Comparison

Daily Journal+ vs DayNote

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

Head to head
About

Daily Journal+

Record your thoughts, moments, and mood with this journaling app. Add photos, track your emotional state with charts, and get inspired by quotes. Keep your entries private with a passcode and ensure they're never lost with iCloud backup.

Highlights
  • Add photos to entries
  • Track mood with charts
  • Assign emojis to notes
  • Secure with passcode
  • Automatic iCloud backups
  • Motivational quotes
  • Calendar view for past entries
Features
Read full description

Safely record your thoughts, important moments and state of mind with this easy to use journaling app. You can add photos to your texts, track your mood and view statistics with beautiful charts and even get inspired with a curated collection of motivational quotes. WHY JOURNAL? 1. Track your development Life happens, and it can happen fast. Sometimes we don't stop to consider our surroundings and what is happening to us right now. We are unable to observe the incremental advancement we are making in our own life. So what occurs? One day, you wake up in the future with no memory of how you got there. Writing in a daily journal enables you to track your development through time, enabling you to identify your strengths and areas for improvement. 2. Reduce Stress Writing down your thoughts enables you to recognize stress-inducing thoughts and beliefs that can be distortions of reality. Journaling lets you work through your anxious feelings and obsessive worries before you descent into rumination and stress. You obtain a more realistic outlook on life when you consider how likely the worst-case situation is. 3. Deepen your self-discovery Imagine yourself as a puzzle where each day brings a new piece or design to light. Journaling offers a necessary pause in order to reestablish our connection to ourselves and rediscover who we are. We discover our preferences, discomforts, worries, likes, and dreams when we write. We are always changing. By keeping a journal, we may listen to ourselves, observe these changes, and simply learn to know ourselves much better. 4. Improve your memory Writing in a journal is a fantastic method to keep track of important events and stages in your life. The Reticular Activating System is a group of cells that are stimulated when you write. Your mind then prioritizes whatever it is that you are focusing on and engages in a more thorough processing of it. Writing brings information to the foreground and signals to the brain that it is important to pay attentive attention. You communicate to your brain the importance of your words when you write. APP FEATURES: PHOTOS - Make your daily journal more memorable all at no cost. You can incorporate photos from your phone library. FUN STATS - Easily track your mood over time with easy to read charts and fun highlights like streaks and happiest months. EMOJIS & MOODS - Assign color coded emojis to your daily notes and easily gauge how you are feeling at a glance. You can also specify which mood you are in at the moment. SAFE & PRIVATE - You have the option of protecting all your entries with a passcode. iCLOUD SUPPORT - No need to worry about losing your entries with automatic iCloud backups. MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES - Specially curated quotes give you a mental boost and inspiration. CALENDAR VIEW - Jump to any day in the past and explore your state of mind on that day. REMINDERS - Your can set reminders to make sure you are consistently logging your thoughts.

About

DayNote

Features
Read full description

The journal that listens – and keeps it to itself. DayNote combines a beautiful, private journal with Apple Intelligence. The AI runs entirely on your iPhone: no cloud, no account, no ads. Your thoughts stay yours. CAPTURED IN SECONDS • Log your mood with one tap – in the app, the widget or with Siri • Write without a character limit, with a daily writing prompt • Voice notes that turn into text • Moments from your iPhone: places, photos, workouts and music as suggestions • Photos, tags and places for every entry A JOURNAL THAT UNDERSTANDS YOU • AI Reflection: fitting titles, tags and a thoughtful response • AI Weekly Recap: what made your week • What Lifts You: which topics raise your mood – and which don't • Your Year in Color: every day a pixel • Mood trends, weekday patterns and "On this day" from past years DEEPLY INTEGRATED • Apple Health: your mood as State of Mind • Siri, Shortcuts, Action button and Control Center • Widgets for Home Screen and Lock Screen • iCloud sync across all your devices PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Face ID lock • On-device AI – nothing leaves your iPhone • No ads, no tracking • Export to Markdown anytime – your words belong to you FREE Unlimited writing, mood logging, search, writing prompts, widgets, Siri, Apple Health, Your Year in Color and export. DAYNOTE PRO AI Reflection and Weekly Recap, What Lifts You and all insights, photos, voice notes, tags, Face ID lock, plus fonts and paper styles. Try it free for 1 week, then monthly or save with the yearly plan. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. AI features require an iPhone with Apple Intelligence. Privacy Policy: https://daynote.advema.de/datenschutz.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Daily Journal+4 screens
DayNote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: DayNote at none against Daily Journal+'s shown. Daily Journal+'s advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 6 weeks) and device support (3 vs 1). 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. Daily Journal+ sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and DayNote sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Daily Journal+ ships an update every 5 days, DayNote every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Daily Journal+ versus DayNote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDaily Journal+DayNote
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWALABOK LLCADVEMA

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Daily Journal+

One-time1
  • Premium Version$24.99
2 purchases

DayNote

Subscriptions2
  • DayNote Pro – Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • DayNote Pro – Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Daily Journal+ free?
Daily Journal+ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DayNote free?
DayNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Daily Journal+ or DayNote have ads?
Daily Journal+ shows ads; DayNote does not.
Which is updated more often, Daily Journal+ or DayNote?
Daily Journal+ ships an update every 5 days, and DayNote every 6 weeks. Most recently, Daily Journal+ was updated on November 3, 2026 and DayNote on October 28, 2026.

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