Games Like NYT Spelling Bee: Free Pangram Puzzles Compared

Several free games use the NYT Spelling Bee format, and some offer more than one puzzle a day. SpellBee and Spelling Queen Pangrams give you unlimited puzzles with ads, Spelling Bee – Unlimited is ad-free on Android, Pangram lets you change the rules, and Word Garden is a free daily puzzle with no ads and settings for kids. The table below has the details, checked on each store listing in October 2026.

Spelling Bee is a New York Times game. Word Garden and the other apps here are independent and not affiliated with The New York Times.

How Spelling Bee-style puzzles work

You get seven letters, usually arranged in a hive or grid, and you make as many words as you can. In NYT's version, per its own How to Play screen:

• Words must be at least 4 letters long.
• Every word must include the center letter.
• Letters can be used more than once.
• 4-letter words are worth 1 point, and longer words earn 1 point per letter.
• Each puzzle has at least one pangram, a word that uses every letter, worth 7 extra points.
• A new puzzle comes out daily at 3 a.m. ET.

Your score moves you up a ladder of ranks. NYT bases ranks on a percentage of the points available in that day's puzzle, climbing from Beginner, Good Start and Moving Up through Good, Solid, Nice, Great and Amazing to Genius, with Queen Bee for finding every word. Most of the alternatives below use a similar ladder, though the rank names vary.

Most alternatives copy these rules closely and differ in price, ads, how many puzzles you get, and how much you can change the rules.

Spelling Bee alternatives compared (October 2026)

Ratings and prices are as shown on each listing on October 17, 2026. Store ratings move, so treat them as a snapshot. In the Ads column, "Yes" means the App Store or Google Play listing carries an ads label (or the site shows ads), and "Not labeled" means the listing has no ads label and the description doesn't mention ads.

Which one to pick

You're playing with kids, or you want a calm daily puzzle with no ads: Word Garden (our pick). Word Garden lets you switch off the center-letter requirement and drop the minimum to three letters, and its scoring is designed to keep younger players motivated, so they find enough words to stay interested. Google Play shows it as Teacher Approved for ages 6+, and both store listings say no data is collected. It's free with no ads and no in-app purchases, on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web. None of the other listings we checked describe settings made for children, though Pangram's adjustable minimum word length could serve a similar purpose.

You want the original puzzle. NYT Spelling Bee is hand-edited (the puzzle page credits editor Sam Ezersky), and NYT runs a Spelling Bee forum where solvers swap tips on each day's puzzle. If you play every day, the Games subscription also unlocks the archive of past puzzles and NYT's other games. It is the most-rated app on this list by a wide margin.

You want to play more than once a day. SpellBee and Spelling Queen Pangrams both offer unlimited puzzles alongside a daily one, and both are free with ads. SpellBee also has a free web version at spellbee.org with a daily puzzle and an unlimited mode. Spelling Queen adds an Apple Watch version and a short-game option for quicker rounds.

You don't want ads. Word Garden has no ads and no in-app purchases on any platform. On Android, Spelling Bee – Unlimited also describes itself as free, ad-free and offline, with no accounts.

You like tweaking the rules. Pangram on iOS lets you set the number of center and outer letters and the minimum word length, and offers Merriam-Webster word lists as a paid add-on. It also has shared games and leaderboards.

You'd rather play in a browser. spellsbee.com, spellbee.org and Word Garden's web version (wordgarden.zombit.io) all run without an install.

Why we recommend Word Garden

Word Garden is our app. It's a calm daily puzzle: a fresh set of letters each day, a progress bar with ranks, pangram bonuses, light and dark themes inspired by Japanese zen gardens, a celebration screen when you find every word, and a way to share your result. What sets it apart:

• No ads and no purchases at all. Nothing is locked behind an upgrade or a subscription.
• Settings for kids, with a Teacher Approved listing on Google Play for ages 6+.
• No data collected, according to both store listings.
• No timers, so nobody feels rushed.
• Every platform: iPhone, iPad, Android and a web version.

It is a daily game, so if you want ten puzzles in a row, SpellBee or Spelling Queen suit you better. It's also new, with only one store rating so far, and it doesn't have the archive and community that come with NYT's puzzle.

Tips for scoring higher in any pangram puzzle

These work in NYT Spelling Bee and every game above.

1. Hunt the pangram early. It's worth the biggest bonus, and spotting it often reveals word families you'll use later. Look for a common ending among the letters, then build backward.
2. Work through prefixes and suffixes. If the letters allow RE-, UN-, IN-, -ING, -ED, -ER, -ION or -LY, add them to every base word you find. One root can give you four or five words.
3. Remember letters repeat. Doubled letters (like LL, EE, OO, TT) are easy to miss because the hive shows each letter once.
4. Go letter by letter. Pick one starting letter and list everything you can think of before moving on. It's slower but misses less.
5. Shuffle and step away. Rearranging the letters breaks the patterns your eyes are stuck on, and coming back after a break usually turns up a few more words.
6. For kids, lower the bar first. Allowing three-letter words and dropping the center-letter rule (where a game allows it) gives younger players early wins. Tighten the rules as they get faster.

A note for spelling bee families

Pangram puzzles build vocabulary and word-finding, but they aren't spelling bee practice. A school spelling bee asks children to spell a word they hear aloud. If that's your goal, Scripps, which runs the National Spelling Bee, offers a free study app called Word Club.

For a relaxed daily word puzzle the whole family can play, free and with no ads, try Word Garden on your phone or at wordgarden.zombit.io.