Best Journal vs Riff
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Best Journal
This app allows users to record their lives through a digital diary, notebook, and memo function. It offers a wide range of templates, stickers, and fonts to personalize entries, along with free typesetting and drawing tools. Privacy is a key focus, with all data stored locally and under user control.
- Digital diary and notebook
- Exquisite templates
- Massive materials (wallpapers, stickers, tapes)
- Free handwritten fonts
- Free typesetting
- Doodle and drawing tools
- Privacy-focused local storage
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Best Journal is a diary hand account app recording life. You can use it to write diaries, read books, make memos, travel strategies, beauty tips, etc. [massive materials] Exquisite templates - many exquisite templates, direct use, welfare of the disabled Massive materials - Super many wallpapers, stickers, tapes and other materials Free fonts - dozens of handwritten fonts for you to write [simple creation] Free typesetting - drag and drop pictures and text at will, free typesetting Doodle at will - bring your own brush and tape functions, and draw at will We value your privacy and will not store any of your personal data. They are completely under your control. Best Journalmakes your life more happy and comfortable.
Riff
Easily create custom stickers from your photos by removing backgrounds. Use them in digital journaling apps or share them across various messaging platforms. Designed for iOS 17.
- Create stickers from photos
- Remove backgrounds from objects
- Use stickers in digital journaling
- Share stickers across messaging apps
- Designed for iOS 17
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With Riff, you can: - Create stickers from your own photos - Remove backgrounds from objects to create unique stickers - Use stickers in digital journaling on Goodnotes - Download Riff today and start creating! Meet Riff, your new favorite sticker generating app, designed exclusively for iOS 17. With Riff, you can create and share stickers like never before. On your iPad, Riff integrates seamlessly with Goodnotes for digital journaling, allowing you to personalize your notes with unique stickers. On your iPhone, Riff lets you generate stickers directly from your Photos. But that's not all. Riff stickers can be used across various messaging platforms. Whether you're chatting on iMessage, Snapchat, WhatsApp, or any other messenger app, Riff stickers are there to add a touch of creativity and fun to your conversations.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Best Journal at 3.9 against Riff's 2.0. Best Journal also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 5) and review sentiment (52% vs 21%). Riff's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price 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. Riff sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Best Journal asks for nothing beyond the download.
Best Journal holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Best Journal has 30 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 52% of Best Journal's written reviews are positive against 21% of Riff's.
Best Journal ships an update every 2 months, Riff every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Best Journal | Riff |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (30 ratings) — better | 2.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 51.7% of reviews — better | 21.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 30 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 65 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nanjing LeMeng Network Technology Co., Ltd | Hongmin Park |
Customer experience
Best Journal
Riff
In-app purchases
Best Journal
No in-app purchases
Riff
- Unlimited access$0.991 Month
- 20+ heart sticker$0.99
- 20 grocery stickers$0.99
- 20 stuffed toy stickers$0.99
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- 20 office stickers$0.99
