ContraBee vs SpellBee
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ContraBee
This app offers a daily word puzzle using the same letter hive as the New York Times Spelling Bee. It challenges players to find words without using the required center letter, encouraging a different approach to word discovery.
- Daily word puzzles
- Uses NYT Spelling Bee letter hive
- Excludes center letter
- Encourages alternative word finding
- Unique puzzle twist
Read full descriptionHide full description
ContraBee is a complement to each day’s official New York Times Spelling Bee. It uses the same hive as each day’s Spelling Bee, but with a twist: Instead of requiring the center letter, Contra Bee excludes it. You’ll be surprised at how many words you can find if you turn your mind upside down.
SpellBee
This word puzzle game challenges you to create words from seven letters, with one central letter required in every word. It offers daily puzzles, progress tracking, and global leaderboards. Enhance your vocabulary and cognitive skills with this engaging brain-boosting activity.
- Create words from seven letters
- Find the pangram
- Daily puzzles
- Track progress and scores
- Global leaderboards
- Offline play
Read full descriptionHide full description
Challenge your vocabulary and spelling skills in the ultimate daily word puzzle game! Create words from just 7 letters, discover the hidden pangram, and see how many words you can find. Play a new daily challenge, enjoy unlimited Practice Mode, unlock achievements, and track your progress as you improve your spelling and vocabulary every day. HOW TO PLAY • Create words using the 7 available letters • Every word must include the center letter • Words must be at least 4 letters long • Find the hidden pangram using all 7 letters • Earn points and climb through the ranks all the way to Queen Bee FEATURES Daily Spelling Challenge • A brand new puzzle every day • Everyone solves the same daily challenge Unlimited Practice Mode • Unlimited randomly generated puzzles • Practice your spelling anytime 1000+ Past Puzzles • Replay previous daily puzzles • Enjoy hundreds of hours of gameplay Achievements • Unlock achievements as you play • Complete special challenges and milestones Statistics & Progress • Track your scores and improvement • Win rate, streaks, total words found, pangrams, rank distribution, total score, and more Customize Your Experience • Multiple color themes • Light & Dark Mode • Adjustable animations • Make the game your own Helpful Hints • Reveal letters when you're stuck • Keep learning while having fun Offline Play • Play anywhere, anytime • No internet required for most features WHY YOU'LL LOVE SPELLBEE • Improve your spelling naturally • Expand your vocabulary • Train your brain every day • Solve relaxing and satisfying word puzzles • Perfect for casual players and word game experts alike Can you find every word, discover the hidden pangram, and earn the prestigious Queen Bee rank? Download SpellBee today and start making words from just 7 letters! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: SpellBee at 4.5 against ContraBee's 4.0. SpellBee also leads on ratings volume (3.5K vs 4). ContraBee's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and device support 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. SpellBee sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. ContraBee asks for nothing beyond the download.
SpellBee holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SpellBee has 3.5K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 24% of ContraBee's written reviews are positive against 28% of SpellBee's.
ContraBee ships an update every 2 weeks, SpellBee fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on July 5, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ContraBee | SpellBee |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (4 ratings) | 4.5 (3.5K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 23.8% of reviews | 27.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 3.5K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 65 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lexi Games LLC | AppStation Studio Pte. Ltd. |
Customer experience
ContraBee
SpellBee
Bugs and requests
ContraBee
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
SpellBee
Reported bugs
3 issues- Freezing/crashing issues
- Losing progress and daily words
- Repeated letters across days
Requested features
4 requests- Add option to disable ads
- Improve dictionary and word selection
- Implement hints or other features
- Allow multiple players on the same game
In-app purchases
ContraBee
No in-app purchases
SpellBee
- SpellBee Premium$2.991 Month
- SpellBee Premium$24.991 Year
