Comparison

Ikiru vs Insight Journal

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

Head to head
About

Ikiru

Organize your life with this versatile app for creating lists, taking notes, and setting reminders. It helps you focus on what's important with a beautiful, user-friendly design and powerful features like nested lists and due dates.

Highlights
  • Create nested lists
  • Set due dates and reminders
  • Add photos to list items
  • Sort list items dynamically
  • Sync data via iCloud
  • Protect data with Touch ID/passcode
  • View items on Apple Watch
Features
Read full description

Ikiru is a simple but powerful app for making lists, keeping notes and setting reminders. It aims to help you live a productive and meaningful life, by enabling you to focus on the things that are most important to you. IKIRU IS VERSATILE Use it to create to do lists, shopping lists, take notes, store contact information, keep track of books to read, or movies to watch... or anything else you'd want to make a list for. IKIRU IS BEAUTIFUL With a clean and easy to use design, choose from over 2000 icons to assign to your lists. IKIRU IS POWERFUL - create lists within lists - assign a due date and reminder to list items - view all items with a due date in one convenient timeline - add a photo to list items - drag and drop to sort list items, or automatically keep a list sorted alphabetically, by modification date, completion date, and more - easily copy or move items from one list to another - mark items incomplete to return them to their original position in the list (this makes lists easy to reuse) - send a list via email, and the receiver can import your list into their copy of Ikiru - view items with due dates on your Apple Watch IKIRU KEEPS YOUR DATA SAFE - automatically back up and sync lists between iOS devices using iCloud - use Touch ID or a custom passcode to protect your information IKIRU HAS PURPOSE The word "ikiru" (ee-kee-roo) means "to live" in Japanese. It's also the title of an Akira Kurosawa film about a man who decides to do something meaningful with his life. Ikiru (the app) is my attempt at doing something meaningful with my life, and hopefully help others live meaningful and productive lives. IKIRU HAS HISTORY In 2010 I released a list-making app called "Paperless". From busy moms to airplane pilots to people who needed a little help remembering things after suffering a brain injury, Paperless has been used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Ikiru is built upon that legacy - incorporating the best ideas from Paperless, greatly improving upon them, and adding big features that people have requested. IKIRU NEEDS LOVE If you find Ikiru useful, please rate and review it in the App Store. Thank you!

About

Insight Journal

This app helps you achieve personal growth through daily journaling, mindfulness, and goal setting. It offers tools for planning, tracking, and reflection to build healthy habits and gain self-awareness.

Highlights
  • Daily journaling ritual
  • Mindfulness exercises
  • Goal setting and tracking
  • Day and week planning views
  • Routine builder
  • Insights page for task tracking
Features
Read full description

Achieve anything you put your mind to with Insight Journal. Start your journey to a happier, healthier you with a daily journaling ritual. Unlock the power of mindfulness, productivity, and self-improvement with Insight Journal, the ultimate journaling app designed to inspire and empower you. Whether you want to get your mindset on track or chase next-level goals, Insight Journal is just the start. Using scientifically proven research, Insight Journal's exercises, planning and tracking will help you build a healthy journaling habit. Discover the perfect blend of journaling, planning, and reflection in one seamless app. With day and week planning views, dedicated reflection pages, and a simplified journaling experience, Insight Journal empowers users to express themselves, set goals, and gain profound insights into their lives. Craft healthy routines with our routine builder and gain valuable insights with the insights page, tracking hours spent on tasks, distractions, and self-care. Designed for those who value productivity and personal growth, Insight Journal offers an intuitive and visually appealing interface, making self-discovery a beautiful and accessible journey. Download Insight Journal now to embark on your path to self-improvement.  Your journey, your insights, your Insight.

Screenshots

Ikiru4 screens
Insight Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Insight Journal at Free against Ikiru's $4.99. Insight Journal also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.9) and update cadence (daily vs every 3 weeks). Ikiru's advantage is ratings volume (101 vs 1) and device support (4 vs 1). On ads and in-app purchases 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

Insight Journal is free to download; Ikiru costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Insight Journal holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ikiru has 101 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ikiru ships an update every 3 weeks, Insight Journal daily. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Ikiru versus Insight Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIkiruInsight Journal
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (101 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews54.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings101 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS11.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJames RhoadesTanner Cottle

Customer experience

Ikiru

All ratings101 ratings
Positive68.3%
Neutral13.9%
Negative17.8%
Written reviews131 reviews
Positive54.2%
Neutral18.3%
Negative27.5%

Insight Journal

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Ikiru

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Reminders not working properly
  • Syncing issues causing data loss
  • Crashes after iOS updates
  • Inability to disable Face ID lock

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more formatting options (bold, italic, etc.)
  • Improve search to allow searching within sublists
  • Provide more customization options for themes and icons
  • Add location-based reminders
  • Implement better backup and restore functionality

Insight Journal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Ikiru

No in-app purchases

None

Insight Journal

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Ikiru free?
Ikiru costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Insight Journal free?
Insight Journal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Ikiru or Insight Journal?
Insight Journal is rated higher. Ikiru averages 3.9 out of 5 from 101 ratings, while Insight Journal averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Ikiru or Insight Journal have ads?
Neither Ikiru nor Insight Journal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ikiru or Insight Journal?
Ikiru ships an update every 3 weeks, and Insight Journal daily. Most recently, Ikiru was updated on October 21, 2026 and Insight Journal on October 7, 2026.

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