Comparison

Clean Crosswords vs Crossword Puzzles!

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 Puzzles!

Solve daily crosswords set in beautiful global locations. Collect stunning destinations, tackle special weekend puzzles, and earn stamps and badges. Offers thousands of puzzles for all skill levels with optional hints.

Highlights
  • Daily free puzzles
  • Collectible global destinations
  • Weekend getaway puzzles
  • Stamps, pins, and badges
  • Thousands of puzzles
  • Hints available
Features
Read full description

Take your passion for crosswords around the world with Crossword Puzzles! Crosswords set in the world's most beautiful places. Solve a free puzzle every day, collect stunning destinations as you play, and take on special Weekend Getaways. “This is the most beautiful crossword app I’ve ever seen!” A FREE PUZZLE EVERY DAY Play every daily puzzle in the current month for free, not just today's. Each month has its own calendar showing your stars, your streak and the stamps still to earn. COLLECT BREATHTAKING DESTINATIONS Dozens of high-resolution nature photographs from around the world fill your screen as you solve. Unlock new ones by playing, mark your favorites, and let your background change daily. NEW MINI PUZZLES EVERY MONTH A fresh set of 24 quick minis each month. Finish the set to earn a brand-new destination. WEEKEND GETAWAYS Special sets of puzzles every few weekends. Score points for solving on your own and solving fast, earn bronze, silver and gold medals, see where you rank on the leaderboard, and collect a souvenir pin for each one you complete. STAMPS, PINS AND BADGES Earn a bronze, silver and gold passport stamp each month, and dozens of badges for streaks, perfect solves and more. Keep your daily streak going with a streak freeze. THOUSANDS OF PUZZLES Puzzles for every skill level, from easy to challenging. Hints when you need them: reveal a letter, reveal a word, or check for mistakes. Plays beautifully on iPhone and iPad, in portrait or landscape on iPad. WANDERLUST PASS Subscribe for the full experience: • Every destination unlocked, plus new seasonal destinations every three months • Unlimited puzzles, including every past daily puzzle • Free hints • Free streak freezes • No ads The Wanderlust Pass is available as a 1-month, 3-month or 1-year subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renew in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://dexcheck.com/privacy

Screenshots

Clean Crosswords4 screens
Crossword Puzzles!4 screens

Verdict

The call

Clean Crosswords and Crossword Puzzles! both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 85% of Crossword Puzzles!'s written reviews are positive against 66% of Clean Crosswords's. Crossword Puzzles! also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (9K vs 1.9K). On price, rating, 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 Puzzles! sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Crossword Puzzles! holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.9K and 9K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Clean Crosswords's written reviews are positive against 85% of Crossword Puzzles!'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Clean Crosswords ships an update every 4 months, Crossword Puzzles! monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Clean Crosswords versus Crossword Puzzles!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClean CrosswordsCrossword Puzzles!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (1.9K ratings)4.6 (9K ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.8% of reviews84.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.9K9K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsMonthly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size229 MB199 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerthe binary familyDexCheck, LLC

Customer experience

Clean Crosswords

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

Crossword Puzzles!

All ratings8,962 ratings
Positive93.6%
Neutral4.1%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews467 reviews
Positive84.8%
Neutral7.3%
Negative7.9%

User reviews

Clean Crosswords

From 1.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Challenging puzzles
  • 🧠 Helps improve vocabulary and memory
  • 🗓️ Lots of puzzles available
  • 🎨 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 💰 Free app with optional ad-free version

Room to improve

  • 🇬🇧 Too many British-centric references and spellings
  • 🔁 Repetitive clues and answers
  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 📢 Intrusive ads in free version
  • 🕹️ Navigation and layout issues on larger screens

Crossword Puzzles!

From 9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎯 Daily fun
  • 🧠 Fun and challenging puzzles
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🧠 Helpful clues
  • 🧠 Great variety of puzzles

Room to improve

  • 💰 Subscription too expensive
  • 🔍 Too many ads
  • 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
  • 🔍 Distracting and intrusive ads
  • 🔍 Repeated puzzles

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 Puzzles!

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Puzzle download failures
  • Incorrect letter input
  • Puzzle progress not saving
  • Ads getting stuck and preventing gameplay

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to remove ads
  • More free puzzles or ways to earn tickets
  • Improved navigation and cursor control
  • Option to choose background/color scheme
  • Ability to access past puzzles
Show 1 more
  • Inclusion of more British/European vocabulary

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Clean Crosswords

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$7.99
10 purchases

Crossword Puzzles!

Subscriptions1
  • Wanderlust Pass (1 Month)$5.991 Month
One-time9
  • Pack of 100 Tickets$0.99
  • Tickets - Tier 1$0.99
  • Pack of 100 Tickets$1.99
Show 6 more
  • Pack of 100 Tickets$2.99
  • Tickets - Tier 2$2.99
  • Tickets - Tier 3$4.99
  • Pack of 500 Tickets$11.99
  • Pack of 1250 Tickets$23.99
  • First Class Ticket: Unlimited$99.99

Questions

Is Clean Crosswords free?
Clean Crosswords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Crossword Puzzles! free?
Crossword Puzzles! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Clean Crosswords or Crossword Puzzles!?
Crossword Puzzles! is rated higher. Clean Crosswords averages 4.5 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while Crossword Puzzles! averages 4.6 from 9K ratings.
Do Clean Crosswords or Crossword Puzzles! have ads?
Both Clean Crosswords and Crossword Puzzles! show ads.
Which is updated more often, Clean Crosswords or Crossword Puzzles!?
Clean Crosswords ships an update every 4 months, and Crossword Puzzles! monthly. Most recently, Clean Crosswords was updated on November 6, 2026 and Crossword Puzzles! on November 9, 2026.

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