Monopoly is one of the most popular board games to play with friends. However, you don’t need the board game to play Monopoly. You also can play a Monopoly game online on your phone, laptop computer, tablet, or games console.
If you want to play Monopoly online with friends who aren’t in the same room as you, then this guide will show you exactly how to do it.
1. Play Monopoly on your phone or tablet with the Monopoly app
The Monopoly app allows you to play Monopoly multiplayer on your phone or tablet.
To play online with friends, you must all buy the Monopoly app which costs $3.99. Then, you can play as much as you like with no ads. There’s no free version of this app.
The Monopoly app works cross-platform. This means that if you have an iPhone, your friend has an Android phone and your brother has an iPad, you can all play together.
With the Monopoly app, you can play the common house rules or, if you don’t have hours to spare, there’s a quick mode for a faster game. You also have the option to select alternative rules such as ‘Free Parking Bonus’, ‘GO Bonus’, and ‘No Jail Rent’.
As well as the standard Monopoly tokens, you can choose from cool tokens like the snowman, the penguin, and the duck. There are also lots of different cities that you can use as a background to keep the game interesting.
One advantage of playing Monopoly via the app is that you don’t need a wifi internet connection as you can use the data on your phone.
To learn more about this game and whether it’s worth it, check out my detailed Monopoly Mobile Game Review.
Playing options:
- Online with friends
- Pass and play on a single device
- Single player against the AI
Price: $3.99 / £3.99
2. Play Monopoly on Xbox with Monopoly Plus
If you each have an Xbox One, Xbox Series X, or Xbox Series S then you can play Monopoly online with up to six people.
Monopoly Plus is an exciting online version of Monopoly with a 3D board and some cool special effects.
While Xbox Monopoly is great for multiplayer games online, each player must have their own Xbox. You can’t for example, play the game with four players on two Xboxes, there’s sadly no option for that.
Monopoly Plus on Xbox One has lots of different rules you can choose from. There’s also the Speed Die version. However, when I played this game I found the Speed Die version to have some annoying glitches which mean that you sometimes don’t move to the expected space.
Playing options:
- Online with friends
- Pass and play on a single controller
- Multiplayer with multiple controllers
- Single player against the AI
Price: Around $14.99 / £11.99 (OR $4.49 / £3.59 with Xbox Live Gold)
Can you play Monopoly on Xbox 360?
You can play Monopoly on an Xbox 360. However, while Xbox One and newer consoles are compatible with Monopoly Plus, on the older Xbox 360 you can only play an older version of Monopoly called Monopoly for Xbox 360.
This means that you can’t play together if one person has an Xbox One, Series X, or Series S and the other person has an Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 version of Monopoly is a totally different game.
If you’re planning to buy Monopoly for your Xbox, you should also consider the Monopoly Family Fun Pack. This includes Monopoly Plus, My Monopoly, and Monopoly Deal and usually doesn’t cost much more than just Monopoly Plus.
Note: It used to be the case that you could also play Monopoly online on Xbox 360 with Monopoly Streets, but this service was retired in 2017. [Source]
3. Play Monopoly on PS4 with Monopoly Plus
If you each have a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5, then up to six players can play Monopoly online with Monopoly Plus. You’ll each need to purchase the game and to play games online you’ll also both need a membership to PlayStation Plus.
Monopoly Plus works better on PS4 than PS5. While you can play it on PS5, some features may be missing. If it doesn’t work, you may need to update your system to the latest software.
Read my Monopoly PS4 review to learn what I loved and didn’t love about this game.
Unfortunately, with Monopoly Plus, you cannot mix local and online players, so each player needs their own console. It’s also not cross-platform.
Playing options:
- Online with friends (with PlayStation Plus membership)
- Pass and play on a single controller
- Multiplayer with multiple controllers
- Single player against the AI
Price: $14.99 / £11.99 (AND $9.99 / £6.99 per month for PlayStation Plus)
If you’re planning to buy Monopoly for your PS4, you should also consider the Monopoly Family Fun Pack. This includes Monopoly Plus, My Monopoly, and Monopoly Deal.
Note: It used to be the case that you could also play Monopoly online on PS3 with Monopoly Streets, but this service was retired in 2017. [Source]
4. Play Monopoly on PC with Monopoly Plus
Monopoly Plus is available to download and play on your Windows PC (desktop or laptop). To play online with friends, each player will need to buy and download the game.
Monopoly Plus is an excellent PC game as it has a 3D living board and lots of customization options. You can change the rules to make the game more fun and play the famous Speed Die game for faster play.
Playing options:
- Online with friends
- Play together on a shared screen
- Single player against the AI
Price: $14.99 / £12.49
Monopoly Plus for PC isn’t free, but there are some alternative versions of Monopoly that you can play for free on your home computer. Some of these do offer online multiplayer.
Read about other Monopoly PC games here: The Best Monopoly Games for PC.
