Strides vs Simple Journaling
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Strides
This app helps you organize your habits, routines, and goals in a single to-do list. Track progress with reminders and charts, and choose from over 150 templates or create your own. Get organized and build your perfect routine.
- Habit and goal tracking
- Customizable trackers
- 150+ templates
- Progress reports and charts
- Reminders
- Daily checklist
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Imagine having all of your most important habits, routines and goals together in one simple to do list. Now you can! With Strides, you can track good or bad habits, SMART goals, and more. Keep up with reminders to hold you accountable and charts to keep you motivated. Explore new ways to manage your life with over 150 templates and the ability to create your own trackers. Get organized with a daily checklist to help create your perfect routine. Keep up with what you’ve accomplished with progress reports that compile your goals, projects and progress all in one place. Set up reminders and add notes to ensure you’re on track and on task. Track anything you want with four types of trackers. Streak calendars let you keep up with your success rate, and milestone calendars help you to keep up with project timelines. Want to keep track of a repeating number? Check out the Average tracker. Looking to hit a goal by a specific date? Give the Target tracker a try. Start keeping track of your habits and goals anywhere you go. Download today to get organized and create the perfect routine with Strides. TRACKERS: - 150+ templates to choose from, or create your own customized tracker - Progress Reports with everything in one place - View charts with history, streak, success rate and more - Unlimited reminders to set yourself up for success ADDITIONAL FEATURES: - Integration with Apple Health - Sync between iPhone, iPad & Mac - Add notes to logs and trackers - Reminders to keep you on track SEE WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING: "I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU! Strides is one of the most useful apps out there. Nowadays, I can't even imagine myself without it :)” ~Leyla "Amazing app. The sheer amount of flexibility with what you can track with Strides is amazing." ~Carlo "My life has become so much more organized and fulfilled since I started using your app. I really appreciate it!” ~Micah "Best tracking app. I love, love, love this app! This is exactly what I've been looking for for two or three years. I can track multiple goals and see them all on one screen. Perfect!" ~Kate – Strides is free forever to track what's most important to you. If you want to get even more out of it and support development, you can upgrade to Strides Plus with a monthly or annual subscription - or with a one-time purchase of the lifetime plan - to unlock all premium features, including Unlimited Trackers, sync between iPhone, iPad & Mac, Tags & Filters, Today List, Export Data, Goal Notes and more. Payment will be charged to the credit card connected to your iTunes Account when you confirm the initial subscription purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current subscription period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and the cost of the renewal will be identified. You may manage your subscription and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your Account Settings after the purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable. – Read our full Privacy Policy / Terms of Use: https://www.stridesapp.com/privacy.html https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Keep making strides!
Simple Journaling
This app offers a clean, distraction-free space for daily reflection and gratitude tracking. It helps users understand themselves better by visualizing emotional patterns and providing insights into writing habits. Features include mood tracking, search, and weekly goals.
- Distraction-free journaling
- Daily gratitude tracking
- Mood tracking and trend visualization
- Journal search with mood filters
- Weekly goals and streak tracking
- Insights and analytics dashboard
- AI-powered reflection prompts (Premium)
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Reflect is a simple, intentional journaling app designed to help you slow down, think clearly, and understand yourself better. Write freely, track your gratitude, and see your emotional patterns over time — all in a clean, distraction-free environment designed to feel as calm as the habit itself. WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2: • Mood tracking — tag every entry with how you're feeling • 7-day mood trend graph on your dashboard • Add notes to past entries without editing the original • Search your entire journal history, filtered by mood • Weekly journaling goals with a live progress ring • Insights screen: streaks, mood distribution, writing patterns • All-new dark design built for focus and clarity • Guided first-launch walkthrough for new users • Entries now stored with SwiftData — no more lost journals CORE FEATURES: • Clean, distraction-free journaling • Daily gratitude tracking • AI-powered reflection prompts (Premium) • Photo journaling (Premium) • Beautiful calendar view • Mood trend visualization • Entry search with mood filters • Weekly goals and streak tracking • Insights and analytics dashboard Reflect isn't about writing perfectly — it's about showing up. Start small. Think clearly. Grow intentionally. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Strides at 19K against Simple Journaling's 1. Strides also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and device support (4 vs 2). Simple Journaling's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Strides sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Simple Journaling sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Simple Journaling holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Strides has 19K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Strides ships an update every 2 weeks, Simple Journaling every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Strides | Simple Journaling |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (19K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | 19K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 147 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Goals LLC | Jayden Dirksen |
Bugs and requests
Strides
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes after iOS 14.8 update
- Incorrect data logging and display issues
- Notification bugs showing outdated information
Requested features
5 requests- Allow more than 3 habits in free version
- Add time tracking and time-based goals
- Improve syncing and notification reliability
- Introduce more customization and organization options
- Provide a one-time purchase option instead of subscription
Simple Journaling
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Strides
- Strides Plus$4.991 Month
- Strides Plus$7.991 Month
- Strides Plus$9.991 Month
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- Strides Plus7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Strides Plus7 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Strides Plus1 Month trial$39.991 Year
- Strides Plus$39.99
- Strides Plus$99.99
- Strides Plus$149.99
Simple Journaling
- Premium$4.991 Month
Questions
Is Strides free?
Is Simple Journaling free?
Which has better reviews, Strides or Simple Journaling?
Do Strides or Simple Journaling have ads?
Which is updated more often, Strides or Simple Journaling?
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