Grid Diary vs DailyRetro
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Grid Diary
This app offers a guided journaling experience to foster personal development and mindfulness. It helps users build positive habits, manage stress, and enhance various aspects of their lives through customizable prompts and unique layouts.
- Prompted journaling with custom questions
- Unique grid and mandala layouts
- Daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly planning
- Supports various journaling methods
- Mindfulness and self-care focus
- Stress and anxiety alleviation techniques
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Introducing Grid Diary: More than just a journaling app, it's your comprehensive personal development system. Embark on a personal growth journey that covers all aspects: • Embrace mindfulness & self-love • Establish morning & evening routines • Enhance personal health & wellbeing • Develop self-care habits • Alleviate stress and anxiety through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy • Acquire new skills • Boost productivity • Strengthen relationships • Ignite creativity ...and so much more. At Grid Diary, we understand that personal development is a holistic endeavor, not a singular pursuit. Grid Diary empowers you to create a diary system that goes beyond simple daily entries. By utilizing features such as custom prompts, tags, and categories, you can build a personalized framework for cultivating happiness and developing positive habits such as proactivity, optimism, and gratitude. Use Grid Diary to unlock the true power of keeping a diary and start your journey towards a happier, healthier you. # Feature Highlights • Prompted Journaling: Guided Self-Reflections Avoid writer's block with our question library or customize your own prompts for deeper self-reflection. • Unique Grid Format: Elegant and Comprehensive Organize all that matters to you on a single page with our customizable grid layout, fostering a holistic personal development system. • Mandala Layout: Journal like a Mind Map Our 9-grid Mandala-inspired layout, featuring a fixed center, emulates the artful representation of life's organization and connection to the cosmos. Journaling becomes intuitive and mirrors the way our minds work. • Day/Week/Month/Year Dimensions: Create Your Own Rituals Establish rituals that anchor you in time, crafting a framework for planning, acting, and reviewing on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis. • Compatibility with Various Journaling Methods Whether you prefer morning diaries, success diaries, manifestation journals, or bullet journals, Grid Diary's flexibility accommodates your preferred approach. Discover the transformative power of Grid Diary and unlock your full potential today! # Don't Just Take Our Word for It "New Apps We Love" - Apple "If you've wanted to journal but don't know where to start, meet Grid Diary. Swappable prompts in a lovely, flexible grid format invite you to record and reflect on life's happenings - from noting your habits and goals to sharing affirmation and gratitude." - Google "Grid Diary is a good option for journal writers pressed for time or inspiration." - The New York Times --- As a dedicated three-person team, we believe that privacy is paramount for a journaling app. With no venture capital or advertisers backing Grid Diary, our long-term development relies solely on our members' paid subscriptions. We never sell your data to third parties for profit. # Note about Health App integration: After you have authorized access to health data, you can insert information such as steps or activity energy into your diary. Additionally, you can save your journaling time as mediation minutes to Health app. Grid Diary won't use your health data for other purposes. Privacy Policy https://griddiaryapp.com/support/privacy Terms of Service https://griddiaryapp.com/support/terms
DailyRetro
This app helps you track habits, record thoughts with photos and markdown, and stay organized with daily reminders. It offers passcode and iCloud support for privacy and data backup.
- Diary keeping with photos and markdown
- Habit tracking for routine management
- Daily reminders and notifications
- Passcode support for privacy
- iCloud support for data backup and sync
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Your habits. Your story. DailyRetro brings your diary and everyday habits together. Write a few lines, save a photo, and record the routines that shape your day. When you look back, remember more than what you did—remember what the day meant to you. KEEP THE LITTLE MOMENTS Capture thoughts, memories, and everyday details in your diary. Add photos and use Markdown formatting to make each entry your own. MAKE ROOM FOR GOOD HABITS Keep track of habits and recurring activities alongside your daily reflections. Record a walk, a reading session, or another small thing you want to make time for. RETURN TO YOUR DAYS Browse your past entries and revisit the moments you want to remember. Your diary gives your routines a little more context. A GENTLE DAILY REMINDER Set a reminder to pause and reflect. A few lines can be enough to keep a day from slipping away. KEEP YOUR DIARY LOCKED Use passcode protection for your diary. DailyRetro also supports iCloud backup and synchronization when enabled. Start with today: one thought, one photo, or one habit worth remembering.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: DailyRetro at free with in-app purchases against Grid Diary's subscription. DailyRetro also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). Grid Diary's advantage is ratings volume (963 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads 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
Both are free to download. Grid Diary sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and DailyRetro sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
DailyRetro holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Grid Diary has 963 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Grid Diary ships an update every 2 weeks, DailyRetro weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Grid Diary | DailyRetro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (963 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 48.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 963 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 18.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sumi Interactive | Liqiang Wang |
Customer experience
Grid Diary
DailyRetro
Bugs and requests
Grid Diary
Reported bugs
4 issues- Entries disappearing or not syncing properly
- Password reset functionality not working
- Subscription issues and inability to access premium features
- Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
Requested features
6 requests- Add Apple Pencil support
- Improve sync reliability across devices
- Provide more customization options for layouts and fonts
- Integrate with other productivity apps and calendars
- Implement a one-time purchase option
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- Allow randomized daily prompts
DailyRetro
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Grid Diary
- Monthly3 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Monthly3 Months trial$4.991 Month
- Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
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- Annual6 Months trial$29.991 Year
DailyRetro
- Buy me a coffee$2.99









