Comparison

Cryptogram vs Rettel

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

Rettel

Engage in a strategic 2-player word-building game on a letter grid. Plan your moves as submitted words are reversed in the grid. Features include competitive play, friend challenges, and progress tracking.

Highlights
  • 2-player word building on a grid
  • Submitted words reverse in the grid
  • Play against random players or friends
  • Track wins, best words, and top scores
  • Daily word finding challenge
  • Zen mode with random letters
Features
Read full description

Rettel is a 2-player word game on a grid of letters. Plan your moves carefully — submitted words reverse in the grid. (Sounds like how we got our name!) Features & Games: RETTEL Build words by connecting letters on a grid, head-to-head against your opponent. PLAY Always have a game going and play on your time. Match with random players and track your progress. FRIENDS Build your friends list and play people you know. Add friends with a friend code, challenge them directly, or get matched with another player for a quick game. PROFILE Track your wins, best words, and top scores all in one place. Customize your avatar and display name to match your style! RETTEL SEARCH Get 5 attempts to find today's word. RETTEL OPS Reach the target number using all four operations. ZENTTEL Zen mode version of Rettel with randomly generated letters and no stats.

Screenshots

Cryptogram4 screens
Rettel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Rettel at none against Cryptogram's 9. Rettel also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Cryptogram's advantage is ratings volume (499 vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 11 days). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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 9 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Rettel asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Rettel holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cryptogram has 499 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cryptogram ships an update every 3 days, Rettel every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Cryptogram versus Rettel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCryptogramRettel
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (499 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings499 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 11 days
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.1 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size71 MB52 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperBerkay SaglamRettel LLC

Customer experience

Cryptogram

All ratings497 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral2.6%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews70 reviews
Positive68.6%
Neutral8.6%
Negative22.9%

Rettel

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
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

Rettel

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Cryptogram

Subscriptions3
  • Cryptogram Plus$0.991 Month
  • Cryptogram Plus$2.991 Month
  • Cryptogram Plus$9.991 Year
One-time6
  • 5 Hints$0.99
  • 15 Hints$1.99
  • Offline Quotes$2.99
Show 3 more
  • 30 Hints$3.99
  • Remove Ads$4.99
  • 80 Hints$8.99
None

Rettel

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Cryptogram free?
Cryptogram is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Rettel free?
Rettel is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Cryptogram or Rettel?
Rettel is rated higher. Cryptogram averages 4.7 out of 5 from 499 ratings, while Rettel averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Cryptogram or Rettel have ads?
Both Cryptogram and Rettel show ads.
Which is updated more often, Cryptogram or Rettel?
Cryptogram ships an update every 3 days, and Rettel every 11 days. Most recently, Cryptogram was updated on October 29, 2026 and Rettel on October 24, 2026.

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