Comparison

Confess Diary vs Metanoia

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

Head to head
About

Confess Diary

This app assists users in preparing for the sacrament of Confession. It is designed for those who may forget or get lost during the process, offering guidance for beginners and those focused on spiritual struggles.

Highlights
  • Confession preparation guide
  • Assists with spiritual struggles
  • Helpful for beginners
  • Reminds users of key points
  • Focuses on repentance
Features
Read full description

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Mt 4:17) - the beginning of the preaching of Jesus Christ. This is an application for preparing for Confession: - for those who get lost and forget; - for those who are attentive to the struggle with passions; - useful for beginners ; If you have any questions, please contact: t.me/olly_blinova

About

Metanoia

This app guides users through the Catholic sacrament of confession, offering preparation, examination of conscience questions, and prayers. It ensures complete privacy by storing all data locally and encrypting it, with no accounts or cloud storage required. The app also includes a daily examen and reminders for penance.

Highlights
  • Step-by-step confession guidance
  • 243 examination questions
  • Confession preparation and prayers
  • Private, encrypted on-device storage
  • Daily Ignatian examen
  • Penance tracking
  • Multi-language support
Features
Read full description

Whether it has been two weeks or twenty years, Metanoia walks you through confession step by step, what to examine, how to prepare, and the words to say. Everything you write stays on your phone, encrypted. No account. No cloud. No ads. Free, forever. RETURNING AFTER A LONG TIME? You are exactly who this app was built for. A clear step-by-step guide explains how confession works, what the priest will say, and what happens next, with honest answers to the questions people are afraid to ask. EXAMINE YOUR CONSCIENCE Prepare with 243 examination questions organized by the Ten Commandments, thoughtful, specific, and searchable. Walk through them one at a time in guided mode, or scan the full list. Add your own entries in your own words. CONFESSION MODE When you are ready, Metanoia accompanies you through the whole sacrament: the opening words, your list, the Act of Contrition, your penance, and the final blessing. It even shows how long it has been since your last confession, so you know exactly what to say when the priest asks. DAILY EXAMEN End the day with a short Ignatian examen grounded in Scripture, a few quiet minutes of gratitude, honesty, and hope. PENANCE AND PRAYERS Record the penance your confessor gives you and mark it complete, so it never slips your mind. The Act of Contrition and prayers for before, during, and after confession are always one tap away. YOUR JOURNEY Look back on where God has brought you: a private record of your confessions with dates. Prefer maximum discretion? Keep only the dates and nothing else. GENTLE REMINDERS A quiet nudge, weekly, monthly, or quarterly, so the next confession never drifts out of reach. PRIVATE BY ARCHITECTURE, NOT BY POLICY What you confess is between you, the priest, and God. Not us. • Everything is stored only on your device, encrypted at rest • Locked behind Face ID or a PIN, and hidden from the app switcher • Zero network calls: nothing is ever uploaded, because nothing can be • No account, no analytics, no tracking, no ads • Completely free, with no subscription and nothing to unlock OPEN SOURCE Do not take our word for any of this. Metanoia is fully open source: anyone can read the code and verify every promise above. NOW IN 14 LANGUAGES The interface and the spiritual content, examination, prayers, and guide, are fully translated in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Polish, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Korean, Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi. Translated with care for the Church's own vocabulary in each language, not machine output. Metanoia means a change of heart. Whether this is your first confession or your five hundredth, it is never too late to come back. Download Metanoia and turn back to grace.

Screenshots

Confess Diary4 screens
Metanoia4 screens

Verdict

The call

Confess Diary and Metanoia both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Metanoia's written reviews are positive against 67% of Confess Diary's. Metanoia also leads on ratings volume (6 vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.6). On price, rating, update cadence 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Confess Diary against 5.0 for Metanoia. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Metanoia has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of Confess Diary's written reviews are positive against 100% of Metanoia's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Confess Diary versus Metanoia: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterConfess DiaryMetanoia
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings16 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB34 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperOlga BlinovaHolyStack

Customer experience

Confess Diary

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Metanoia

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Confess Diary

No in-app purchases

None

Metanoia

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Confess Diary free?
Confess Diary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Metanoia free?
Metanoia is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Confess Diary or Metanoia?
Confess Diary and Metanoia are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 6 ratings respectively.
Do Confess Diary or Metanoia have ads?
Neither Confess Diary nor Metanoia shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Confess Diary or Metanoia?
Confess Diary ships an update every 5 months, and Metanoia every 5 months. Most recently, Confess Diary was updated on November 3, 2026 and Metanoia on November 5, 2026.

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