Comparison

Grid Diary vs LocalOne Private Journal

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

LocalOne Private Journal

This app offers a private and secure space for writing your thoughts and memories. It focuses on keeping all your entries offline and encrypted on your device, with no account creation or cloud sync required. Enjoy a simple writing experience with powerful local protection and search capabilities.

Highlights
  • Fully offline journaling
  • Encrypted local storage
  • Passcode lock
  • Auto-lock options
  • No account or cloud sync
  • Full-text search
  • Optional photo attachments
Features
Read full description

LocalOne Private Journal is a privacy-first journal for iPhone built for sensitive writing. No account. No cloud. No analytics. Your entries stay on your device. Whether you are keeping a personal diary, recording therapy reflections, writing daily notes, tracking difficult periods, or saving private memories, LocalOne is designed to give you a simple writing space with strong local protection. WHAT MAKES IT PRIVATE • Fully offline journaling • Encrypted local storage for entries • Passcode lock on launch • Auto-lock options for extra protection • No account creation • No cloud sync • No analytics or tracking This is your private space. Nothing leaves your phone. WRITE QUICKLY AND KEEP GOING • Create a new entry instantly • Continuous autosave while typing • Reverse chronological timeline for recent entries • Edit or delete entries anytime • Simple rich text tools including bold and font size presets • Optional photo attachments when words are not enough Everything is built to stay out of your way so you can capture thoughts the moment they happen. FIND WHAT YOU WROTE • Full-text search across your journal • Search is performed locally on device • Quickly revisit past reflections, names, events, or ideas USE CASES • Daily journaling without worrying about syncing to a server • Private note-taking for personal reflection • Recording health, mood, or therapy-related thoughts • Travel memories and life updates with optional photos • A secure place for ideas, drafts, and sensitive writing SECURITY CONTROLS Choose how the app locks to fit your routine: • Lock after 1 minute • Lock after 5 minutes • Lock immediately when the app goes to the background SIMPLE AND HONEST LocalOne Private Journal focuses on a single goal: private journaling on your phone. It does not ask you to sign up, does not send your writing to the cloud, and does not build features around tracking or sharing. One-time purchase. No subscription. If you want a journal that works offline, protects your entries, and keeps your writing on your device, LocalOne Private Journal is built for exactly that.

Screenshots

Grid Diary4 screens
LocalOne Private Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Grid Diary at Free against LocalOne Private Journal's $0.99. Grid Diary also leads on ratings volume (963 vs 1). LocalOne Private Journal's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). On ads 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

Grid Diary is free to download; LocalOne Private Journal costs $0.99 up front. Grid Diary sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. LocalOne Private Journal asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

LocalOne Private Journal 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 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Grid Diary versus LocalOne Private Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrid DiaryLocalOne Private Journal
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.6 (963 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings963 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionPaid — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSumi InteractiveMEHDI SQALLI

Customer experience

Grid Diary

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

LocalOne Private Journal

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

LocalOne Private Journal

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
None

LocalOne Private Journal

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Grid Diary free?
Grid Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LocalOne Private Journal free?
LocalOne Private Journal costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Grid Diary or LocalOne Private Journal?
LocalOne Private Journal is rated higher. Grid Diary averages 4.6 out of 5 from 963 ratings, while LocalOne Private Journal averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Grid Diary or LocalOne Private Journal have ads?
Neither Grid Diary nor LocalOne Private Journal shows ads.

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