Comparison

Prompted Journal vs Simple Diary

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

Head to head
About

Prompted Journal

This app provides a guided journaling experience with over 190 prompts and "Dive Deeper" questions to encourage self-reflection and personal growth. It helps users establish a consistent self-care routine through daily reminders and offers privacy with no data storage required.

Highlights
  • 190+ journal prompts
  • "Dive Deeper" questions
  • Daily reminders
  • PDF export
  • Custom prompt creation
  • Private journaling
Read full description

Discover your daily self-care companion: Prompted Journal, a daily journal and diary designed to foster self-reflection and personal growth through carefully crafted daily journal prompts. This daily diary is not just about writing down mundane events; it's about engaging in a rewarding self-care routine through thoughtful writing prompts that inspire self-discovery. Our daily journal and diary app offers 190+ journal prompts to kick-start your writing and reflection journey. With daily reminders to ensure you stay on track, maintaining a consistent journaling habit has never been easier. This daily diary app is all about helping you develop a strong self-care practice through the power of writing. The key features of our daily journal and diary app include: * A comprehensive library of journal prompts, ensuring diverse and thought-provoking topics for daily reflection * "Dive Deeper" questions accompanying each prompt, allowing you to explore your thoughts more thoroughly * Daily reminders to help you establish a consistent journaling habit * PDF export functionality, enabling you to print, email, or save your diary entries for future reference * A customizable experience, with the ability to create your own unique journal prompts * A focus on privacy: entries are stored on your device, and no account is required Transform your daily journaling and diary experience with Prompted Journal and make self-care a priority. By dedicating just five minutes a day to journaling, you can reap the benefits of a deeply enriching self-care routine that fosters personal growth and well-being. Our daily journal and diary app is designed to make journaling easy and enjoyable, so you can focus on what truly matters: nurturing your inner self. At Prompted Journal, we're committed to creating writing apps that promote self-care and wellness. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. Your privacy is our top priority, and we've built this daily diary journal with that in mind. Get ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and growth with the Prompted Journal daily journal and diary app – your everyday self-care companion. Privacy Policy: https://oatmealapps.com/privacy Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Simple Diary

This app provides a simple and convenient way to journal your thoughts and experiences. It allows you to add images, secure your entries with a passcode, and customize the app's appearance. Data backup and search functions ensure your memories are safe and easily accessible.

Highlights
  • Insert images into entries
  • Secure passcode lock (Face ID/Touch ID)
  • Customizable theme colors and app icon
  • Data backup to iTunes/PC and cloud services
  • Tag-based search for entries
  • Adjustable text font size and color
  • Daily reminder notifications
Features
Read full description

Simple Diary is a simple, easy-to-use free diary app where you can save photos along with your entries. Use it for daily journaling, baby milestones, travel memories, a record of your pet's growth, or a secret diary just for you. Clean, simple screens help you keep going, even if diaries never stuck before. No account registration. Download it and start writing. Your diary stays on your device, and the app works offline. [Features] ■ Add Photos to Entries (Up to 10 per Entry) Like a blog, insert images between paragraphs. Attach photos from your camera roll. ■ Secure Passcode Lock Protect your diary with a passcode. Supports Face ID and Touch ID for quick, secure access. ■ 22 Font Styles Change the look of your diary with 22 font styles, from cute to classic serif. (Some fonts are premium.) ■ Theme Colors and App Icons Choose from 19 theme colors, from cute to cool. You can also change the app icon. (Requires the latest iOS version.) ■ Data Export Export your diary as PDF, HTML, RTFD, or TXT files (premium service). Open them on a computer to reread your diary on a bigger screen, or print entries on paper. ■ Turn an Entry into an Image or PDF Save an entry as one image or a PDF to post to social media, send to family, or print. ■ Data Backup Back up your data to iCloud or your computer. RTFD export (premium service) lets you move your entries to your notes app or cloud storage. ■ iCloud Backup Back up your diary to iCloud and restore it on another device (premium service). It is a manual backup, not automatic sync: back up on your iPhone, then restore on your iPad. ■ Calendar and List Views Look back at your diary on a calendar or as a list. Tap a date to reread that day. ■ Tag Search Use the built-in search to find entries quickly. Write a tag such as "#travel" in the text, and searching for it brings up just those entries. ■ Font Settings Adjust text size, contrast, and line spacing. Great if you prefer larger text. ■ Reminders Set a reminder time and get a push notification, so you don't forget to write. ■ Multiple Entries Per Day Write one entry per day, or add several for memos, work records, or passing thoughts. Change an entry's date and time to write about past days. There is no limit on entry length. [Pricing] The core diary features are all free: entries, photos, passcode lock, search, and reminders. The free version shows ads. The premium service removes all ads and unlocks iCloud backup, data export, all theme colors, and all font styles. Premium is available as a monthly plan, a yearly plan, or a one-time purchase, all with the same features, and covers both your iPhone and iPad under the same Apple Account. [Your Data] Your diary is stored on your device and is not synced to the cloud automatically. To protect your data, use the premium iCloud backup or Apple's iPhone backup. There is no feature to publish your diary or share it with other users. To show someone an entry, turn it into an image and send it. A backup moves your data to a new iPhone. Data transfer to or from other operating systems is not supported. [Perfect For] ■ Students A secret diary for your day, your feelings, and your crushes. Writing out what you can't post online helps you feel lighter. ■ Parents Record your pregnancy and your baby's growth as a photo diary. Write several entries a day, and share special pages with family as images. ■ Anyone Who Wants to Keep a Record Travel journals, reading and movie notes, food diaries, dream journals, daily work logs, or your pet's growth. Simple Diary fits whatever you want to remember, one day at a time. [Help, Feedback] For help, go to "Help / FAQ" in the app settings. Still have questions? Tap "Feedback" on the settings screen to contact us for faster support. Terms of Use: https://komorebi-studio.com/tos_en.html Privacy Policy: https://komorebi-studio.com/policyredirect.html

