# Clue vs Detective Notes

The clearest difference is price: Detective Notes at Free against Clue's $4.99. Detective Notes also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (72% vs 59%). Clue's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (4K vs 217). On rating, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Detective Notes is free to download; Clue costs $4.99 up front. Clue sells 26 one-off in-app purchases and Detective Notes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Clue against 4.7 for Detective Notes. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Clue has 4K ratings behind it against 217, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 59% of Clue's written reviews are positive against 72% of Detective Notes's.

Clue ships an update every 2 months, Detective Notes every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and August 9, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Clue | Detective Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.8 (4K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clue/id6447357776/reviews)** | [4.7 (217 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/detective-notes/id6466589007/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4K** | 217 |
| Positive reviews | 59.1% of reviews | **72.2% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 2 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#19** | — |
| Size | 1.3 GB | 41 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 16.4 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Marmalade Game Studio Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/988365603) | [Kyeong Cheon Yang](https://appshunter.io/developer/1707501391) |

## What reviewers say

### Clue

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clue/id6447357776)

**Currently charting:** #19 Top Paid · Board, #34 Top Paid · Puzzle (US App Store)

Experience the classic murder mystery board game digitally. Gather evidence, interrogate suspects, and solve the crime. Offers multiple game modes for solo or multiplayer play.

**Highlights:** Digital board game adaptation, Gather evidence, Interrogate suspects, Solve murder mysteries, Classic and new game modes, AI and global multiplayer

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (26)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Black Adder Green | $2.99 | one-time |
| Black Adder Mustard | $2.99 | one-time |
| Black Adder Plum | $2.99 | one-time |
| Black Adder White | $2.99 | one-time |
| Black Adder Scarlet | $2.99 | one-time |
| Black Adder CaseFile Revisited | $2.99 | one-time |
| Whispering Pines White | $2.99 | one-time |
| Tropical Pack | $3.99 | one-time |
| Black Adder Resort Crime Scene | $4.99 | one-time |
| Winter Ball Records | $4.99 | one-time |
| Halloween Records | $4.99 | one-time |
| Noir Crime Scene Location | $4.99 | one-time |
| Whispering Pines Crime Scene | $4.99 | one-time |
| Black Adder Character Pack | $5.99 | one-time |
| WhisperingPines Character Pack | $5.99 | one-time |
| Ultimate Edition Sale | $7.99 | one-time |
| Black Adder Resort Bundle | $12.99 | one-time |
| Whispering Pines Bundle | $12.99 | one-time |
| PolarStation Crime SceneBundle | $12.99 | one-time |
| 2016 Edition Character Pack | $14.99 | one-time |
| Welcome Offer | $19.99 | one-time |
| Clue 2 Epic Crime Collection | $25.99 | one-time |
| Clue 2 Epic Crime Collection | $27.99 | one-time |
| Clue 2 Epic Crime Collection | $29.99 | one-time |
| Clue 2 Epic Crime Collection | $34.99 | one-time |
| Ultimate Edition | $39.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Excellent graphics and animations
- 👍 Variety of game modes and options
- 🎨 Enjoyable character designs
- 🕹️ Fun and engaging gameplay
- 🕵️‍♀️ Challenging detective elements

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Bugs and glitches
- 📃 Small and hard-to-read clue sheet
- 🕹️ AI opponents not challenging enough
- 💰 Expensive DLC
- 🔀 Character token movement issues

**Reported bugs**

- Clue card progress not saving properly
- Game freezing or crashing on certain actions
- Incorrect character starting positions
- Ability to make illegal moves not prevented
- Online matchmaking not working as expected

**Requested features**

- Pass and play multiplayer mode
- Ability to customize player name
- Larger clue sheet with zoom option
- Improved tracking of completed goals/tasks
- More diverse character selection


### Detective Notes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/detective-notes/id6466589007)

Organize clues, suspects, and locations to solve mysteries. Customize your detective notebook for any game, adjust player counts, and keep your strategies private. Features include marker variety and multilingual support.

**Highlights:** Customizable setup for suspects, tools, and locations, Flexible player count adjustment, Private note customization, Variety of marker tools, Multilingual support

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| No Ads | $3.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Clue free?

Clue costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Is Detective Notes free?

Detective Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Clue or Detective Notes?

Clue is rated higher. Clue averages 4.8 out of 5 from 4K ratings, while Detective Notes averages 4.7 from 217 ratings.

### Do Clue or Detective Notes have ads?

Detective Notes shows ads; Clue does not.

### Which is updated more often, Clue or Detective Notes?

Clue ships an update every 2 months, and Detective Notes every 2 weeks. Most recently, Clue was updated on September 26, 2026 and Detective Notes on August 9, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*