5. Play Monopoly on Nintendo Switch
Monopoly for Nintendo Switch allows you to play online or offline with up to six players. You’ll each need to purchase the game and to play together online you’ll also both need a membership to Nintendo Switch Online.
With Monopoly for Nintendo Switch, you can choose from three 3D boards and there are different modes for faster games. You can also select from a choice of rules and spice up the game with the new Actions Cards.
You can read my full Monopoly for Nintendo Switch review for more information.
Playing options:
- Online with friends (with Nintendo Switch Online membership)
- Play together on a shared screen
- Single player against the AI
Price: $39.99 / £29.99 (AND $3.99 / £3.49 per month for Nintendo Switch Online)
If you’re struggling to add friends to play Monopoly Switch online, I show you exactly how to do that here: Monopoly for Nintendo Switch Instructions.
Other games like Monopoly to play online with friends
As well as the official Monopoly game, there are some games that are similar to Monopoly that you might like to try. Some of these copycat Monopoly games are free to play on mobile devices.
Some online Monopoly games require you to download them onto your PC. However, if you’re nervous about downloading files, you can choose a Monopoly online game with no download required.
1. Rento
Rento is an online board game that’s very similar to Monopoly. If you wish to play it online with your friends you can also invite your Facebook friends to play. Just like Monopoly, you can win auctions, build houses and pass go.
There are lots of different boards to choose from as well as custom playing pieces and custom dice. You can enable these with coins which you earn by completing achievements like winning games, or you can buy coins.
Play on:
2. Business
Business is a free online game that’s just like Monopoly. The board even has the same names as UK Monopoly, from Old Kent Road to Mayfair.
You can play this game online with any other players from around the world. If you want to play with just your own friends and family, you can create a private room and invite them in.
It’s one of the best ways to play Monopoly online with friends free.
Play on:
3. Europoly
In Europoly, each space is a European city and there’s a map of Europe in the center of the board. In this free game, the rules are very similar to Monopoly – you need to collect all the cards in a color set to be able to build houses and claim more rent.
Play on:
4. RichUp
RichUp is a free online Monopoly alternative that’s quick and easy to play. You can play it on any device and you don’t need to register or download anything. It’s so easy that even your Nana and Papa can join in.
You can play online with friends in a private room or allow strangers and robots to enter and play along with you. This game is fast-paced and one of the best online alternatives to Monopoly there is.
Play on:
5. Capitalista
Capitalista is a relatively new Monopoly-inspired game that’s been around since 2022. It’s free to play, has super-fast graphics and most interestingly, is available for up to 20 players at once. As this game is cross-platform, it doesn’t matter if each player is using a computer, tablet or mobile phone – you can still all play together.
There are plenty of options to customize the rules with this game, so you can stick to the official Monopoly rules, or add in some extra house rules if you want to.
Play on:
6. Monopoly Junior
If you’d like to play Monopoly online with your kids but they aren’t old enough to fully understand the rules, then Monopoly Junior is a great idea. Unlike the other games in this list of games that are similar to Monopoly, Monopoly Junior is an official Hasbro game.
Play on:
7. Monopoly Madness
One of the newest games you can buy, Monopoly Madness isn’t like the traditional game, but it does have some of the same elements, like buying property or trying to beat your friends.
It’s a lot more fast-paced, so if you just want Monopoly-themed fun for online gaming with your friends, without necessarily playing by the classic rules, this could be perfect.
Play on:
- PC
- Xbox One / Xbox Series consoles
- PS4 / PS5
- Nintendo Switch
FAQs About Playing Monopoly Online with Friends
You can play Monopoly online with friends on a PC, Xbox, or PlayStation with Monopoly Plus, on a mobile phone or tablet with the Monopoly App, or on a Switch with Monopoly for Nintendo Switch.
Online Monopoly isn’t free, but there are some unofficial Monopoly games that you can play online with friends for free on a PC, Xbox, mobile phone, or tablet.
It’s possible to play Monopoly online with friends on different computers. Each person must buy and download Monopoly Plus for PC (or one of the unofficial free Monopoly games).
Monopoly Plus isn’t cross-platform. You cannot play with a mix of Xbox, PlayStation, and PC players. When playing online with friends, each player must have their own console of the same type.
The Bottom line
You can play virtual Monopoly online with friends on most devices including mobile phones, tablets, games consoles, and TVs. However, whichever method you choose, all the players must have the same version of the game and usually, a similar device.
The best way to play Monopoly with friends online for cheap is to use a tablet computer and the Monopoly app. You can also play this on your mobile phone, but the bigger screen of a tablet offers a better experience.
If you want to play Monopoly with friends online for free, you’ll need to download an unofficial copycat Monopoly game to your phone, such as Rento or Business.
As well as regular Monopoly, there are some Monopoly spin-offs that you can play online too. One of my favorites is an online version of the card game Monopoly Deal.