Screenshots

Prompted Journal4 screens
Simple Diary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Prompted Journal at none against Simple Diary's shown. Prompted Journal also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 78%) and ratings volume (6.9K vs 908). Simple Diary's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, update cadence 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

Both are free to download. Prompted Journal sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Simple Diary sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Prompted Journal against 4.8 for Simple Diary. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Prompted Journal has 6.9K ratings behind it against 908, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of Prompted Journal's written reviews are positive against 78% of Simple Diary's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Prompted Journal versus Simple Diary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPrompted JournalSimple Diary
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (6.9K ratings)4.8 (908 ratings)
Positive reviews94.6% of reviews — better78.3% of reviews
Number of ratings6.9K — better908
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size71 MB206 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOatmeal AppsKomorebi Inc.

Customer experience

Prompted Journal

All ratings6,903 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral1.6%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews276 reviews
Positive94.6%
Neutral3.3%
Negative2.2%

Simple Diary

All ratings908 ratings
Positive95.0%
Neutral2.8%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews415 reviews
Positive78.3%
Neutral9.9%
Negative11.8%

User reviews

Prompted Journal

From 6.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💖 Great for self-reflection
  • 🔒 No ads or data collection
  • 👍 Simple and user-friendly interface
  • 🤗 Helpful and thought-provoking prompts
  • 🌟 Aesthetically pleasing design

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Issues with editing/deleting past entries
  • 🔍 Lack of search/filter functionality
  • 📱 Compatibility issues on larger screens
  • 🔁 Repetitive prompts

Simple Diary

From 908 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 📷 Ability to add photos
  • 🔒 Password protection
  • 🗓️ Organized by calendar view
  • 🔍 Effective search functionality

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
  • 📁 Limited photo upload capacity
  • 💰 Paywall for some features
  • 🔄 Inconvenient manual backup/restore process
  • 🎨 Limited font and theme options in free version

Bugs and requests

Prompted Journal

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Entries disappearing or being lost
  • Blank screens when opening the app

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to add custom prompts
  • Option to password protect entries
  • Exporting/printing journal entries
  • More variety in prompt types

Simple Diary

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Some characters not displaying properly
  • Calendar dates not always accurate
  • Deleted entries not recoverable

Requested features

5 requests
  • Automatic iCloud/Google Drive sync
  • More font and theme customization options
  • Video recording and embedding
  • Ability to add tags or categories to entries
  • One-tap access to previous day's entry

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Prompted Journal

Subscriptions4
  • Prompted Journal Monthly14 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Monthly3 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Premium$11.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
3 purchases

Simple Diary

Subscriptions2
  • Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Premium (Annual)7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Service (Lifetime)$69.99

Questions

Is Prompted Journal free?
Prompted Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simple Diary free?
Simple Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Prompted Journal or Simple Diary?
Prompted Journal and Simple Diary are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 6.9K and 908 ratings respectively.
Do Prompted Journal or Simple Diary have ads?
Simple Diary shows ads; Prompted Journal does not.
Which is updated more often, Prompted Journal or Simple Diary?
Prompted Journal ships an update every 2 months, and Simple Diary every 2 months. Most recently, Prompted Journal was updated on September 22, 2026 and Simple Diary on September 23, 2026.

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