Comparison

ContraBee vs Puzzle Parlor

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Daily word puzzles
  • Uses NYT Spelling Bee letter hive
  • Excludes center letter
  • Encourages alternative word finding
  • Unique puzzle twist
Features
Read 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.

About

Puzzle Parlor

Enjoy a curated collection of daily and classic puzzle games without ads or in-app purchases. Track your progress with streaks and sync across devices. A simple, family-made experience for puzzle enthusiasts.

Highlights
  • Daily new puzzles
  • Classic puzzle games
  • No ads or dark patterns
  • Streak tracking
  • Optional cloud sync
  • Dark mode
Features
Read full description

Puzzle Parlor is a small, lovingly-curated collection of puzzle games - a few new dailies each morning, a stack of classics for whenever you want to keep going, and exactly zero ads, dark patterns, or "buy unlimited hints" buttons. DAILY PUZZLES (NEW EVERY DAY) - Fiver - five guesses, five letters - Crossjam - trace letters, build words - Sudoku - classic 9x9, easy / medium / hard rotation through the week - Cypherly - crack a daily quote, one letter at a time CLASSICS (ALWAYS AVAILABLE) - 2048 - Solitaire - Minesweeper - Match - the memory / concentration game NICETIES - Streaks per game - Solve any classic without signing in - Optional cloud sync if you want the same progress on phone and tablet - Daily email digest (optional, one tap to subscribe) - Dark mode OPTIONAL SUPPORTER SUBSCRIPTION If the app's brought you a few good mornings, you can chip in with a $14.99/year Supporter subscription. You'll get a small sun emblem next to your name. Nothing in the app is paywalled - Supporter is a tip-jar, not a content gate. More thank-yous as the project grows. Subscription auto-renews yearly at $14.99 until cancelled. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Manage or cancel anytime in your device Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions; no refunds for the unused portion of a term. Privacy Policy: https://puzzleparlor.fun/#/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Built by a family for our own family - we play it, the kids help pick the puzzles, and we keep it simple because that's why we wanted it in the first place. Privacy-respecting by default: no ads, no third-party tracking, no data brokers. Email is collected only if you sign in (magic-link, no password) or subscribe to the daily digest, and we never share it. Site: https://puzzleparlor.fun Made by: Lazybrains

Screenshots

ContraBee3 screens
Puzzle Parlor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Puzzle Parlor at 100% against ContraBee's 24%. Puzzle Parlor also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.1). ContraBee's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Puzzle Parlor sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $14.99 per year. ContraBee asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Puzzle Parlor holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 24% of ContraBee's written reviews are positive against 100% of Puzzle Parlor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ContraBee ships an update every 2 weeks, Puzzle Parlor every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ContraBee versus Puzzle Parlor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterContraBeePuzzle Parlor
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (8 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews23.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLexi Games LLCDAVID ISAAC SCHUSTER

Customer experience

ContraBee

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews21 reviews
Positive23.8%
Neutral14.3%
Negative61.9%

Puzzle Parlor

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

ContraBee

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Puzzle Parlor

Subscriptions1
  • Puzzle Parlor Supporter$14.991 Year

Questions

Is ContraBee free?
ContraBee is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Puzzle Parlor free?
Puzzle Parlor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ContraBee or Puzzle Parlor?
Puzzle Parlor is rated higher. ContraBee averages 4.1 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Puzzle Parlor averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do ContraBee or Puzzle Parlor have ads?
Neither ContraBee nor Puzzle Parlor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ContraBee or Puzzle Parlor?
ContraBee ships an update every 2 weeks, and Puzzle Parlor every 3 weeks. Most recently, ContraBee was updated on October 23, 2026 and Puzzle Parlor on October 24, 2026.

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