The best word games right now are NYT Games for daily puzzles (Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Strands and the Crossword in one free app), Words With Friends or NYT Crossplay for playing with friends, and Word Tiles if you just want to relax. No ads? NYT Games and Knotwords have no “Contains ads” label on Google Play, and Apple Arcade’s Crossword Jam+ has no ads at all.
Here are 12 word games for iPhone and Android, each with a “best for” label. Prices, ads, in-app purchases, offline play and platforms come from the US App Store and Google Play listings (or the developer’s site), checked November 3, 2026 (10:45 to 11:00 UTC). No pick has cash prizes, wagers or Apple’s “simulated gambling” rating.
Table of Contents
Quick answer: best word games by type
- Best overall (daily puzzles): NYT Games: Wordle & Crossword (free; optional NYT Games subscription).
- Best for playing with friends: Words With Friends (free, ads; Ad Free Bundle $9.99 on iPhone).
- Best Scrabble-style game without in-app ads: NYT Crossplay (free; its listing says “No in-app ads”).
- Best official Scrabble: Scrabble GO (free, ads; Scrabble Club subscription removes them).
- Best relaxing word game: Word Tiles – Relaxing Puzzle (no timer; #1 on Apple’s Top Free Word chart today).
- Best word search: Word Search Explorer (plays offline).
- Best for no ads and offline on iPhone: Crossword Jam+ on Apple Arcade.
- Best one-time purchase: wurdweb ($3.99 on iPhone, no in-app purchases).
NYT Games puts Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Strands and the Crossword in one free app. Image: The New York Times Company (App Store)
Best word games compared
| Game | Best for | Price | Ads (Google Play label) | Platforms | App Store rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYT Games: Wordle & Crossword | Daily puzzles | Free; subscription from $4.99/mo | No ads label | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.8 (299K) |
| NYT Crossplay | 2-player word board, no in-app ads | Free; Crossplay $5.99/mo or $49.99/yr | Listing: “No in-app ads” (Play label still shows ads) | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.9 (238K) |
| Words With Friends | Playing with friends | Free; coins $0.99 to $49.99 | Contains ads | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.6 (752K) |
| Scrabble GO | Official Scrabble board | Free; Scrabble Club $4.99 or $7.99 | Contains ads | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.6 (316K) |
| Wordfeud | Lots of games at once, 10 languages | Free; Premium $5.99 | Contains ads | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.8 (18K) |
| Ruzzle | Fast 2-minute rounds | Free; Remove Ads $5.99 | Contains ads | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.2 (7.9K) |
| Knotwords | Word logic puzzles | Free; Full Game $11.99 | No ads label | iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac/PC (Steam) | 4.8 (8.2K) |
| Typeshift | Anagram puzzles | Free; packs $0.99 to $3.99 | Contains ads (any pack removes them) | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.3 (499) |
| wurdweb | One-time purchase | $3.99, no in-app purchases | Not on Google Play | iPhone, iPad, Mac/PC (Steam) | 5.0 (63) |
| Word Tiles – Relaxing Puzzle | Relaxing, no timer | Free; No Ads $9.99 | Contains ads | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.9 (57K) |
| Word Search Explorer | Word search, offline | Free; Remove Ads $5.99 | Contains ads | iPhone, iPad, Android | 4.9 (862K) |
| Crossword Jam+ | No ads, offline (iPhone) | Apple Arcade $6.99/mo | Not on Google Play | iPhone, iPad | 4.8 (18.7K) |
Prices are from the US App Store; ratings are App Store averages (number of ratings).
Best word games for daily puzzles
1. NYT Games: Wordle & Crossword (best overall)
One free app holds the official Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Strands, Letter Boxed, the Mini, the new Midi and the daily Crossword, plus non-word games like Pips, Tiles and Sudoku. Wordle Bot and Connections Bot analyze your guesses. Subscribers unlock an archive of more than 10,000 past puzzles. On the App Store, “Games – Monthly” runs $4.99 to $5.99. It’s #3 on Apple’s Top Free Word chart, #2 on Top Grossing, and has no “Contains ads” label on Google Play.
2. Typeshift (best anagram puzzle)
Zach Gage’s anagram game has you slide columns of letters up and down until the center row spells words. Every letter has to be used at least once. There’s a free daily challenge with global leaderboards that gets harder from Monday through the week. Over a hundred puzzles are free, and buying any pack ($0.99 to $3.99 on iPhone) removes the ads. The Android version (published by Noodlecake) was last updated in May 2023.
Best word games to play with friends
3. Words With Friends (best for friends)
Zynga’s Scrabble-style board game is the easy pick when your friends already play. It’s #3 Top Grossing on both Apple’s Word chart and Google Play’s. Besides turn-based games with friends, there’s a Solo Challenge against themed WordMaster characters. It’s free with ads. On iPhone, the Ad Free Bundle costs $9.99, AdsFree Season Passes $12.99, and coins $0.99 to $49.99.
4. NYT Crossplay (best Scrabble-style game without in-app ads)
NYT Games calls Crossplay its first 2-player word game. You take turns placing letter tiles on a shared board, chat in-game, and can run several games against friends or matched opponents at once. Cross Bot gives tips after every game, and you can practise against the computer. Both store descriptions say “No in-app ads” (Google Play’s label still shows “Contains ads”). Free, with optional Crossplay subscriptions at $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year on iPhone.
5. Scrabble GO (best official Scrabble)
Scopely’s app has the official Scrabble board, tiles and dictionaries, a Practice Mode against the computer, and extra modes like Word Drop. A Scrabble Club subscription ($4.99 or $7.99 on iPhone) removes the ads. Gems cost $2.99 to $19.99. Apple lists a “Loot Boxes” content descriptor for it: collectible tiles come from chests.
