Playing Online: The Three Options, and What They Cost
Three services, three prices, and one question that decides between them — whether you still have to hold your own card.
You can play the American game online, against people or against bots, on three established services. They cost $4.99 to $6 a month, or $49.99 to $60 a year. The question that actually separates them is whether you still need your own card in your hand.
Every price below was read from each operator's own pages on 21 August 2026. One of the three publishes no price at all. That is covered too.
The League's own game
The National Mah Jongg League runs its own online game. It is on the web at play.nmjlonline.com, and there is an iPhone and iPad app. You buy it through the League's store, alongside the card: $4.99 for a month, $12.99 for three, $49.99 for a year.
The League publishes a digital subscriptions policy and it is short. No refunds or credits for subscription fees, partial months, or unused access. It covers every tier and every one-time digital purchase.
That is their right, and it is clearly stated. It is worth knowing before you buy a year rather than after. Start with a month if you are not sure.
I Love Mahj
Two weeks free, then $6 a month or $60 a year. It runs in a browser and it is the most feature-heavy of the three.
Video calling is built in, so a group needs no separate Zoom running. There is a practice mode and an Exercise Room. Dead hands can be called and the computer verifies them — which settles the argument our dead hands guide describes.
It keeps statistics too. Wins, losses and wall games. Average game length, and average think time in the Charleston and in play. Points gained and lost, a rating history, and which hands you completed on each year's card.
It also has an organiser for in-person games. Player lists, recurring sessions, invitations, RSVPs, wait lists, table assignments, and tracking who is bringing how many sets.
If you are the person who runs a club by group text, that is aimed squarely at you. It has nothing to do with playing online.
Real Mah Jongg
RMJ below, because the full name is a mouthful. It plays with the current card on desktop, iPad, iPhone and Android. You play against computers, against friends, or against other members, and there is a free trial.
Its own instruction is "bring your own card". That is the sharpest difference here — the service expects your physical card to be in your hand while you play.
We could not find a subscription price anywhere on its public pages. You reach one by registering for the trial.
We would rather say that than quote a number off a review site or a forum post. If you want the figure before handing over an email address, you will have to ask them.
Side by side
| Service | Price | Runs on | Refunds |
|---|---|---|---|
| NMJL Online | $4.99/mo · $12.99/3mo · $49.99/yr | Web, iPhone, iPad | None, stated in policy |
| I Love Mahj | $6/mo or $60/yr, after 2 weeks free | Browser | No published policy found |
| RMJ | Not published — register to see it | Desktop, iPad, iPhone, Android | No published policy found |
Which one should you pick?
We are not going to tell you. It depends on who you want to play with and what device you are on. It depends on whether you want a screen showing the card, or a screen assuming you hold it. Those are preferences rather than facts, and this site attributes opinions instead of issuing them.
What we will say is that all three let you start small. Two have free trials, and the third sells a single month for $4.99. Buying a year up front is the one clearly avoidable mistake — on a service you have never used, for a game you are still learning.
At least one of these expects you to hold your own card. You will want one anyway the moment you sit at a real table. What the card costs and how to order one is a separate question with a clearer answer.
Learn it first, on paper
Forty drills with exact answers, every one citing the rule it comes from. No card needed, no account, no subscription.
Try the drillsWhere this comes from
Every price and platform detail was read from each operator's own website on 21 August 2026. The League's store and its digital subscriptions policy, the I Love Mahj home page, and the RMJ site. Subscription prices change, and each operator is the only authority on its own.
That the third service publishes no price publicly is a finding rather than a gap in our checking. We read its rendered pages, not just the source, because that site builds itself in the browser.
We have no commercial relationship with any of the three and none of these links pays us anything. JokerTile is not affiliated with the League.