Grid Diary vs Thanks, Brain
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
Thanks, Brain
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Your brain means well. It just keeps handing you the same thought at the worst possible times. Thanks, Brain is the polite way to take that thought off its hands. Write it down — get it out of your head and onto paper. Then destroy the paper. Really destroy it: with your hands, with physics, with sound and feel. SIX WAYS FOR A THOUGHT TO GO • Shred it — pull it through the shredder, strip by strip • Slice it — swipe clean through it, then slice the pieces again • Burn it — hold a finger to it and fire catches right there • Crumple it — scrunch it into a ball and flick it away • Dissolve it — brush it into dust • Release it — flick it into the night sky and watch it become a star, exactly where you sent it Or tap “Surprise me” and let the app choose. THE REGULARS Some thoughts come back. When one does, give the worry itself a nickname — “The Replayer,” “The 3am Accountant” — and greet it like the old acquaintance it is. The app keeps gentle count of every send-off. Only the nickname is kept, never a word of what you wrote. NOTHING IS SAVED No account. No sync. No server. Nothing you write is stored, sent, or even remembered by the keyboard — the app blocks keyboard learning by default, keeps third-party keyboards out, and hides your words from the app switcher. The thought exists on your screen, and then it doesn’t. That’s the whole point. Everything in the app is free. There’s a tip jar, escalating from a gumball to a weekend at the beach, if you’d like to keep one very grateful developer going. Write it down. Let it go. Thanks, brain — anyway.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Thanks, Brain at daily against Grid Diary's every 2 weeks. Thanks, Brain also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 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
Both are free to download. Grid Diary sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Thanks, Brain sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Grid Diary ships an update every 2 weeks, Thanks, Brain daily. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Grid Diary | Thanks, Brain |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (963 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 48.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 963 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sumi Interactive | Schooner & The Bear |
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
Thanks, Brain
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
Thanks, Brain
- Buy me a gumball$0.99
- Buy me a gas station snack$1.99
- Buy me a fancy coffee$4.99
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- Buy me a sandwich$9.99
- Buy me dinner$19.99
- Buy me dinner + an appetizer$49.99
- Buy me a therapy session$99.99
- Buy me an unplugged weekend$249.99









