Candy Crush Saga vs Crossword Explorer

Candy Crush Saga

King
App Store
$13.64M/mo
~$163.69M/yr · 671.5M installs
VS

Crossword Explorer

PlaySimple Games Pte Ltd
App Store
$26.7K/mo
~$321.0K/yr · 6.7M installs
Revenue winner Candy Crush Saga wins +50897% vs other
Installs winner Candy Crush Saga wins +9942% vs other
MAU winner Candy Crush Saga wins +691% vs other
Rating winner Crossword Explorer wins +5% vs other

Why Candy Crush Saga is winning

Top 3 reasons - backed by the public App Store / Play Store numbers.

  1. Candy Crush Saga earns roughly 510× more per month than Crossword Explorer - $13.64M vs $26.7K.
  2. Bigger install base. Candy Crush Saga has ~671.5M lifetime installs vs Crossword Explorer's ~6.7M - 100.4× the funnel top.
  3. Charts placement. Candy Crush Saga ranks #16 on the US grossing chart (the other app is unranked) - chart placement is a self-reinforcing flywheel.

Find more apps with this revenue gap · Full Candy Crush Saga report

Side-by-side metrics

Bars scale to whichever app is bigger on that row. Green = winner.

Candy Crush Saga
vs
Crossword Explorer
Monthly revenue (est.)?
$13.64M
$26.7K
Annual revenue (est.)
$163.69M
$321.0K
Lifetime installs (est.)
671.5M
6.7M
Monthly active users (est.)?
10.7M
1.4M
App Store rating
4.71★
4.94★
Total ratings
4.0M
61K
US grossing rank
#16
-
Cheapest monthly sub
No sub
=
No sub
IAP tiers detected
0 tiers
=
0 tiers

Candy Crush Saga

King
App Store
Category
Games
Price
Free
Released
Nov 14, 2012
Last updated
Jul 1, 2026
File size
326.8 MB
Content rating
12+
Version
1.331.0.1
Languages
Arabic, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch +23 more
View full Candy Crush Saga report →

Crossword Explorer

PlaySimple Games Pte Ltd
App Store
Category
Games
Price
Free
Released
Sep 14, 2020
Last updated
Jun 29, 2026
File size
305.8 MB
Content rating
4+
Version
1.156
Languages
English
View full Crossword Explorer report →

Candy Crush Saga trajectory

AugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJul

Crossword Explorer trajectory

AugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJul

FAQ

Which makes more money, Candy Crush Saga or Crossword Explorer? v
Candy Crush Saga earns about $13.64M per month, while Crossword Explorer earns about $26.7K. That is a 510.0× revenue gap (~$13.61M more per month for Candy Crush Saga). Annual revenue: Candy Crush Saga ≈ $163.69M/year, Crossword Explorer ≈ $321.0K/year. Estimates are derived from public App Store signals - grossing rank, scraped IAP tiers, ratings and category benchmarks.
Which has more downloads, Candy Crush Saga or Crossword Explorer? v
Candy Crush Saga leads with about 671.5M estimated downloads vs 6.7M for Crossword Explorer - a 100.4× gap. Candy Crush Saga's App Store downloads are estimated from 4.0M ratings × the standard 1:75 ratio. Crossword Explorer's App Store downloads are estimated from 61K ratings.
Are Candy Crush Saga and Crossword Explorer in the same App Store category and competing for the same money? v
Yes - both apps sit in the Games category, which means they compete directly for the same paying users and category-level wallet share. Direct competitors, head-to-head.
Do Candy Crush Saga and Crossword Explorer have in-app purchases? v
Candy Crush Saga does not appear to offer in-app purchases on its public listing. Crossword Explorer does not appear to offer in-app purchases. Monetization model: Candy Crush Saga runs "Free casual game · ad-supported (~$0.04/MAU) · calibrated by US grossing rank #16", Crossword Explorer runs "Free casual game · ad-supported (~$0.04/MAU)".
Which has better ratings, Candy Crush Saga or Crossword Explorer? v
Crossword Explorer edges ahead with ★ 4.9 vs ★ 4.7 (gap of 0.2 stars). Rating volume: Candy Crush Saga 4.0M ratings, Crossword Explorer 61K ratings. Higher rating volume = stronger ASO signal even when star averages are close.
How accurate are these Candy Crush Saga vs Crossword Explorer revenue estimates? v
Directional - typically within 2-3× of actual money earned for popular apps. The $13.64M for Candy Crush Saga and $26.7K for Crossword Explorer are derived from App Store grossing rank, scraped IAP tiers, ratings volume and category benchmarks (Games) - net of the 15-30% Apple/Google store cut. Real revenue depends on country mix, retention, refunds and ad fill rate, none of which Apple or Google publish.
How do I compare Candy Crush Saga or Crossword Explorer to a different App Store app? v
Use the search box at the bottom of this page or paste any two App Store links into the homepage tool. We auto-generate a permanent comparison URL with revenue, downloads, IAP tiers, subscription pricing and grossing rank for both apps.