Comparison

UpNote vs My Journal

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

Head to head
About

UpNote

This app provides a clean and beautiful interface for writing and organizing notes, journals, and to-do lists. It offers rich formatting options, an intuitive organization system, and instant syncing across devices, with offline capabilities. Premium features include enhanced security and export options.

Highlights
  • Rich text editor with formatting tools
  • Intuitive organizing system (notebooks, pins, links)
  • Secure note locking with Touch/Face ID
  • Instant cross-device syncing and offline access
  • Markdown support and export
  • Task management and to-do lists
Features
Read full description

UpNote is a clean and beautiful app for writing and organizing. It's easy to use with rich features and delightful experience. UpNote is designed to help you take notes easily and stay focused on what matters most. UpNote has beautiful fonts and elegant themes that you can adjust to make your writing experience most comfortable and pleasant. UpNote is an ideal place to keep your diary and journal. It has a powerful lock feature so that you can rest assured that your notes stay private and secure. You can also use Touch ID or Face ID to securely unlock your notes. UpNote’s intuitive organizing system will keep your note space neat and light. There are many ways to organize your notes: putting them into notebooks, pinning your notes to the top of the note list, bookmarking them for quick reference or linking to other notes. You can also close any notebooks to focus on only most important one. UpNote’s rich editor makes it perfect for planning and managing your tasks. Simply write down your to-do list and have them synced to all your devices. UpNote offers highlight, text colors, table, nested list, code and many other important formatting tools so that you could easily format your notes. UpNote syncs notes instantly on all devices. It also works reliably offline, so you could take note anytime, anywhere. If you are a markdown user, UpNote is great for you too. It has intuitive shortcuts based on markdown, which makes it more fun to write notes. You can also export your notes to Markdown or PDF. Try UpNote now and you will fall in love with it! ---- Upgrade to Premium to get full power of UpNote: - Lock your notes and notebooks - Insert table and attachments - Write unlimited number of notes - Elegant themes and notebook covers - Export to text PDF, HTML and Markdown ---- Price may vary by location. Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You will not be able to cancel the subscription once activated. Manage your subscriptions in Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial peri​od will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription. ---- If you have any question or feedback, we would love to hear it. Send an email to support@getupnote.com, and we would love to get in touch with you! ---- Privacy policy: https://getupnote.com/privacy.html Terms of use: https://getupnote.com/terms.html

About

My Journal

This app offers a digital journaling experience with customizable notebook covers and a wide array of decorative stickers and writing papers. It provides a secure way to record your thoughts and memories with password protection and unlimited storage. The app encourages daily reflection for personal growth and well-being.

Highlights
  • Simulation notebook with various covers
  • Security password protection
  • Rich collection of stickers and writing paper
  • Unlimited storage capacity
  • Simple drag-and-drop interface
  • Habit tracking for daily reflection
Features
Read full description

What's special about her? ** Simulation notebook: a variety of covers, make a hand ledger so that you feel as if you are using a real notebook; ** Security password: set their own exclusive password, when you don't want to share who also can't see; ** Rich materials: whether stickers, writing paper, are xiaobian carefully prepared for you; ** Large capacity: Don't worry, no matter how much you write, you can always save, unlimited; ** Simple and easy to use: just click, drag, rotate to complete the production, easy to use; ** Habit: as long as you record your happiness and sorrow every day, magical things will happen; What she can bring to you · Growth memoir: every day growth has its own unique content, as long as the record, is beautification; · Share with yourself, you will find yourself so lovely; · Mysterious power: really magical oh, you can also make a wish oh, it is said that many little lovely wish has come true; · Always love: No matter in life, in study, in love, we all experience different moments. As long as we record them, You'll find that life's surprises are always there. This subscription will be automatically renewed through your iTunes account, with the renewal fee deducted from your plan within 24 hours prior to the end of the current subscription period. You can manage or cancel automatic renewal at the Account Settings office at least 24 hours before the current subscription period ends. If your trial does not end, the remaining days will automatically expire after you start your subscription. To open a subscription, you agree to the following terms: The terms of service: https://linkq002.github.io/posts/shunchang/fuwu Privacy policy: https://linkq002.github.io/posts/shunchang/privacy

Screenshots

UpNote4 screens
My Journal3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: UpNote at none against My Journal's shown. UpNote also leads on update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and ratings volume (1.1K vs 198). My Journal's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. UpNote sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and My Journal sells 3 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for UpNote against 4.6 for My Journal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: UpNote has 1.1K ratings behind it against 198, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of UpNote's written reviews are positive against 91% of My Journal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UpNote ships an update weekly, My Journal monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
UpNote versus My Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUpNoteMy Journal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.1K ratings) — better4.6 (198 ratings)
Positive reviews85.9% of reviews90.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.1K — better198
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size82 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUpNote Company LimitedHangzhou Shunchang Asset Management Inc.

Customer experience

UpNote

All ratings1,059 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.8%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews752 reviews
Positive85.9%
Neutral6.1%
Negative8.0%

My Journal

All ratings198 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral4.5%
Negative6.1%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive90.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative9.1%

Bugs and requests

UpNote

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Black screen issues
  • Lost notes and data
  • Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
  • Google sign-in not working

Requested features

8 requests
  • Reminders and calendar integration
  • More customization options (fonts, colors, etc.)
  • Improved drawing/handwriting support
  • PDF annotation and embedding
  • Optical character recognition (OCR)
Show 3 more
  • Ability to reorder bullets and lists
  • Improved table editing and formatting
  • Apple Watch app

My Journal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

8 purchases

UpNote

Subscriptions1
  • Premium monthly subscription$1.991 Month
One-time7
  • Life-time Upgrade$19.99
  • Life-time Upgrade to Premium$19.99
  • Life-time Upgrade$24.99
Show 4 more
  • Life-time Upgrade to Premium$24.99
  • Life-time Upgrade$29.99
  • Life-time upgrade to Premium$34.99
  • Life-time upgrade to Premium$39.99
3 purchases

My Journal

Subscriptions2
  • Plus Version3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Quarterly Plus3 Days trial$6.993 Months
One-time1
  • Pro Version$9.99

Questions

Is UpNote free?
UpNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is My Journal free?
My Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, UpNote or My Journal?
UpNote is rated higher. UpNote averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.1K ratings, while My Journal averages 4.6 from 198 ratings.
Do UpNote or My Journal have ads?
My Journal shows ads; UpNote does not.
Which is updated more often, UpNote or My Journal?
UpNote ships an update weekly, and My Journal monthly. Most recently, UpNote was updated on September 22, 2026 and My Journal on September 17, 2026.

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