Journey vs Diary Up
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Journey
This app provides a private space for reflection and memory keeping, featuring AI companions to help you write. Capture moments with photos and audio, organize entries with rich text tools, and track your mood over time. It offers secure, end-to-end encrypted cloud sync and collaborative journaling options.
- AI journaling companions
- Multimedia entry capture
- Rich text editing tools
- Mood tracking
- End-to-end encryption
- Collaborative journaling
- Customizable templates
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Your private journal, with a companion who listens. Write about your day, capture meaningful moments, or talk to Barry or Sherry, your journaling Pal. Make space to reflect, find calm, and appreciate the little things in life. # Meet Your Journaling Pal Meet Barry or Sherry, your companion who listens and remembers things about you. Chat by text or voice, reflect on your day, and find ideas when you’re not sure what to write. Your Pal can help you add to your journal and revisit memories. # Capture Beautiful Memories Capture both moments & memories with photos, videos or audios that you can look back on in the future and remember the events that happened that day. # Create Stunning Journal Entries Explore a variety of journaling & note-taking tools in Journey's editor. Change the paragraph style, stylize your text with bold, italics and strikethrough, organize your writing with bullets, tables, and checklists, and play around with text color. # Throwback to Your Happiest Moments Get notified and look back at your best memories and your journal entries from a week, a month, or even a year or two ago. # Tend To Your Emotions With Mood-Tracking Take note of your feelings while journaling, and keep track of how your mood fluctuates across your journal entries. View how your mood shifts across 30 days in your stories. # Shared Journal^ Collaborate and create cherished memories with your loved ones, family members, or even friends on an unforgettable journey together. # End-to-End Encryption^ Enjoy unparalleled peace of mind with end-to-end encryption†. Safeguard your personal moments & memories and ensure your privacy remains intact throughout its journey to the cloud. # Private & Secure Space Set up a passcode and Touch ID/Face ID to keep your journaling notes private and secure. # Power Up Your Journal With Plugins Power up your journaling routine with an extensive range of journal plugins. Explore functions such as exporting to DOCX & PDF, adding images & media, and blog publishing on Journey. # Create Custom Templates Take charge of your journaling by creating custom templates that suit your needs. Create, duplicate, and delete custom templates at your convenience. # Other Features: - Cloud sync - View entries in the calendar, photos, videos, and on a map - Passcode & biometric lock - Available on mobile, desktop, and web - 14 Color themes - Add weather & location to entry - View entries in timeline, calendar, or map - Advanced search: Activity, mood, favorites - Compose entries via email - Zapier integration - Publish to blogs - Daily journal reminder - Siri shortcuts - Healthkit (Steps count & distance) ^ Only available in Journey Cloud Sync. # Journey.Cloud Membership Journey.Cloud membership is an auto-renewing subscription. Pricing: US$6.99/monthly or US$49.99/year. Price may vary by location. - Daily reminder and inspiration into your email inbox - Write and attach photos from email - Unlock paid features on any Mac or other desktop devices - Unlock paid features on any iPhone or iPads devices - Unlock paid features on any other phones and tablets. Payment will be charged to the credit card connected to your iTunes Account when you confirm the initial subscription purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current subscription period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and the cost of the renewal will be identified. You may manage your subscription and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your Account Settings after the purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable. Privacy Policy: https://journey.cloud/policy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://journey.cloud/terms/ ------ For technical assistance or other inquiries, talk to us at https://help.journey.cloud.
Diary Up
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DiaryUp is your private, beautifully crafted diary — a calm, secure place to write about your day, capture how you feel, and revisit the moments that matter. PRIVATE DIARY WITH LOCK Keep your story yours alone. Protect your diary with a PIN passcode, unlock it in a tap with Face ID or Touch ID, and recover your access with a security question in case you ever forget it. RICH MULTIMEDIA ENTRIES Go beyond plain text. Add photos and videos from your library, record voice notes, and attach files. Choose from flow, grid, or list layouts to make each page feel just right. A BEAUTIFUL WRITING CANVAS Style every entry to match your mood — font, size, color, and alignment — then personalize with backgrounds, stickers, and themes, including a calm night mode for quieter writing. DRAW YOUR IDEAS Sketch and doodle on a built-in drawing canvas and drop your artwork straight into an entry. CHECKLISTS & TASKS Add to-do lists inside a diary to plan your day, track your goals, and check them off as you go. ORGANIZE WITH TAGS Label entries with tags — travel, work, memories, and more — and search to find any entry in seconds. TRACK YOUR MOOD Log how you feel each day with an intuitive mood picker and watch your trends unfold over time with a clear mood chart. BUILD A STREAK Stay consistent with daily streaks and a rich statistics screen — mood trends, top tags, and totals at a glance. A CALENDAR YOU'LL LOVE See every entry on a clean monthly calendar and jump straight to the moments that stand out. KEEP YOUR MEMORIES SAFE Back up and restore privately through your own iCloud Drive, and restore a backup file anytime. Your diary lives on your device first. EXPORT & SHARE EASILY Export entries as PDF, TXT, or CSV — perfect for printing or archiving — and filter by date, mood, or tag. STAY ON TRACK Set a gentle daily reminder at a time you choose to build a lasting journaling habit. WHAT YOU GET • PIN lock with Face ID / Touch ID and a security question • Photos, videos, voice notes, and file attachments • Font styles, colors, backgrounds, stickers, and themes • Drawing canvas, checklists, and to-do lists • Mood tracking with trends, streaks, and statistics • Monthly calendar, tags, and search • iCloud Drive backup and restore • PDF, TXT, and CSV export • Daily reminders Download DiaryUp today — your story deserves a private, beautiful place to live.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Journey at none against Diary Up's shown. Diary Up's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support 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
Both are free to download. Journey sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Diary Up sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Journey ships an update every 8 days, Diary Up every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Journey | Diary Up |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (5.1K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 80.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5.1K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days — better | Every 10 days |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 285 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Two App Studio Pte. Ltd. | 立强 张 |
Bugs and requests
Journey
Reported bugs
4 issues- Cursor and text formatting issues
- Sync problems leading to data loss
- Crashes and performance problems
- Inconsistent behavior across platforms
Requested features
5 requests- Support for multiple journals/notebooks
- Handwriting/Apple Pencil support
- More customization options for appearance
- Improved search and tagging functionality
- Better integration with other apps and services
Diary Up
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Journey
- Month$3.991 Month
- Membership (Monthly)$6.991 Month
- Annual$29.991 Year
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- Annual1 Year trial$29.991 Year
- Membership (Annual)3 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Membership (Annual)$49.991 Year
- Membership (Annual) Special1 Year trial$49.991 Year
- Membership (Annual) Trial3 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Premium$17.99
- Lifetime Membership$199.00
Diary Up
- Remove Ads Monthly$2.991 Month
- Remove Ads Yearly$19.991 Year
- Remove Ads Lifetime$49.99









