Comparison

Daylights vs DiaryMate

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

Head to head
About

Daylights

This app helps you record your daily highlights and track your mood with color. Set reminders and use widgets for easy access to your visual journal.

Highlights
  • Daily highlight recording
  • Mood tracking with color
  • Daily reminders
  • Multiple theme colors
  • Widgets for easy access
Features
Read full description

Daylights is a lightweight visual bullet journal for daily highlights Jot down your highlight of the day, mark the mood with a color and keep a visual journal over time! Features - Setup daily reminders to never forget to jot down the highlight of your day - Choose from five different theme colors, with more coming - Different widgets to keep your Daylights top of mind and for easy access If you have any suggestions for how we can improve the app, don’t hesitate to email us at jordi@goodsnooze.com! Thanks, Jordi & Annabel

About

DiaryMate

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Under the evening light of a quiet living room, wrap today up into one diary page — together with a character. DiaryMate is a character diary app: drop a line about your day whenever it happens, then sit down at night to look back and shape it into a page. On days when writing feels hard, a short conversation with a character is enough to turn today into words. SIT AT YOUR DESK BY DAY, MAKE A PAGE AT NIGHT Throughout the day, sit at your desk and jot down whatever comes to mind, handing it to a character (free, as many as you like). Not sure what to write? Turn over today’s card for a small prompt, or start from a sentence opener. No AI is called here — the character just answers back with a short line. To go deeper on one, tap "Deepen" (Premium; 7-day free trial). At night, tap "Make a page," and the character looks back over what you dropped, offering a short question or two. Answering is optional. On the free plan, this conversation runs on the app’s own built-in character script (up to two exchanges) — no AI involved, and today still comes together into one paper diary page. With Premium, the same conversation runs on AI for up to four exchanges — tap "More" to keep it going. Even after a page is made, you can keep adding with "Add a note +" and have it folded into the same page, free. HOW A DAY FLOWS 1. By day, drop short fragments at your desk 2. If you want, go deeper on one with "Deepen" 3. At night, look back over what you dropped and choose "Make a page" 4. Talk it through with the character 5. The draft becomes one finished paper page. Add a note later if you like (Premium: AI rewrite) The room shifts with the time of day. A DAY, WRITTEN WITH CHARACTERS YOU CHOOSE Serena (Listener), Luna (Sharp tongue), Haku (Quiet observer), Milo (Mood maker), Arcana (Appraiser), Mr. Kurosawa (Slow company) — pick up to four of the six to talk with. Among the ones you pick, the day's host rotates day by day. Once a page is wrapped up, your companions each add a short line of their own. A BOOK THAT BECOMES YOUR STORY Every finished page joins your book — free to read, always. Pages gather into monthly chapters you turn like a real book. With Premium, bind a chapter: a title and short synopsis in your own voice, from only what you wrote. New here? A sample book shows what half a year becomes. Export your book as a PDF anytime, free. GOOD FOR MOMENTS LIKE Putting today into words before telling anyone else. Wanting to keep a diary but freezing up in front of a blank page. Settling your thoughts a little before sleep. IN JAPANESE OR ENGLISH The interface and conversations are fully bilingual — switch languages anytime. BUILT TO FEEL SAFE AND QUIET Your fragments, conversations, and finished pages are stored only on your device, and you can delete them anytime. Content reaches an external AI only for Premium subscribers (including the 7-day free trial), at the moment they choose "Make a page," "More," "Deepen," or "Bind" on a chapter — never otherwise. On the free plan, nothing you write ever leaves your device, and everything works without a network connection. If a Premium conversation can’t reach the AI, the app says so plainly on screen instead of a stock reply. FREE IS ENOUGH TO START Unlimited fragments and added notes, a nightly wrap-up conversation on the app’s own character script (two exchanges), and every page you’ve written to read back — all free, always, with zero AI calls. Premium (¥600/month in the Japan store, 7-day free trial; local pricing shown before purchase) brings the AI: up to four exchanges when making a page, unlimited "Deepen", AI rewrite and copy of a finished page, and binding chapters into your story. No task manager, no calendar, no social features — no sharing, following, or comments. Just you and a character, for a quiet moment. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://diarymate-ten.vercel.app/legal/privacy-en.html

Screenshots

Daylights4 screens
DiaryMate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Daylights at none against DiaryMate's 1. DiaryMate's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.4). On price, update cadence, 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. DiaryMate sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. Daylights asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Daylights ships an update every 3 days, DiaryMate every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Daylights versus DiaryMate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDaylightsDiaryMate
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGood SnoozeShigeharu Miyamoto

In-app purchases

None

Daylights

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

DiaryMate

Subscriptions1
  • Premium7 Days trial$3.991 Month

Questions

Is Daylights free?
Daylights is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is DiaryMate free?
DiaryMate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Daylights or DiaryMate have ads?
Neither Daylights nor DiaryMate shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Daylights or DiaryMate?
Daylights ships an update every 3 days, and DiaryMate every 2 days. Most recently, Daylights was updated on November 4, 2026 and DiaryMate on October 29, 2026.

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