# Barred Crossword vs Crossmate

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Crossmate at none against Barred Crossword's 1. Crossmate also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 months). Barred Crossword's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.5). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Barred Crossword sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per year. Crossmate asks for nothing beyond the download.

Barred Crossword ships an update every 3 months, Crossmate every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Barred Crossword | Crossmate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.2 (21 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/barred-crossword/id953010888/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **21** | — |
| Positive reviews | 57.9% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Every 2 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 99 MB | 7 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 17.5 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Havos](https://appshunter.io/developer/309789068) | [Michael Camilleri](https://appshunter.io/developer/1529049456) |

## What reviewers say

### Barred Crossword

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/barred-crossword/id953010888)

This app offers an unlimited supply of automatically generated crosswords with customizable grids and difficulty. It supports multiple languages and features aids to help you solve puzzles, making it ideal for crossword enthusiasts.

**Highlights:** Unlimited auto-generated crosswords, Configurable grid size and difficulty, Multiple crossword grid types (Barred, British, Arrow), Thousands of clues, Multi-language support, Zoom and pan grid functionality, Save and reload games

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Supporter (no ads) | $4.99 | per year |


### Crossmate

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crossmate/id6762076141)

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Barred Crossword free?

Barred Crossword is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Crossmate free?

Crossmate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Barred Crossword or Crossmate have ads?

Barred Crossword shows ads; Crossmate does not.

### Which is updated more often, Barred Crossword or Crossmate?

Barred Crossword ships an update every 3 months, and Crossmate every 2 days. Most recently, Barred Crossword was updated on October 24, 2026 and Crossmate on October 25, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*