Comparison

Merriam vs Ultimate Ranks

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Offline dictionary access
  • Voice search for words
  • Daily Word of the Day
  • Vocabulary word games
  • Integrated thesaurus
  • Audio pronunciations
Features
Read 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: * 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

About

Ultimate Ranks

Discover the best movies, games, books, and music based on aggregated critical consensus. Track your progress, manage wishlists, and sync your data across devices. The basic version is free, with premium options for advanced features.

Highlights
  • Aggregated best-of lists
  • Track progress and wishlists
  • Sync data via iCloud
  • Import/export data (CSV)
  • Rate items
  • Premium features available
Features
Read full description

WHAT WE DO We sort through thousands of legit best-of lists, cast them as ballots in a fancy election (Condorcet — it's French!), and list the results. WHAT YOU DO Mark items as completed or add them to your wishlist and voilà: your backlog is sorted by critical consensus. Watch, play, read, or listen to the next best thing. Or don't; there's plenty of good stuff that isn't on our lists. You can also rate things if that's your bag. YOUR DATA Your statuses, ratings, and progress sync through iCloud. Bring your Letterboxd history in, and back up your tracking to a plain CSV file you can restore anytime. It's yours. WHAT IT COSTS The basics work for free. Premium unlocks every status and progress rings: $3.99/mo, $29.99/yr, or $89.99 lifetime. THE FINE PRINT Terms of use: https://ultimateranks.com/terms/ Privacy policy: https://ultimateranks.com/privacy/

Screenshots

Merriam4 screens
Ultimate Ranks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Ultimate Ranks at none against Merriam's shown. Ultimate Ranks also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). Merriam's advantage is ratings volume (331K vs 1) and chart position (#50 vs unranked). On price, rating, 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. Merriam sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.79 per month and Ultimate Ranks sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ultimate Ranks holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Merriam has 331K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Merriam ships an update every 3 months, Ultimate Ranks weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Merriam versus Ultimate Ranks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMerriamUltimate Ranks
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (331K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings331K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#50 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size255 MB34 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperMerriam-Webster, Inc.Joseph Casciano

Customer experience

Merriam

All ratings327,751 ratings
Positive96.7%
Neutral2.1%
Negative1.2%
Written reviews2,579 reviews
Positive83.2%
Neutral4.8%
Negative12.0%

Ultimate Ranks

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Ultimate Ranks

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Merriam

Subscriptions4
  • Premium Monthly$1.791 Month
  • Remove Ads$2.991 Year
  • All References + Remove Ads7 Days trial$5.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Premium Annual7 Days trial$9.991 Year
3 purchases

Ultimate Ranks

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Yearly$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$89.99

Questions

Is Merriam free?
Merriam is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ultimate Ranks free?
Ultimate Ranks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Merriam or Ultimate Ranks?
Ultimate Ranks is rated higher. Merriam averages 4.8 out of 5 from 331K ratings, while Ultimate Ranks averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Merriam or Ultimate Ranks have ads?
Merriam shows ads; Ultimate Ranks does not.
Which is updated more often, Merriam or Ultimate Ranks?
Merriam ships an update every 3 months, and Ultimate Ranks weekly. Most recently, Merriam was updated on November 3, 2026 and Ultimate Ranks on October 31, 2026.

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