Free · No sign-up · Best next guess — not just a list

Wordle Helper

Enter your guesses and their color results to get the single best next word to try — ranked by how much it narrows down the answer. Or switch to Practice Mode to try the tool without an active game.

Built by Garrick Dee · Methodology updated July 2026 · Word list updated July 2026

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Pick a starting word below or type your own first guess
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Play it in your Wordle and note the colors it gives back
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Click each tile here to set those colors, then Analyze

Popular opening words — click to pre-fill:

After typing a guess, click each tile to cycle its color: grey (not in word) → green (correct) → yellow (wrong position)

Not affiliated with the New York Times or the official Wordle game.

The tool picks a random secret word. Type your guesses — it colors the tiles automatically and suggests your best next move after each one. No active game needed.

Practice Mode uses a random word — not today's Wordle answer. Not affiliated with the New York Times.
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How do I use the Wordle Helper?

Open your Wordle game (NYT, a clone, or anywhere you play), enter your first guess there, then come back here. Type the same word into the first row, then click each tile to match the color Wordle gave you — grey for a letter not in the word, green for correct position, yellow for the letter is in the word but in the wrong spot. Click Analyze and the tool finds your best next guess.

If you don't have an active game open, switch to Practice Mode — the tool picks a random word and auto-colors your tiles so you can see exactly how the solver works in real time.

How does the Wordle Helper pick the best next guess?

It uses Shannon entropy — the same principle NYT's WordleBot uses internally — to rank every remaining candidate word by how much information it would give you. After each guess, the tool filters the candidate pool down to only words consistent with every clue you've entered, then scores each remaining word by the number of distinct outcome patterns it could produce. The word with the highest score is your best next guess.

In practical terms: a guess that could produce 20 different outcome patterns is more valuable than one that only produces 3, because it narrows down the field more aggressively no matter what the answer turns out to be.

In our benchmark of 10,000 simulated games (Python seed 42, playing the top-ranked suggestion every turn), the solver solved 100% of games in 6 or fewer guesses, averaging 3.02 guesses. See the full analysis and comparison table →

Why doesn't this solver use the original 2,309-word Wordle answer list?

Because NYT changed the list after acquiring Wordle, and continues to edit it — so any tool claiming to know the exact answer pool is outdated. The original 2,309-word list was public when Wordle was independent, and several solvers memorised it. This helper ranks candidates by real-world word frequency instead, which makes it more robust as the game evolves.

What's the best starting word for Wordle?

TRACE is #1 by entropy (5.989 bits), followed by SLATE (#2) and SNARE (#3). The best openers test common letters — E, A, R, I, O, T, N, S — without repeating any. CRANE and RAISE are also strong choices. Click any chip in the starting word picker to pre-fill it into the first row. For the full ranked list of 100 openers with downloadable data, see Best Wordle Starting Words.

Link or cite this tool

Wordineer Wordle Helper — wordineer.com/wordle-helper/ — Free solver ranked by Shannon entropy, no sign-up required.
View full methodology and entropy data →
Updates
  • July 2026 — Added colorblind mode (blue/orange tiles); published entropy analysis of 715 starting words with 10,000-game benchmark; updated top opener recommendation to TRACE.
  • June 2026 — Added Practice Mode: play a full Wordle against a random secret word directly in the tool, with per-guess entropy hints.
  • June 2026 — Launched with Shannon entropy ranking, probe-word optimization for large candidate pools, and 18 curated starting word chips.

Related tools

For the full entropy-ranked list of best starting words with downloadable data, see Best Wordle Starting Words. To play a full self-contained Wordle game rather than get solving help, try the Wordle game on Wordineer. For a random 5-letter word to practice with, the random Wordle word generator picks one instantly with filters for difficulty. For a drawing-based word game, the Pictionary word generator offers category-filtered prompts.

Frequently asked questions

How does the Wordle Helper work?
Enter each of your guesses and tap the tiles to set the colors Wordle gave you (green for correct position, yellow for wrong position, grey for not in the word). Click Analyze and the tool tests every remaining candidate word to find the one that splits the remaining pool most evenly — the same idea used by NYT's WordleBot, measured in bits of information (Shannon entropy). The top-ranked word is shown as your best next guess.
Is this the official Wordle solver from the New York Times?
No. This is an independent, free tool with no connection to the New York Times or the official Wordle game. NYT's WordleBot is a paid feature; this tool is free with no account required.
What are the best starting words for Wordle?
Our information-theory analysis ranks TRACE #1 (5.989 bits of information), SLATE #2, and SNARE #3. All cover common letters with no repeats, giving you maximum information from your first guess. See the full ranked list of 100 openers with a downloadable CSV and 10,000-game benchmark data.
What is Practice Mode?
Practice Mode lets you use the Wordle Helper without an active game open anywhere. The tool picks a random secret word, you type your guesses, and it colors the tiles automatically — just like a real Wordle. An optional hint panel shows the best next guess after each guess. The word is random, not today's Wordle answer.
How is this different from other Wordle solvers?
Most Wordle solver tools just show a filtered list of remaining words. This tool also ranks every remaining candidate by Shannon entropy and recommends the single best next guess — the word most likely to narrow down the answer fastest. Practice Mode also lets first-time visitors understand and trust the tool without needing an active Wordle game open.
Is using a Wordle solver cheating?
That depends on how you play. This tool can't see today's answer — it only knows what your color results tell it, the same information you have. Many players use it after solving to review their choices, the same way NYT's own WordleBot works. Others use it mid-game to learn strategy. Where you draw the line is personal — playing with a solver is still playing.
Does the Wordle Helper support colorblind mode?
Yes — click the "Colorblind mode" button at the top of the tool to switch tile colors to blue (correct position) and orange (wrong position), matching the convention used by Wordle's own colorblind setting. Your preference is saved for the session.

Who uses the Wordle Helper

Streak-savers
Stuck on a hard puzzle with your streak on the line? Enter your guesses and get the best next move — no cheating required, just smarter strategy.
Beginners
New to Wordle and not sure where to start? The starting-word chips and Practice Mode let you learn how the game works before playing competitively.
Teachers
Use Wordle in the classroom as a vocabulary tool. The solver shows how logical deduction narrows possibilities — a great puzzle-thinking exercise. See also: Spelling Bee Words.
Data-curious players
Interested in how information theory applies to word games? The entropy score next to each suggestion shows exactly why one word beats another in terms of information gained.