Best free-to-play MOBAs in 2026, ranked from S to B
We ranked the 6 biggest free-to-play MOBAs you can play right now. From the deepest strategy games ever made to the mobile-friendly picks, here's where to spend your time.
Genre-defining. Play these if you want the deepest competitive experience.
Excellent MOBAs with their own niche. Worth your time.
Solid, but smaller player bases or balance issues hold them back.
How we ranked them
Three criteria, weighted equally:
- Strategic depth — How long is the skill ceiling? How much
can you learn?
- Hero/champion design — Are the characters distinct and
interesting? Are there enough of them?
- Player base & matchmaking — Are there enough players to
find matches at your rank?
A MOBA with great strategy but a dead ranked queue caps at B. A MOBA with great population but shallow mechanics caps at B. S-tier requires all three.
S-Tier: the genre-defining MOBAs
Dota 2
Valve's 13-year-old MOBA is still the deepest competitive game on the market. 124 heroes, all free, all distinct. The strategic depth (last-hits, denies, vision, smoke ganks, Roshan, item timings) is unmatched. The International prize pool has exceeded $40M. The learning curve is brutal — 200+ hours to feel competent — but the depth is real. The gold standard for the genre.
League of Legends
Riot's 15-year-old MOBA is the most-played game in the world by a wide margin. 170+ champions, 700+ items, ranked ladder that runs from Iron to Challenger across 8 tiers. Champion unlock is the biggest barrier for new players, but the free rotation is large enough to feel the game's depth. Esports (LCK, LEC, LCS, Worlds) is the most-watched in the genre. The most-popular MOBA ever made.
A-Tier: excellent with their own niche
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Moonton's mobile MOBA is the biggest MOBA you've never heard of — 100M+ monthly players, primarily in Southeast Asia. The 5v5 format is streamlined for mobile, with shorter matches (15-20 minutes) and faster pacing. The monetization is aggressive (skins, hero unlocks) but the core game is excellent. The best MOBA on mobile, period.
Pokémon Unite
TiMi Studio's Pokémon MOBA is a surprisingly deep 5v5 with a unique scoring mechanic (goals instead of kills). The Pokémon roster is the best part — every character is a recognizable Pokémon with a unique kit. The match length (10 minutes) is mobile-friendly, and the casual-friendly design makes it the most accessible MOBA on this list. The most-fun MOBA, even if it's not the deepest.
B-Tier: solid, but smaller player base
SMITE
Hi-Rez Studios' third-person MOBA is the only one on this list where you can play as gods from multiple mythologies (Zeus, Thor, Anubis, Ra). The third-person perspective changes the gameplay fundamentally — positioning and aim matter more than in top-down MOBAs. The player base is smaller than Dota or LoL, so ranked queue times can be long at off-peak hours. Unique and worth trying, but the population is a concern.
Heroes of the Storm
Blizzard's crossover MOBA (Diablo, Warcraft, StarCraft, Overwatch characters) was officially put in maintenance mode in 2018, but the community servers and Arcade mode keep it alive. The shared team XP and objective-focused maps are unique. The lack of new content and the small player base mean it's a museum piece more than a living game. For the dedicated fans only.
All rankings reflect the July 2026 state of each game. See our MOBA Reviews and Games Database for deeper coverage of any title in this list.
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