Comparison

Codeword Unlimited vs Crossly

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

Head to head
About

Codeword Unlimited

This app offers an unlimited supply of number-to-letter word puzzles, also known as Codewords or Cryptograms. Players can customize grid size, difficulty, and starting letters. It supports multiple languages and includes helpful tools for solving.

Highlights
  • Unlimited puzzle generation
  • Customizable grid size
  • Adjustable difficulty levels
  • Multi-language support
  • Letter highlighting
  • Word validity checker
  • View word definitions
Features
Read full description

Codeword Unlimited is an application to play the popular word game known as Codeword (also known as Cipher crosswords or Cyptograms). This game uses UK English spellings or US English spellings (user choice). The words to find are in English, or you can play in 35 other languages. For those unfamiliar with Codeword puzzles, they provide a grid of words, similar to a normal crossword, but with no clues, rather a few initially provided letters, and a number in each square in the gird to indicate its (as yet unknown) letter. All boxes with the same number must use the same letter. From that information and the few initially provided letters it is possible to work out which words will fit in the boxes. Hence you are decoding (or decyphering) the numbers into letters to reveal the hidden words. Usually all 26 letters of the alphabet are used in the codeword, although not always (and unused letters appear crossed out in the keyboard). It is fun, challenging, and a real brain teaser. Feature list: 1) Unlimited number of codewords!! They are created on-the-fly using the application's advanced generator engine and it's built-in word list 2) The player decides the number of rows and columns (from 3 to 20). This allows the game to be suitable for all kinds of mobile-phones and tablets 3) Difficultly level can be specified by the user, which determines the pool of words the generator will use. The larger the pool the greater the difficulty. There is even an early learner mode with a limited number of words, aimed at children and English language learners. The number of starting letters can also be specified. Higher scores can be obtained with more difficult codewords 4) Selecting a square in the grid will highlight all places the same letter is used in that grid (i.e. has the same number to decipher). This is really handy and of course not possible when doing codewords in a magazine 5) If a game is too difficult, the application provides two useful tools to help you (see below) 6) For any word in the grid for which all squares are assigned to letters, Codeword Unlimited will highlight if that word is NOT an allowed word in the word list it uses to generate its codewords. This helps you when you have mistakes in your current assignments (saving you lots of time and frustration!) 7) An on-screen keyboard means it is much easier and more comfortable to play 8) The definition of a completed word can be viewed. This is useful if you do not know it, or you are learning a foreign language (internet connection required) 9) Choose the language of the word list, from a large range of downloadable dictionaries. 36 languages are currently available (see below) 10) Can be played in portrait or landscape mode. Just rotate your device and the display adjusts automatically Other similar applications want you to pay for more puzzles, but this game provides you with endless puzzles, all for free!!. Each game is assigned a difficulty level from 0 (easy) to 9 (very hard). The difficulty level is determined by the settings or the difficulty selector. Each difficulty level maintains the high scores (measured by fastest time to complete the game). The game displays the best 20 scores for each difficulty level. If the player is in difficulty, the application provides two very useful aids 1) The game can provide another decoded letter 2) The game can show you potential answers for an uncompleted word. The game uses the letters that you have already decoded and displays the matching words You can play this app in the following languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Russian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Greek, Indonesian, Romanian, Serbian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Slovene, Turkish, Ukrainian, Afrikaans, Albanian, Azeri, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Catalan, Galician, Tagalog

About

Crossly

Engage in a strategic word game with friends, blending classic crosswords with competitive play. Earn points for correct answers, hinder opponents, and enjoy endless unique puzzles with interactive features like stealing turns and revealing letters.

Highlights
  • Endless unique crossword puzzles
  • Steal turns and send taunts
  • Peek at letters for difficult clues
  • Pencil in and change answers
  • Offline saving of penciled words
  • Premium mode with bonus peeks and themes
Features
Read full description

Challenge your friends in the fun strategic word game that combines classic crosswords with the spirit of friendly competition! In Crossly™, two players take turns filling out the board, accumulating points for each correct clue by gaining a point for each letter in the clue and subtracting a point from their opponent for any of their intersecting answers. Clean design, fluid animations and playful messaging work together to make this the best crosswords experience in the App Store. Features: - Endless Gameplay: Crossly pulls from tens of thousands of clues to generate unique crossword puzzles on the fly for optimal replay value. No two boards are ever alike! - Steal & Taunt: When you or your opponent miss a word, the other player may choose to steal for an extra turn and send a friendly taunt using animated GIFs powered by GIPHY - Peeks: For hard-to-guess clues, you may use one Peek per turn to reveal a letter of your choice. That letter is only visible to the player who initiates the Peek. Bonus Peeks are awarded for completing games and Peek Packs may be acquired via In-App Purchase. - Penciling: Penciling allows you to work on the board at any time, changing answers and adjusting your strategy as more words are completed. All penciled words are saved, even when your network connection is offline. - Premium Mode: Play unlimited games for free, or unlock Premium Mode for 15 bonus Peeks and colorful themes. Show your love by choosing your own price to upgrade!

