Comparison

Simpler vs Journal Today

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

Head to head
About

Simpler

This prompt-based journal app makes reflection easy and fun. Capture moods, thoughts, and interests with guided questions, photos, videos, and voice-to-text entries. Personalize your diary and sync across devices.

Highlights
  • Prompt-based journaling
  • Add photos and videos
  • Voice-to-text entry
  • Customizable diary cover
  • Daily reminders
  • Touch/Face ID lock
  • Calendar view
Read full description

Write, Reflect, Grow! Simpler Diary is a prompt-based diary with a unique and intuitive way to capture and collect your moods, thoughts, and interests. Start Writing with a Prompt --------------------------- Instead of a daunting blank page, Simpler Diary is designed to make journaling fun and easy. Not sure what to write? Simpler Diary will greet you with daily questions such as; “What did you do to achieve your goal(s) today?” or “What made you smile today?” All you have to do is answer with a simple word or a few sentences. You can also add photos, videos and emoticon (mood) to support your thoughts. Universal App -------------- Supports both iPhones and iPads. Automatically syncs data through iCloud. Your data will be available on all your Apple devices such as your iPhone and iPads. Use our Prompts or Create Your Own. ------------------------------------- Simpler Diary gives you the flexibility to make this diary yours. With each new entry, you’ll be greeted with a prompt and an emoticon to add how you’re feeling. You have the option to: 1. Answer the prompt. 2. Choose a different prompt. 3. Create your own prompt. 4. Choose a mood to describe your feeling. The concept behind Simpler Diary is to use different cards to capture your memories, moods, habits, and interests. Additional Features: -------------------- • Search diary entries. • Personalize your diary cover, by using a picture or different colors for each cover. • Add entries with your voice, speak into your diary and it'll convert your voice to text • Set daily reminders. • Add videos to your Dairy • Lock your diary with Touch/Face ID. • Add emoticon to your diary. • Customize your cards with a different color. • Ability to edit past entries. • No login of any kind is required. • Unlimited storage on all your iPhone/iPads. • Calendar view to track your history. • Add reminders to your diary entries. Free App ---------- Are you ready to share your experiences with your future self in the most delightful and personal manner? Our new prompt-based journal recorder app is all you need to keep a track of your life and keep on improving throughout all the years. Try the new Simpler - Media Diary, Journal today! Simpler Diary is a free app that, don't use Ads. Loving Simpler Diary? Please share the app and leave us a review.

About

Journal Today

Easily record your thoughts, memories, and moods in a private digital journal. Organize entries with tags and photos, and keep your private thoughts secure with passcode and Face ID protection. Sync across all your devices for seamless access.

Highlights
  • Timeline of entries
  • Calendar view
  • Add photos to entries
  • Categorize with tags
  • Track moods
  • iCloud sync
  • Passcode/Face ID lock
Features
Read full description

Journal Today is easy to use, minimalistic and very functional journal app. You can write your journal anytime with anything that in your mind. Let Journal Today record your happiness and make your everyday meaningful. Main features: - Timeline of your entries - Calendar to show all your memories - Photos to make your journal more vivid - Tags to categories entries - Moods to remember your days - iCloud automatic sync to all your devices - Passcode lock as well as Face ID to keep entries private - Dark Mode, Share, Reminder and much much more are coming Journal Today is FREE to use with unlimited entries. Additional features are available with Pro membership. Journal Today offers $1.99/month or $18.49/year auto-renewing subscription. Payment will be charged to App Store account at confirmation of purchase. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. you can manage your subscription by going to your account settings on the App Store. Privacy Policy: https://journaltoday.app/privacy Terms of Service: https://journaltoday.app/terms Creator: Yuan Fu, designed by Faraz Ahmed (farazleo)

Screenshots

Simpler4 screens
Journal Today4 screens

Verdict

The call

Simpler and Journal Today both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Simpler's written reviews are positive against 64% of Journal Today's. Simpler also leads on monetization model (free vs freemium) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). Journal Today's advantage is ratings volume (73 vs 16). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Simpler sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Journal Today sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 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 — 4.8 for Simpler against 4.8 for Journal Today. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 73 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Simpler's written reviews are positive against 64% of Journal Today's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simpler ships an update every 3 weeks, Journal Today every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Simpler versus Journal Today: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimplerJournal Today
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (16 ratings) — better4.8 (73 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better63.6% of reviews
Number of ratings1673 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size70 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWayne WilliamsYuan Fu

Customer experience

Simpler

All ratings15 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Journal Today

All ratings73 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral5.5%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive63.6%
Neutral31.8%
Negative4.5%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Simpler

One-time1
  • Upgrade to Pro$3.99
3 purchases

Journal Today

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly3 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Annual7 Days trial$18.491 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$19.99

Questions

Is Simpler free?
Simpler is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Journal Today free?
Journal Today is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Simpler or Journal Today?
Simpler is rated higher. Simpler averages 4.8 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Journal Today averages 4.8 from 73 ratings.
Do Simpler or Journal Today have ads?
Neither Simpler nor Journal Today shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Simpler or Journal Today?
Simpler ships an update every 3 weeks, and Journal Today every 2 weeks. Most recently, Simpler was updated on October 29, 2026 and Journal Today on November 3, 2026.

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