# Simplife vs Pure Journal

The clearest difference is price: Pure Journal at Free against Simplife's $1.99. Pure Journal also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 2 months). Simplife's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Pure Journal is free to download; Simplife costs $1.99 up front. Pure Journal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Simplife asks for nothing beyond the download.

Simplife ships an update every 2 months, Pure Journal every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Simplife | Pure Journal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $1.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[5.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simplife/id553268082/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **4** | — |
| Positive reviews | 85.7% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 9 days** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 16 MB | 9 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.6** | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Sangmook Lee](https://appshunter.io/developer/979959391) | [YIZE LIAO](https://appshunter.io/developer/1511365129) |

## What reviewers say

### Simplife

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simplife/id553268082)

This minimalist note-taking app prioritizes a clean interface for focused writing. It offers robust features like passcode protection, calendar views, and media attachments to help you organize and store all your thoughts and ideas.

**Highlights:** Multiple notes support, Passcode lock for app and notes, Calendar view for notes, Attach photos and map locations, Search across all notes, Backup and restore options

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

**In-app purchases:** none


### Pure Journal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pure-journal-minimal/id6736616373)

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Professional user/month | $0.99 | per month |
| Professional user/year | $7.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Simplife free?

Simplife costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Pure Journal free?

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

### Do Simplife or Pure Journal have ads?

Pure Journal shows ads; Simplife does not.

### Which is updated more often, Simplife or Pure Journal?

Simplife ships an update every 2 months, and Pure Journal every 9 days. Most recently, Simplife was updated on September 27, 2026 and Pure Journal on September 10, 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.*