Comparison

Grid Diary vs Simple Stopwatch

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

About

Simple Stopwatch

Precisely track multiple activities with automatic session recording and one-tap smart tags. Organize workouts, study, and tasks to instantly visualize your productivity patterns. Offers 39 language support and a distraction-free interface.

Highlights
  • Precision timing (0.1 seconds)
  • Automatic session saving
  • Smart activity tags
  • Automatic date grouping
  • 39 language support
  • Light/Dark/System themes
  • On-device privacy
Features
Read full description

Track multiple activities with precision timing and automatic session recording. Organize your workouts, study sessions, and tasks with one-tap tags. See your productivity patterns instantly. KEY FEATURES: • Precision timing down to 0.1 seconds • Auto-save on stop - never lose a session • Smart tags: Exercise, Study, Work, Hobby • Automatic date grouping: Today, Yesterday, Past • 39 language support with auto-translating tags • Light/Dark/System theme for comfortable viewing PERFECT FOR: • Students using Pomodoro technique for focus • Athletes tracking workout durations • Freelancers monitoring client work hours • Musicians logging practice sessions GET STARTED IN 3 STEPS: 1. Open the app (auto-detects your language) 2. Tap Start 3. Tap Stop - automatically saved No setup required. Start tracking immediately with our streamlined, distraction-free interface. PRIVACY FIRST: All data stays on your device. No servers, no tracking, no data collection. Your time records are completely private. SUPPORTED LANGUAGES: English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified/Traditional), German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malay, Turkish, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Greek, Hebrew, Bengali, Tamil, Filipino, Catalan, Croatian, Slovak, Slovenian, Serbian, Swahili Take control of your time. Start tracking smarter with Simple Stopwatch today.

Screenshots

Grid Diary4 screens
Simple Stopwatch4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Grid Diary at 48% against Simple Stopwatch's 0%. Grid Diary also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). Simple Stopwatch's advantage is monetization model (paid vs subscription) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). 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. Grid Diary sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Simple Stopwatch sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Grid Diary ships an update every 2 weeks, Simple Stopwatch every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Grid Diary versus Simple Stopwatch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrid DiarySimple Stopwatch
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (963 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews48.3% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings963 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionPaid — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB47 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSumi InteractiveSeiya.k

Customer experience

Grid Diary

All ratings963 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral3.3%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews497 reviews
Positive48.3%
Neutral9.3%
Negative42.5%

Simple Stopwatch

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

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
Show 1 more
  • Allow randomized daily prompts

Simple Stopwatch

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Grid Diary

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly3 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Monthly3 Months trial$4.991 Month
  • Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Annual6 Months trial$29.991 Year
1 purchases

Simple Stopwatch

One-time1
  • Pro Lifetime$2.99

Questions

Is Grid Diary free?
Grid Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simple Stopwatch free?
Simple Stopwatch is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Grid Diary or Simple Stopwatch have ads?
Neither Grid Diary nor Simple Stopwatch shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Grid Diary or Simple Stopwatch?
Grid Diary ships an update every 2 weeks, and Simple Stopwatch every 2 months. Most recently, Grid Diary was updated on November 2, 2026 and Simple Stopwatch on November 5, 2026.

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