Hush or Sudoku.com? A fair side-by-side comparison

Sudoku.com and Hush are both classic sudoku apps for your phone, but they are built around different priorities. Sudoku.com is a free app with ads in its free version, events, daily challenges and a separate Killer Sudoku app. Hush is an ad-free app for iPhone, iPhone Duo and iPad that rates its puzzles by the techniques they need. For other head-to-head pages, see all app comparisons.

Choose Sudoku.com if you enjoy events and daily challenges, want an app on Android, or also play Killer Sudoku. Choose Hush if you want no ads at all, no mistake limit, and harder levels defined by solving techniques.

Quick comparison

The table below summarizes the main differences. The sections after it explain each point and note where we could not verify a detail.

Competitor details from public App Store listings and price databases, checked November 2026. Prices vary by region and can change. Sources: App Pricing Lab – Sudoku.com in-app purchases.

Ads and price

Sudoku.com. The free version is supported by ads. At the time of writing, its “No Ads” in-app purchase is listed at $14.99 in the US App Store. The sources we checked do not list a subscription.

Hush. There are no ads in any version, not before a puzzle, not during one and not after. Easy and Medium are free without limit, and so is the daily puzzle. The optional Hush Plus costs $4.99 once. It unlocks unlimited Hard and Expert puzzles and all colour moods, and Family Sharing is included. Optional tips unlock nothing.

The two models work differently. Sudoku.com asks you to pay to remove the ads it shows in its free version. Hush has no ads to remove, and its single purchase also unlocks the harder levels. Which one is worth more depends on how often you play and how much the ads bother you. Read more about why Hush has no ads.

Difficulty and puzzles

Hush rates difficulty by the techniques a puzzle requires, not by the number of givens:

• Easy needs only singles, naked and hidden. A good starting point is how to solve sudoku.
• Medium adds locked candidates and naked and hidden pairs.
• Hard adds naked and hidden triples, naked quads, and the X-Wing.
• Expert needs at least one of Swordfish, XY-Wing or XYZ-Wing. See Swordfish and XY-Wing for how these work.

Every Hush puzzle has exactly one solution and can be solved by logic alone, with no guessing. You will practically never see the same puzzle twice – see how Hush builds its puzzles.

For Sudoku.com, we could not verify how it rates the difficulty of its puzzles, so we cannot say whether its levels use the same techniques. If you want to see what Hush’s top level involves, the Expert sudoku guide goes into more detail.

Design and features

Sudoku.com offers events and daily challenges, runs on iPhone, iPad and Android, and by default ends a game after three mistakes.

Hush has no mistake limit. Its features include:

• Notes that clean up. Notes tidy themselves when you place a number, and “fill in all notes” is available.
• Highlights. Row, column, box and matching numbers are highlighted as you play.
• Private statistics. Games played and solved, flawless solves, best and average time and your day streak – stored only on your device.
• Your rules. Mistake marking, highlights, automatic note clean-up, the timer and haptics can each be switched off in Settings.
• Undo, hints and pause. You can undo, ask for a hint, or pause at any time. The game is always saved, and the timer pauses when you leave the app.
• iPhone Duo and iPad. On iPhone Duo the app is compact when closed. Opened, the board sits on the left with a large number pad on the right. The iPad works in all orientations, and full hardware keyboard support is included.
• Calm design. Hush is always light, with soft colors, gentle haptics and a short glow when you finish a row. The four colour moods are Sage (free), Morning, Dune and Lavender (in Hush Plus).
• A daily puzzle. It is the same for everyone and new every day. Monday to Thursday are Medium, Friday to Sunday are Hard. An optional local reminder is available.

Privacy and offline play

Hush has no account, no sign-up and no email. Its App Store privacy label says “Data Not Collected”, and the app has no tracking and no analytics. All puzzles ship with the app, so Hush plays fully offline. The only network use is Apple’s purchase system, when you buy or restore Hush Plus.

We could not verify Sudoku.com’s data practices or whether it works offline, so we cannot compare these points directly. Check its App Store privacy details before you decide.

What you might miss with Sudoku.com

Sudoku.com has strengths that Hush does not try to match:

• Events and daily challenges. Sudoku.com runs events and daily challenges. Hush has one daily puzzle, and it has no events, trophies or leaderboards.
• Android. Sudoku.com is available on Android as well as iPhone and iPad. Hush is for iPhone, iPhone Duo and iPad only.
• Killer Sudoku. Sudoku.com also publishes a separate Killer Sudoku app. Hush is classic 9×9 sudoku only.

If those matter most to you, Sudoku.com may be the better choice.

Where Hush is better

• No ads in any version, so nothing interrupts a puzzle.
• No mistake limit, so one wrong entry does not end the game.
• Difficulty by technique, explained step by step in the learn section.
• One purchase, no subscription. Family Sharing is included in Hush Plus.
• No data collection and fully offline play. Hush needs no account and no connection to play.

The verdict

Sudoku.com is a capable free app for players who like events, Android and Killer Sudoku. Hush is the better fit if you want a calm, ad-free app on Apple devices, no mistake limit, and harder levels based on techniques you can learn. If you are still undecided, try the free Easy and Medium puzzles in Hush first. You can also read the Sudoku.com alternative guide, or compare with Hush vs Good Sudoku and Hush vs Brainium Sudoku.