Comparison

Cryptogram vs Scioly Codebusters

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Cryptogram

Decrypt famous quotes in this engaging word puzzle game. Solve cryptograms to unlock wisdom, motivation, and inspiration. Features various categories, authors, difficulty levels, and customization options.

Highlights
  • Decrypt famous quotes
  • Select categories and authors
  • Four difficulty levels
  • Save favorite quotes
  • Hints available
  • Share solved quotes
  • Multiple color schemes
Features
Read full description

Crack the code. Discover the quote. Cryptogram is a word puzzle game where solving a cipher reveals a quote worth keeping. Each coded letter stands for another letter. Spot patterns, fill the gaps and reveal the quote. FIND YOUR KIND OF CHALLENGE Choose Easy, Normal, Hard or Legendary. Start with more letters revealed or take on a tougher cryptogram. When you need a nudge, use a hint to uncover a letter. A REASON TO SOLVE EVERY DAY Take on the daily puzzle, build your solving streak and earn hints at milestones. Pick up an unfinished puzzle whenever you're ready, then see your solve time and the points you earned. A WORLD OF WORDS TO DISCOVER Explore thousands of quotes across seven languages. Browse themes such as life, love and wisdom, or discover words from authors including Oscar Wilde and William Shakespeare. Return to your recent categories and see your progress as you solve. BUILD A COLLECTION WORTH KEEPING Your solved quotes are saved to your collection. Revisit a discovery, mark a favorite or search for an author or phrase. Look back at your solve time, difficulty, points and hints used. MAKE A QUOTE YOUR OWN Choose a quote style, adjust its appearance and share it as an image. Add a home-screen widget for quotes from your collection. PLAY YOUR WAY Settle into light or dark mode and choose your puzzle font. Solve bundled puzzles offline and revisit your saved collection wherever you are. Online categories, leagues and other connected features need an internet connection. SEVEN LANGUAGES Play in English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian or Turkish. If you enjoy word games, secret messages and code-breaking puzzles, there's a quote waiting to be uncovered. Free to play, with ads and optional in-app purchases. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Scioly Codebusters

Practice codebreaking with a vast collection of quotes covering Aristocrats, Patristocrats, and Xenocrypts. Offers assisted modes with hints for beginners and manual modes for advanced users. Includes a dictionary to learn common word patterns and accelerate cipher-solving skills.

Highlights
  • Practice Aristocrats, Patristocrats, Xenocrypts
  • Over a thousand quotes
  • Assisted mode with hints
  • Manual mode for challenges
  • Unique dictionary feature
  • Learn common word patterns
Features
Read full description

Scioly Codebusters is the ultimate codebusters prep app! Practice with over a thousand different quotes with Aristocrats, Patristocrats, and Xenocrypts so you can level up your codebusting skills! For hobbyists and beginners, enjoy the assisted mode and hints to help you solve each cipher. If you are a science olympiad student or looking for a challenge, check out the manual mode, removing many helpful features like the autofill! Finally, we have a unique dictionary feature that teaches you common word patterns to accelerate your progress. This is the best way to learn and practice the 3 biggest ciphers in Scioly Codebusters! We are always accepting suggestions :) Developed by Suvan & Manoj. **WE ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE OFFICIAL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD ORGANIZATION IN ANY WAY**

Screenshots

Cryptogram4 screens
Scioly Codebusters4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Scioly Codebusters at none against Cryptogram's 8. Scioly Codebusters also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks). Cryptogram's advantage is ratings volume (485 vs 17). On price, rating and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Cryptogram sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Scioly Codebusters asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Cryptogram against 4.6 for Scioly Codebusters. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cryptogram has 485 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Cryptogram's written reviews are positive against 86% of Scioly Codebusters's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cryptogram ships an update every 5 weeks, Scioly Codebusters weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and July 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Cryptogram versus Scioly Codebusters: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCryptogramScioly Codebusters
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (485 ratings) — better4.6 (17 ratings)
Positive reviews71.2% of reviews85.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings485 — better17
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksWeekly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.113.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size72 MB32 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperBerkay SaglamRohit Kumar

Customer experience

Cryptogram

All ratings485 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral2.7%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive71.2%
Neutral9.1%
Negative19.7%

Scioly Codebusters

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Cryptogram

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Ads freezing application and preventing progress
  • Game completion not registering despite solving puzzle
  • Hint system providing letters not in cryptogram
  • Settings reverting to default after closing app
  • Keyboard layout settings not saving properly
Show 4 more
  • Hints charging payment without delivering hints
  • Progress not syncing across devices
  • Leaderboard showing impossible scores suggesting cheating
  • Puzzle categories and leaderboards unavailable

Requested features

10 requests
  • Home screen widget functionality
  • Filter and search for favorite quotes
  • Ad-free premium version option
  • Color-coded cipher letters for pattern recognition
  • Landscape mode support for tablets
Show 5 more
  • League chat functionality
  • Ability to change username
  • Legendary mode for competitive battles
  • User-submitted quote categories
  • Set progression levels for sense of completion

Scioly Codebusters

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Cryptogram

Subscriptions3
  • Cryptogram Plus$0.991 Month
  • Cryptogram Plus$2.991 Month
  • Cryptogram Plus$9.991 Year
One-time5
  • 5 Hints$0.99
  • 15 Hints$1.99
  • 30 Hints$3.99
Show 2 more
  • Remove Ads$4.99
  • 80 Hints$8.99
None

Scioly Codebusters

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Cryptogram free?
Cryptogram is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Scioly Codebusters free?
Scioly Codebusters is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Cryptogram or Scioly Codebusters?
Cryptogram is rated higher. Cryptogram averages 4.7 out of 5 from 485 ratings, while Scioly Codebusters averages 4.6 from 17 ratings.
Do Cryptogram or Scioly Codebusters have ads?
Cryptogram shows ads; Scioly Codebusters does not.
Which is updated more often, Cryptogram or Scioly Codebusters?
Cryptogram ships an update every 5 weeks, and Scioly Codebusters weekly. Most recently, Cryptogram was updated on September 25, 2026 and Scioly Codebusters on July 6, 2026.

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