# Chapters vs Lumen

The clearest difference is price: Lumen at Free against Chapters's $2.99. Lumen also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (4 vs 1). Chapters's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Lumen is free to download; Chapters costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Lumen holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 4 respectively.

Chapters ships an update every 10 days, Lumen every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Chapters | Lumen |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $2.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chapters-your-daily-notebook/id1659223165/reviews) | **[5.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lumen-knowledge-browser/id6762682475/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 1 | **4** |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 10 days** | Every 2 weeks |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Size | 1 MB | 28 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.0** | 18.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Stanislav Stasiuk](https://appshunter.io/developer/1659223167) | [Daniel Kosukhin](https://appshunter.io/developer/1852657475) |

## What reviewers say

### Chapters

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chapters-your-daily-notebook/id1659223165)

A private journaling app that requires no account and keeps your entries secure. Access all your past notes anytime, synced across all your iOS devices via iCloud.

**Highlights:** Private journaling, No account required, iCloud syncing, Cross-device access, Secure entries

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

**In-app purchases:** none


### Lumen

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lumen-knowledge-browser/id6762682475)

This app acts as a browser that remembers what you read, building a personal knowledge base from engaged pages. It allows you to ask questions in plain English about your reading history, with answers generated by an on-device AI. All your data remains private and offline.

**Highlights:** On-device AI knowledge base, Plain English questioning, Automatic content organization, Private and offline browsing, Tracker blocking, Source citation for answers

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Chapters free?

Chapters costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Lumen free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Chapters or Lumen?

Lumen is rated higher. Chapters averages 4.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Lumen averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.

### Do Chapters or Lumen have ads?

Neither Chapters nor Lumen shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Chapters or Lumen?

Chapters ships an update every 10 days, and Lumen every 2 weeks. Most recently, Chapters was updated on November 3, 2026 and Lumen on November 5, 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.*