How to play Catan online for free in 2026

You can play Catan online for free on Colonist (the base game in a browser, with ads), in CATAN Universe (a free download whose free match uses the standard map) and on Board Game Arena (free to join a table, though whoever creates it needs Premium). Hearthsea, a Catan-style game, runs free in the browser with an account.

By the Hearthsea team
11 October 2026
8 min read

Hearthsea’s Set the table screen: the Standard map preview, game options for victory points, map size, fog, random map and dice, and a players list with Maren plus three bots: Tobias as Merchant, Isla as Veteran and Rowan as Settler. — Setting up a free game against three bots in Hearthsea. The whole thing runs in a browser tab.

Can you play Catan online for free?

Yes, but every site means something different by “free”. Each one gives away the base game in some form and charges for the rest: expansions, bigger tables, extra maps, or the right to create a table your friends can join.

There are three ways to play the real CATAN online. CATAN Universe is the publisher’s own app. Board Game Arena hosts a licensed CATAN table, announced by CATAN GmbH in June 2022. Colonist is the biggest browser site for the game, and it describes itself as a free online Settlers of Catan alternative rather than the official edition.

Hearthsea, the game this blog belongs to, is a fourth option: an independent hex-island trading game in the same style, not affiliated with CATAN GmbH. It is in this guide because people searching for free Catan online often want the game loop more than the brand, and because we can tell you exactly what our free account includes.

Everything below was checked on each site on 11 October 2026. Prices change, so open the source before you pay.

What each site gives you free, compared

The question that matters is what you can do before anyone pays. This table answers it for each site.

Free Catan online in October 2026
Site	Free without paying	What costs money	Where it runs
Colonist	Base game, 1v1, 4-player and Colonist Rush, bots at Easy, Medium and Hard; shows ads	Membership from $6.99 a month billed yearly: expansions, 5 to 8 players, all maps, no ads	Browser, Android, iOS
CATAN Universe (official)	A base-game match against two other people on the standard map; the Duel introduction	The full base game, expansions and spin-offs, bought with CATAN Gold	iOS, Android, browser, Steam
Board Game Arena (licensed)	Joining a CATAN table someone else created	Premium, which you need to create a CATAN table	Browser
Hearthsea (Catan-style, ours)	3 games a day against bots or pass-and-play on 4 maps; joining a friend’s room	Passes from $3.99 a month: every map of a mode, hosting rooms, quick match, no daily limit	Browser on phone, tablet and desktop; installable

On Colonist and Board Game Arena, one paying player can cover a whole table of friends. CATAN Universe charges each player for the content they unlock, but it is the only one that also plays offline against the computer.

Is Colonist free?

Colonist’s base game is free in the browser, ads included. Without paying you can play Beginner Mode, the 4-player game and Colonist Rush against bots at Easy, Medium or Hard, and you can play ranked 1v1, 4-player, Rush and Cities & Knights once you log in. It is busy: when we checked, the home page showed 6,393 players online and 212,973 games played that day.

The membership is where the rest lives. Colonist’s store lists three tiers at $6.99, $14.99 and $19.99 a month when billed yearly ($83.88, $179.88 and $239.88 a year), or $8.99, $18.99 and $24.99 month to month. Every tier removes the ads and lets you host all the expansions and maps: Seafarers, Cities & Knights, both combined, 5 to 6 and 7 to 8 player games, and extra maps such as Gold Rush, Volcano and Black Forest. The higher tiers add full game replays.

The detail that saves a group money: “To play with your friends only 1 player needs a Membership,” according to the store page. Bots are not yet supported in the Cities & Knights expansions.

To start: open colonist.io and pick a mode on the home page. A bot game starts without an account; ranked play asks you to log in.

Is CATAN Universe free?

CATAN Universe is free to download, and its FAQ says the base game, the expansions, Rise of the Inkas and Rivals for CATAN are unlocked by buying CATAN Gold. The free part, per its Steam page, is base-game matches against two other human players, plus the Duel introduction. The official account on X adds that the free match always uses the standard map.

Single player against the AI unlocks once you finish the “Arrival on Catan” introduction. On iOS, Gold comes in packs from 200 Gold for $2.99 to 3,000 Gold for $26.99. How much Gold the base game and each expansion cost is shown in the app; we could not confirm current figures from an official page, so we are not quoting any.

What you get for paying is the official rules and expansions, Seafarers and Cities & Knights among them, for up to six players, with one account across iOS, Android, Steam and the browser. It also plays offline. Reviews are split: on Steam it sits at Mixed, 46% positive of 11,688 English reviews.

To start: install it from your app store or Steam (or open the browser version in Chrome or Firefox), make an account, and join a free match.

Is Catan on Board Game Arena free?

Only for the players who join. CATAN is a Premium game on Board Game Arena, and BGA’s rules for Premium games are that at least one player at the table needs Premium, and only Premium members can create tables. Free accounts can join any table they are invited to, so a group needs one paying host. Playing in the same room on one table is also Premium only.

BGA last stated its price in its own forum: from June 2023, 5 euros or dollars a month, or 36 a year. Check the current figure while logged in, because the Premium page does not show it to visitors.

