ContraBee vs Puzzle Parlor
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.
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.
- Daily new puzzles
- Classic puzzle games
- No ads or dark patterns
- Streak tracking
- Optional cloud sync
- Dark mode
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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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
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.
| Parameter | ContraBee | Puzzle Parlor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (8 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 23.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lexi Games LLC | DAVID ISAAC SCHUSTER |
Customer experience
ContraBee
Puzzle Parlor
In-app purchases
ContraBee
No in-app purchases
Puzzle Parlor
- Puzzle Parlor Supporter$14.991 Year
Questions
Is ContraBee free?
Is Puzzle Parlor free?
Which has better reviews, ContraBee or Puzzle Parlor?
Do ContraBee or Puzzle Parlor have ads?
Which is updated more often, ContraBee or Puzzle Parlor?
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