A calm app for players who like Good Sudoku

Good Sudoku was designed by the well-known game designer Zach Gage, and it is a widely praised sudoku app. Its board is clean, its notes take care of themselves and its daily challenges give you a reason to come back. This page is for two kinds of readers: people who want an app similar to Good Sudoku, and people who want a calm sudoku with no advertising to try next.

Why people look for a Good Sudoku alternative

Players who look for a Good Sudoku alternative usually have one of a few reasons. Often it is not a complaint at all.

A second app with a different feel. Some players finish a few puzzles in Good Sudoku and then want to see what else is out there. A different board, a different color palette or a different pace can make a sudoku app feel fresh again.

Advertising. Good Sudoku’s App Store privacy label lists data used for third-party advertising, and its version history mentions an ad system. Some players prefer an app where advertising is not part of the picture at all.

Something even quieter. Good Sudoku is a polished app, but some players want as little on screen as possible while they solve. They look for a board with no pop-ups, no banners and no extra prompts.

The price. Good Sudoku’s Full Game Unlock is an in-app purchase. TapSmart reported that it cost about $4 at launch in 2020 and that it unlocks stats, color schemes, night colors and additional difficulties. Hush also uses one small purchase. Good Sudoku’s current price may differ from its launch price, so check its listing. The real question is which features matter to you.

What Hush does differently

Hush was built around a simple idea: the puzzle should be the only thing on screen that asks for attention.

• No advertising, in any version. There are no banners, no videos after a puzzle and no pop-ups. Hush’s App Store privacy label says Data Not Collected, and the app has no tracking and no analytics. Read more about sudoku without ads.
• Expert needs harder techniques. Expert puzzles need at least one of Swordfish, XY-Wing or XYZ-Wing. If you want to learn them, the Swordfish guide and the XY-Wing guide explain each step.
• Difficulty by technique. Easy needs singles only. Medium adds locked candidates and pairs. Hard adds triples, naked quads and X-Wing. Every puzzle has exactly one solution and never requires guessing.
• A free daily puzzle. The daily puzzle is the same for everyone and new every day. It is always free, and it is Medium from Monday to Thursday and Hard from Friday to Sunday. You can switch on an optional local daily reminder.
• One purchase, with Family Sharing. Hush Plus costs $4.99 once and unlocks Hard and Expert without limit, plus the Morning, Dune and Lavender colour moods. It is non-consumable and included in Family Sharing. See how pricing works.
• No mistake limit. A wrong entry never ends the game – there is no limit of three errors. You decide when to undo, ask for a hint or keep going.
• Fully offline. A practically endless supply of puzzles ships with the app. The only network use is Apple’s purchase system when you buy or restore. You can play anywhere, without a connection.

Hush vs Good Sudoku at a glance

Competitor details from public App Store listings and price databases, checked November 2026. Prices vary by region and can change. Sources: App Store – Good Sudoku by Zach Gage; TapSmart – Good Sudoku review.

For a feature-by-feature comparison, read Hush vs Good Sudoku.

What you might miss

Good Sudoku does several things that Hush leaves out, and some of them matter a lot to many players.

• Global leaderboards. Good Sudoku has them. Hush has no leaderboards, badges or multiplayer.
• Improve mode. Good Sudoku’s Improve mode is one of the features players praise most often. Hush does not have an equivalent.
• More platforms. Good Sudoku runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple-silicon Mac and Vision Pro. Hush runs on iPhone, iPhone Duo and iPad only.
• A track record. Good Sudoku has been on the App Store for years. Hush is launching now, so it has no history of updates to point to yet.
• Daily challenges. Good Sudoku’s daily challenges are part of its appeal. Hush has one daily puzzle, the same for everyone, and no challenge series.

If one of these is central to how you play, Good Sudoku may be the better fit, and it is worth keeping.

Who should switch

Hush is a good next app if you:

• want a second sudoku app with no advertising in any version,
• prefer a quiet design with soft colors and gentle haptics,
• want Expert puzzles that need Swordfish, XY-Wing or XYZ-Wing,
• play on an iPhone, an iPhone Duo or an iPad, and do not need a Mac or Vision Pro version.

If you are happy with Good Sudoku’s leaderboards and Improve mode, you do not need to change anything. You can still try Hush alongside it.

How to try Hush next to Good Sudoku

1. Install Hush from the App Store once it is live. There is no account and no sign-up. You do not need to delete Good Sudoku first.
2. Start with a few Medium puzzles to get used to the notes, the highlights and the board. The how to solve sudoku guide explains the basic techniques if you want a refresher.
3. Play your first 10 solved Hard or Expert puzzles for free. If you like them, Hush Plus unlocks them without limits. If you reinstall later, use Restore Purchases.
4. After a week, compare the two apps. Keep the one that fits how you actually play, and read more on the alternatives hub or the comparison hub.