Comparison

Crosswords vs Crossword Scanner

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

Head to head
About

Crosswords

Engage with daily crossword puzzles from various newspapers, offering hints, clue lookups, and progress tracking. Upgrade for automatic puzzle delivery, access to extensive archives, and a wider selection of premium puzzle sources.

Highlights
  • Daily newspaper crossword puzzles
  • Hints and clue lookups
  • Progress tracking
  • US and UK cryptic puzzles
  • Automatic puzzle downloads
  • Access to extensive puzzle archives
  • Comparison with other solvers
Features
Read full description

"… the definitive source for puzzles for iOS…" -- the New York Times Play the Award Winning Crosswords on your iPad or iPhone, optimized for iOS 27! Each day many newspapers provide their crossword puzzles online; wake up each day to new puzzles, solve them, get hints, view clues, and track how quickly you're improving! • Touch and hold a square to view hints • US and UK Cryptic puzzles available • Hints, Websites, and Clue lookups • Enter answers in 'ink' or 'pencil' • Quickly see your recently played, or sort by date, difficulty or source • Detailed info on each puzzle • Post your solve times online and compare with other solvers After upgrading, you can also: • Automatically get new puzzles every day • Access nearly unlimited puzzles from many different sources • Grab older puzzles with a tap • Download new puzzles automatically in the background Upgraded Puzzle Sources: • Brendan Emmett Quigley's Weekly Puzzle • Inkwell Crossword (Archives only) • Village Voice (Archives only) • Chronicle of Higher Education (Archives only) • King Features Crosswords (Joseph, Sheffer, and Premier) • People Magazine (Archives only) • Newsday (Archives only) • Andy Kravis, Cruciverbist at Law • Glutton for Pun • MacNamara’s Band • Murchie’s Monday Fills • Neville Fogarty • Puzzle Express • The Stickler Weekly • World of Crosswords Premium Crosswords subscription required: • Matt Gaffney’s Crossword Contest • American Values Crossword • Crooked Crosswords Providers list subject to change. •• For support, please visit our website at http://www.standalone.com •• Privacy Policy: https://www.standalone.com/legal/ EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Crossword Scanner

Capture crosswords from physical media or digital screenshots and solve them on your device. Features a live preview for accurate scanning and an intuitive interface for inputting answers.

Highlights
  • Scan crosswords with live preview
  • Import from device gallery
  • Solve scanned crosswords on device
  • Tap to edit horizontally/vertically
  • Supports iPhone and iPad
Features
Read full description

Scan and solve crosswords from newspapers, magazines and the likes directly on your iPhone or iPad! * Scan * Use the amazing 4K live preview to capture accurate representations of your crosswords from magazines or newspapers. Import directly from the device gallery to use screenshots from your digital subscriptions. Always make sure you only scan crosswords you either own or are allowed to copy. * Solve * Once you have scanned your crossword, it is available for solving on your device. Tap a character spot once to edit horizontally; once more on the same spot to edit vertically.

Screenshots

Crosswords4 screens
Crossword Scanner3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Crosswords at 4.3 against Crossword Scanner's 1.3. Crosswords also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (579 vs 3). Crossword Scanner's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Crosswords sells 14 one-off in-app purchases and Crossword Scanner sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Crosswords holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Crosswords has 579 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 30% of Crosswords's written reviews are positive against 33% of Crossword Scanner's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Crosswords ships an update every 4 days, Crossword Scanner every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Crosswords versus Crossword Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCrosswordsCrossword Scanner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (579 ratings) — better1.3 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews29.6% of reviews33.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings579 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB38 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperStand Alone, Inc.Havnør

Customer experience

Crosswords

All ratings579 ratings
Positive84.8%
Neutral5.2%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews98 reviews
Positive29.6%
Neutral17.3%
Negative53.1%

Crossword Scanner

All ratings3 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

Bugs and requests

Crosswords

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Puzzle grid freezing or displaying blank
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between apps
  • Inability to access or download certain puzzle sources

Requested features

4 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to delete puzzles
  • Comprehensive error checking and feedback
  • Customizable keyboard and gestures

Crossword Scanner

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

14 purchases

Crosswords

One-time14
  • Lionel's crosswords, Vol. 1$0.99
  • Ink Well Xwords, Vol. 1$1.99
  • Dell Crosswords$1.99
Show 11 more
  • Edited by Ben Tausig, Vol. 1$1.99
  • Ridonkulous Crosswords$1.99
  • Liz Gorski's Crossword Nation: Vol. 1, No. 1-20$1.99
  • Dell Medium Crosswords$1.99
  • Brendan Emmett Quigley's Faves #1$2.99
  • Jonesin' Crosswords$2.99
  • Edited By Tausig 2$2.99
  • Brendan Emmett Quigley Freestyle$2.99
  • Crosswords Pro (Upgrade)$3.99
  • Crossword Nation's Centennial Edition$7.99
  • Crosswords Pro$9.99
5 purchases

Crossword Scanner

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Quarterly$4.993 Months
  • Yearly$14.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime$29.99
  • Enable sharing$39.99

Questions

Is Crosswords free?
Crosswords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Crossword Scanner free?
Crossword Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Crosswords or Crossword Scanner?
Crosswords is rated higher. Crosswords averages 4.3 out of 5 from 579 ratings, while Crossword Scanner averages 1.3 from 3 ratings.
Do Crosswords or Crossword Scanner have ads?
Crossword Scanner shows ads; Crosswords does not.
Which is updated more often, Crosswords or Crossword Scanner?
Crosswords ships an update every 4 days, and Crossword Scanner every 9 days. Most recently, Crosswords was updated on October 29, 2026 and Crossword Scanner on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons