USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords
Daily Crosswords & Sudoku
How much does USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords cost?
Prices are current as of 1 Oct 2026.
3 subscriptions from $2.99
In the United States, USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords has 3 subscriptions priced $2.99 – 39.99.
| Subscription | Period | Price |
|---|---|---|
| USA TODAY Crossword | Monthly | $2.99 |
| Monthly Subscription | Monthly | $4.99 |
| USA TODAY Crossword | Annual | $19.99 – 39.99 |
See what USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords costs in all 3 countries →
10+ alternatives to USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords
| USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords |   Daily Themed Crossword Puzzles |   Puzzle Page - Daily Games! |   Crossword Puzzle Redstone |   Crossword+ |   Connect The Words: Connections |   Crossword Puzzle Universe |   Crossword Puzzles! |   Classic Crossword Puzzles |   Crossword Daily: Word Puzzle |   Crosswords | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating / 5 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.3 |
| Reviews | 9.5K | 162K | 145K | 131K | 14K | 12K | 11K | 10K | 9.7K | 1.2K | 680 |
| Released | 2019 | 2017 | 2018 | 2015 | 2018 | 2022 | 2021 | 2014 | 2021 | 2018 | 2013 |
| Monthly price | $2.99 | $7.99 | $5.99 | — | $7.49 | — | $7.99 | $5.99 | — | — | — |
| Annual price | $19.99 | — | $35.99 | — | $39.99 | — | $49.99 | — | $19.99 | $19.99 | — |
| One-time price | — | $4.99 | $4.99 | $1.99 | — | $5.99 | $4.99 | $2.99 | $9.99 | — | — |
The going rate for each plan in United States, in its own currency, shaded from the cheapest price on the row to the dearest. Plans fewer than four in ten of the priced apps sell are left out.
USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords reviews
4.5 out of 5, based on 9,450 reviews.
What people like
- Great daily puzzles if you like them
- Devs listened and fixed the bad update
What they complain about
- Scrolling up and down ruins the flow
- Ads interrupt you constantly even if paid
- New layout is too small and clunky
- App often fails to recognize your login
Ads suck
I love your puzzles so much and I do them every day! But your ads are so messed up. And, I was playing word scramble and I got an ad every time I tried to play a word. That’s annoying!
Subscribing got me nowhere.
I subscribed, but had no access to unlimited puzzles. I got charged for nothing. Hopefully, this gets fixed.
Disappointed
It won’t recognize my login after numerous attempts and work arounds. Even as a subscriber I am still prompted that I need to subscribe to access beyond the 2 free crosswords. With years of stats that I’d like to keep, forced to find something that works.
Ads
I have paid an annual fee to plan without ads. But the ads continue to roll in between each game. I have reported in the past without results. Payment was for yearly amount. Feel like I am stuck seeing ads. USA needs to stop tricking customers.
Original
I'm glad you went back to original format
Puzzles Don’t Open
Waste of time and aggregation when puzzles won’t open.
Update is awful
The crossword interface is now broken. It’s not at all as user friendly as it was before this ugly update. Switch it back please
App Change
Glad you went back to the previous version
New layout
Update: have they really not fixed this issue yet? I canceled my subscription 2 weeks ago due to the horrendous new update, and I keep coming back, assuming the developers would have realized by now and read one of the many, many recent reviews, but apparently not!
So much worse
The look of the new app is so much worse. The field of the puzzle is so much smaller. I understand that the app is free because you have to look at ads, but most free games wait until you finish a game to throw you the ads. This one has shortened the window of the game to make room for ads right on the screen while you’re playing the game. They’ve changed the button to start playing. What was wrong with the old Crossword?
Changes
UPDATE: ITS BACK! Thank you for listening to your players and changing it back! The changes they just made to a different format suck! Please please please change it back. Went from 5 stars to 1 star real fast.
Terrible app design
The latest app redesign is awful. You have to pan and pinch and zoom to see the crossword, and the keyboard overlaps it. The old version the keyboard stopped under the crossword. Additionally, you can no longer jump to the next clue from the keyboard, you can only do it from the top of the crossword. This is so bad I’m not convinced it wasn’t vibe coded by a chimpanzee. I will be canceling my subscription.
Hate the new interface
I loved this app prior to recent updates. I can’t even view the full puzzle on my phone. Just not a fan and planning to cancel my subscription.