Screenshots

Codeword Unlimited4 screens
Crossly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Crossly at none against Codeword Unlimited's shown. Crossly also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (10 vs 12.0). Codeword Unlimited's advantage is review sentiment (81% vs 51%) and ratings volume (1.8K vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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. Codeword Unlimited sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per year and Crossly sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Crossly holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Codeword Unlimited has 1.8K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 81% of Codeword Unlimited's written reviews are positive against 51% of Crossly's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Codeword Unlimited ships an update every 4 months, Crossly every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Codeword Unlimited versus Crossly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCodeword UnlimitedCrossly
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.8K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.1% of reviews — better50.7% of reviews
Number of ratings1.8K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.010 — better
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHavosMercury Intermedia, Inc.

Customer experience

Codeword Unlimited

All ratings1,765 ratings
Positive95.5%
Neutral3.0%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews259 reviews
Positive81.1%
Neutral6.9%
Negative12.0%

Crossly

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews73 reviews
Positive50.7%
Neutral27.4%
Negative21.9%

User reviews

Codeword Unlimited

From 1.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🧠 Mentally stimulating
  • 👍 Customizable difficulty levels
  • 🕹️ Addictive gameplay
  • 💪 Keeps the brain active
  • 🎮 Enjoyable game

Room to improve

  • 📢 Intrusive ads
  • ⏱️ Inaccurate timers
  • 🔍 Questionable word choices
  • 🇺🇸 American-centric vocabulary
  • 🤖 Automated hints/penalties

Crossly

From 1 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤩 Addictive gameplay
  • 💡 Innovative blend of crossword and competition
  • 👍 Fun and engaging for friends
  • 🎨 Beautiful and fluid interface
  • 🧠 Great mind jogger

Room to improve

  • 🐌 Slow loading times
  • 🧩 Obscure or nonsensical clues/answers
  • 🇺🇸 Strong US bias in clues
  • 📉 App abandonment concerns
  • ❓ Puzzles lack cohesion

Bugs and requests

Codeword Unlimited

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes on certain devices
  • Incompatibility issues with updates
  • Incorrect word definitions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Option to disable ads
  • More challenging word lists
  • Ability to manually fill in letters
  • Improved timer accuracy
  • Localization for different languages

Crossly

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • App won't load / spins forever
  • Games disappear or are lost
  • Notifications are broken / badge issues
  • Rematch issues (wrong person)
Show 11 more
  • Board/clues mixed up or incorrect
  • Games don't update automatically
  • Inability to start games with friends
  • In-game errors and glitches
  • Crashing on launch
  • Games stuck in 'waiting for their move' list
  • Inconsistent turn notifications
  • Cannot decline rematches
  • Cannot end games without resigning
  • Clues are sometimes backwards
  • Words run into each other

Requested features

13 requests
  • iPad support
  • UK version of the game
  • Difficulty levels
  • Chat feature
  • Facebook integration
Show 8 more
  • User-selectable usernames
  • Stats page (wins/losses)
  • Themes for puzzles
  • Time limits for turns
  • Ability to decline invitations
  • Reminder for opponent's turn
  • More American puzzle makers/content
  • Color customization options

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Codeword Unlimited

Subscriptions1
  • Supporter (no ads)$4.991 Year
7 purchases

Crossly

One-time7
  • "Meh" Premium Upgrade$0.99
  • Peek Pack - 5 Peeks$0.99
  • "It's Cool" Premium Upgrade$1.99
Show 4 more
  • Peek Pack - 15 Peeks$1.99
  • "LOVE" Premium Upgrade$2.99
  • Peek Pack - 25 Peeks$2.99
  • Peek Pack - 100 Peeks$4.99

Questions

Is Codeword Unlimited free?
Codeword Unlimited is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Crossly free?
Crossly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Codeword Unlimited or Crossly?
Crossly is rated higher. Codeword Unlimited averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.8K ratings, while Crossly averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Codeword Unlimited or Crossly have ads?
Codeword Unlimited shows ads; Crossly does not.
Which is updated more often, Codeword Unlimited or Crossly?
Codeword Unlimited ships an update every 4 months, and Crossly every 5 months. Most recently, Codeword Unlimited was updated on October 14, 2026 and Crossly on October 9, 2026.

Other comparisons