Comparison

Quick Journal vs Ember

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

Head to head
About

Quick Journal

This app offers a straightforward journaling experience with extensive customization options. Personalize themes, fonts, icons, and layouts to create your ideal digital notebook. Widgets and draft saving features enhance usability for daily reflection.

Highlights
  • Customizable themes and fonts
  • App icon and layout personalization
  • Home screen widgets
  • Save entries as drafts
  • Copy and share entries
Features
Read full description

Quick Journal is the simplest way to keep a journal. You can customize your journal's theme, fonts, app icon, layout, and even where the composer button is placed. To help you write or keep track of your entries, the app features widgets you can put on your home screen. You can copy or share your entries. You can always come back to an entry later by saving it as a draft, just swipe down and the entry will be saved. Hope you enjoy! EULA https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Ember

Features
Read full description

Ember is a diary for the things you wouldn't say out loud yet. The day you almost quit. The walk that fixed you. The sentence your mother said in 2007 that you still think about. It's not a notebook for productivity or a journal for habits. It's a place to write the way you'd write to yourself at three in the morning, when nobody is watching and the sentences don't have to be good. The page is plain on purpose. Fraunces or Lora for the writing, set at a size that doesn't make you squint. A title field that doesn't ask much. A small line for the weather, the mood, the song that was playing. Voice memos when typing feels like too much. Photos when a photo says it faster. A drawing layer for the days a doodle is the whole entry. Each morning, one prompt, if you want one. Ignore it if you don't. Everything you write stays on this iPhone, encrypted with AES-GCM the moment you tap save. There is no Ember server. No account to make. No analytics looking over your shoulder. We couldn't read your entries if we tried — we built it that way on purpose. Ember is free to download with everything unlocked. One small banner supports development — remove it anytime with a single one-time purchase. No subscription, no auto-renewal, no popups asking you to upgrade in eighteen months. Export to Markdown or PDF whenever you like, and take what you wrote with you. The diary is yours; we're just the room it sits in. Write something today. Even one line.

Screenshots

Quick Journal4 screens
Ember4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Quick Journal at none against Ember's 1. Quick Journal also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. Ember sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Quick Journal asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Quick Journal ships an update every 9 days, Ember every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Quick Journal versus Ember: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterQuick JournalEmber
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (24 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews86.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings24 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.417.4
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCharlie Deets丽佳 施

In-app purchases

None

Quick Journal

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Ember

One-time1
  • Ember Pro$0.99

Questions

Is Quick Journal free?
Quick Journal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ember free?
Ember is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Quick Journal or Ember have ads?
Ember shows ads; Quick Journal does not.
Which is updated more often, Quick Journal or Ember?
Quick Journal ships an update every 9 days, and Ember every 3 weeks. Most recently, Quick Journal was updated on September 18, 2026 and Ember on September 20, 2026.

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