Comparison

Basic Journal vs Notepad

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

Notepad

Capture your thoughts and organize your life with this intuitive note-taking application. It offers secure storage with a passcode and iCloud synchronization, allowing you to manage daily tasks and personal diaries efficiently. Easily categorize, color-code, and add images to your notes for better arrangement and sharing.

Highlights
  • User-friendly design
  • iCloud sync
  • App passcode protection
  • Note categorization
  • Share notes (text/PDF)
  • Add images to notes
Features
Read full description

This is an easy-to-use note taking app that offer wide rage of features with iCloud sync and app passcode. It is easy to manage your daily stuff and your personal diary with date wise and name wise format. Key Features - Beautiful and user friendly design - Simple way of note taking - iCloud sync and app passcode - Category to note separation - Share note with text and pdf format - Support note color to easy arrangement - Auto delete note to delete notes - Add image with your notes Keep your words safe with passcode and save it with colourful notes. Download and have fun. Keep in touch to receive all new updates. Thank you!!

Screenshots

Basic Journal4 screens
Notepad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Notepad at 5.0 against Basic Journal's 3.3. Basic Journal's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 11 months) and ratings volume (4 vs 1). On price, ads, 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 Notepad 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

Notepad holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Basic Journal ships an update every 2 weeks, Notepad every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on June 5, 2026 and June 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Basic Journal versus Notepad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBasic JournalNotepad
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (4 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 11 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJames HudsonPiyushkumar Bhut

Customer experience

Basic Journal

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

Notepad

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

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Basic Journal

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$0.99
1 purchases

Notepad

One-time1
  • Notepad++ Premium$1.99

Questions

Is Basic Journal free?
Basic Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notepad free?
Notepad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Basic Journal or Notepad?
Notepad is rated higher. Basic Journal averages 3.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Notepad averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Basic Journal or Notepad have ads?
Both Basic Journal and Notepad show ads.
Which is updated more often, Basic Journal or Notepad?
Basic Journal ships an update every 2 weeks, and Notepad every 11 months. Most recently, Basic Journal was updated on June 5, 2026 and Notepad on June 10, 2026.

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