Best Crossword Puzzle Makers for Teachers (2026)

Looking for the best way to turn your vocabulary list into a puzzle or a live quiz? We compared five popular classroom tools so you can pick the one that fits your classroom.

Quick Comparison

Feature	Gridl	Crossword Labs	Discovery Education Puzzlemaker	Armored Penguin	WordMint	Kahoot!
Price	Free (Pro $15/yr)	Free (paid privacy tiers)	Free	Free	Free to start (paid plans for full access)	Free (10 players); teacher plans $36 to $228/yr
Live quiz mode	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Players per game (free)	No cap	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	10 free, 50 to 800 paid
Images on questions	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Built-in image search	Yes (public domain)	No	No	No	No	Paid tiers
Info slides between questions	Yes	No	No	No	No	Paid tiers
Built-in math question generator	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
AI clue generation	Yes	No	No	No	No	Paid tiers
Live preview	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Online solving	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Print / PDF	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Background customization	Yes (patterns + custom upload)	No	No	Limited	Image library	Paid tiers
Puzzle types	Crossword, word search, flash cards, matching, live quiz	Crosswords only	10 types (criss-cross, word search, maze, cryptogram, etc.)	Crosswords (word search and others are separate tools)	Crossword, word search, bingo, matching, word scramble, multiple choice	Live quizzes only (no printables)
Shareable link	Yes	Yes	No	Temporary (~2 months)	No	Yes
Access codes	Yes (Pro)	Paid only	No	No	No	Yes
CSV upload	Yes (Pro)	No	No	No	No	Yes
Player tracking	Yes (Pro)	No	No	No	No	Yes
Team mode	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Arcade minigame rounds	Yes (catapult)	No	No	No	No	No
Self-paced / async mode	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Printable puzzles	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Detailed Comparisons

Gridl vs Crossword Labs: Quick, no-frills crossword creation when you already have your clues written and just need a grid.
Gridl vs Discovery Education Puzzlemaker: Teachers who need printable worksheets in unusual formats (mazes, cryptograms, number blocks) and do not need online play or sharing.
Gridl vs Armored Penguin: Foreign language teachers or anyone who needs deep customization of grid settings and multilingual support.
Gridl vs WordMint: Teachers who want a large library of pre-made templates and printable worksheet variety, including bingo cards and multiple choice.
Gridl vs Kahoot!: Teachers who want the most polished live quiz game and have budget for a paid plan, or who mostly need ready-made content rather than their own material.

Why Teachers Choose Gridl

AI-powered clue generation saves hours of manual writing
Live split-panel preview as you build
Five puzzle types from one word list: crossword, word search, flash cards, matching, live quiz
Background patterns and custom image upload for polished worksheets
Interactive online solving with shareable links
Access codes and player tracking for classroom assignments
Lesson Planner generates three activities from one word list

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