Hermes Journal vs Softly
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hermes Journal
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Need an extremely private journal? Meet Hermes, a fully encrypted journalling app made for privacy. You can create multiple journals and optionally lock them with a password. Each journal entry can have it's own password as well. There's no limit to how many journals and entries you can create. Everything is saved locally but you can export a journal as encrypted txt file.
Softly
A private journaling app focused on reflection and emotional well-being. It offers multiple writing styles, a visual emotional calendar, and word pattern analysis. All data is stored locally for complete privacy.
- Multiple writing styles
- Visual emotional calendar
- Word constellation analysis
- Time capsule feature
- On-device data storage
- Face ID protection
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Softly is a private journal for your days. No achievements. No streaks. No productivity metrics. Just you, a word when you want one, and a space that comes back every night to receive you the way you arrived. WRITE HOWEVER FEELS RIGHT Free diary, gratitude in three lines, a mood with a tap of a moon, or an affirmation when you need to hear it. Four ways to leave the day without losing it. YOUR MONTH IN WATERCOLOR Each day lights up with the color of how you felt. A hand-painted emotional calendar — not a bar chart. YOUR CONSTELLATION OF WORDS The words that return most to your writing appear as a constellation that shifts with you. You see patterns without anyone interpreting them for you. TIME CAPSULES Seal a piece of writing today (AES-GCM encrypted). Open it in a month, a year — whenever you're ready to listen to yourself again. TOTAL PRIVACY Everything lives on your device. On-device speech recognition. Face ID for your space. No tracking, no accounts, no server watching. WATERCOLORS THAT BREATHE Each time you return, a new variant of a sprig, flower, or lavender greets you. The notebook changes with you. Softly is for the days you want to write — and for the days you only wanted to open the app. Here, both count.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Softly at every 3 days against Hermes Journal's every 5 months. Hermes Journal's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Hermes Journal ships an update every 5 months, Softly every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hermes Journal | Softly |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 60 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Shaquille Hinds | Jean Millan |
In-app purchases
Hermes Journal
No in-app purchases
Softly
No in-app purchases









