Comparison

Words Inside vs Dice by PCalc

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

Head to head
About

Words Inside

Uncover hidden words in a 3x3 grid. Enjoy casual, arcade, and daily challenge modes. Create and save your own custom grids with a one-time purchase. Unlock themed packs and utilize built-in hints.

Highlights
  • 3x3 grid word puzzles
  • Casual, Arcade, and Daily Challenge modes
  • Create and save custom grids
  • Themed word packs
  • Built-in hints and word lookup
  • Player statistics and achievements
Features
Read full description

Words Inside is a free word game where you uncover as many hidden words as you can from a letter grid. Enjoy 3x3 and 4x4 puzzles, with optional Apple Intelligence features on supported devices. Play your way: Casual Mode lets you take your time, saves your progress automatically, and makes it easy to come back later. Arcade Mode is a fast 1-minute score attack with combo multipliers for quick streaks. Daily Challenge gives you a new puzzle every day, with separate progress tracking and replayable Casual or Arcade runs. Explore the themes: Start with the free starter theme, then discover premium theme packs across a wide range of interests. Themed puzzles now include both 9-letter 3x3 and 16-letter 4x4 grids, giving you more letters to explore. Find longer words for bigger scores, with up to 40 base points for a 16-letter word. Want even more ways to play? Unlock My Grids with a one-time purchase to create, save, and replay your own custom boards. Build 3x3 or 4x4 grids, generate a random board, or enter your own letters and let the app solve it before you start. Need help? Hints are built in, and you can earn more by playing: Complete the tutorial, discover anagrams, hit word milestones, finish Casual grids, and complete the Daily Challenge. Extra hint packs are also available in-app. Features: • No in-game advertising • Light and dark mode support • Free starter theme, including a 4x4 puzzle • Daily Challenge included free with a new puzzle every day • Casual Mode with automatic progress saving • Arcade Mode with 1-minute score runs and combo bonuses • Themed 3x3 and 4x4 puzzles across a wide range of interests • Create and save your own grids with My Grids (one-time in-app purchase) • Build random or custom-letter 3x3 and 4x4 grids • Replay saved grids in Casual or Arcade • An expanded word dictionary, with words up to 16 letters long • Player statistics to track your progress • Game Center achievements • Built-in word lookup for found words • Optional Apple Intelligence features on supported devices, including Grid Analysis, Word Meanings, grid summaries, and post-game coaching • Interactive onboarding tutorial • Built-in hints plus extra hint packs available to purchase • iPhone and iPad support

About

Dice by PCalc

This app simulates polyhedral dice with realistic 3D graphics for tabletop role-playing games. It allows for custom dice creation, saving presets, and supports various game mechanics like advantage/disadvantage and modifiers. It also offers companion apps and AR functionality.

Highlights
  • Physics-based dice simulation
  • Near-photorealistic 3D graphics
  • Custom dice creation with text, emoji, or images
  • Save named presets for quick rolls
  • Support for advantage/disadvantage and modifiers
  • Companion Apple Watch app
  • Augmented Reality (AR) support
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Dice by PCalc, is a physics-based simulation of polyhedral dice for use in tabletop role-playing games with dungeons and/or dragons. Featuring near-photorealistic 3D graphics, it comes with a variety of gorgeous dice sets. Throw multiple dice with advantage or disadvantage, and any given modifier, and the app will automatically calculate the correct total. You can save named presets to quickly roll the attack of your favorite sword, or figure out exactly how much damage your bard took from those seventeen giant rats. Flick dice to fire them across the screen when the numbers don’t go your way. Create custom dice with any text or emoji on the faces, or import your own images, and easily share your dice with friends. Supports split screen and slide-over on the iPad, so you can put it alongside your other RPG apps, and speech synthesis that can read out the list of dice and the results. Also comes with a companion Apple Watch app, so you'll never be without a D20 again. Even supports AR! The ideal app for every member of your party!

Screenshots

Words Inside4 screens
Dice by PCalc4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Words Inside at Free against Dice by PCalc's $1.99. Dice by PCalc's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (338 vs 3). On update cadence, ads, 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

Words Inside is free to download; Dice by PCalc costs $1.99 up front. Words Inside sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Dice by PCalc sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Dice by PCalc holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dice by PCalc has 338 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Words Inside's written reviews are positive against 91% of Dice by PCalc's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Words Inside ships an update every 3 months, Dice by PCalc every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Words Inside versus Dice by PCalc: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWords InsideDice by PCalc
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.3 (3 ratings)4.9 (338 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews90.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3338 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#145 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB306 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperA5 MultimediaTLA Systems Ltd.

Customer experience

Words Inside

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%

Dice by PCalc

All ratings337 ratings
Positive98.2%
Neutral1.2%
Negative0.6%
Written reviews64 reviews
Positive90.6%
Neutral6.3%
Negative3.1%

Bugs and requests

Words Inside

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Dice by PCalc

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Apple Watch app crashes on launch (watchOS)
  • Apple Watch app glitches and stutters after initial rolls
  • Apple Watch app no longer functions on Apple Watch Ultra 2
  • Physics-based rolling doesn't always appear realistic

Requested features

12 requests
  • Apple Watch app stability and functionality
  • Reroll options with drop settings for Warhammer 40k
  • Multiplayer/shared dice rolling mechanic
  • Additional polyhedral dice (3, 5, 7, 14, 16, 24, 30-sided)
  • More color options, especially green and purple
Show 7 more
  • Default D10 as 1-10 instead of 0-9
  • Drop lowest dice feature for stat rolling
  • Themed environments (forest, dungeon, cave, pub)
  • Better support for non-D&D game mechanics
  • Ability to control dice list options from side panel
  • Better camera control and angles
  • Auto-remove dice on new roll option

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Words Inside

One-time10
  • Pop Stars Theme$0.99
  • Computing Theme$0.99
  • Anagrams Theme$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Animals Theme$0.99
  • Bands Theme$0.99
  • Birds Theme$0.99
  • Clothes Theme$0.99
  • Colours Theme$0.99
  • Flowers Theme$0.99
  • Food Theme$0.99
4 purchases

Dice by PCalc

One-time4
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$1.99
  • Large Tip$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Enormous Tip$9.99

Questions

Is Words Inside free?
Words Inside is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dice by PCalc free?
Dice by PCalc costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Words Inside or Dice by PCalc?
Dice by PCalc is rated higher. Words Inside averages 4.3 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Dice by PCalc averages 4.9 from 338 ratings.
Do Words Inside or Dice by PCalc have ads?
Neither Words Inside nor Dice by PCalc shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Words Inside or Dice by PCalc?
Words Inside ships an update every 3 months, and Dice by PCalc every 6 weeks. Most recently, Words Inside was updated on November 1, 2026 and Dice by PCalc on November 3, 2026.

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