Merriam vs Merriam
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Merriam
Access America's most respected dictionary, updated with new words and meanings. This app offers offline access, voice search, daily vocabulary challenges, and a thesaurus. It's designed for English language reference, education, and vocabulary enhancement.
- Offline dictionary access
- Voice search for words
- Daily Word of the Day
- Vocabulary word games
- Integrated thesaurus
- Audio pronunciations
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Get America's most useful and respected dictionary, optimized for your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Continuously updated with the newest words and meanings, this is the premier iOS app for English language reference, education, and vocabulary building. Key Features: * Offline access: Complete access to definitions and synonyms whether or not you're connected * Voice Search: look up a word without having to spell it * Word of the Day: learn a new word every day * Word Games: fun, fast quizzes to test your vocabulary * Favorite Words and Search History: keep track of the words that are most important to you * Favorite Word Syncing Through iCloud: share your favorites between devices and on the Web * In-app purchase: an ad-free experience + access to Kids, Medical, and Legal dictionaries * For Tablets: browse the entire dictionary with a scrolling index * Apple Watch Extension: see the Word of the Day and find watch-sized definitions with voice search Expert Word Guidance: * Integrated Thesaurus: more than 200,000 word choices with examples of their use * Example Sentences: understand how a word is used in context * Audio Pronunciations: voiced by real English speakers, not text-to-speech robots Terms of Use: https://www.merriam-webster.com/terms-of-use
Merriam
Access America's leading dictionary with over 15,000 extra entries for people and places. Enjoy offline access, voice search, and daily vocabulary builders. This app offers expert word guidance with a thesaurus and example sentences.
- Ad-free experience
- 15,000+ premium entries
- Offline dictionary access
- Voice search functionality
- Daily Word of the Day
- Vocabulary-building word games
- Integrated thesaurus
Read full descriptionHide full description
Get America's most useful and respected dictionary, optimized for your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Continuously updated with the newest words and meanings, this is the premier iOS app for English language reference, education, and vocabulary building. Key Features: * No ads! * Premium Content: Over 15,000 additional entries covering people and places * Offline access: Complete access to definitions and synonyms whether or not you're connected * Voice Search: look up a word without having to spell it * Word of the Day: learn a new word every day * Word Games: fun, fast quizzes to test your vocabulary * Favorite Words and Search History: keep track of the words that are most important to you * Favorite Word Syncing Through iCloud: share your favorites between devices and on the Web * For Tablets: browse the entire dictionary with a scrolling index * Apple Watch Extension: see the Word of the Day and find watch-sized definitions with voice search Expert Word Guidance: * Integrated Thesaurus: more than 200,000 word choices with examples of their use * Example Sentences: understand how a word is used in context * Audio Pronunciations: voiced by real English speakers, not text-to-speech robots Terms of Use: https://www.merriam-webster.com/terms-of-use
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Merriam at Free against Merriam's $9.99. Merriam also leads on ratings volume (332K vs 22K). Merriam's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence 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
Merriam is free to download; Merriam costs $9.99 up front. Merriam sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.79 per month. Merriam asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Merriam against 4.8 for Merriam. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Merriam has 332K ratings behind it against 22K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of Merriam's written reviews are positive against 82% of Merriam's.
Merriam ships an update every 3 months, Merriam every 5 months. Both last shipped on November 13, 2026.
| Parameter | Merriam | Merriam |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (332K ratings) | 4.8 (22K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 83.2% of reviews — better | 82.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 332K — better | 22K |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #48 | #8 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 255 MB | 238 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Merriam-Webster, Inc. | Merriam-Webster, Inc. |
Customer experience
Merriam
Merriam
User reviews
Merriam
From 332K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 👍 Comprehensive definitions
- 👍 Helpful thesaurus
- 🚀 Offline access
- 👍 Word of the day feature
Room to improve
- 🐛 Ads can be intrusive
- 🐛 Difficulty closing ads
- 🐛 Repetitive game questions
- 🐛 Missing words in dictionary
- 🐛 Unreasonable level progression in games
Merriam
From 22K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Clear and intuitive layout
- 🚀 Convenient offline access
- 🔍 Comprehensive word definitions
- 🔠 Helpful thesaurus and word games
- 🔊 Useful audio pronunciations
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app freezes and crashes
- ⚠️ Missing words and incomplete definitions
- 🔍 Lack of spell-check and word suggestions
- 🔍 Limited search functionality
- 🔀 Difficulty navigating back to previous words
Bugs and requests
Merriam
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes when searching for certain words
- Widget does not update daily word
- Scribble feature is buggy
- Inconsistent ad behavior
Requested features
5 requests- Add spelling correction suggestions
- Improve word game timer and scoring
- Expand etymology information
- Add more languages beyond English
- Improve widget functionality
Merriam
Reported bugs
4 issues- App freezes and crashes on launch
- Audio pronunciations not working in some cases
- Inconsistent performance across iOS versions
- Syncing issues between devices
Requested features
5 requests- Improved search with spell-check and suggestions
- Ability to mark and review words
- Integration with system search and Siri
- Support for landscape mode and dark mode
- Expanded word coverage and more detailed definitions
In-app purchases
Merriam
- Premium Monthly$1.791 Month
- Remove Ads$2.991 Year
- All References + Remove Ads7 Days trial$5.991 Year
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- Premium Annual7 Days trial$9.991 Year
Merriam
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Merriam free?
Is Merriam free?
Which has better reviews, Merriam or Merriam?
Do Merriam or Merriam have ads?
Which is updated more often, Merriam or Merriam?
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