Comparison

Basic Journal vs Diary With Password

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

Head to head
About

Basic Journal

A fast and simple journal app designed for busy individuals to quickly jot down notes on daily activities. It offers an elegant, chronological display of entries with easy editing and export options.

Highlights
  • Quick note-taking
  • Chronological note display
  • Summary and detail views
  • Edit and delete notes easily
  • Recently edited notes highlighted
  • iCloud syncing
  • Text export option
Features
Read full description

Waste less time fiddling with your phone, and spend more time learning, working, or training! If you are an active or busy person, you need to take notes quickly, easily, on whatever device you have with you. This app is a fast and simple journal/diary for your daily activities. This app is ideal for fitness enthusiasts, gym users, dancers who need to make notes on choreography, or anyone who needs fast and simple note-taking. Why this app? Other note-taking apps are complicated and difficult to navigate, and your notes are quickly buried. They are just not practical for quickly noting down or recalling corrections and notes during a class, lecture or workshop. This app keeps all your notes on display in a large, friendly format, in chronological order. • Elegant and simple layout of notes by date. • Summary view for a quick overview. • Detail view to browse all notes at once. • Edit or delete notes quickly from any screen. • Recently edited notes are highlighted. Data storage: • Your notes are synced across all your iOS devices. It doesn't matter if you delete the app or lose your device; your notes are stored with Apple's iCloud (subject to iCloud availability, and it being enabled on your device). • Text export option: you can get all your notes out of the software any time you want, to keep your own backups, share, or use elsewhere. NOTES Accidents happen, so it is recommended that you make regular backups with the export function. You are responsible for maintaining your own backups in case of data loss. It may take a while to sync your existing notes when you first install the app on an extra device: be patient! Make sure iCloud is enabled on your device to use the syncing feature.

About

Diary With Password

This app provides a private digital space to record daily thoughts, emotions, and life events. It offers robust security features like password and biometric locks, alongside tools for organizing, searching, and exporting your entries. Enjoy a customizable and ad-free journaling experience.

Highlights
  • Password and biometric security
  • Daily entry logging
  • Full text search
  • Data backup and export (PDF/Text)
  • Customizable fonts and sizes
  • Night mode
  • Daily reminders
Features
Read full description

Track life's progress Log a little bit about each day Look back at the emotions and the opinions and even mundane aspects of your life Write out all your emotions in a space and no one will see This is an electronic diary Simple and friendly ■ Password -set a password to protect your diary secrets ■ Time Stamp -note the time by touching the inconspicuous clock button ■ Reminder -friendly reminder to write about your day ■ Delete -swipe your finger to delete the diary you want to delete ■ Night Mode -to make looking at a screen in a dark room easier on your eyes ■ iCloud -back up your data/Restore the data on your iOS device ■ Export -export your diary as a text/Export the diary to PDF file (The exported file can be sent to you by email. Please make sure that a mail account has been set on the device. You can also choose to export your data to your iOS file system on your device) ■ Sizes -choose a new font size from the font size list ■ Sign -add a good diary to your favorites ■ Search -full text search-able - search entries by containing text ■ Fonts -to change the font type, in the font list, select a font ■ Touch ID / Face ID -need the related hardware support (iPhone 5s+) ■ Pattern Lock -security and ease

Screenshots

Basic Journal4 screens
Diary With Password4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Diary With Password at 92% against Basic Journal's 40%. Diary With Password also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.3) and ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Basic Journal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Diary With Password sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Diary With Password holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Diary With Password has 27K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of Basic Journal's written reviews are positive against 92% of Diary With Password's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Basic Journal versus Diary With Password: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBasic JournalDiary With Password
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (4 ratings)4.7 (27K ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews92.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings427K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJames Hudson帆 杨

Customer experience

Basic Journal

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative60.0%

Diary With Password

All ratings27,088 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral3.1%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews2,376 reviews
Positive92.1%
Neutral4.6%
Negative3.3%

Bugs and requests

Basic Journal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Diary With Password

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Date entries sometimes display incorrectly
  • Occasional app crashes or freezes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to import/attach photos
  • Implement calendar view for entries
  • Allow multiple entries per day
  • Provide cloud backup and sync options
  • Add more customization options (colors, themes, etc.)

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Basic Journal

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$0.99
1 purchases

Diary With Password

One-time1
  • Pro version- One-time purchase$12.99

Questions

Is Basic Journal free?
Basic Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Diary With Password free?
Diary With Password is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Basic Journal or Diary With Password?
Diary With Password is rated higher. Basic Journal averages 3.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Diary With Password averages 4.7 from 27K ratings.
Do Basic Journal or Diary With Password have ads?
Basic Journal shows ads; Diary With Password does not.
Which is updated more often, Basic Journal or Diary With Password?
Basic Journal ships an update every 2 weeks, and Diary With Password every 2 weeks. Most recently, Basic Journal was updated on October 7, 2026 and Diary With Password on October 18, 2026.

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