Was fine, now impossible to use
The update ruined what was once a good app. I don’t understand why they thought this was an acceptable release, unless they’re intentionally making it miserable to force you to pay for the premium app. Terrible changes, very clunky, crossword doesn’t fit on one screen and you have to scroll down to read the clues then scroll up to type.
Woof
I never leave reviews but they ruined something good here. Know your audience, know who you are appealing too. No need for the crazy layout and shoving ads down our throats ad nauseam. Simple is best sometimes. Remember that
Latest update
This last update makes it difficult to use because it is no longer formatted to fit the screen without scrolling up and down to see the blanks or to see the clue when you get to the bottom of the puzzle. It’s really a pain.
new update makes everything unplayable
I will 100% be cancelling my subscription since it’s basically unusable now.
New update is awful
The new update is an atrocity. Not user-friendly at all. The window to play the games is smaller, convenient buttons have moved away from the keyboard. Fire whoever signed off on this.
New design is awful
Unplayable. How this new design got approved is astonishing.
New update… Not good
The old UI was much better. The black / neon overhaul is overwhelming and feels incongruent with the types of games being offered. The typeface on the daily crossword is too large for the phone screen, making it so you have to scroll back and forth to see what you’re typing and what the hint is. Removing the feature that immediately moves you to the next word when you finish one was a bad call. Overall, the old interface and features were way better. I understand that the intention was probably to shine equal amount of lights on the other games, but this wasn’t the way to do that. I actually am less likely to play *any* of the games with this update. Love USA Today’s daily crossword, but I probably won’t be playing it until the UI is overhauled again.
Ruined
Completely unplayable on iPad as of the latest update. When you hit "Start playing," you get nothing. Reinstalled and same thing happens. Didn't anyone test this before release?
Bad Update
I liked the previous version. New version doesn’t work well on iPhone. Clues go away when you scroll on the Quick Cross. Makes game frustrating.
New Format
I had been doing crosswords on my iPhone for a long time and loved it. Am really unhappy with the new format so I cancelled my subscription. Hoping they go back to the previous one. If so, I will resubscribe.
Update
The changes that were just made to the crossword make it infuriating to use. I have to scroll up and down to read the clues for anything on the bottom half of the crossword. The way it worked before was fine. I’ve completed over 200 of the USA Today crosswords. I wont be doing this crossword going forward with how it works now.
Update is terrible
This new update to the app has made it unusable. I was playing regularly and now I’ve deleted the app.
USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords price by country
A monthly subscription costs $2.81 in Canada and $4.16 in Mexico — 1.5× more for the same thing. Below is the going rate for each plan in every country that sells it — the middle price of what the app charges there, in the country's own currency with the dollar equivalent beneath it.
| Country | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | CA$3.99$2.81 | CA$25.99$18.30 |
| Mexico | MX$75.00$4.16 | MX$479.00$26.58 |
| United States | $2.99 | $19.99 |
USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords FAQ
- Is USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords free?
- Yes. The app and its basic features are free, in all 3 countries it sells in. Premium features are paid: they start from $2.99 (US), across 3 subscriptions.
- How much does USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords cost per month?
- Monthly Subscription is $2.99 – 4.99 (US). The annual plan works out cheaper per month: $19.99 – 39.99 a year.
- Does USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords have a free trial?
- No. None of its offers (US) come with a free trial.
- Where is USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords cheapest?
- A monthly subscription costs CA$3.99 (≈$2.81) in Canada and MX$75.00 (≈$4.16) in Mexico, its cheapest and dearest countries.
- What are the best alternatives to USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords?
- Daily Themed Crossword Puzzles (4.7 from 162,242 reviews, premium from $2.99), Puzzle Page - Daily Games! (4.6 from 144,822 reviews, premium from $2.99) and Crossword Puzzle Redstone (4.8 from 131,316 reviews, premium from $0.99).
USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords download
Last updated 1 month ago.
USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords sells in 3 countries. It was released 7 years and 6 months ago, on 6 Apr 2019. It holds a 4.5 rating from 9,450 reviews.
Supports 1 language: English.
How much does USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords make?
Third-party estimates for the last 30 days, worldwide — not the store's own figures, which Apple publishes for nobody.
Revenue by plan
- Monthly 69%
- Annual 31%
Revenue by country
- United States 100%
- Canada 0%