Comparison

Diary with lock vs Secret Diary

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

Head to head
About

Diary with lock

Create a secure personal journal to record daily events, thoughts, and secrets. Protect your entries with a password or PIN code and customize the look with different colors and fonts. This app offers a simple, fast, and user-friendly way to document your life.

Highlights
  • Password & PIN code protection
  • Customizable background colors
  • Changeable font styles
  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Searchable entries
  • Unlimited entries
  • Multi-language support
Features
Read full description

Use "Diary with lock" app to make your own personal journal of daily events, appointments, secrets and feelings. ****************FEATURES**************** • Diary with lock: Password & pin code protection • Diary with lock: Personalize background color (Pink, Purple, Blue, ++) • Diary with lock: Change font-style • Diary with lock: Easy to use • Diary with lock: Search entries • Diary with lock: Make unlimited entries • Diary with lock: Support 3 languages: English, Japanese, Vietnamese. • Diary with lock: The most downloaded diary app on AppStore! ******************************************* Build from the ground up to be simple and user friendly, the user interface is designed to allow you to enter new notes quickly and easily. With this Diary you can write all your private notes and secure them with a pin code or password. * Track and write about your daily activities Make it a habit to quickly write one or more mini-notes during your day. Simply leave a few words about your workout session, what happened at school or in the office during your day. In weekends, you can write about all the fun you had walking your dog, meeting with friends, or being social with your family. Make it a unique travel diary, or road journal that documents your journey. This can be the daily activity log you always have wanted. Make it your personal journal and have fun reading it over in few year, and share a few laughs with your friends. As this app is pure textual, and contains no images or photos, it runs ultra fast and smooth on any iOS device, and consumes minimal of available memory and disk-space! * This diary is perfect to use as: 1. Diet journal A food diary is a daily record of all food consumed as a means of tracking calorie consumption, weight loss or other nutritional monitoring. 2. Dream journal Or dream diary is a journal in which dream experiences are recorded for later analysis and possibly oneiromancy. 3. Sleep diaries A sleep log is a tool used in diagnosis of sleep disorders. 4. Travel journals A travel diary, or road journal, is valuable documentation of a journey. (only textual, no images or photos) 5. Write your own Autobiography This diary app can easily fit the purpose of a writing down your memoir or chronicle. Keep a log or logbook to record history. Do like famous Anne Frank, make daily records, document life in your own daybook. Never forget a journal entry again, setup a reminder to alert you when it is time to write. Protect all personal notes by adding a pin code when it starts up. Never worry about losing memories again. Easily send a backup of diary entries directly to email for extra protection. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://privacy-policy-site-five-nu.vercel.app

About

Secret Diary

Securely record your daily thoughts, memories, and secrets. This app allows you to add photos and track your moods, all protected by a passcode. Personalize your journal with themes and easily search past entries.

Highlights
  • Save memories, notes, and ideas
  • Add photos and mood emojis
  • Unlimited photo storage
  • Personalize UI with themes
  • Passcode protection and data encryption
  • Powerful search and filter functions
Features
Read full description

Your cute diary, with a lock. Memories turns every day into a scrapbook page. Write in a handwriting you love, add your photos, washi tape and stickers, and keep it all behind a lock only you can open. A LITTLE FRIEND FOR EVERY MOOD Choose your friend: Mochi the kitten, Bun the bunny, Peanut the hamster and more. They ask how your day went, cheer you on and hop for joy when you check in. EVERY DAY, A SCRAPBOOK PAGE • Write in 36 handwritings and fonts • Add photos and videos in cute frames • Decorate with 170+ stickers, washi tape and pretty papers • Snap a photo and turn it into a die-cut sticker • Draw and doodle with your finger or Apple Pencil YOUR YEAR IN COLOR • Log your mood in one tap: Bright, Good, Steady, Low or Heavy • See your whole year as a mood calendar • Find out what lifts you up HABITS AND PLANS, RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR DIARY • Build habits with gentle streaks • See today's tasks as a little timeline • Count down to the days you can't wait for PRIVATE AND SAFE • Lock your diary with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode • Your entries stay yours. No ads, nothing shared MAKE IT YOURS • Pretty themes, friends and handwritings • Home screen widgets • Turn your year into a book to keep MEMORIES+ Writing, moods, the lock, reminders and export are always free. Memories+ adds every friend, theme, handwriting, sticker pack, frame and paper, unlimited photos and videos, unlimited habits, tasks and countdowns, your diary on iPhone and iPad with iCloud sync, and your full mood history. Memories+ is a subscription that renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel it anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://nwlamll.github.io/apps/termsofuse.html Privacy Policy: https://nwlamll.github.io/apps/pp.html

