Comparison

Happiful vs Lightly

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

Head to head
About

Happiful

Access every edition of a positive mental health magazine on your mobile device. Discover expert-reviewed content, inspiring stories, and practical advice on wellbeing, lifestyle, and self-care.

Highlights
  • All editions of Happiful Magazine
  • Expert-reviewed content
  • Mental health advice
  • Self-care tips
  • Mindfulness techniques
  • Nutrition guidance
Features
Read full description

Discover Happiful – your wellness hub on the go Explore the Happiful app, where you’ll find every edition of Happiful Magazine in one place, ready to read anytime, anywhere. Designed to give you a seamless digital reading experience, our app delivers expert-reviewed content and inspiring stories that uplift and empower. What you'll find in the Happiful App: All editions of Happiful Magazine Access every issue of the award-winning Happiful Magazine, brimming with expert insights and heartwarming stories. Catch up on past issues, dive into the latest trends, and explore diverse topics that support your mental health, wellbeing, and lifestyle. Expert-reviewed content Our articles are crafted by leading experts from our five professional directories, including therapists, nutritionists, life coaches, mindfulness practitioners, and more. You’ll find content you can trust, with insights and tips from professionals across various fields. Inspiring topics Whether you’re looking for self-care tips, mental health advice, mindfulness techniques, or fitness and nutrition guidance, Happiful covers it all. Here’s a glimpse of the topics we explore: Mental health & wellbeing Lifestyle & relationships Uplifting news Happiful hacks Culture Nutrition & recipes Our commitments: Pride pledge: As a publisher, we have a responsibility to elevate LGBTIQA+ voices, and properly represent LGBTIQA+ people in our content. That’s why we’ve put together our Pride Pledge – to track our progress and to keep our efforts consistently high throughout the year. Eco pledge: We want to minimise our impact on the environment, which is why we have our eco pledge. For every tree used to make our magazine, we will ensure two are planted in its place. Diversity and inclusion pledge: To ensure our content both in the magazine and online celebrates diversity and inclusion, we pledge to ensure the following: That our stock images and illustrations we publish will be diverse, including people of different genders, ethnicities, abilities, ages, and sizes. We will consciously look to ensure that every reader is able to connect and see themselves reflected in our magazine. That the writers and experts we publish will speak from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and identities, and we will always endeavor to create opportunities for voices with first-hand knowledge to be included. That the topics we cover will represent the broad spectrum of the human experience. Happiful is a certified B Corp, proud to be using our business as a force for good. Why download Happiful? Experience Happiful on your mobile and carry a world of positivity with you. With each page, our app aims to bring you a blend of support, inspiration, and insight to help you live a happier, healthier life.

About

Lightly

This app provides AI-powered mental health journaling to help you release stress, clear your head, and understand your moods. It offers gentle prompts and personalized insights to guide your reflections and build habits for better wellbeing.

Highlights
  • AI-powered journaling
  • Stress release
  • Mood tracking insights
  • Personalized wellbeing plans
  • Voice reflection summaries
  • Emotional trend analysis
  • Private and secure data storage
Features
Read full description

Lightly is everything your mind needs. Lightly helps you release stress, clear your head, and understand what really affects your mood. Spend a few minutes each day writing or speaking, and Lightly will guide you with gentle prompts and turn your reflections into helpful insights. It’s like having a caring coach in your pocket, helping you make sense of how you feel and building habits that support your mental health. Feel more in control Take a few mindful minutes each day to pause and check in with yourself. Lightly helps you release stress and build inner calm—one small step at a time. Understand what’s really going on inside Go through a wellbeing plan with personalised insights about you. Just 5 minutes a day for a lasting change. Lightly’s carefully crafted bite-sized lessons and guided prompts help you slow down, notice your emotions, and build deep self-awareness one step at a time. Unlock personal growth through reflection Based on what you share, Lightly reveals helpful patterns in your mood and behavior—so you can better understand what helps or harms your wellbeing. Talk it out. We’ll do the rest. Lightly listens, summarizes, and organizes your voice reflections so you can focus on how you feel, not what to write. See how far you’ve come Your weekly reflections show emotional trends and recurring themes, helping you spot growth, triggers, and what truly matters to you. Respect Privacy Your reflections are private. Your journal entries, voice recordings, and images are stored securely in private cloud storage. We use industry-standard encryption to protect your data both during transfer and in storage. You can delete your data anytime. Your emotional wellbeing starts with one small reflection. -- Terms and Conditions: https://reface.ai/lightly/terms Privacy Policy: https://reface.ai/lightly/privacy Benefits of Journaling Sources: https://reface.ai/lightly/studies

Screenshots

Happiful4 screens
Lightly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Happiful at none against Lightly's 10. Happiful also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and review sentiment (96% vs 81%). Lightly's advantage is ratings volume (5.2K vs 5) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support 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. Lightly sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Happiful asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Happiful holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lightly has 5.2K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 96% of Happiful's written reviews are positive against 81% of Lightly's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Happiful ships an update every 2 months, Lightly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Happiful versus Lightly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHappifulLightly
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (5 ratings) — better4.8 (5.2K ratings)
Positive reviews95.8% of reviews — better81.4% of reviews
Number of ratings55.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.416.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB120 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperMemiah LimitedReface Lithuania UAB

Customer experience

Happiful

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive95.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative4.2%

Lightly

All ratings5,141 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral2.2%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews753 reviews
Positive81.4%
Neutral4.9%
Negative13.7%

Bugs and requests

Happiful

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Lightly

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Frequent app crashes and freezes
  • Errors when trying to upload/save journal entries

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to import journal entries from other apps
  • Option to have multiple journals
  • Improved syncing between devices
  • More customization options for journal prompts

In-app purchases

None

Happiful

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Lightly

Subscriptions10
  • Weekly Subscription$3.997 Days
  • Weekly Subscription3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Weekly Subscription$4.997 Days
Show 7 more
  • Weekly Subscription$5.997 Days
  • Weekly Subscription$7.997 Days
  • Annual Subscription$24.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription3 Days trial$34.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription$34.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription$39.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription3 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Happiful free?
Happiful is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Lightly free?
Lightly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Happiful or Lightly?
Happiful is rated higher. Happiful averages 5.0 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Lightly averages 4.8 from 5.2K ratings.
Do Happiful or Lightly have ads?
Neither Happiful nor Lightly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Happiful or Lightly?
Happiful ships an update every 2 months, and Lightly every 2 weeks. Most recently, Happiful was updated on November 3, 2026 and Lightly on November 4, 2026.

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