Comparison

Codewords vs Telegraph Puzzles

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

Head to head
About

Codewords

Engage your mind with unique crossword puzzles where letters are replaced by numbers. Solve the code by deducing which number represents which letter to complete the grid. Perfect for a quick mental workout.

Highlights
  • Number-to-letter decoding
  • 900 complete puzzles
  • Zooming grid
  • Cheats and answer checking
  • Landscape mode
Features
Read full description

Codeword puzzles to keep you busy during coffee break. This full version has 900 complete puzzles. Codewords are crossword puzzles with a twist - there are no clues. Instead, each letter A-Z is represented by a random number 1-26, with the same number representing the same letter throughout the puzzle. All you have to do is decide which letter is represented by which number. For example, all the 1's may be T's, all the 2's E's and so on. You are given some letters to help start off. All the letters A-Z are present in the early puzzles, with one number for each letter (later puzzles don't necessarily have all 26 letters in the grid). The codewords grid is displayed in full. If you are really stuck then you can reveal a letter. A great way to while away your commute! Features: - zooming grid - cheats and answer checking - landscape mode Also known as Enigma Code, Code Breaker, Cipher crosswords, Code Crackers and Kaidoku. If you're after a bigger challenge, try our Crossword apps - casual, cryptic and US style versions are available.

About

Telegraph Puzzles

Engage your mind with a wide variety of daily brainteasers, including crosswords, Sudoku, and word games. Track your progress with streaks and achievements, and access thousands of past puzzles.

Highlights
  • Daily crosswords
  • Sudoku puzzles
  • Word games
  • Puzzle archive
  • Streaks and achievements
  • Multiple difficulty levels
Features
Read full description

What will you solve today? Turn your spare minutes into moments of victory with Telegraph Puzzles. From quick wins to word, number and logic games, you’ll find a range of rewarding brainteasers in one convenient app. What’s more, you can now play mini versions of our most popular puzzles FREE – making it easier than ever to score a daily victory. Our puzzles include: The 1% Club Five daily logic questions that get harder as you go, based on the hit TV show Panagram Find as many word as you can, including the nine-letter Panagram Mini Crossword Fast-paced (but satisfying) fun with a few short clues. Can you crack it in less than a minute? Sorted Test your trivia knowledge by putting the answers in order, from monarchs to movies Cogs Rotate the blocks of letters to find hidden words and phrases Quick Crossword Can you solve our most popular daily crossword? Cross Atlantic Pit your wits against a word puzzle with real character Cryptic Crossword Find each clue’s real meaning and fill in the grid Sudoku Regular Sharpen your solving skills with the classic number game Sudoku Tough Are your solving skills up to the challenge? Killer Sudoku Prove you’re a Sudoku supremo with one of our toughest games Kakuro In the mood for something new? Solve a word game that uses numbers instead… Codewords Regular Are you clever enough to crack the code – and fill in the grid? Codewords Tough Pit your code-breaking wits against a true test of your mettle General Knowledge Crossword See if you can win our biggest weekly prize by conquering our largest puzzle Toughie Find out if your patience, perseverance and problem-solving abilities can conquer our hardest crossword ____________________________________________ The Puzzles Archive With the Telegraph Puzzles app, you’ll never be short of entertainment. Visit our archive and you’ll find more than 30,000 extra games, including even more of your favourite solves. Streaks and Achievements Solve a brainteaser every day, or every week, to start building and tracking your Streak in the app. Plus, tackle new brainteasers and reach milestones to earn fun Achievements. Allow notifications to: Make sure you don’t lose your daily or weekly Streak Know as soon as new puzzles are ready to play Be the first to tackle our latest games and try out new features So what will you solve today? Download the Telegraph Puzzles app now

Screenshots

Codewords3 screens
Telegraph Puzzles1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Codewords at 77% against Telegraph Puzzles's 25%. Codewords also leads on monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and rating (4.8 vs 4.3). Telegraph Puzzles's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 9 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Codewords sells 11 one-off in-app purchases and Telegraph Puzzles sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Codewords holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 83 and 30 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Codewords's written reviews are positive against 25% of Telegraph Puzzles's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Codewords ships an update every 9 months, Telegraph Puzzles fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Codewords versus Telegraph Puzzles: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCodewordsTelegraph Puzzles
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (83 ratings) — better4.3 (30 ratings)
Positive reviews76.9% of reviews — better24.8% of reviews
Number of ratings83 — better30
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB135 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperTeazelTELEGRAPH MEDIA GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED

Customer experience

Codewords

All ratings83 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral3.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral10.3%
Negative12.8%

Telegraph Puzzles

All ratings30 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral3.3%
Negative13.3%
Written reviews278 reviews
Positive24.8%
Neutral16.9%
Negative58.3%

Bugs and requests

Codewords

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Telegraph Puzzles

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Puzzles not updating daily
  • Inability to access archived puzzles
  • Subscription not recognized
  • Freezing and crashing issues
  • Inconsistent performance on different devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to reset puzzles
  • Sync progress across devices
  • Customizable puzzle selection
  • Leaderboards and competition features

In-app purchases

11 purchases

Codewords

One-time11
  • pack of Codewords (Pack 1)$0.99
  • pack of Codewords (Pack 2)$0.99
  • pack of Codewords (Pack 3)$0.99
Show 8 more
  • pack of Codewords (Pack 4)$0.99
  • pack of Codewords (Pack 5)$0.99
  • pack of Codewords (Pack 6)$0.99
  • pack of Codewords (Pack 7)$0.99
  • pack of Codewords (Pack 9)$0.99
  • pack of Codewords (Pack 10)$0.99
  • pack of Codewords (Pack 11)$0.99
  • full set of Codewords packs$2.99
5 purchases

Telegraph Puzzles

Subscriptions3
  • Telegraph Puzzles$3.991 Month
  • Telegraph Puzzles$29.491 Year
  • Telegraph Puzzles Annual1 Year trial$49.001 Year
One-time2
  • Telegraph Puzzles$3.99
  • Telegraph Puzzles$29.99

Questions

Is Codewords free?
Codewords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Telegraph Puzzles free?
Telegraph Puzzles is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Codewords or Telegraph Puzzles?
Codewords is rated higher. Codewords averages 4.8 out of 5 from 83 ratings, while Telegraph Puzzles averages 4.3 from 30 ratings.
Do Codewords or Telegraph Puzzles have ads?
Neither Codewords nor Telegraph Puzzles shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Codewords or Telegraph Puzzles?
Codewords ships an update every 9 months, and Telegraph Puzzles fortnightly. Most recently, Codewords was updated on September 26, 2026 and Telegraph Puzzles on September 25, 2026.

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