Comparison

Crossword Light vs Crossword Puzzles!

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

Head to head
About

Crossword Light

Solve daily crossword puzzles from various newspapers on your mobile device. Get hints, view clues, and track your progress. This light version includes 40 puzzles, with more available in the full version.

Highlights
  • Daily crossword puzzles
  • Hints available
  • View clues
  • Track improvement
  • Leaderboard
  • Social media integration
Features
Read full description

Play crossword puzzles right on your iPhone or iPod touch. Each day many newspapers provide their crossword puzzles online; Crossword Light lets you solve a selection of what's out there; get hints, view clues, and track how quickly you're improving! This is a light version of our Crosswords game. Try it out with 40 brand new puzzles included. If you like it, please try the full version! • More than a months' worth of puzzles to play • Nearly unlimited puzzles from many different sites in the full version • Hints available • Leaderboard • Twitter and Facebook integration

About

Crossword Puzzles!

Solve daily crosswords set in beautiful global locations. Collect stunning destinations, tackle special weekend puzzles, and earn stamps and badges. Offers thousands of puzzles for all skill levels with optional hints.

Highlights
  • Daily free puzzles
  • Collectible global destinations
  • Weekend getaway puzzles
  • Stamps, pins, and badges
  • Thousands of puzzles
  • Hints available
Features
Read full description

Take your passion for crosswords around the world with Crossword Puzzles! Crosswords set in the world's most beautiful places. Solve a free puzzle every day, collect stunning destinations as you play, and take on special Weekend Getaways. “This is the most beautiful crossword app I’ve ever seen!” A FREE PUZZLE EVERY DAY Play every daily puzzle in the current month for free, not just today's. Each month has its own calendar showing your stars, your streak and the stamps still to earn. COLLECT BREATHTAKING DESTINATIONS Dozens of high-resolution nature photographs from around the world fill your screen as you solve. Unlock new ones by playing, mark your favorites, and let your background change daily. NEW MINI PUZZLES EVERY MONTH A fresh set of 24 quick minis each month. Finish the set to earn a brand-new destination. WEEKEND GETAWAYS Special sets of puzzles every few weekends. Score points for solving on your own and solving fast, earn bronze, silver and gold medals, see where you rank on the leaderboard, and collect a souvenir pin for each one you complete. STAMPS, PINS AND BADGES Earn a bronze, silver and gold passport stamp each month, and dozens of badges for streaks, perfect solves and more. Keep your daily streak going with a streak freeze. THOUSANDS OF PUZZLES Puzzles for every skill level, from easy to challenging. Hints when you need them: reveal a letter, reveal a word, or check for mistakes. Plays beautifully on iPhone and iPad, in portrait or landscape on iPad. WANDERLUST PASS Subscribe for the full experience: • Every destination unlocked, plus new seasonal destinations every three months • Unlimited puzzles, including every past daily puzzle • Free hints • Free streak freezes • No ads The Wanderlust Pass is available as a 1-month, 3-month or 1-year subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renew in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://dexcheck.com/privacy

Screenshots

Crossword Light2 screens
Crossword Puzzles!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Crossword Puzzles! at 4.7 against Crossword Light's 3.0. Crossword Puzzles! also leads on review sentiment (85% vs 53%) and ratings volume (9K vs 54). Crossword Light's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Crossword Light sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Crossword Puzzles! sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Crossword Puzzles! holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Crossword Puzzles! has 9K ratings behind it against 54, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 53% of Crossword Light's written reviews are positive against 85% of Crossword Puzzles!'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Crossword Light ships an update every 3 months, Crossword Puzzles! monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Crossword Light versus Crossword Puzzles!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCrossword LightCrossword Puzzles!
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (54 ratings)4.7 (9K ratings) — better
Positive reviews52.7% of reviews84.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings549K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB199 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStand Alone, Inc.DexCheck, LLC

Customer experience

Crossword Light

All ratings54 ratings
Positive48.1%
Neutral11.1%
Negative40.7%
Written reviews262 reviews
Positive52.7%
Neutral13.7%
Negative33.6%

Crossword Puzzles!

All ratings8,962 ratings
Positive93.6%
Neutral4.1%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews467 reviews
Positive84.8%
Neutral7.3%
Negative7.9%

Bugs and requests

Crossword Light

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Crossword Puzzles!

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Puzzle download failures
  • Incorrect letter input
  • Puzzle progress not saving
  • Ads getting stuck and preventing gameplay

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to remove ads
  • More free puzzles or ways to earn tickets
  • Improved navigation and cursor control
  • Option to choose background/color scheme
  • Ability to access past puzzles
Show 1 more
  • Inclusion of more British/European vocabulary

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Crossword Light

One-time10
  • Aaxword's Easy Themeless Puzzles$0.99
  • Aaxword's Easy Micro Puzzles$0.99
  • MacNamara's Band, Vol. 1$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Edited by Ben Tausig, vol. 1$1.99
  • Ink Well Crosswords, Volume 1$1.99
  • Dell Magazines #1$1.99
  • Ridonkulous Crosswords$1.99
  • Jonesin' Crosswords$2.99
  • Brendan Emmett Quigley's Favorites, Vol. 1$2.99
  • Crosswords$9.99
10 purchases

Crossword Puzzles!

Subscriptions1
  • Wanderlust Pass (1 Month)$5.991 Month
One-time9
  • Pack of 100 Tickets$0.99
  • Tickets - Tier 1$0.99
  • Pack of 100 Tickets$1.99
Show 6 more
  • Pack of 100 Tickets$2.99
  • Tickets - Tier 2$2.99
  • Tickets - Tier 3$4.99
  • Pack of 500 Tickets$11.99
  • Pack of 1250 Tickets$23.99
  • First Class Ticket: Unlimited$99.99

Questions

Is Crossword Light free?
Crossword Light is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Crossword Puzzles! free?
Crossword Puzzles! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Crossword Light or Crossword Puzzles!?
Crossword Puzzles! is rated higher. Crossword Light averages 3.0 out of 5 from 54 ratings, while Crossword Puzzles! averages 4.7 from 9K ratings.
Do Crossword Light or Crossword Puzzles! have ads?
Both Crossword Light and Crossword Puzzles! show ads.
Which is updated more often, Crossword Light or Crossword Puzzles!?
Crossword Light ships an update every 3 months, and Crossword Puzzles! monthly. Most recently, Crossword Light was updated on October 31, 2026 and Crossword Puzzles! on November 7, 2026.

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