Comparison

Crossword Light vs Crossly

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

Crossly

Engage in a strategic word game with friends, blending classic crosswords with competitive play. Earn points for correct answers, hinder opponents, and enjoy endless unique puzzles with interactive features like stealing turns and revealing letters.

Highlights
  • Endless unique crossword puzzles
  • Steal turns and send taunts
  • Peek at letters for difficult clues
  • Pencil in and change answers
  • Offline saving of penciled words
  • Premium mode with bonus peeks and themes
Features
Read full description

Challenge your friends in the fun strategic word game that combines classic crosswords with the spirit of friendly competition! In Crossly™, two players take turns filling out the board, accumulating points for each correct clue by gaining a point for each letter in the clue and subtracting a point from their opponent for any of their intersecting answers. Clean design, fluid animations and playful messaging work together to make this the best crosswords experience in the App Store. Features: - Endless Gameplay: Crossly pulls from tens of thousands of clues to generate unique crossword puzzles on the fly for optimal replay value. No two boards are ever alike! - Steal & Taunt: When you or your opponent miss a word, the other player may choose to steal for an extra turn and send a friendly taunt using animated GIFs powered by GIPHY - Peeks: For hard-to-guess clues, you may use one Peek per turn to reveal a letter of your choice. That letter is only visible to the player who initiates the Peek. Bonus Peeks are awarded for completing games and Peek Packs may be acquired via In-App Purchase. - Penciling: Penciling allows you to work on the board at any time, changing answers and adjusting your strategy as more words are completed. All penciled words are saved, even when your network connection is offline. - Premium Mode: Play unlimited games for free, or unlock Premium Mode for 15 bonus Peeks and colorful themes. Show your love by choosing your own price to upgrade!

Screenshots

Crossword Light2 screens
Crossly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Crossly at 5.0 against Crossword Light's 3.0. Crossly also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (10 vs 12.0). Crossword Light's advantage is ratings volume (54 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and in-app purchases 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 Crossly sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Crossly holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Crossword Light has 54 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 53% of Crossword Light's written reviews are positive against 51% of Crossly's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Crossword Light ships an update every 3 months, Crossly every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Crossword Light versus Crossly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCrossword LightCrossly
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (54 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews52.7% of reviews — better50.7% of reviews
Number of ratings54 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.010 — better
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStand Alone, Inc.Mercury Intermedia, Inc.

Customer experience

Crossword Light

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

Crossly

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews73 reviews
Positive50.7%
Neutral27.4%
Negative21.9%

Bugs and requests

Crossword Light

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Crossly

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • App won't load / spins forever
  • Games disappear or are lost
  • Notifications are broken / badge issues
  • Rematch issues (wrong person)
Show 11 more
  • Board/clues mixed up or incorrect
  • Games don't update automatically
  • Inability to start games with friends
  • In-game errors and glitches
  • Crashing on launch
  • Games stuck in 'waiting for their move' list
  • Inconsistent turn notifications
  • Cannot decline rematches
  • Cannot end games without resigning
  • Clues are sometimes backwards
  • Words run into each other

Requested features

13 requests
  • iPad support
  • UK version of the game
  • Difficulty levels
  • Chat feature
  • Facebook integration
Show 8 more
  • User-selectable usernames
  • Stats page (wins/losses)
  • Themes for puzzles
  • Time limits for turns
  • Ability to decline invitations
  • Reminder for opponent's turn
  • More American puzzle makers/content
  • Color customization options

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
7 purchases

Crossly

One-time7
  • "Meh" Premium Upgrade$0.99
  • Peek Pack - 5 Peeks$0.99
  • "It's Cool" Premium Upgrade$1.99
Show 4 more
  • Peek Pack - 15 Peeks$1.99
  • "LOVE" Premium Upgrade$2.99
  • Peek Pack - 25 Peeks$2.99
  • Peek Pack - 100 Peeks$4.99

Questions

Is Crossword Light free?
Crossword Light is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Crossly free?
Crossly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Crossword Light or Crossly?
Crossly is rated higher. Crossword Light averages 3.0 out of 5 from 54 ratings, while Crossly averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Crossword Light or Crossly have ads?
Crossword Light shows ads; Crossly does not.
Which is updated more often, Crossword Light or Crossly?
Crossword Light ships an update every 3 months, and Crossly every 5 months. Most recently, Crossword Light was updated on October 12, 2026 and Crossly on October 9, 2026.

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