Scrabble vs Words With Friends: what's actually different
Two similar games, two different dictionaries and boards. Here's what actually changes between them and why a word that plays in one may not play in the other.
Scrabble and Words With Friends look almost identical: a 15×15 board, seven tiles per rack, a bonus for using all seven. But the two games differ in three ways that quietly change every play — the dictionary, the tile values, and the board layout.
The dictionary
Scrabble uses one of two official word lists: TWL (Tournament Word List) in the US, Canada, and Thailand, and SOWPODS (also called Collins Scrabble Words) everywhere else. Words With Friends uses its own proprietary word list — the ENABLE list with modifications by Zynga.
The differences are real. WWF accepts a handful of words that Scrabble doesn't (BRO, EW, ZEN, some texting shorthand). Scrabble accepts thousands of obscure words that WWF rejects (mostly rare medical, botanical, and dialect terms). Both accept the core English vocabulary you already know.
| Word | TWL | SOWPODS | WWF |
|---|---|---|---|
| QI | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| EW | Yes (added 2018) | Yes | Yes |
| OK | Yes (added 2018) | Yes | Yes |
| BRO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ZA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| THANG | No | Yes | Yes |
| INNIT | No | Yes | No |
| DA | No | Yes | Yes |
The tile values
The letter distribution is almost identical (100 tiles vs WWF's 104), but some letters are worth more or less depending on which game you're in.
| Letter | Scrabble | WWF |
|---|---|---|
| H | 4 | 3 |
| Y | 4 | 3 |
| X | 8 | 8 |
| Z | 10 | 10 |
| J | 8 | 10 |
| Q | 10 | 10 |
The board
Scrabble's premium squares are the ones you've memorised: eight triple-word squares in the corners and edges, twelve double-word squares on the diagonals, and triple-letter squares scattered inside. WWF rearranges the premium squares — the triple-word squares are further from the edges, and the triple-letter squares are more common in the middle of the board.
The practical effect: bingos in WWF tend to score less than the same bingo in Scrabble, because it's harder to land a full word across two triple-word squares. WWF compensates by making triple-letter combos more common, which rewards holding onto high-value tiles.
Which is 'harder'?
Neither, really — they're just different games. Scrabble rewards vocabulary depth (all those obscure two- and three-letter words). WWF rewards board vision and letter placement. If you're serious about competitive play, Scrabble has the tournament scene and the deeper dictionary. If you play casually against friends, WWF's dictionary is more forgiving.
Using an unscrambler with either game
Our unscrambler uses a broad general-English dictionary that overlaps almost completely with both TWL and WWF. Common plays are accurate. When you see a word you don't recognise, check the game's own dictionary before assuming it's valid — a handful of edge cases go one way in Scrabble and the other in WWF.