# Expense vs Diarium Journal

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Expense at none against Diarium Journal's 1. Diarium Journal's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (2.1K vs 111). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Diarium Journal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Expense asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Expense against 4.8 for Diarium Journal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Diarium Journal has 2.1K ratings behind it against 111, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 97% of Expense's written reviews are positive against 95% of Diarium Journal's.

Expense ships an update every 6 months, Diarium Journal fortnightly. Both last shipped on November 11, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Expense | Diarium Journal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.8 (111 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/expense-spending-tracking/id1020335225/reviews) | **[4.8 (2.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diarium-journal-private-diary/id1436044299/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 111 | **2.1K** |
| Positive reviews | **97.1% of reviews** | 95.1% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 4 MB | 27 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 17.4 |
| Devices | iPhone | **iPhone, iPad** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Shan Cao](https://appshunter.io/developer/652897325) | [Timo Partl](https://appshunter.io/developer/1387413672) |

## What reviewers say

### Expense

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/expense-spending-tracking/id1020335225)

Effortlessly monitor your finances with this intuitive spending tracker. Visualize your expenses with a clean line chart and gain insights into your spending habits. Customize categories and export your data for detailed analysis.

**Highlights:** Intuitive expense tracking, Beautiful line chart visualization, Monthly spending overview, Customizable categories, Export data to CSV, Local data storage

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Extremely simple and easy to use
- 🚀 Fast and efficient expense tracking
- ✨ Clean and minimalistic interface
- 🆓 Free to use with no ads
- 💡 Intuitive GUI

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💡 Lacks search functionality
- 💡 No recurring expense option
- 💡 Limited category icon selection
- 💡 No subcategories
- 💡 Currency display can be odd

**Reported bugs**

- Currency display issues
- No visible way to delete entries (user reported)

**Requested features**

- Search functionality
- Increased list of category icons
- Ability to use Emojis as category icons
- Set a recurring expense
- Add a 'memo' or text field for notes


### Diarium Journal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diarium-journal-private-diary/id1436044299)

Capture your memories, thoughts, and experiences in a private digital journal. Enrich entries with photos, audio, and location data, and secure your personal timeline with password protection. Organize your life and revisit moments with flexible viewing options.

**Highlights:** Private diary and daily journal, Add photos, drawings, audio, files, Track mood with star ratings, Calendar, timeline, and travel map views, Import from other diary apps, Cross-platform sync, Password, PIN, Face ID, Touch ID protection

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro version (iOS) | $14.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Easy to use
- 📷 Ability to add photos
- 🗓️ Calendar and timeline views
- 🔒 Secure and private
- 💰 One-time purchase, no subscription

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Separate purchase required for each platform
- 🔍 Limited search options
- 🖌️ Lack of advanced formatting options
- 🗓️ Calendar view issues
- 🐛 Occasional sync and stability problems

**Reported bugs**

- Sync issues between devices
- Crashes when adjusting settings
- Photos not displaying correctly in some cases

**Requested features**

- Ability to embed photos within entries
- More font and color options
- Checklist/task functionality
- Multiple journal/diary support
- Export to PDF or other formats


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Expense free?

Expense is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Diarium Journal free?

Diarium Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Expense or Diarium Journal?

Diarium Journal is rated higher. Expense averages 4.8 out of 5 from 111 ratings, while Diarium Journal averages 4.8 from 2.1K ratings.

### Do Expense or Diarium Journal have ads?

Neither Expense nor Diarium Journal shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Expense or Diarium Journal?

Expense ships an update every 6 months, and Diarium Journal fortnightly. Most recently, Expense was updated on November 11, 2026 and Diarium Journal on November 11, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*