6. Wordfeud (best for many games at once)
Wordfeud is a no-frills Scrabble-style game on a 15×15 board. You can run up to 30 games at the same time, randomize where the bonus tiles sit, and pick from 10 dictionaries (English, Spanish, French, German and six more). It’s free with ads, and the only in-app purchase on iPhone is “Upgrade to Premium” for $5.99.
7. Ruzzle (best fast rounds)
You swipe across a 4×4 letter grid and find as many words as you can in two minutes, against friends or random opponents. Ruzzle comes in 14 languages and has an offline practice mode. It’s free with ads, and on iPhone Remove Ads is $5.99 (Ruzzle Premium and a VIP Pass are $2.99 each).
Knotwords splits the grid into sections, and each section's letters must form valid words across and down. Image: Zach Gage (App Store)
Best word puzzle games for thinkers
8. Knotwords (best word logic puzzle)
App Store | Google Play | Official site
Knotwords, by Zach Gage and Jack Schlesinger, is a logic puzzle made of words. You arrange the letters given in each section so every row and column spells a valid word. The download is free. On iPhone, the Full Game is $11.99 and there’s a Knotwords Pro subscription at $4.99. Google Play lists in-app purchases but no “Contains ads” label. It’s also on Mac and PC through Steam ($11.99), and Apple Arcade has an ad-free Knotwords+.
9. wurdweb (best one-time purchase)
Adriaan de Jongh and Aran Koning’s crossing-words puzzle came to iPhone and iPad in August 2026 (Steam since 2022, $4.99). You cross words from a list with words on the board, with infinite generated puzzles, daily, weekly and monthly leaderboards and puzzles in 11 languages. It’s $3.99 with no in-app purchases listed, #12 on Apple’s Top Paid Word chart. No Android version: the official site links only the App Store and Steam.
Best relaxing word games
10. Word Tiles – Relaxing Puzzle (best for relaxing)
The newest hit on this list. Agave Games released it on iPhone on July 28, 2026, and today it’s #1 on Apple’s Top Free Word Games chart and #2 top free word on Google Play. You connect letter tiles to fill every empty space on a crossword-style board. A small number on each tile shows how many times you must use that letter. The listing promises “no timer and no pressure” and says it’s made “for all ages, from young players to seniors”. It’s free with ads. WT No Ads is $9.99 on iPhone, and bundles run $1.99 to $49.99.
Word Tiles, the #1 free word game on Apple's chart on Nov 3, has no timer. Image: Agave Games (App Store)
11. Word Search Explorer (best word search, plays offline)
PlaySimple’s themed word searches take you through scenic levels, with hints when you’re stuck. Both listings say you can play offline. It has 100M+ Google Play downloads and is #4 on Apple’s Top Free Word chart. Free with ads; Remove Ads is $5.99 on iPhone.
12. Crossword Jam+ (best no-ads, offline pick on iPhone)
The Apple Arcade version of PlaySimple’s crossword-anagram game. Its listing says no internet or Wi-Fi is needed. Arcade games have no ads or in-app purchases; Arcade costs $6.99 a month or $49.99 a year. We chose it over the free Crossword Jam (10M+ Play downloads), whose App Store listing advertises a luck “spinner” and tournaments with “grand prizes”.
Word games without ads
- Android, free: NYT Games and Knotwords have no “Contains ads” label on Google Play.
- Listing says no in-app ads: NYT Crossplay (Google Play’s label disagrees).
- Pay once: wurdweb ($3.99, iPhone), Knotwords Full Game ($11.99), or any Typeshift puzzle pack (from $0.99, removes ads).
- Subscription: Apple Arcade ($6.99/mo) covers Crossword Jam+ and Knotwords+ with no ads or in-app purchases.
Word games you can play offline
Only some listings actually state offline play: Word Search Explorer (“play offline wherever you want”), Crossword Jam+ (“No internet or Wi-Fi needed”) and Ruzzle (offline practice mode only; matches need a connection). Plan on a connection for the multiplayer picks.
Why isn’t Wordscapes on this list?
Wordscapes is a top-5 word game on Apple’s free and grossing charts, but its App Store listing is rated 17+ with an “Infrequent/Mild Simulated Gambling” descriptor. Our house rule leaves out word apps with gambling-style features, cash prizes or wagers. For a similar style, try Word Tiles or Crossword Jam+.
Into other kinds of puzzles? See our best sudoku apps for iPhone and Android, the trending puzzle games on mobile, games like Block Blast, and, for game nights with friends, the best multiplayer mobile games.
FAQ
What is the best word game for iPhone?
NYT Games for daily puzzles, and Word Tiles (#1 on Apple’s Top Free Word chart today) for relaxing levels. For no ads, Crossword Jam+ on Apple Arcade or wurdweb ($3.99 once).
What is the best word game for Android?
NYT Games (no “Contains ads” label on Google Play), Words With Friends for playing friends, and Word Search Explorer (100M+ downloads, plays offline). Knotwords is the ad-free pick for logic-puzzle fans.
What are good word games for seniors?
Pick games without a timer. Word Tiles’ listing says it has “no timer and no pressure” and is made for players “from young players to seniors”. Word Search Explorer and the NYT Mini are quick daily options.
Sources: US App Store listings and iTunes lookup data (prices, in-app purchases, ratings, content descriptors), Google Play listings (ads and in-app purchase labels, downloads), Apple’s US Word Games charts (updated 09:45 UTC Nov 3), apple.com/apple-arcade, playknotwords.com, playtypeshift.com, wurdweb.com and the Steam store pages for Knotwords and wurdweb. All checked November 3, 2026 UTC.
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Featured image: AI-generated illustration
