ContraBee vs SpellingHive
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
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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.
SpellingHive
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Think you’ve got what it takes to become a spelling bee champion? This clean, fast, and addictively playable word game brings daily brain-boosting fun—no ads, no paywalls, no nonsense. Dive into an endless stream of challenges. Whether you're aiming for Genius or chasing the perfect pangram, this app is built for word lovers who want more. Features: • Puzzles that mimic classic game everyone loves • Unlimited random puzzles for non-stop wordplay • Interactive hints that guide, not spoil • Progress tracking and autosave — pick up right where you left off • Clean, minimalist interface with no distractions • Coming soon: multiplayer, leaderboards, cloud saves, and custom puzzle modes Whether you're a spelling bee aficionado or just looking for a satisfying word game to keep your mind sharp, this app delivers an experience that’s simple, smart, and built with love by word nerds—for word nerds.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: SpellingHive at 5.0 against ContraBee's 4.1. ContraBee's advantage is ratings volume (8 vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SpellingHive holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ContraBee has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | ContraBee | SpellingHive |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (8 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 23.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Lexi Games LLC | Tres Spicher |
In-app purchases
ContraBee
No in-app purchases
SpellingHive
No in-app purchases
