Elephant Journal vs Happier
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Elephant Journal
Explore mindful living through articles, videos, and podcasts on topics like meditation, relationships, and environmental tips. Engage with content, support authors, and join discussions to foster a sense of community and personal growth.
- Daily Front Page updates
- Browse articles by topic
- Comment and share content
- Heart articles to boost scores
- Follow favorite writers
- Receive notifications
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From Meditation to Relationships, Family to Environmental Tips, Yoga and Meditation to Travel and Recipes—we cover all the issues and topics that matter with a sense of humor and journalistic integrity—cutting through fads and making fun of spiritual materialism. Our app is simple: it’s not here to clutter your life, but to help open it up. Most apps we enjoy fill the gaps in our lives—whether in line or in a waiting room, or at a restaurant waiting for a friend or colleague to return. Elephant offers space and inspiration within this busyness, enabling us to return to our basic goodness with knowledge and empathy. Every day, check our Front Page for uplifted discussions and new articles, videos and podcasts. Then, your reading, hearting, sharing, and commenting directly increase the article's score, helping that author “win,” get paid by our mindful community, and get featured on our Front Page. FRONT PAGE: A clear scrollable display of our community’s favorite articles, timely issues, and editor’s picks. Scroll ’til you find something that inspires you. TOPICS: Browse articles by category (Yoga, Family, Green, Politics, Recipes…), bookmark those you love, and snooze the ones you don’t. NOTIFICATIONS: See if someone replies to your comment, get alerts from writers who you follow, and find our best new articles. SEARCH: Find that article or subject you’re curious about, and see other trending searches HEART: Tap the “heart” icon on your favorite articles to boost their score to help the issue get featured on our Front Page and increase the author’s chances of winning our weekly Ecosystem payout. COMMENT: Join the uplifted discussions happening on each story to increase the article’s score and create mindful community. SHARE: Share your favorite articles with your network, directly from the app. SUBSCRIBE: You can read two articles free, every day—if you want to read unlimited articles, and see fewer ads, you can subscribe for $3/month (billed annually at $36/year). You can cancel your renewal at any time from the Account Settings of your device at least 24 hours before your renewal date. Questions? Feedback? Confused? Contact our Support at: elephantjournal.com/support We respect your Privacy: elephantjournal.com/privacy Elephant’s Terms of Service: elephantjournal.com/terms-of-service/
Happier
Discover personalized tools and daily guidance to cultivate a happier life. This app helps you identify what brings you joy and build sustainable habits through flexible tracking methods and fun challenges. It adapts to your unique personality and goals for lasting self-improvement.
- Daily content and reflection prompts
- Flexible habit tracking methods
- Personalized recommendations based on personality
- Fun, quick challenges
- 7-day habit Jump-Starts
- Self-improvement and personal growth focus
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The Happier app gives you the tools, tips, and insights to build a happier life—based on the research of happiness expert Gretchen Rubin. Apps that tell you what to do will never work for everyone. Happier is designed to help you figure out what actually makes you happier, then gives you the tools and guidance to make it happen. WHAT YOU GET: Daily content to keep you moving forward: Learn from fresh tips, reflection prompts, quick challenges, and insights every day. Habit-building tools that match how you work: Try different tracking methods to find what clicks: streaks, photo logs, journal entries, number tracking, and more. Track any habit you choose—exercise, reading, sleep, relationships, creativity, organization, whatever matters to you. Personalized recommendations based on your personality: Take the Four Tendencies quiz to discover whether you’re an Obliger, Questioner, Upholder, or Rebel–then try the tools and approaches that fit your tendency, so you’re working with your nature instead of against it. Fun challenges when you need a boost: There’s always room for a bit of fun. Spin the Challenge Wheel for instant prompts you can complete in minutes—clear a drawer, text a friend, take ten deep breaths, try something new. Or, dive into a 7-day Jump-Start, designed to help you break out of old patterns. Whether you're focused on self improvement, personal growth, or simply building better daily habits, Happier gives you a flexible approach that adapts to your life. TRY THE HAPPIER APP FOR FREE: Download Happier for free and start building a new happiness habit. Subscribe to unlock unlimited habit tracking and full access to all tools and daily content. ABOUT GRETCHEN RUBIN Gretchen Rubin is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers on happiness and habit formation, including The Happiness Project and The Four Tendencies. WANT TO LEARN MORE? For resources and support: https://thehappierapp.com Terms of Service: https://thehappierapp.com/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://thehappierapp.com/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Elephant Journal at 84% against Happier's 22%. Elephant Journal also leads on rating (4.9 vs 3.9) and ratings volume (14K vs 57). Happier's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). 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. Elephant Journal sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Happier sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Elephant Journal holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Elephant Journal has 14K ratings behind it against 57, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Elephant Journal's written reviews are positive against 22% of Happier's.
