Comparison

Crosswords Classic vs Word Master

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

Head to head
About

Crosswords Classic

Play daily crossword puzzles from various newspapers directly on your device. Download new puzzles, get hints, track your progress, and even sync with a Mac version. Offers a vast library of puzzles and competitive features.

Highlights
  • Daily puzzle downloads
  • Hints and clue lookups
  • Solve time tracking
  • Mac sync functionality
  • Extensive puzzle sources
  • US and UK cryptic puzzles
  • Ink or pencil entry modes
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

"… the definitive source for puzzles for iOS…" -- the New York Times Download and play crossword puzzles right on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. Each day many newspapers provide their crossword puzzles online; with one tap you can download and solve them, get hints, view clues, and track how quickly you're improving! The #1 Crossword Player on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch just got even better! • New: Sync your puzzles with Crosswords for Mac; Start a puzzle on your Mac, then finish it on your iPhone or iPad. • Get new puzzles every day • Touch and hold a square to view hints on iPad • Enter Numbers and other special characters by holding down keys • One tap downloads all of today's puzzles • Nearly unlimited puzzles from many different sites • US and UK Cryptic puzzles available • Hints, Websites, and Clue lookups • Enter answers in 'ink' or 'pencil' • Quickly see your recently played, or sort by date or provider • Detailed info on each puzzle • Post your solve times online and compare with other solvers • Grab older puzzles with a tap • Tap the clue list with two fingers to adjust the font size (iPad only) Included Puzzle Sources: • Brendan Emmett Quigley's Weekly Puzzle • Jonesin' • King Features Crosswords (Joseph, Sheffer, and Premier) • Newsday • Andy Kravis, Cruciverbist at Law • Glutton for Pun • MacNamara’s Band • Murchie’s Monday Fills • Neville Fogarty • Puzzle Express • The Stickler Weekly • World of Crosswords Premium Crosswords subscription required: • Matt Gaffney’s Crossword Contest • American Values Crossword • Crooked Crosswords • Additional puzzles downloadable via the Puzzle Browser; browse the web and download more! Providers list subject to change. Some providers may no longer be publishing, but may still have older puzzles available in Archive form, accessible via the "Download Older Puzzles" option. • For support, please visit our website at http://www.standalone.com • Tips: • You can tap on the clue text at the bottom of the screen to toggle across & down • Rotate the screen to see both the puzzle and clues • Touch for a moment then drag to precisely select a square. • Touch the Plus to download older puzzles Please note that Crosswords requires an internet connection to download puzzles. Syncing puzzles to your Mac requires the purchase of Crosswords from the Mac App Store. Multiplayer requires iOS 6.0 or later. Privacy Policy: https://www.standalone.com/legal/ EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Word Master

This is a challenging word game that lets you build words from letter tiles on a board. Play against AI or friends offline, improve your vocabulary with definitions, and customize your game experience with various board layouts and features.

Highlights
  • Offline play
  • Play against AI
  • Pass 'n Play multiplayer
  • Challenge mode
  • Word definitions
  • Customizable board layouts
  • Hints for valid words
Features
Read full description

Advantages of the Pro version: **Ad-Free Experience** **7 additional board layouts** **Randomize the board. Mix up the DL, DW, TL TW tiles and give the game a new twist** **Option to enable the hints feature (Valid words appear above the rack as you form them by moving the tiles)** Word Master is an innovative version of the traditional “Crosswords" board puzzle. Not needing internet connection, using unique fast artificial intelligence resources and with highly customizable options, Word Master is used by crossword games enthusiasts for quick offline training and induce the players to improve their skills and reasoning in the game. Create words with the 7 letters on your rack and place them on the 15 by 15 tile board. Boost your score by placing letters on the special Double Letter, Double Word, Triple Letter and Triple Word tiles. Languages supported: • English • French (Français) • Portuguese (Português) • German (Deutsch) • Spanish (Español) • Italian (Italiano) • Dutch (Nederlands) • Norwegian (Norsk) • Swedish (Svenska) • Romanian(Romana) • Greek(Ελληνικά) • Polish (Polski) • Catalan(Català) PLAY AGAINST THE COMPUTER Choose the level and the duration of the game. No more waiting long hours for your opponent to play! Both computer and player tiles are randomly selected, simulating in the best way possible a game against a real opponent. PASS N' PLAY Play offline against friends! In the bus, airport, train or whatever place you are. CHALLENGE MODE Find out if you are a true hampion. In this mode, you score more points in each turn as you come closer to the best possible word. Try to beat your high scores! IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE WITH THE MASTER After each turn, you will be able to see which words you could have played. Learn how to use the bonus squares on the board and the standards for the formation of words. ENRICH YOUR VOCABULARY WITH WORD DEFINITIONS Swipe your finger across any word on the board and get its dictionary definition. (Internet required) DESIGN YOUR OWN BOARD Use your creativity to place the bonus squares just where you want them to be. MORE FEATURES: • Do not waste your time searching whether the word you chose exists! As you place the word on the board, the game will display whether the word is or not valid and its score. • Get tips for valid words being created in your rack as you are arranging your letters (You can enable or disable this feature at any time). • Save your game and resume later. • Keep track of your records and stats (e.g. best final score, best word ever played, total bingos and more). • Choose from various board layouts, including random. • Block the droid from using very rare words. • Bad draw helper (avoid receiving a rack with no consonants or no vowels). • Two dictionaries in English available

