Clean Crosswords vs Crossword
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Clean Crosswords
Enjoy a classic crossword experience designed for iOS devices. This app offers 1,800 puzzles with clues directly in the grid for easy viewing and play. It provides weeks of challenging fun in a clean, British English format.
- 1,800 crossword puzzles
- Clues in puzzle grid
- Classic British English
- Designed for iPhone and iPad
- Challenging fun
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Designed for iPhone and iPad and the new iOS and written in classic British English, Clean Crossword is different and possibly the best crossword ever published for iOS devices. The clues are shown right in the puzzle grid, making puzzles easy to view and play for weeks of challenging fun.
Crossword
Engage with a vast collection of American-style crosswords, featuring adjustable grid sizes and difficulty levels. Enjoy unlimited on-the-fly generated puzzles and utilize helpful tools like validation and a built-in solver. Supports multiple languages and spelling preferences for a personalized experience.
- Adjustable grid zoom and movement
- Multiple grid sizes and difficulty levels
- On-the-fly grid generation for unlimited play
- Thousands of straight and general knowledge clues
- US/UK English spelling options
- Built-in crossword solver and hints
- Crosswords in French, German, and Dutch
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Play a large range of crosswords. All use the usual American style grids, such as is used in the NY Times, USA Today and many other newspapers Note that all the answers and clues use US English spellings, and that the general knowledge clues are tailored for US players. Features: • You can zoom in & out of the grid, and move around, making it possible to play larger grids even on smaller screens • There is a large range of built in grids, from sizes 11x11, 13x13 and 15x15 at different difficulty levels. Most have just 16% black squares, per the standard definition • In addition a new grid of sizes up to 8x8 can be generated on-the-fly by the app, meaning unlimited games to play • Many 1000's of clues, both straight and general knowledge • Choose between US or UK English spellings • General knowledge questions tailored to your country (currently US, UK, Australia and Canada) • Ability to save and reload games, so several games can be played at the same time • Numerous aids in case you get stuck, e.g. validate word/letter, reveal word and even a built-in crossword solver to show potential matches • Easily flip between different crosswords, just like a crossword puzzle book • Also includes crosswords in French, German and Dutch
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Clean Crosswords at 1.9K against Crossword's 152. Crossword's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Clean Crosswords sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Crossword sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Clean Crosswords against 4.4 for Crossword. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Clean Crosswords has 1.9K ratings behind it against 152, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 66% of Clean Crosswords's written reviews are positive against 70% of Crossword's.
Clean Crosswords ships an update every 4 months, Crossword every 5 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Clean Crosswords | Crossword |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1.9K ratings) — better | 4.4 (152 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 65.8% of reviews | 70.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.9K — better | 152 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 229 MB | 101 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | the binary family | Havos |
Customer experience
Clean Crosswords
Crossword
Bugs and requests
Clean Crosswords
Reported bugs
4 issues- Incorrect word definitions or answers
- Arrows pointing to wrong cells
- Puzzle progress not saving properly
- Ads causing app crashes or freezes
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Progress tracking and statistics
- Ability to replay completed puzzles
- More variety in puzzle difficulty levels
- Better integration of American English
Crossword
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Clean Crosswords
- Remove Ads$7.99
Crossword
- Supporter (no ads)$4.991 Year
- Stack of 1300 Coins$0.99
- Stack of 3000 Coins$1.99
- Stack of 8000 coins$3.99
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- Stack of 20000 Coins$9.99
Questions
Is Clean Crosswords free?
Is Crossword free?
Which has better reviews, Clean Crosswords or Crossword?
Do Clean Crosswords or Crossword have ads?
Which is updated more often, Clean Crosswords or Crossword?
Other comparisons
