Comparison

Hourly Journal vs Meet Future Self

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

Head to head
About

Hourly Journal

Track how you spend your time with a beautifully designed and simple hourly journal. Log your hours, add tags and reactions, and gain insights into your daily, weekly, or monthly activities through intuitive analytics. Improve your lifestyle by becoming more mindful of your day.

Highlights
  • Log hours and activities
  • Add tags and emoji reactions
  • Daily, weekly, monthly analytics
  • Hourly reminders
  • Intuitive calendar for revisiting past entries
  • Free cloud sync
Features
Read full description

See where your time goes and understand how every part of your day feels. Hourly Journal turns quick check-ins into a clear picture of your time, activities, emotions and energy. Capture meaningful moments throughout the day without writing long diary entries. JOURNAL YOUR DAY, YOUR WAY Record quick notes in 15-minute intervals, add activity tags and express how each moment felt with reactions. Keep journaling even when you’re offline and return to your entries whenever you need them. UNDERSTAND YOUR TIME AND MOOD Connect what you do with how you feel. Review your top activities and emotions across the day, week or month to discover patterns in your routines, productivity and wellbeing. BUILD A CONSISTENT JOURNALING HABIT Build streaks, earn badges and turn short reflections into a lasting habit. Hourly Journal makes it easier to pause, check in and become more intentional with your time. START WITH POWERFUL FREE FEATURES • Offline journaling • 15-minute entries • Up to 3 custom tags • Daily, weekly and monthly insights • Top tags and emotions • Streaks and badges GO DEEPER WITH PREMIUM • Set exact start and end times • Track energy and positive or negative experiences • Personalize tags with icons and sentiment markers • Create up to 3 workspaces • Protect individual workspaces with a passcode • Explore granular Deep Reports • Compare activities and discover peak hours • Customize sleep and wake patterns • Search entries using advanced filters • Export selected entries with custom filters • Enjoy the complete dark mode experience Whether you want to improve your work-life balance, understand your emotions or simply remember how your days unfolded, Hourly Journal helps you turn every hour into useful insight. Start journaling one moment at a time. PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION Hourly Journal is free to use, with optional Premium features available through: • Monthly auto-renewable subscription • Yearly auto-renewable subscription • One-time Lifetime purchase Monthly and yearly subscriptions include a 7-day free trial. Pricing is displayed in the app before you confirm your purchase. Payment will be charged to your Apple Account when the purchase is confirmed. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the current period ends. You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time through your Apple Account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://hourlyjournal.com/privacy-policy

About

Meet Future Self

This app helps you achieve your goals by connecting you with your future self. It provides personalized daily plans, motivational letters, and allows you to write back for guidance. Track your progress visually and receive monthly reports to stay motivated.

Highlights
  • AI-generated personalized letters
  • Write back to your future self
  • Customizable goal setting
  • Daily practice timeline
  • Visual progress tracking
  • Monthly progress reports
  • Choice of voice personas
Features
Read full description

Meet the version of you who already made it — and let them guide you there. Future Self turns your goals into a daily plan, then writes to you as the person you're becoming. Not generic quotes. Letters written for the day you're actually having, in the voice you choose. And now, you can write back. WRITE BACK, AND GET AN ANSWER Tell your future self what's hard, what you're proud of, or what you're unsure about. They reply in seconds, in their own voice — and their next letter follows up on it. LETTERS WRITTEN FOR YOU • A letter from your future self any day you need one • A Sunday letter that answers your weekly review • Hear every letter read aloud, at the speed you like • A short version on the theme you need: focus, encouragement, accountability or perspective GOALS THAT SOUND LIKE YOU • Turn "I want to" into "I am" with one tap • Each goal starts with one practice you'll actually keep, with more one tap away • Start with three priorities — more than three is the same as none A DAILY PRACTICE YOU CAN KEEP • Your day as a simple timeline, with a time beside every practice • Reminders at the time you choose, skipped once you've done it • Close each day as a win: three quick questions about what went well, what you learned and how you grew PROOF YOU CAN SEE • A calendar that turns green day by day • Then & Now: what you said on day one, beside everything you've done since • A one-page report from your future self every month — how far you've come, what to let go, and what's next. Share it as an image. A VOICE THAT FITS YOU Tough Love, Wise Sage, Warm Mentor or Best Friend. Your future self speaks the way you need to hear it. Built on the research behind "future self continuity": people who feel connected to who they're becoming make better choices today. Future Self makes that connection something you can read, hear and answer, every day. SUBSCRIPTION Future Self is a subscription with a free trial on eligible plans. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms: https://meetfutureself.ai/terms Privacy: https://meetfutureself.ai/privacy

Screenshots

Hourly Journal4 screens
Meet Future Self4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Meet Future Self at daily against Hourly Journal's every 3 months. Meet Future Self also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 78%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. Hourly Journal sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Meet Future Self sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Hourly Journal against 5.0 for Meet Future Self. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 4 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 78% of Hourly Journal's written reviews are positive against 100% of Meet Future Self's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hourly Journal ships an update every 3 months, Meet Future Self daily. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Hourly Journal versus Meet Future Self: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHourly JournalMeet Future Self
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (8 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews77.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.0.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size49 MB47 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developeronesimple.lifeFlowriz LLC

Customer experience

Hourly Journal

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral11.1%
Negative11.1%

Meet Future Self

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Hourly Journal

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Plan$0.991 Month
  • Yearly Plan$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Plan$27.99
5 purchases

Meet Future Self

Subscriptions5
  • Weekly Subscription$4.997 Days
  • Monthly Subscription3 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Founders Yearly Subscription$29.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Founders Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$59.991 Year

Questions

Is Hourly Journal free?
Hourly Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Meet Future Self free?
Meet Future Self is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hourly Journal or Meet Future Self?
Meet Future Self is rated higher. Hourly Journal averages 4.9 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Meet Future Self averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Hourly Journal or Meet Future Self have ads?
Neither Hourly Journal nor Meet Future Self shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hourly Journal or Meet Future Self?
Hourly Journal ships an update every 3 months, and Meet Future Self daily. Most recently, Hourly Journal was updated on November 3, 2026 and Meet Future Self on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons