Comparison

Best Journal vs Diary Keeper

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Digital diary and notebook
  • Exquisite templates
  • Massive materials (wallpapers, stickers, tapes)
  • Free handwritten fonts
  • Free typesetting
  • Doodle and drawing tools
  • Privacy-focused local storage
Read full description

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.

About

Diary Keeper

Features
Read full description

Diary Keeper is a private diary that makes it easy to write a little every day and find it again years later. WRITE WITHOUT THE BLANK PAGE • A fresh writing prompt every day, or shuffle for another • Eight templates: daily reflection, gratitude, mood check-in, morning intentions, weekly review, travel log, dream log, brain dump • Focus mode hides everything but your words • Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, bulleted and numbered lists • Seven handwriting fonts, colours, sizes and paper backgrounds CAPTURE THE WHOLE DAY • Add photos, voice notes and places • Pick a mood from three emoji styles • Tag entries and mark events like Friends, Travel, Fitness or Rest • Bookmark the days worth keeping close PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Lock with a passcode, Face ID or Touch ID • Choose how quickly the diary locks again • Home-screen widgets hide your text while the lock is on • No account needed. Your writing never touches our servers NEVER LOSE A WORD • iCloud sync keeps every device up to date • Export a print-ready PDF booklet with your photos • Export Markdown for any notes app • Full backup you can restore on a new phone FIND ANY MOMENT • Search titles, text, tags, events, moods and places • Filter by bookmarks, drafts, photos, voice notes or year • Timeline groups your story month by month • On This Day brings back what you wrote one, two or five years ago MAKE IT YOURS • Thirteen themes, from Sunset to Winter Eve • Today's Quote and Recent Entries widgets, plus your own quotes • Daily reminders on the days you choose Start with one line about today. Diary Keeper keeps the rest.

Screenshots

Best Journal4 screens
Diary Keeper4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Diary Keeper at none against Best Journal's shown. Diary Keeper also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Best Journal's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 17.0). On price 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Best Journal ships an update every 2 months, Diary Keeper every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Best Journal versus Diary Keeper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBest JournalDiary Keeper
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (30 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews51.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings30 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supported—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS9.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB98 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperNanjing LeMeng Network Technology Co., LtdSaranjith Krishnan

In-app purchases

None

Best Journal

No in-app purchases

None

Diary Keeper

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Best Journal free?
Best Journal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Diary Keeper free?
Diary Keeper is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Best Journal or Diary Keeper have ads?
Best Journal shows ads; Diary Keeper does not.
Which is updated more often, Best Journal or Diary Keeper?
Best Journal ships an update every 2 months, and Diary Keeper every 3 weeks. Most recently, Best Journal was updated on October 23, 2026 and Diary Keeper on October 27, 2026.

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