PopWords! vs Upwords
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PopWords!
Engage in a fun and addictive word-finding game with multiple play modes. Challenge yourself in timed classic mode, strategic puzzle mode, or a relaxing untimed practice mode. Compete daily and track your progress against others.
- Classic timed word finding
- Strategic puzzle mode
- Relaxing practice mode
- Daily competition
- Game Center leaderboards
- Track records and averages
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PopWords! is a simple and addictive word finding game. There are three different ways to play: Classic: Find words as fast as you can from an endless stream of letters. Finding words fast enough to keep the game going gets harder and harder as time passes. Try to reach the highest level you can! Then check out the leaderboards in Game Center and realize you've got a long way to go :) Puzzle: You only get one board full of letters, so use them wisely! Longer words will earn you more points, and clearing the board completely will double your points for the whole game. Play on your own or compete in our Daily Puzzle competition to your score compares to everyone else who played that day. You can even watch the winning solution! Practice: Relax with no timer and just try to find as many great words as you can! Features: • Easy to learn -- just drag to make words! • Daily Puzzle lets you compete against the world every day • Game center leaderboards and achievements • Tracks your records, averages, and all-time best words • Relaxing untimed Practice mode • A fun mental exercise to keep your brain sharp!
Upwords
This word stacking game challenges you to transform existing words by stacking letters on top. Score higher by stacking higher and outsmarting opponents. Play with friends, strangers, or against the computer.
- Stack letters to change words
- Score points based on stacking height
- Play with friends globally
- Challenge computer opponents
- Pass & Play mode
- In-game chat
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UPWORDS – The Stacking Word Game! UPWORDS is the classic 3D crossword game where you don’t just play words… you change them! Stack letters on top of existing words to transform them into new words, score more points the higher you stack, and outsmart your opponents. Why you’ll love it: - Fun, fast, and endlessly replayable - Play with friends around the world or challenge random opponents - Test yourself against the Computer (4 skill levels) - Pass & Play with family on one device - In-game chat keeps the competition lively UPWORDS is more than just fun — it keeps your brain sharp as you find clever ways to build and stack words. The higher you go, the higher you score! Download today and start stacking your way to victory. -- Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.upwords-app.com/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Upwords at every 2 days against PopWords!'s every 3 months. Upwords also leads on chart position (#152 vs unranked). PopWords!'s advantage is review sentiment (85% vs 67%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.6). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. PopWords! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Upwords sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for PopWords! against 4.7 for Upwords. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5.6K and 9.3K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of PopWords!'s written reviews are positive against 67% of Upwords's.
PopWords! ships an update every 3 months, Upwords every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PopWords! | Upwords |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (5.6K ratings) | 4.7 (9.3K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.3% of reviews — better | 67.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5.6K | 9.3K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #152 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 91 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sarah Pierce | Lonely Star Software, Inc. |
Customer experience
PopWords!
Upwords
User reviews
PopWords!
From 5.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🤓 Keeps brain active
- ⏱️ Great daily challenge
- 🧠 Improves vocabulary
- 🕰️ Relaxing way to pass time
- 🏆 Competitive element with leaderboards
Room to improve
- 🕰️ Timer is too fast
- 🤯 Frustrating when game ends prematurely
- 🤖 Questionable word acceptance
- 📢 Disruptive ads
- 🔋 Drains battery quickly
Upwords
From 9.3K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great online game
- 🤝 Competitive and fun
- 🧠 Keeps the brain active
- 🌐 Connects players globally
- 🕰️ Enjoyable to play daily
Room to improve
- 🔤 Questionable dictionary
- 🤖 Computer uses invalid words
- 🤑 Expensive for a 50MB app
- 🚫 Rejects valid words
- 💤 Lack of help from developers
Bugs and requests
PopWords!
Reported bugs
3 issues- Daily puzzle not updating
- Game freezes or crashes
- Incorrect scoring/leaderboard issues
Requested features
5 requests- Add more time options
- Improve word dictionary
- Implement an ad-free version
- Add multi-player mode
- Include a 'hint' feature
Upwords
Reported bugs
4 issues- Ads that cannot be closed
- Frequent crashes and freezes
- Login and verification issues
- Incorrect scoring and word validation
Requested features
5 requests- Option to use British dictionary
- Choice of dictionaries
- Ability to swap more than one letter
- Show opponent's remaining tiles
- Fairer letter distribution
In-app purchases
PopWords!
- Premium$2.99
Upwords
- Premium Bundle Monthly7 Days trial$1.491 Month
- Premium Bundle Yearly7 Days trial$11.991 Year
- Full Upgrade - Free!Free
- Word Glow$1.99
- 20 Tokens$1.99
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- Medium Token Pack$4.99
- 60 Tokens$4.99
- 125 Tokens$9.99
- Large Token Pack$9.99
- 260 Tokens$19.99
- Premium Bundle Lifetime$34.99
- 610 Tokens$44.99









