# Pinochle vs Crates!

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Crates! at 100% against Pinochle's 54%. Crates! also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Pinochle's advantage is ratings volume (26K vs 2) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Pinochle holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pinochle has 26K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 54% of Pinochle's written reviews are positive against 100% of Crates!'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Pinochle ships an update monthly, Crates! every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Pinochle | Crates! |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (26K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pinochle/id351086172/reviews)** | [4.5 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crates/id1100367749/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **26K** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 53.9% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Monthly** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | **Free** |
| Size | 38 MB | 4 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 18.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [fishdog.net](https://appshunter.io/developer/337519299) | [Dag Andersen](https://appshunter.io/developer/1191196592) |

## What reviewers say

### Pinochle

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pinochle/id351086172)

Experience a full-featured card game with configurable options for single- or double-deck play. Enjoy bidding, melding, and trick-taking against AI opponents. Updates include user-suggested features and AI improvements.

**Highlights:** Single- or double-deck play, Configurable bidding options, Meld bids and shoot the moon, Play with AI opponents, User-suggested features, AI improvements

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great pastime
- 🚀 Helps improve playing skills
- 👍 Enjoyable game
- 👍 Configurable settings
- 👍 Minimal ads

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Unrealistic meld and opponent hands
- 🐛 Poor partner AI and bidding
- 🐛 Opponents often get advantageous cards
- 🐛 Algorithms seem to favor opponents
- 🐛 Partner makes questionable plays

**Reported bugs**

- Partner passing poor cards instead of trumps
- Partner overbidding or underbidding
- Opponents getting unrealistic meld hands
- Computer players making suboptimal plays

**Requested features**

- Ability to set minimum bid value
- Partner bidding and play options
- More realistic card dealing
- Online multiplayer mode


### Crates!

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crates/id1100367749)

A physics-based puzzle game where players must strategically remove crates to safely land a yellow crate on a brown one. New crate types with unique behaviors are introduced every five levels, increasing the challenge. The game features 75 levels and a variety of crate mechanics.

**Highlights:** Physics-based gameplay, Strategic crate removal, Progressive level difficulty, Introduction of new crate types, 75 challenging levels

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Pinochle free?

Pinochle is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Crates! free?

Crates! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Pinochle or Crates!?

Pinochle is rated higher. Pinochle averages 4.7 out of 5 from 26K ratings, while Crates! averages 4.5 from 2 ratings.

### Do Pinochle or Crates! have ads?

Pinochle shows ads; Crates! does not.

### Which is updated more often, Pinochle or Crates!?

Pinochle ships an update monthly, and Crates! every 2 months. Most recently, Pinochle was updated on October 20, 2026 and Crates! on October 2, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*