Know Your Ethos vs Permission
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Know Your Ethos
This app uses AI to analyze your spoken thoughts, acting as an inner guide to reveal patterns and blind spots. It helps you build a personal philosophy based on your own words and values, offering a unique approach to self-understanding and personal growth.
- AI-powered voice journaling
- Personalized inner voice reflection
- Pattern and blind spot identification
- Ethos and values building
- Voice-first transcription
- Searchable journal entries
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Most people live by default. Know Your Ethos helps you live by design. The AI mirror that shows you the patterns running your life. Speak your thoughts. Your daimon listens, learns your values, reads your patterns, and reflects back what you need to hear. