Comparison

Crostix Pro vs Crosswords Plus .

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

Head to head
About

Crostix Pro

This app offers a digital library of acrostic puzzles, a word game similar to crosswords where letters from answers form a hidden quote. It provides automatic letter placement and features like hints, scoring, and adjustable font sizes for an engaging puzzle experience.

Highlights
  • Automatic letter placement
  • 150+ included puzzles
  • In-app puzzle purchases
  • Hint system for letters/words
  • Scoring based on hints used
  • Adjustable font size
  • Device rotation support
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Welcome to the world of acrostics! An acrostic, also called a crostic or double crostic, is a cousin of crossword puzzles, with clues and answers whose letters are rearranged to form a quote from a famous (or not-so-famous) author. If you're familiar with acrostics, you will quickly see how convenient they are on the iPhone, because letters are automatically copied to the correct place as you type them in. Crostix, the online library of acrostic puzzles, is now available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. It includes 150 puzzles, from easy to fiendishly hard, and you can buy more puzzles right in the application. The program has all the features you'd expect: - get hints for a single letter or an entire word, - see your score, based on how many hints you needed, - change the font size by pinching, - rotate the device as you like, and - get help on all program options. If you're new to the world of acrostics, the application also includes a short tutorial to get you started.

About

Crosswords Plus .

Engage with a classic crossword experience where clues are integrated directly into the puzzle grid. Enjoy 1200 unique puzzles across four difficulty levels, designed for both quick breaks and extended challenges. Immerse yourself with customizable interfaces and optional sound effects.

Highlights
  • Clues integrated into the puzzle grid
  • 1200 unique puzzles
  • 4 difficulty levels
  • 3 interface options
  • Optional sound effects
  • Customizable grid sizes
Features
Read full description

Arrow Words is a classic crossword app with a useful twist. In arrow words puzzles, the clues are shown right in the puzzle grid, making them easy to view and play on the iPad screen. This lovingly produced app includes 1200 all-new Arrow Words puzzles in 4 levels. Easier levels use simpler words and a smaller grid, perfect for a short break. Harder levels have tougher clues and larger puzzle grids for hours of challenging fun. Also, careful editing and a huge pool of words ensure that clues don’t repeat too often. The sound and graphics are also designed for true crossword aficionados. Choose from three visual interfaces that recreate the atmosphere of the crossword in the Sunday paper. If you miss using your favorite pen to solve puzzels, you’ll love the optional sounds of a moving pen as you fill in the squares, custom recorded for each letter! PLEASE NOTE: our puzzles are created by British puzzle editors especially with players from Commonwealth countries in mind. Of course, North American players are welcome to join the fun. Features: • Once you’ve solved an Arrow Words puzzle on the iPad, you’ll never go back to paper! • 1200 puzzles, 4 difficulty levels and grid sizes • 3 interface options: Classic, News, Colour • Optional sound effects and background music • iPod function support

Screenshots

Crostix Pro3 screens
Crosswords Plus .4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is chart position: Crostix Pro at #104 against Crosswords Plus .'s unranked. Crosswords Plus .'s advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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

Crostix Pro costs $4.99 and Crosswords Plus . $4.99 up front. Crostix Pro sells 14 one-off in-app purchases and Crosswords Plus . sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Crostix Pro against 4.8 for Crosswords Plus .. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 53 and 59 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Crostix Pro's written reviews are positive against 82% of Crosswords Plus .'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Crostix Pro ships an update every 4 months, Crosswords Plus . every 5 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 9 level
Crostix Pro versus Crosswords Plus .: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCrostix ProCrosswords Plus .
Price$4.99$4.99
Rating4.7 (53 ratings)4.8 (59 ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.1% of reviews — better82.3% of reviews
Number of ratings5359 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#104 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB93 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrian Mountfordthe binary family

Customer experience

Crostix Pro

All ratings51 ratings
Positive92.2%
Neutral2.0%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews85 reviews
Positive87.1%
Neutral3.5%
Negative9.4%

Crosswords Plus .

All ratings59 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral3.4%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews158 reviews
Positive82.3%
Neutral9.5%
Negative8.2%

User reviews

Crostix Pro

From 53 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great game/app
  • 💡 Challenging puzzles
  • 👍 Fun to complete
  • 💡 Good variety of puzzles
  • 👍 Easy to use interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes
  • 🐛 Puzzles not opening
  • 🐛 In-app purchases not working
  • 🐛 Data waiting errors
  • 🐛 Lost progress after reinstall

Crosswords Plus .

From 59 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Enjoyable and challenging puzzles
  • 🤓 Helps improve vocabulary and knowledge
  • 💡 Variety of difficulty levels
  • 🎨 Clean and intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional spelling/definition errors
  • 🌍 Some British-centric references/terminology
  • 🔍 Difficulty navigating larger puzzles on smaller screens
  • 🔁 Repeated clues/puzzles

Bugs and requests

Crostix Pro

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • Library is gone, no record of puzzles
  • App not working with latest iOS
  • In-app purchases do not all work
  • Books 10 & 11 will not open
  • AppStore shows purchased but app says waiting for data
Show 8 more
  • App crashes
  • In-app purchase feature does not work
  • Paid for book, charged again after update
  • Completed puzzles show blank after update
  • App is waiting for data
  • Misspelling in puzzle quote
  • Cannot buy Book 5
  • App only checks for new puzzles every 30 days

Requested features

10 requests
  • Add more puzzles
  • Add free starting letters
  • Add ability to skip filled squares
  • Add display for first letters of clue answers
  • Add score tracking
Show 5 more
  • Add more challenging puzzles
  • Add more US-centric puzzles
  • Add more religious references
  • Add dark mode
  • Add puzzle title in top bar

Crosswords Plus .

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Puzzle completion not always recognized properly
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to resize puzzles to fit screen better
  • Option to mark errors/incomplete squares
  • More frequent puzzle updates
  • Scoring/progress tracking system

In-app purchases

14 purchases

Crostix Pro

One-time14
  • Crostix Book Thirteen$0.99
  • Crostix Book Twelve$0.99
  • HeadLines$1.99
Show 11 more
  • Crostix Book Four$1.99
  • Guest Author: Gordon Frakes$1.99
  • Crostix Book Five$1.99
  • Crostix Book Six$1.99
  • Crostix Book Seven$1.99
  • Guest Author: Gordon Frakes 2$1.99
  • Crostix Book Eight$1.99
  • Crostix Book Nine$1.99
  • Crostix Book Ten$1.99
  • Crostix Book Eleven$1.99
  • The Golden Treasury$1.99
5 purchases

Crosswords Plus .

One-time5
  • 300 Puzzles4 variants$1.99
  • 300 Puzzles (easy)$1.99
  • 300 Puzzles (normal)$1.99
Show 2 more
  • 300 Puzzles (difficult)$1.99
  • 300 Puzzles (very difficult)$1.99

Questions

Is Crostix Pro free?
Crostix Pro costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Crosswords Plus . free?
Crosswords Plus . costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Crostix Pro or Crosswords Plus .?
Crosswords Plus . is rated higher. Crostix Pro averages 4.7 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while Crosswords Plus . averages 4.8 from 59 ratings.
Do Crostix Pro or Crosswords Plus . have ads?
Neither Crostix Pro nor Crosswords Plus . shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Crostix Pro or Crosswords Plus .?
Crostix Pro ships an update every 4 months, and Crosswords Plus . every 5 months. Most recently, Crostix Pro was updated on October 24, 2026 and Crosswords Plus . on October 24, 2026.

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