The CATAN table seats 3 or 4 players, and catan.com says BGA also carries Cities & Knights and the New Energies stand-alone game. The other draw is everything around it: BGA lists 1,403 games and more than ten million players, so one Premium membership covers a lot of game nights beyond CATAN.

To start: make a free BGA account, then ask your Premium friend to create a CATAN table and invite you.

Hearthsea: a free Catan-style game in your browser

Hearthsea is our game, so read this section with that in mind. Two to six players settle a hex island, collect resources on the dice, trade and build roads, settlements and cities. It has 46 maps across three modes: 19 Classic islands, 21 Seafarers maps with ships, fog, gold fields and a pirate, and 6 Highlands maps with cliffs, mountain passes, copper mines and a yeti.

What the free account includes: 3 games a day against bots or pass-and-play on one device, on the Standard and Balanced maps, the Seafarers island New Shores and the Highlands map The Peaks. You can also join a friend’s online room. A pass opens every map of its mode, hosting online rooms, ranked quick match and no daily limit, from $3.99 a month; see pricing for the rest.

The Hearthsea trading table: Maren gives one wood and asks for one ore, with counters for every resource on both sides and an Offer to everyone button. — The trading table. Bots answer offers like this one, so a solo game still has a market.

Where it differs from the three above: the bots (Settler, Merchant and Veteran) make and answer trade offers, the board is a 3D table with painted art (made with an image model), and the whole game runs in a phone browser with nothing to install. You can add it to your home screen like an app. There are no ads.

To start: open hearthsea.com, make a free account with an email address or Google, choose a map and three bots, and play.

Can I play Catan online with friends for free?

Yes, though on most sites someone pays for the extras. On Colonist one member can host the expansions and maps for the whole table. On Board Game Arena your friends play free, but one of you needs Premium to create the CATAN table. CATAN Universe’s free match is with other human players, but anything past it needs each player’s own Gold.

In Hearthsea the host needs a pass to open an online room. Friends join with a four-letter room code, or a QR code when you share a Wi-Fi network, using a free account, and the game counts as one of their 3 free games that day.

None of these need a download. Colonist, BGA and Hearthsea run in a browser tab, which suits a video call: everyone opens the link on their own screen and talks over the call. Our guide to playing a Catan-style game online with friends walks through a first game step by step.

Can I play Catan on my phone, or alone against bots?

All four can be played from a phone. Colonist has Android and iOS apps. CATAN Universe has iOS and Android apps, though the iOS download is 944.6 MB. Board Game Arena runs in the browser. Hearthsea runs in the mobile browser and installs to the home screen.

For solo play, Colonist’s free tier has bots at three levels on the base game. CATAN Universe unlocks single player against the AI after its introduction, and it is the only option here that works with no connection at all. Hearthsea’s free account plays against three bot levels that trade with you; our post on playing against AI bots explains how each one plays. Board Game Arena is built for playing other people.

If you are new to the rules, our rules page covers a full turn in a few minutes, whichever site you end up on.

Questions people ask

Can you play Catan online for free?

Yes. Colonist lets you play its base game in a browser for free, with ads. CATAN Universe is a free download whose free match uses the standard map. On Board Game Arena a free account can join a CATAN table, but the player who creates it needs Premium.

Is CATAN Universe free?

CATAN Universe is free to download and play. The free part is a base-game match against two other human players on the standard map. The base game in full, the expansions and spin-offs such as Rivals for CATAN are unlocked with CATAN Gold, which is bought in packs from $2.99 for 200 Gold on iOS.

Is Catan on Board Game Arena free?

Partly. CATAN is a Premium game on Board Game Arena. A free account can join any CATAN table, but only Premium members can create one, so at least one player in the game must pay. BGA last announced Premium at 5 euros or dollars a month.

Is Colonist.io free?

Colonist’s base game is free in the browser, including games against bots at Easy, Medium and Hard, and the free tier shows ads. Expansions, 5 to 8 player games and the extra maps need a membership, from $6.99 a month billed yearly. Only one player at a friends’ table needs it.

Can I play Catan online with friends without downloading anything?

Yes. Colonist, Board Game Arena and Hearthsea all run in a web browser, on a phone or a computer. CATAN Universe also has a browser version for Chrome and Firefox, next to its apps for iOS, Android and Steam.

Can I play Catan alone against bots online for free?

Yes. Colonist’s free tier has bot games at three difficulty levels. CATAN Universe unlocks single player against the AI once you finish its Arrival on Catan introduction. Hearthsea’s free account plays against Settler, Merchant and Veteran bots that make and answer trade offers.

Sources

Facts about Hearthsea come from the game itself and its rules and pricing pages. Facts about the other sites come from their own pages, all checked on 11 October 2026.

Keep reading

Play a game in the next five minutes

Make a free account and play against bots on the Standard and Balanced maps, the Seafarers island New Shores or the Highlands map The Peaks. A pass adds every map of its mode and online games with friends, from $3.99 a month.

Play free

CATAN is a registered trademark of Catan GmbH. Hearthsea is an independent game and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Catan GmbH or its publishers. Other game names belong to their owners and are used here only to describe and compare.