Comparison

Lemon Diary vs Journal

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

Head to head
About

Lemon Diary

This app allows you to record your daily life through a digital journal. It offers a variety of decorative materials like stickers and fonts to personalize entries. Secure your private thoughts with password protection and easily share your journal entries.

Highlights
  • Exquisite material library (stickers, backgrounds, fonts)
  • Text and picture entries
  • Calendar browsing
  • Password protection for privacy
  • Multiple font selections
  • One-click diary sharing
Features
Read full description

Lemon Diary is a portable App for recording handbooks and diaries. Use exquisite stickers at will to record your daily life. The design is simple and easy to use. "Material Library" Exquisite and lovely material library, stickers, backgrounds, cute fonts and other materials to help you record your daily life "Graphic" Text + pictures, record daily life "calendar" Calendar browsing, don’t miss important days, easy to view "password protection" Password function to protect privacy "Font Selection" Use multiple fonts at will "Share Diary" Share diary pictures with one click Quickly use Lemon Diaryn to record your life. This subscription will be automatically renewed through your iTunes account, and the renewal fee will be deducted from your package within 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. You can manage or cancel the automatic renewal at the account settings. Cancellation of the automatic renewal must be at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. If your trial has not ended, the remaining days will automatically expire after you start the subscription. To open the subscription, you need to agree to the following terms: Terms of Service: https://zatlinkq.github.io/posts/moly/fuwu Privacy Policy: https://zatlinkq.github.io/posts/moly/privacy

About

Journal

This app allows users to create a personal diary with a variety of cute stickers and backgrounds. It offers automatic saving of drafts, password protection for privacy, and the ability to insert photos. The app is also optimized for iPad use.

Highlights
  • Customizable stickers and backgrounds
  • Automatic draft saving
  • Password protection for privacy
  • iPad support with Apple Pencil
  • Photo insertion for diary entries
Features
Read full description

Journal, record the unrepeatable moments carefully. Journal is a diary designed for journal enthusiasts. You can use cute stickers and backgrounds as your Journal. As an interesting journaling app, Journal looks forward to recording warm times with you! [Journal Features] -Super many materials: stickers and backgrounds are updated regularly, and there are new surprises every time you make a diary. -Drafts: Save the content of your Journal automatically, so you can no longer be afraid of losing your journal. -Security privacy: You can set a password for the app to protect your secret space. -Support for iPad: It is easier to edit journals with a large screen and an apple pencil. -Photo record: The diary supports inserting photos to retain beautiful moments. This subscription will be automatically renewed through your iTunes account, and the renewal fee will be deducted according to your package within 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. You can manage or cancel the automatic renewal at the Account Settings Department. To cancel the automatic renewal, you must at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. If your trial has not ended, the remaining days will automatically expire after you start subscribing. To open the subscription, you need to agree to the following terms: Terms of Service: https://keshoujie.github.io/posts/keshoujie/fuwu Privacy terms: https://keshoujie.github.io/posts/keshoujie/privacy

Screenshots

Lemon Diary4 screens
Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Lemon Diary at fortnightly against Journal's every 6 weeks. Lemon Diary also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). Journal's advantage is review sentiment (90% vs 80%). 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. Lemon Diary sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days and Journal sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. 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 — 4.6 for Lemon Diary against 4.6 for Journal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.2K and 1.8K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 80% of Lemon Diary's written reviews are positive against 90% of Journal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lemon Diary ships an update fortnightly, Journal every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Lemon Diary versus Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLemon DiaryJournal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (1.2K ratings) — better4.6 (1.8K ratings)
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews89.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.2K1.8K — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size89 MB45 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer晓庆 韩受杰 柯

Customer experience

Lemon Diary

All ratings912 ratings
Positive89.0%
Neutral6.0%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative12.0%

Journal

All ratings1,523 ratings
Positive90.6%
Neutral4.5%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews243 reviews
Positive89.7%
Neutral6.2%
Negative4.1%

User reviews

Lemon Diary

From 1.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💖 Love it
  • 🤩 Amazing
  • 👍 Good
  • 🎨 Calming and fun
  • 📝 Allows expression of feelings

Room to improve

  • 🙄 Wants free sticker
  • 🤔 Needs work
  • 🙃 Can't see stickers and stuff
  • 🤯 Can't place pictures

Journal

From 1.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💖 Cute and aesthetic design
  • 📚 Helpful for journaling and planning
  • 🎨 Customizable backgrounds and stickers
  • 👍 Easy to use and organize
  • 🥰 Fun and enjoyable experience

Room to improve

  • 💰 Limited free features, many paid options
  • 🔑 Issues with login/access
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs
  • 📝 Limited font/formatting options

Bugs and requests

Lemon Diary

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Logged out when trying to place picture
  • Ads disrupt journaling

Requested features

2 requests
  • Password protection
  • Font customization

Journal

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes when trying to reopen saved pages
  • Stickers not displaying properly in some cases
  • Sync issues causing data loss

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more free stickers and customization options
  • Improve syncing and backup functionality
  • Allow creating custom backgrounds and stickers
  • Introduce a dark mode option

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Lemon Diary

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Plus Version3 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Plus Version3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Quarterly Plus Version3 Days trial$7.993 Months
One-time1
  • Pro Version$8.99
3 purchases

Journal

Subscriptions2
  • Plus Version3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Plus Version3 Days trial$4.993 Months
One-time1
  • Pro Version$8.99

Questions

Is Lemon Diary free?
Lemon Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Journal free?
Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lemon Diary or Journal?
Lemon Diary is rated higher. Lemon Diary averages 4.6 out of 5 from 1.2K ratings, while Journal averages 4.6 from 1.8K ratings.
Do Lemon Diary or Journal have ads?
Both Lemon Diary and Journal show ads.
Which is updated more often, Lemon Diary or Journal?
Lemon Diary ships an update fortnightly, and Journal every 6 weeks. Most recently, Lemon Diary was updated on October 24, 2026 and Journal on October 27, 2026.

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