Crossing
Dota 2 or League of Legends
Two free five-a-side strategy games, two decades of rivalry. Which one deserves your first hundred hours?
| Bearing | Dota 2 | League of Legends |
|---|---|---|
| Newcomer | 5.5 · A serious tutorial, bot matches and a new-player queue help, but nothing makes the first week easy. The download is large and the learning curve is real. | 7 · A modest download, a clear tutorial and a starting roster that rotates weekly. The Vanguard anti-cheat driver is the one hurdle some players refuse. |
| Every session | 9 · A single match can turn on one decision from any of ten players. Forty minutes that rarely feel the same twice, with the best replay and spectator tools in the genre. | 8.5 · Half-hour matches with a clean rhythm: lane, skirmish, objective, push. Riot's readability means you always know what just happened, even when it was your fault. |
| Staying power | 9.5 · Thirteen years of updates, a hero roster that keeps growing, and a competitive scene that gives the ordinary player something to study every season. | 9 · Constant seasonal changes, a roster past one hundred and seventy champions, and a competitive scene that fills stadiums. There is always something new to be bad at. |
| Wallet | 9 · Every hero is free. Cosmetics, an optional Dota Plus subscription and occasional event passes are the whole shop, and none of it touches the match. | 8 · Champions can be earned in play. Skins and the seasonal pass are cosmetic. The shop is busier than Dota 2's, and Riot has raised prices more than once. |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS and Linux via Steam | Windows and macOS via the Riot Client |
| PEGI | Not rated by PEGI; Valve's own descriptor lists fantasy violence, alcohol and mild partial nudity | PEGI 12, with a paid random items notice |
| Account | A free Steam account | A free Riot account |
Where they agree
Both are free, both are enormous, and both are played on a three-lane map where five players try to knock down the other team's base. Both have a ranked ladder that matters to its players more than most things, and both ask for a level of patience that no tutorial can shortcut. If you have never played either, expect to feel lost for the first ten matches whichever you pick. That is normal and it passes.
Both also share a rare virtue on this chart: neither sells power. Dota 2 gives you every hero from the first minute; League of Legends lets you earn champions with play or buy them, but a bought champion is not a stronger one. Everything else in both shops is cosmetic.
Where they differ
Dota 2 is the deeper and less forgiving of the two. Its heroes have more moving parts, its map has more rules, and errors cost more. In exchange, an ordinary match has a wider range of things that can happen, and the game's Valve-built spectator and replay tools are the best in the genre. League of Legends is faster to learn, faster to play, and clearer about what you should be doing at any moment. Matches are shorter, the visual language is cleaner, and Riot's onboarding is years ahead.
The other difference is company. League of Legends has a far larger player base, which means shorter queues at every rank and more people you know who already play. Dota 2's community is smaller and older, and its players are, on average, more experienced, which cuts both ways for a newcomer.
The toll
Both are free to install and free to play forever. Dota 2 sells cosmetics, an optional monthly Dota Plus subscription and a seasonal Battle Pass when one runs; none of it changes a match. League of Legends sells champions (also earnable), skins, and a seasonal pass; nothing changes a match. Neither game sells randomised loot in the UK in a way that affects play, though both sell cosmetic chests. Both need a free publisher account: Steam for Dota 2, a Riot account for League.
Our call
Pick League of Legends if you want to be competent within a week and have friends who already play. Pick Dota 2 if you want the deeper game and are happy to be bad at it for a month. Neither will cost you a penny to find out.