Comparison

Elephant Journal vs Saga Journal

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Daily Front Page updates
  • Browse articles by topic
  • Comment and share content
  • Heart articles to boost scores
  • Follow favorite writers
  • Receive notifications
Features
Read full description

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/

About

Saga Journal

This app transforms your daily journal entries into a narrative of your life. It helps you discover patterns and reflections over time by generating stories and insights from your memories and experiences. Preserve your journey and gain self-understanding through private, secure documentation.

Highlights
  • Daily journaling with photos and notes
  • Weekly and monthly reflections
  • Monthly stories generated from entries
  • Personal patterns and insights
  • Private and secure design
  • Long-term reflection and self-understanding
Features
Read full description

Saga is a private journaling app that turns your daily entries into stories, reflections, and patterns about your life. Write about your experiences, thoughts, memories, and everyday moments. Over time, Saga helps you see the bigger picture by transforming individual entries into meaningful reflections, monthly stories, and long-term insights. Features • Daily journaling with photos and notes • Weekly and monthly reflections • Monthly stories generated from your entries • Personal patterns and insights over time • Private and secure by design • Built for long-term reflection and self-understanding Whether you're documenting ordinary days or major life milestones, Saga helps you preserve your memories and better understand your journey.

Screenshots

Elephant Journal4 screens
Saga Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Saga Journal at none against Elephant Journal's 4. Saga Journal also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). Elephant Journal's advantage is ratings volume (14K vs 4). On price, rating, 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

Both are free to download. Elephant Journal sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Saga Journal asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Elephant Journal against 5.0 for Saga Journal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Elephant Journal has 14K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Elephant Journal ships an update every 3 weeks, Saga Journal every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Elephant Journal versus Saga Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElephant JournalSaga Journal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (14K ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings14K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB19 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperElephant JournalWindhelm LLC

Customer experience

Elephant Journal

All ratings14,205 ratings
Positive97.5%
Neutral1.5%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews98 reviews
Positive83.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative13.3%

Saga Journal

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Saga Journal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Elephant Journal

Subscriptions2
  • Elephant Monthly$6.991 Month
  • Elephant Subscription$35.991 Year
One-time2
  • Article Boost$2.99
  • Big Article Boost$9.99
None

Saga Journal

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Elephant Journal free?
Elephant Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Saga Journal free?
Saga Journal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Elephant Journal or Saga Journal?
Saga Journal is rated higher. Elephant Journal averages 4.9 out of 5 from 14K ratings, while Saga Journal averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Elephant Journal or Saga Journal have ads?
Neither Elephant Journal nor Saga Journal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Elephant Journal or Saga Journal?
Elephant Journal ships an update every 3 weeks, and Saga Journal every 4 days. Most recently, Elephant Journal was updated on November 11, 2026 and Saga Journal on October 31, 2026.

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