Comparison

Lightmark vs Kept By

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

Head to head
About

Lightmark

This app encourages honest self-reflection by allowing users to record thoughts, emotions, and memories without the ability to edit entries after submission. It supports text, voice, photos, and videos, offering a multi-sensory journaling experience. A unique visual timeline helps users see their journey over time.

Highlights
  • Uneditable entries
  • Text, voice, photo, and video recording
  • Tag system for organization
  • Annual 'Lightmap' visualization
  • Daily timeline archive
  • Minimalist interface
Features
Read full description

Some diaries are written just for yourself. Some moments are meant to be recorded as they truly are. No need for perfection, no need to revise. Writing who you are at that moment is an honest act of existence. Lightmark is a diary app that does not allow editing after writing. It blends a sense of time with emotional expression, gently guiding you to meet yourself. 【 Philosophy · Faithful to the Present 】 Lightmark’s writing approach is inspired by the psychological concepts of “non-judgmental writing” and “immediate recording.” Once submitted, your words cannot be changed—not to limit you, but as a gentle exercise: * Accept your emotions instead of adjusting them; * Capture your thoughts as they were, not rewritten by later understanding; * Let go of “right or wrong” and “perfection,” leaving only your true self. Every Lightmark entry is an echo through time and space. 【 Recording Methods · Multi-Sensory 】 Your feelings aren’t only expressed in words. Lightmark supports multiple sensory recording options, letting you capture emotions naturally: * Text Diary: Quietly write and record inner moments; * Voice Diary: No need to organize language, just speak; * Photo Capture: One image records the world you see; * Video Clips: The authentic sound of life, the most vivid memories; * Tag System: Seamlessly insert tags anywhere in text, freely create multi-level structures (e.g., #emotion/happy, #life/family) to lightly organize your diary. Whether it’s a midnight monologue, a morning ray of light, or a fleeting tear, you can collect it your way. 【 Annual Lightmap · See Your Journey 】 Lightmark’s unique “Lightmap” forms your year in a dot matrix. Each day you write sends ripples across the map. * The more you write, the brighter that day’s light point shines; * You can add marks for special days (Unlock this feature by purchasing the full version.). The Lightmap doesn’t tell you which days you “missed” writing and won’t push you to check in. Instead, it gently shows which days were quiet or full of emotion. It’s the path you’ve walked with yourself—a commemorative map left by time. 【 Timeline Diary · Your Life Chronicle 】 Lightmark uses a “one page per day” design, automatically gathering all texts, photos, voice recordings, and videos of the day into time slices—your daily archive. You’ll find life needs no polish; just capture the moment, and time will weave your story. 【 Design Philosophy · Simple · Gentle 】 Lightmark avoids complex categories, using tags for light management, keeping only the essence of “recording.” You’re not writing tasks, but your heart’s voice. * Minimal interface for immersive writing * No distractions, no ads, no popups * Supports dark mode, fitting the quiet of night 【 Who is it for? 】 * People who want to keep diaries but can’t stick with it * People who want to record emotions but don’t know where to start * Those who love the purity of paper diaries but want better saving and searching * Anyone wanting to practice self-acceptance without being trapped by “perfection” Terms of Use: https://app.qlulu.fun/termsofuse Privacy Poclicy: https://app.qlulu.fun/privacy

About

Kept By

Digitally preserve cherished paper memories like cards, letters, and notes. Capture images, add details like sender and occasion, and easily organize, search, and revisit your personal keepsakes.

Highlights
  • Digitally preserve paper memories
  • Capture front, inside, and back images
  • Add sender, event, date, and notes
  • Organize and search personal collection
  • Browse saved keepsakes easily
Features
Read full description

Kept By helps you preserve the cards, letters, notes, and personal keepsakes that matter. Instead of keeping meaningful paper memories scattered in boxes, drawers, or folders, Kept By gives you a simple way to capture and organize them on your iPhone. Use Kept By to photograph the front, inside pages, and back of a card or letter, then save it with helpful details such as the sender, occasion, date, and personal notes. Your keepsakes can be browsed, searched, and revisited whenever you want. Features: • Capture cards, letters, notes, and keepsakes • Save front, inside, and optional back images • Add sender, event, date, and notes • Browse your saved memories in one place • Search and organize your personal collection • View saved keepsakes in a clean, simple layout Kept By is designed for personal memory keeping. It is not a social network and does not require an account.

Screenshots

Lightmark3 screens
Kept By4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Kept By at free against Lightmark's free with in-app purchases. Lightmark's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (9 vs 3). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Lightmark sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Kept By sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Lightmark against 5.0 for Kept By. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 3 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lightmark ships an update every 3 weeks, Kept By every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Lightmark versus Kept By: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLightmarkKept By
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (9 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings9 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB68 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer璐 秦James Jackson

Customer experience

Lightmark

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Kept By

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Lightmark

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Annual$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$14.99
1 purchases

Kept By

One-time1
  • Unlimited Keepsakes$4.99

Questions

Is Lightmark free?
Lightmark is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Kept By free?
Kept By is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lightmark or Kept By?
Kept By is rated higher. Lightmark averages 4.9 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while Kept By averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Lightmark or Kept By have ads?
Neither Lightmark nor Kept By shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lightmark or Kept By?
Lightmark ships an update every 3 weeks, and Kept By every 2 months. Most recently, Lightmark was updated on October 24, 2026 and Kept By on October 19, 2026.

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