Comparison

Niostar vs DayJournal

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

Head to head
About

Niostar

Features
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Can connect and test thermal receipt or thermal label printer via WiFi and Bluetooth

About

DayJournal

Features
Read full description

DayJournal is a planner you write in. Pick up Apple Pencil and write directly on the calendar — in the day, the week, the month or the year — and your handwriting belongs to the date you wrote it on, not to a spot on the screen. Write a note in a day's box on the month grid and it's there, larger, at the top of that day in the week and in the day view. Zoom in to write, zoom out to see the whole month. Travel across time zones and Monday's note is still on Monday. A CALENDAR THAT'S ALSO PAPER • Day, week, month and year views, each laid out like a printed page and zoomed like one — the writing, the dates and the lines grow together • Scroll straight through the months, weeks and years • Write across several days and the line runs across them, in every view • Tap a date in the header to jump anywhere; Today is one tap away • Each view remembers where you left it, like a ribbon in a paper planner YOUR EVENTS, IN SYNC • Two-way sync with the calendars already on your device — iCloud, Google, Exchange and more • Events show as blocks on the same page you write on • Press and drag down the hours to create an event exactly as long as you need, or tap + for timed and all-day events A SHEET OF PAPER FOR EVERY DAY • Add full A4 pages to any day — as many as you like • Blank, ruled or dotted, on white or a soft tint, chosen per page • Layouts to fill in: Cornell notes, checklists, a habit tracker and more • Expand a page to fill the whole screen when you want room to think NOTEBOOKS • Notebooks for everything that isn't about a date — meeting notes, lists, sketches • File them in folders and sort by name or last edited • Browse every page you've written, by month, in the Notes library ON YOUR HOME SCREEN, AND ON PAPER • Widgets for this month, today's note and the hour you're in, with DayJournal Plus • Export a page or a whole notebook as a PDF — to print, save to Files or send — with DayJournal Plus • Color themes for the app around your pages, with DayJournal Plus A PENCIL CASE THAT'S YOURS • Three pen slots, each set to a pen, a pencil or a highlighter, in any color and width • A pencil that looks like graphite on paper — press harder to go darker • Pressure-sensitive ink that follows your hand, with gentle smoothing that keeps your handwriting yours • Draw a line, arrow, rectangle, ellipse or triangle and it snaps into a clean shape, with an optional fill • Text boxes for notes you want to type, with bold, italic, lists, alignment and any font on your device • Object or pixel eraser • Stickers: a free pack, and every other pack with DayJournal Plus MOVE THINGS AROUND • Lasso any handwriting to move, resize, rotate or recolor it • Cut, copy, paste and duplicate — and copy on iPhone, paste on iPad with Universal Clipboard MADE FOR THE HAND THAT WRITES • Palm rejection, so resting your hand never scrolls the page • Lock the page while you write • On iPhone, write with your finger; on iPad, Apple Pencil writes and your finger scrolls YOURS, AND PRIVATE • Works completely offline — no account needed • Your planner lives on your device • Optional sign-in syncs your handwriting between your iPhone and iPad DAYJOURNAL PLUS • Free: every view and tool, sync, and up to five notebooks — each day with paper counts as one, and the pages inside never count • DayJournal Plus adds unlimited notebooks, every color theme and sticker pack, home screen widgets and PDF export • Monthly or yearly, starting with a 7-day free trial • Payment is charged to your Apple Account. The subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and can be managed or canceled in your App Store account settings • Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ • Privacy Policy: https://dayjournal.app/privacy In English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Thai. Requires iOS 18 or later. Apple Pencil is recommended on iPad; on iPhone, everything works with a finger.

Screenshots

Niostar4 screens
DayJournal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Niostar at none against DayJournal's 2. Niostar also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). DayJournal's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 29 months). On price, ads and device support 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. DayJournal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Niostar asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Niostar ships an update every 29 months, DayJournal every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
Niostar versus DayJournal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNiostarDayJournal
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 29 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZhuhai Zywell Technology Co., LTDPathompong Puengrostham

In-app purchases

None

Niostar

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

DayJournal

Subscriptions2
  • DayJournal Plus Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • DayJournal Plus Yearly1 Year trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Niostar free?
Niostar is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is DayJournal free?
DayJournal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Niostar or DayJournal have ads?
Neither Niostar nor DayJournal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Niostar or DayJournal?
Niostar ships an update every 29 months, and DayJournal every 3 days. Most recently, Niostar was updated on October 27, 2026 and DayJournal on October 29, 2026.

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