# Birthday Elf vs Complete Journal

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Birthday Elf at none against Complete Journal's 1. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Complete Journal sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $12.00 per year. Birthday Elf asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Birthday Elf against 5.0 for Complete Journal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

Birthday Elf ships an update every 6 weeks, Complete Journal monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Birthday Elf | Complete Journal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/birthday-elf/id1569902066/reviews) | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/complete-journal/id6784088125/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Freemium |
| Size | 32 MB | 14 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Birthday Elf LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1569902068) | [Tiffany Sanchez](https://appshunter.io/developer/6784088127) |

## What reviewers say

### Birthday Elf

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/birthday-elf/id1569902066)

Never forget a birthday again. This app helps you manage contacts and send personalized wishes to friends, family, and even crushes. Keep track of everyone's special day with ease.

**Highlights:** Birthday management, Contact organization, Personalized wish sending, Friend circle categorization, Crush birthday tracking

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Complete Journal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/complete-journal/id6784088125)

Capture your life's moments, layering them year over year to see your personal growth. Record daily entries, goals, milestones, and associate them with people and places. Organize with hashtags and create downloadable keepsakes of your year.

**Highlights:** Daily entries, On this day feature, Goal tracking, Bucket list creation, Milestone recording, Location and people tagging, Hashtag organization, Downloadable year keepsakes

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Complete Journal Premium | $12.00 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Birthday Elf free?

Birthday Elf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Complete Journal free?

Complete Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Birthday Elf or Complete Journal?

Birthday Elf and Complete Journal are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.

### Do Birthday Elf or Complete Journal have ads?

Neither Birthday Elf nor Complete Journal shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Birthday Elf or Complete Journal?

Birthday Elf ships an update every 6 weeks, and Complete Journal monthly. Most recently, Birthday Elf was updated on November 3, 2026 and Complete Journal on October 31, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*