Comparison

Tesseract vs Vesper

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

Head to head
About

Tesseract

This app transforms your daily entries into a visually rich photo diary with dynamic themes and spatial presentation. Add photos, use journaling prompts, and secure your memories with biometric locks. Revisit your past with a calendar, search, and a Home Screen widget.

Highlights
  • Eleven visual themes with motion and depth
  • Spatial presentation for words and photos
  • Photo attachments
  • Horizontal, vertical, and grid layouts
  • Calendar and search functionality
  • Face ID or Touch ID lock for entries
  • On This Day Home Screen widget
Features
Read full description

Keep your days in a photo diary that brings memories to life. Tesseract gives your words and photos a universe of starlight, rain, and black holes. Write a little today, then return to the moments you want to remember. ◆ A space to revisit your memories Motion and depth bring the atmosphere of each entry back to life. Browse your diary horizontally, vertically, or in a grid. ◆ Words and photos that come alive Eleven visual themes inspired by starlight, rain, wormholes, and black holes add motion and depth to your words and photos. Adjust effect intensity and photo placement in supported themes to create your own atmosphere. ◆ Your day in words and photos Write a quick thought or a longer entry, at your own pace. Add photos to hold on to the moments words alone can’t capture. ◆ Revisit past entries Find any memory quickly with the calendar and search. The On This Day widget brings one past entry back to your Home Screen. ◆ Journaling Suggestions to help you begin On iPhone, bring photos, reflection prompts, and places into an entry from Apple’s Journaling Suggestions. Save text you use often as templates to make your next entry easier to begin. ◆ Personal by choice Start without an account. New entries are stored on your device. Lock individual entries with Face ID or Touch ID. Key features - Eleven visual themes - Spatial presentation for words and photos - Photo attachments - Horizontal, vertical, and grid layouts - Calendar and search - Diary templates and writing reminders - On This Day Home Screen widget - Face ID or Touch ID lock for individual entries - Real-time voice dictation on supported devices - Markdown text import and export - Custom folders - Optional iCloud sync An ordinary day can become a scene you will want to revisit. Keep today’s memory in your own universe with Tesseract. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Vesper

Features
Read full description

Vesper is a quiet clock, set in type. Time, date, and city sit in the same serif. Press and hold the face to switch: flip, hands, a quadrant of cities, or a line of words. • Faces: flip, analog, numerals, quadrants, and prose • World clock: keep the cities you return to, and see their hour • Timer: a stretch of time with nothing else on it • Widgets: the hour on your Lock Screen and Home Screen • No account: your name, cities, and face stay on your device Every face is open for the first 7 days. After that, one purchase keeps it for life. On a desk, a nightstand, or a table, it simply goes on.

Screenshots

Tesseract4 screens
Vesper4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Tesseract at Free against Vesper's $0.99. Tesseract also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 months). Vesper's advantage is iOS requirement (17.6 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases 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

Tesseract is free to download; Vesper costs $0.99 up front. Tesseract sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Vesper sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tesseract ships an update every 10 days, Vesper every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Tesseract versus Vesper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTesseractVesper
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.5 (110 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings110 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB579 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoateraction云 吴

Bugs and requests

Tesseract

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Data deletion after app updates
  • Journal entries disappearing after switching apps
  • Edit button causing app crashes
  • Photos disappearing when adding new ones
  • Photos disappearing after editing entries
Show 7 more
  • iCloud sync not working between iPhone and iPad
  • Bluetooth keyboard Enter key not functioning
  • App freezing and lagging
  • Text alignment issues in display view
  • Paragraph spacing issues in display view
  • Premium features not working after subscription
  • App crashes on edit button press

Requested features

16 requests
  • Customizable theme colors and backgrounds
  • Additional font options (especially for Chinese)
  • PDF export functionality
  • iCloud sync support
  • Auto-save functionality
Show 11 more
  • Photo position/placement control
  • Galaxy map/note clustering visualization
  • Auto-scroll features
  • Pin/favorite entries functionality
  • Search functionality
  • Weather integration
  • Image filters
  • macOS version
  • Customizable line spacing
  • Live photo support
  • Adjustable text size for long entries

Vesper

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Tesseract

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Annual$4.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$12.99
1 purchases

Vesper

One-time1
  • Timepiece Pro$0.99

Questions

Is Tesseract free?
Tesseract is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Vesper free?
Vesper costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Do Tesseract or Vesper have ads?
Neither Tesseract nor Vesper shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tesseract or Vesper?
Tesseract ships an update every 10 days, and Vesper every 3 months. Most recently, Tesseract was updated on November 5, 2026 and Vesper on November 5, 2026.

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