Comparison

Personal Diary (Journal) App vs Diary

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Personal Diary (Journal) App

This app provides a simple and secure digital space for journaling. It offers passcode and biometric protection, iCloud sync across devices, and the ability to add photos, moods, and weather to your entries. It's designed to be an accessible and ad-free journalling experience.

Highlights
  • Passcode & biometric protection
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Import photos into entries
  • Set mood and weather
  • Daily writing reminders
  • VoiceOver support
  • Dark Mode
Features
Read full description

"When all you want is the digital equivalent of a paper diary, this is the perfect one." - goyyboy "Loving the lighthearted feel of this deceptively powerful app." - plinkplok "Good and accessible with VoiceOver" - Allan.summers Need a simple, free, and easy-to-use journalling app? Meet Personal Diary! With no advertisements, limitations, nor any upfront cost, Personal Diary is your simplest and best journalling tool yet. Easily access all your entries in all your devices with iCloud Sync. Write diary entries without worrying that someone will peek at what you wrote, with passcode & biometric protection. Forgot about your diary? The app can 'summon' you back with a friendly nudge. You can also import as many photos as you wish into your entries. As an optional addition, you can set your mood, and add weather and tags to an entry. Notable Features: - Numeric passcode lock (any number of digits). - Unlock using Touch ID or Face ID on supported devices. - Auto-saves as you type. - Simple & easy to use. - Sync data between devices via iCloud Drive. - Ability to pick a mood and weather of the day. - Mood & weather can be automatically chosen. - Import photos to your entries. - Select a theme to suit your style. - Dark Mode for better night use. - VoiceOver fully supported. - Simple Rich Text editing supported. - Optimized for multitasking on iPad. - Full support for physical keyboards, trackpad, and mice. - watchOS keyboard support on Series 7+, and FlickType keyboard support for legacy watch models. - Fully compatible with all modern iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch* models. - Daily notifications for writing in your diary. - No advertisements & absolutely FREE! :D *Some features may not be available on the Apple Watch. Primary editing and viewing functions, such as the Timeline interface and entry editor, are available on the watch. Don't forget to let me know what you think of Personal Diary by leaving a review on the App Store! Reviews and ratings help and let other users find this app. If you have any problems or questions, feel free to send a feedback; I might be able to help! :) Warning: - Please do not forget your password. If you forget your password and your identity cannot be verified, you may not be able to access your data. This app allows you to tip/donate to directly support the development of this app through in-app purchases. No new features will be provided when you tip, it's just to support the app's development if you would like to. Selecting a Small/Medium/Large Tip will initiate a one-time payment for tipping. A Continuous Tip is an automatic-renewal subscription to tip every month, and will renew automatically every month unless it's turned off or cancelled (through your account settings) at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. For this, your Apple account will be charged when payment is confirmed, and charged for auto-renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period at the selected price. You may locate our terms at https://legal.wern.cc/app/terms and privacy policy at https://legal.wern.cc/app/privacy.

About

Diary

Record your thoughts, memories, and emotional states in a secure and private journal. This app allows you to write entries, add photos, and easily browse or search your past records. It offers PIN and biometric protection to keep your personal reflections safe.

Highlights
  • Write diary entries
  • Record memories and journeys
  • Track moods
  • Add photos to entries
  • PIN and biometric security
  • Browse and search diary timeline
Features
Read full description

Write your diaries, note your memories, track your moods... all in one: My Diary - Mood Tracker. With a simple, most convenient, and easy-to-use diary app, you can: - Write diaries, record journeys, or track moods anytime, anywhere including photos. - Protects your memories by setting an app PIN code, also with TouchID / FaceID. - Browse your diary timeline/search. Let's download it!

Screenshots

Personal Diary (Journal) App4 screens
Diary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Diary at none against Personal Diary (Journal) App's 4. Diary also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks) and review sentiment (100% vs 87%). Personal Diary (Journal) App's advantage is ratings volume (106 vs 2) and device support (5 vs 3). On price, rating, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Personal Diary (Journal) App sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Diary asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Personal Diary (Journal) App against 4.5 for Diary. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Personal Diary (Journal) App has 106 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Personal Diary (Journal) App's written reviews are positive against 100% of Diary's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Personal Diary (Journal) App ships an update every 5 weeks, Diary fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Personal Diary (Journal) App versus Diary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPersonal Diary (Journal) AppDiary
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (106 ratings)4.5 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings106 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWern Jie LimTien Dat Nguyen

Customer experience

Personal Diary (Journal) App

All ratings104 ratings
Positive82.7%
Neutral9.6%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews183 reviews
Positive87.4%
Neutral4.9%
Negative7.7%

Diary

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Personal Diary (Journal) App

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Entries sometimes disappear or fail to load
  • Passcode/Touch ID not working reliably
  • Syncing issues between devices
  • Unexpected crashes when opening the app

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to password protect individual entries
  • Implement calendar view for better navigation
  • Allow adding videos and other media types
  • Improve search capabilities with advanced filters
  • Provide better data backup and export options

Diary

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Personal Diary (Journal) App

Subscriptions1
  • Continuous Tip$1.991 Month
One-time3
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$2.99
  • Large Tip$9.99
None

Diary

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Personal Diary (Journal) App free?
Personal Diary (Journal) App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Diary free?
Diary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Personal Diary (Journal) App or Diary?
Diary is rated higher. Personal Diary (Journal) App averages 4.4 out of 5 from 106 ratings, while Diary averages 4.5 from 2 ratings.
Do Personal Diary (Journal) App or Diary have ads?
Neither Personal Diary (Journal) App nor Diary shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Personal Diary (Journal) App or Diary?
Personal Diary (Journal) App ships an update every 5 weeks, and Diary fortnightly. Most recently, Personal Diary (Journal) App was updated on November 2, 2026 and Diary on November 3, 2026.

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