Comparison

Spaces vs Dot Journal

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

Head to head
About

Spaces

Organize your life into customizable spaces for work, home, and projects. Map tasks directly into your calendar to ensure they get done and prioritize what's urgent and important. Reclaim hours and achieve a more balanced, productive life.

Highlights
  • Customizable spaces for work, home, projects
  • Map tasks directly into iOS calendar
  • Urgent vs. Important matrix prioritization
  • Offline access with iCloud sync
  • Recurring task options (Pro)
  • Integration with Apple Reminders (Pro)
Read full description

Spaces: Tasks + Calendar = Clarity Have you ever felt swamped by endless tasks and unrelenting schedules that bury your most important goals under low-value busyness, leaving you stressed, burned out, and without time for family, creativity, or personal growth? That's why we created Spaces, the simple iOS app from the makers of an Apple Best App of 2013 task manager: it organizes your life into customizable spaces for work, home, and projects; lets you map tasks directly into your calendar to ensure they get done; and helps you prioritize what's urgent and important with a straightforward matrix. With Spaces, you'll reclaim hours every week, tackle high-impact work with ease, and step into a more balanced, productive life where you thrive and pursue what truly matters. CREATE YOUR PERFECT PLAN Build customizable spaces for work, home, projects or health. Add tasks or detailed projects, then swipe to map them visually into your iOS calendar on iPhone. Work offline, sync seamlessly with iCloud and keep your life on track. EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN ‘SPACES CORE’ - Full iOS Calendar sync on iPhone - Unlimited tasks - Non-recurring reminders - Offline access with automatic iCloud sync MASTER YOUR TIME WITH ‘SPACES PRO’ Unlock premium to access the urgent & important matrix, set recurring tasks, and integrate with Apple Reminders. Stay focused on what matters most to achieve your goals. DOWNLOAD NOW Get started for free with a 7-day Spaces Pro (premium) trial, dive in and see the difference! When you're ready to upgrade, we'll handle billing through your Apple ID. Plans renew automatically (monthly or yearly), with charges hitting 24 hours before the end of your current cycle. Switch off auto-renew anytime in your App Store settings. We offer flexible options: monthly or yearly plans, plus a one-time lifetime unlock. Prices can shift based on your location and may update over time. Once a period starts, it runs its course, no mid-cycle cancels, but you can always stick with the free version if Spaces Pro isn't your fit. Unlock premium: $4.99/month, $49.99/year, or $99.99 lifetime. LEARN MORE Terms of Service: https://getspacesapp.com/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://getspacesapp.com/privacy.html

About

Dot Journal

Features
Read full description

Dot Journal is a planner for people who run their days on lists. Tasks, events, habits, moods and notes live in one calm, text-first journal. It is quick to add to, easy to rearrange, and kept on your iPhone. PLAN THE WHOLE YEAR, ONE DRAG AT A TIME • Day, Week, Month and Year views. Swipe between them; the next page is already there. • Drag a task to another day, another week or the Inbox. Drag across the edge of the screen to turn the page. • Plan months ahead on the Year view's planning board. • Each week and month has its own Inbox for things without a day yet. ADD ANYTHING IN ONE LINE • Type "Ship deck fri 3pm !!! #urgent @Work". The date, time, priority, tag and list fill themselves in. • One quick entry sheet for tasks, events, notes and moods, from any view. • Close it by accident and what you typed is still there. SEE ONLY WHAT MATTERS • Lists and tags for every project and context. • Set a lens such as "@Work #urgent" and every view shows only those entries. • Save the lenses you use most. They sit in the side menu, one tap away. • Search understands #tags and @lists. TIME YOUR WORK • Start a timer right on the task row. Pause, resume, and see it running from any view. • The time you spend is recorded on the task. KNOW HOW YOUR WEEK WENT • Insights shows how many tasks you finished, a completion trend and a heatmap of your busiest days. • See how much time you spent, for everything or for one lens. HABITS AND MOODS • Track habits with streaks and a recent-days strip. • Log how you feel in two taps and see it next to what you got done. ON YOUR WRIST AND HOME SCREEN • Apple Watch app with complications: check off tasks and add new ones. • Home Screen widgets for today's list. • Share extension: send text or links from any app into your journal. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Your journal lives on your iPhone. No account, no ads, no tracking. • Optional iCloud sync goes through your own iCloud account, built on Apple's sync engine. • Dot Journal collects no data. FREE AND PREMIUM Dot Journal is free to use, with up to 5 new tasks a day, 3 lists, 5 tags and 1 saved lens. Premium removes every limit and adds iCloud sync: • Monthly or yearly, each with a 1-week free trial • Or a one-time purchase, yours for life Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage or cancel them in your App Store account settings. Terms: https://dot.raycar.net/terms.html Privacy: https://dot.raycar.net/privacy.html

Screenshots

Spaces4 screens
Dot Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Dot Journal at none against Spaces's shown. Dot Journal also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 4 weeks) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Spaces sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Dot Journal sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Spaces ships an update every 4 weeks, Dot Journal every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Spaces versus Dot Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpacesDot Journal
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (8 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB50 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTwentyOne LLCHong Chi Law

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Spaces

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$6.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$59.991 Year
3 purchases

Dot Journal

Subscriptions2
  • Dot Journal Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Dot Journal Pro Yearly$4.991 Year
One-time1
  • Dot Journal Pro Lifetime$9.99

Questions

Is Spaces free?
Spaces is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dot Journal free?
Dot Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Spaces or Dot Journal have ads?
Spaces shows ads; Dot Journal does not.
Which is updated more often, Spaces or Dot Journal?
Spaces ships an update every 4 weeks, and Dot Journal every 5 days. Most recently, Spaces was updated on October 30, 2026 and Dot Journal on November 5, 2026.

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