Comparison

Sunset Micro Journal vs Diarly

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

Head to head
About

Sunset Micro Journal

Capture your thoughts quickly with a micro journal. Express emotions using animations, create custom templates, and organize entries with drag-and-drop sections. Personalize your journal and keep entries private with passcode or biometric locks.

Highlights
  • Quick bullet point entries
  • Mood animations
  • Customizable templates
  • Drag-and-drop organization
  • Personalized journal themes
  • Passcode and biometric lock
Read full description

Sunset is a micro journal that helps you capture your thoughts and stay organized. FEATURES Write Quick Bullet Points - Write quick entries anytime, anywhere Express Your Emotions - Use happy and sad animations to express your moods and feelings Create Templates - Write entries fast with your own templates Organize Your Entries - Put your entries into sections and subsections by drag-and-drop Create Your Own Journal - Customize your journal with your favorite colors, prompts, etc Write In Private - Lock your private entries with passcode, TouchID or FaceID * The duration of every period of Monthly Subscription is 1 month. The duration of every period of Yearly Subscription is 1 year. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user’s Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Terms of Use: http://sunsetmicrojournal.com/terms.html

About

Diarly

This app helps you start and maintain a journaling habit with daily prompts, mood tracking, and the ability to add photos and other media. It also allows for creating topic-based notes and seamlessly integrates with other apps and services for a comprehensive personal record.

Highlights
  • Daily prompts with enriched data (weather, location, health)
  • Mood tracking and pattern analysis
  • Topic-based note creation
  • Multimedia attachments (photos, videos, audio)
  • Cross-device syncing
  • Customizable themes and layouts
  • Password and biometric protection
Features
Read full description

You don't need a free hour or the right words to keep a journal. Start with five minutes and one honest sentence. Write with your first coffee, on the train home, or in the quiet before sleep. A journal grows the same way a life does: one ordinary day at a time. Diarly is a private journal, diary, and notes app for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Each entry becomes part of a personal timeline you can search, revisit, and keep. DAILY JOURNAL, DIARY, AND PRIVATE NOTES Use Diarly as a daily journal or diary, a gratitude journal, a travel journal, a mood diary, a photo journal, a voice journal, or private notes with a password. Create separate journals, or keep dated entries and undated notes together. Diarly Free includes one journal with unlimited entries and media. Add photos, videos, drawings, audio, tags, locations, weather, and calendar details. Write in Markdown and organize notes, lists, ideas, plans, and quotes. MOOD TRACKER AND JOURNAL INSIGHTS The built-in mood tracker makes it easy to log how you feel. You can also save your mood and feelings to Apple Health. Mood Calendar and Insights show how your logged moods change over time, gently highlighting lighter or heavier stretches without judging what they mean. Diarly can be used as a private mental health journal for writing about thoughts, feelings, stress, or anxiety. It is a journaling and reflection tool, not a medical or mental health tracker. JOURNAL PROMPTS, TEMPLATES, AND DAILY WRITING Journal prompts and reusable templates make daily journaling easier to begin. Build a journal template with a prompt, weather, location, calendar events, today's photos, or Apple Health details such as sleep, steps, and workouts. These optional details can support a sleep journal, fitness journal, or health journal without analyzing your health. The Today view gives you a quick glimpse of your journal through a customizable feed of recent entries, mood check-ins, writing suggestions, quotes, tags, calendar events, and On This Day memories. Reminders, writing goals, and journal streaks help you return without making the diary another chore. FIND AND REVISIT YOUR MEMORIES Search finds entries and notes by words, tags, moods, and dates. Timeline and Calendar organize daily entries by date. Map shows travel journal entries saved with a location. Gallery gathers journal photos, videos, and drawings. On This Day recalls earlier years. PRIVATE DIARY WITH PASSWORD AND ICLOUD SYNC Your journal stays on your device. Premium syncs your diary through your personal iCloud Drive. There is no separate account to create, and we never store your journal on our servers. Lock the app with a password, Face ID, or Touch ID for free. Premium adds encryption for the text of your entries and private notes. The app is built exclusively for Apple devices. One Premium subscription covers iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch and adds iCloud sync, multiple journals, encryption, themes, export formats, and the AI Assistant. IMPORT, EXPORT, AND KEEP YOUR JOURNAL Import journals from Apple Journal, Day One, Journey, Stoic, Evernote, Markdown, and CSV. Export your journal to Markdown, PDF, Rich Text, and HTML so your writing remains readable outside the app. AI+ is a separate optional subscription. It lets you transcribe audio journal entries into text and use OCR to extract text from photos. Your journal remains yours, whether you write a daily diary, track moods, collect memories, or keep private notes. Help Guides → https://diarly.app/help Privacy Policy → https://diarly.app/privacy Terms of Use (EULA) → https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Sunset Micro Journal4 screens
Diarly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Diarly at 85% against Sunset Micro Journal's 52%. Diarly also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (1.5K vs 160). Sunset Micro Journal's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (11.2 vs 18.0). 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. Sunset Micro Journal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Diarly sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Diarly holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Diarly has 1.5K ratings behind it against 160, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 52% of Sunset Micro Journal's written reviews are positive against 85% of Diarly's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sunset Micro Journal ships an update every 3 days, Diarly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Sunset Micro Journal versus Diarly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSunset Micro JournalDiarly
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (160 ratings)4.7 (1.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews52.0% of reviews84.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1601.5K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS11.2 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB281 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWayDCKrzysztof Nowak

Customer experience

Sunset Micro Journal

All ratings162 ratings
Positive85.8%
Neutral6.2%
Negative8.0%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive52.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative28.0%

Diarly

All ratings1,469 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral2.7%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews909 reviews
Positive84.8%
Neutral7.0%
Negative8.1%

Bugs and requests

Sunset Micro Journal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Diarly

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Entries disappearing after app updates
  • Inability to password protect individual journals

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to add reminders and notifications
  • Option to organize entries into folders
  • Support for Markdown formatting and backlinking
  • Improved export and backup functionality

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Sunset Micro Journal

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly Subscription$1.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$18.991 Year
7 purchases

Diarly

Subscriptions6
  • Monthly AI+$1.991 Month
  • Monthly Premium$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Premium7 Days trial$24.991 Year
Show 3 more
  • Premium Journal – Yearly Plan7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Yearly Premium7 Days trial$25.991 Year
  • Yearly Premium7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Migrate Lifetime LicenseFree

Questions

Is Sunset Micro Journal free?
Sunset Micro Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Diarly free?
Diarly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sunset Micro Journal or Diarly?
Diarly is rated higher. Sunset Micro Journal averages 4.4 out of 5 from 160 ratings, while Diarly averages 4.7 from 1.5K ratings.
Do Sunset Micro Journal or Diarly have ads?
Neither Sunset Micro Journal nor Diarly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sunset Micro Journal or Diarly?
Sunset Micro Journal ships an update every 3 days, and Diarly fortnightly. Most recently, Sunset Micro Journal was updated on October 21, 2026 and Diarly on October 25, 2026.

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