Comparison

dots vs Year Progress Diary

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

Head to head
About

dots

A minimalist journal and year visualizer that helps you track time and stay motivated. Save one meaningful moment each day and visualize your year with home and lock screen widgets. Enjoy a zen experience with no notifications, ads, or account requirements.

Highlights
  • Daily memory saving
  • Home and lock screen widgets
  • Mac desktop support
  • Ad-free experience
  • No notifications
  • No account required
Features
Read full description

dots is a minimalist journal and year visualizer to track time and stay motivated features: • today’s memory – save one meaningful moment each day • widgets – add dots to the home and lock screen • mac support – keep perspective on your desktop • zen – no notifications, no ads, no account needed make every moment count, every day matters

About

Year Progress Diary

Visualize your daily habits and time with a minimalist dot grid. Track your progress, maintain streaks, and stay intentional with a distraction-free digital planner. Perfect for mindfulness and goal tracking.

Highlights
  • Visual habit tracking
  • Minimalist daily planner
  • Streak motivation
  • Year in pixels logging
  • Custom reminders
  • Privacy-focused, no account needed
Features
Read full description

See your year, one day at a time. 365 Dots turns the year into a simple grid. Add a note, mood, category, and score to a day, then watch the year take shape. • Year at a glance — See days passed, days ahead, and your progress through the year. • Daily check-ins — Capture a thought, mood, or category in a few taps. • Life in weeks — Zoom out to a grid of weeks for a broader view of time. • Week and month views — Revisit entries, events, and streaks. • Yearly insights — Look back on your logging patterns, moods, categories, and meaningful days. • Reminders and widget — Set an optional check-in reminder and keep your progress close with a Home Screen widget. • Personalize — Choose a theme, search past entries, and export your data. Some themes and features may require an optional subscription. Check the app for current plan details. Make each dot count. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vS7CIsms1Gq-7mHP7Z-Cw6_0xqL9Ptd-cc4M6HlYRsQ/edit?usp=sharing

Screenshots

dots3 screens
Year Progress Diary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Year Progress Diary at Free against dots's $2.99. Year Progress Diary also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and review sentiment (100% vs 86%). dots's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 2 months). On ads, 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

Year Progress Diary is free to download; dots costs $2.99 up front. Year Progress Diary sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. dots asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Year Progress Diary holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: dots has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of dots's written reviews are positive against 100% of Year Progress Diary's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

dots ships an update every 10 days, Year Progress Diary every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
dots versus Year Progress Diary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterdotsYear Progress Diary
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (6 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.017.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerdouglas santosFenuku Kekeli

Customer experience

dots

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

Year Progress Diary

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

dots

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Year Progress Diary

Subscriptions2
  • All Access for a week7 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • All Access for a year7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • All Access for Lifetime$59.99

Questions

Is dots free?
dots costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Year Progress Diary free?
Year Progress Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, dots or Year Progress Diary?
Year Progress Diary is rated higher. dots averages 4.2 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Year Progress Diary averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do dots or Year Progress Diary have ads?
Neither dots nor Year Progress Diary shows ads.
Which is updated more often, dots or Year Progress Diary?
dots ships an update every 10 days, and Year Progress Diary every 2 months. Most recently, dots was updated on October 20, 2026 and Year Progress Diary on October 22, 2026.

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