Elephant Journal ships an update every 3 weeks, Happier every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Elephant Journal | Happier |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (14K ratings) — better | 3.9 (57 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 83.7% of reviews — better | 22.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14K — better | 57 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 109 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Elephant Journal | Keyboard, LLC |
Customer experience
Elephant Journal
Happier
User reviews
Elephant Journal
From 14K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Nice app
- 🙏 Insightful and inspiring content
- 📚 Diverse range of topics
- 🤗 Thoughtful and engaging articles
- 💡 Valuable resource for personal growth
Room to improve
- 🔒 Restrictive reading limits
- 💰 Expensive subscription
- 🐛 Issues with cancelling subscription
- 🤔 Sudden change in content quality
Happier
From 57 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎡 Fun spinning wheel feature for 5-minute challenges
- 📱 Beautiful and intuitive design
- ✍️ Multiple tracking methods (photos, journals, numbers)
- 💡 Personalized content based on Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies
- 🎯 Effective habit tracking and accountability tools
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive subscription pricing ($7.99-$10/month or $80-$100/year)
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing issues
- 🔐 Persistent login and authentication problems
- ❌ Cannot edit or backdate entries after creation
- 🚫 Limited free version (only 1 active aim allowed)
Bugs and requests
Elephant Journal
Reported bugs
3 issues- Subscription cancellation button not working
- Articles not loading properly
- Inconsistent reading limits
Requested features
4 requests- Add dark mode option
- Implement a 'read later' feature
- Improve navigation and article tracking
- Increase free article limits
Happier
Reported bugs
17 issues- Login screen freezes and prevents app access
- App stuck on subscription page in endless loop
- Password validation rejects valid passwords
- App crashes repeatedly on launch
- Daily quote doesn't update to new day
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- Wheel spin challenges show as used when not completed
- Don't Break the Chain shows false X marks for completed tasks
- Blank white screens that cannot be closed
- App doesn't recognize new day for daily challenges
- Subscription not recognized despite successful payment
- Error message 'Something went wrong' blocks access
- 5-minute challenge instructions don't display fully on screen
- App only fills small portion of iPad screen
- Request timeout errors when accessing aims
- Data loss after app updates
- Inconsistent time zone handling causing broken chains
- App won't accept valid password combinations during signup
Requested features
15 requests- Ability to backdate or edit entries for past days
- Calendar view to see progress over time
- Support for multiple tracking methods simultaneously (journal AND photo)
- Ability to edit aims after creation
- More flexible aim scheduling (specific times, days of week)
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- Photo captions for tracked images
- Community features to connect with other users
- Lower subscription pricing
- More diverse 5-minute challenges (currently repeats)
- Integration of Neglected Senses quiz into app
- Recording one-word themes within the app
- Ability to track yearly lists and accomplishments
- Better organization/grouping of aims
- More substantial free version with multiple aims
- Email notifications when app issues are resolved
In-app purchases
Elephant Journal
- Elephant Monthly$6.991 Month
- Elephant Subscription$35.991 Year
- Article Boost$2.99
- Big Article Boost$9.99
Happier
- Monthly Subscription$7.991 Month
- Yearly Subscription$79.991 Year
Questions
Is Elephant Journal free?
Is Happier free?
Which has better reviews, Elephant Journal or Happier?
Do Elephant Journal or Happier have ads?
Which is updated more often, Elephant Journal or Happier?
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