Screenshots

Diary with lock4 screens
Secret Diary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Diary with lock at free with in-app purchases against Secret Diary's subscription. Diary with lock also leads on ratings volume (1.2K vs 112) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). Secret Diary's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (91% vs 66%). On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Diary with lock sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Secret Diary sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Secret Diary holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Diary with lock has 1.2K ratings behind it against 112, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Diary with lock's written reviews are positive against 91% of Secret Diary's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Diary with lock ships an update every 6 weeks, Secret Diary every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Diary with lock versus Secret Diary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDiary with lockSecret Diary
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (1.2K ratings)4.8 (112 ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.6% of reviews90.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.2K — better112
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB263 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperTuyen BuiNawal Amallou

Customer experience

Diary with lock

All ratings1,247 ratings
Positive81.7%
Neutral5.0%
Negative13.3%
Written reviews160 reviews
Positive65.6%
Neutral8.1%
Negative26.3%

Secret Diary

All ratings112 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral4.5%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews53 reviews
Positive90.6%
Neutral7.5%
Negative1.9%

User reviews

Diary with lock

From 1.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🔒 Secure with password protection
  • ✨ Customizable fonts and colors
  • 📝 Easy to write entries
  • 💻 Convenient digital diary

Room to improve

  • 💸 Too many ads interrupting writing
  • 🐛 Crashes and glitches when trying to write
  • 💾 No backup or data recovery options
  • 🔍 Partial visibility of entries even when locked

Secret Diary

From 112 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 🔒 Good for keeping secrets
  • ❤️ Love the app
  • ✍️ Great for writing thoughts
  • 💯 Free to use

Room to improve

  • 💰 Some features are pricey
  • 💸 Advanced stuff is locked
  • 😩 Too many ads
  • 🤔 Unclear if entries are private
  • 💸 Have to pay for certain things

Bugs and requests

Diary with lock

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Entries randomly disappearing
  • Constant redirects to ads when trying to write
  • Login/password reset not working properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Backup and sync entries across devices
  • Fingerprint/Face ID support for locking
  • Ability to change font size and color
  • Option to disable ads for paid users

Secret Diary

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Forgot password not working
  • Password glitch
  • App shuts out sometimes
  • App cuts out and needs restarting
  • Password input issues (0-9 vs 1-4)

Requested features

4 requests
  • Make fingerprint ID free
  • Make advanced features free
  • More color options
  • More features

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Diary with lock

Subscriptions1
  • Cloud Sync Monthly$9.991 Month
One-time2
  • Donate to Developer$5.99
  • Diary with lock-No Advertising$8.99
2 purchases

Secret Diary

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Plan$2.991 Month
  • Annual Plan$17.991 Year

Questions

Is Diary with lock free?
Diary with lock is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Secret Diary free?
Secret Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Diary with lock or Secret Diary?
Secret Diary is rated higher. Diary with lock averages 4.3 out of 5 from 1.2K ratings, while Secret Diary averages 4.8 from 112 ratings.
Do Diary with lock or Secret Diary have ads?
Neither Diary with lock nor Secret Diary shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Diary with lock or Secret Diary?
Diary with lock ships an update every 6 weeks, and Secret Diary every 2 weeks. Most recently, Diary with lock was updated on November 2, 2026 and Secret Diary on November 3, 2026.

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