Comparison

Clean Crosswords vs Crossword Islands

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 1,800 crossword puzzles
  • Clues in puzzle grid
  • Classic British English
  • Designed for iPhone and iPad
  • Challenging fun
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Crossword Islands

Embark on a global adventure by solving English crosswords on various islands. This game offers a challenging and engaging experience for crossword enthusiasts, featuring carefully selected words, excellent graphics, and sound.

Highlights
  • World travel theme
  • Challenging word puzzles
  • High-quality graphics and sound
  • Regular updates
  • English language crosswords
Features
Read full description

Many of us dream about traveling the world. However, the truth is to be found somewhere else – in order to do anything more interesting our traveler has to be solving ... crosswords during sea voyages! Help him travel the world. It’s time for an adventure! There are many crosswords waiting for you on every island – you'll guess some words straight away, with others you'll have to think for a little longer – but that is the challenge. This is an ideal word game, much more interesting than word master type games (puzzle, picnic) – if you simply love crosswords and puzzles and cannot imagine even a day without solving such crosswords as the magic crossword, panoramic crossword, fill-in puzzle, crosswords on other grids and picnic, then this is the game for you! Carefully selected words, excellent graphics, and sounds make this game stand out from the other, pretty mundane crossword games. These are certainly the best crosswords in English! This crossword game combines the qualities of paper crosswords as well as the simplicity of many cool word games! Start now, as there will undoubtedly be more and more words added in the future. Numerous updates are scheduled, so as to ensure this crossword game remains the best word game on the market! Simplicity Games still powers the boat.

Screenshots

Clean Crosswords4 screens
Crossword Islands4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Clean Crosswords at 66% against Crossword Islands's 33%. Clean Crosswords also leads on ratings volume (1.9K vs 24) and rating (4.5 vs 4.2). Crossword Islands's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, update cadence, 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. Clean Crosswords sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Crossword Islands sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Clean Crosswords holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Clean Crosswords has 1.9K ratings behind it against 24, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Clean Crosswords's written reviews are positive against 33% of Crossword Islands's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Clean Crosswords ships an update every 4 months, Crossword Islands every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Clean Crosswords versus Crossword Islands: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClean CrosswordsCrossword Islands
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (1.9K ratings) — better4.2 (24 ratings)
Positive reviews65.8% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings1.9K — better24
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size229 MB219 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerthe binary familyTomasz Dyrak

Customer experience

Clean Crosswords

All ratings1,926 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral6.4%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews243 reviews
Positive65.8%
Neutral14.0%
Negative20.2%

Crossword Islands

All ratings24 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral4.2%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

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 Islands

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Clean Crosswords

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$7.99
6 purchases

Crossword Islands

One-time6
  • Small pack of coins$0.99
  • Medium pack of coins$1.99
  • Big pack of coins$2.99
Show 3 more
  • No Ads!$2.99
  • Mega pack of coins - DISCOUNT$3.99
  • Mega pack of coins$5.99

Questions

Is Clean Crosswords free?
Clean Crosswords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Crossword Islands free?
Crossword Islands is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Clean Crosswords or Crossword Islands?
Clean Crosswords is rated higher. Clean Crosswords averages 4.5 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while Crossword Islands averages 4.2 from 24 ratings.
Do Clean Crosswords or Crossword Islands have ads?
Both Clean Crosswords and Crossword Islands show ads.
Which is updated more often, Clean Crosswords or Crossword Islands?
Clean Crosswords ships an update every 4 months, and Crossword Islands every 3 months. Most recently, Clean Crosswords was updated on September 16, 2026 and Crossword Islands on September 7, 2026.

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