Screenshots

Crosswords Classic2 screens
Word Master4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Word Master at 4.9 against Crosswords Classic's 3.4. Word Master also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 14) and price ($4.99 vs $9.99). Crosswords Classic's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On update cadence, ads, chart position 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

Crosswords Classic costs $9.99 and Word Master $4.99 up front. Crosswords Classic sells 14 one-off in-app purchases. Word Master asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Word Master holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Word Master has 4K ratings behind it against 73, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 69% of Crosswords Classic's written reviews are positive against 87% of Word Master's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Crosswords Classic ships an update every 3 months, Word Master every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Crosswords Classic versus Word Master: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCrosswords ClassicWord Master
Price$9.99$4.99 — better
Rating3.4 (73 ratings)4.9 (4K ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.7% of reviews86.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings734K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#26#14 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB86 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStand Alone, Inc.Luis Gualandi

Customer experience

Crosswords Classic

All ratings73 ratings
Positive52.1%
Neutral16.4%
Negative31.5%
Written reviews310 reviews
Positive68.7%
Neutral7.4%
Negative23.9%

Word Master

All ratings3,970 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews363 reviews
Positive86.5%
Neutral6.3%
Negative7.2%

Bugs and requests

Crosswords Classic

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Puzzles disappearing after updates
  • Inability to download new puzzles
  • Incorrect letter highlighting issues
  • Keyboard and toolbar overlap problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more Australian and UK crossword sources
  • Improve keyboard handling and layout
  • Implement a night mode or dark theme
  • Allow deleting/hiding completed puzzles
  • Provide better syncing between devices

Word Master

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

14 purchases

Crosswords Classic

One-time14
  • Aaxword's Easy Themeless Puzzles$0.99
  • MacNamara's Band Vol. 1$1.99
  • Ben Tausig's Editorial Favorites, Vol, 1$1.99
Show 11 more
  • Matt Gaffney's Easy/Medium Crosswords$1.99
  • Dell Magazine #1$1.99
  • Ridonkulous Crosswords$1.99
  • Liz Gorski's Crossword Nation: Vol. 1, No. 1-20$1.99
  • Matt Gaffney's Book Crosswords$1.99
  • Jonesin' Crosswords$2.99
  • Brendan Emmett Quigley's Favorites Volume 1$2.99
  • Matt Gaffney's Music Crosswords$2.99
  • Jonesin' Crosswords #2$2.99
  • Brendan Emmett Quigley's Favorites Volume 2$2.99
  • You Can't Do That in a Crossword$2.99
None

Word Master

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Crosswords Classic free?
Crosswords Classic costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Word Master free?
Word Master costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Crosswords Classic or Word Master?
Word Master is rated higher. Crosswords Classic averages 3.4 out of 5 from 73 ratings, while Word Master averages 4.9 from 4K ratings.
Do Crosswords Classic or Word Master have ads?
Neither Crosswords Classic nor Word Master shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Crosswords Classic or Word Master?
Crosswords Classic ships an update every 3 months, and Word Master every 2 months. Most recently, Crosswords Classic was updated on October 26, 2026 and Word Master on October 26, 2026.
Which is more popular, Crosswords Classic or Word Master?
Crosswords Classic currently peaks at #26 in the App Store charts, and Word Master at #14. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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