format, account-free guest play, and it stores match history. Voice and 6-player tables are paid. It does not have our hidden-information tooling or per-card analytics.
• EDHplay and EDHLAB are free browser tables good for pickup pods with strangers. EDHLAB also does solo playtesting, though it goldfishes: nothing on the other side of the table answers you. Both are lighter on dedicated mechanic tooling and do not track stats.
• untap.in is a mature, freeform table for any format, with custom-card support. Free up to 4 players; 6 needs the paid tier. No persistent stats.
• Tabletop Simulator is a paid Steam app where Commander runs on community mods. The most flexible spatially, up to 10 players, but it means a purchase, mod setup, and grey-area card art. See our full Tabletop Simulator comparison for the details.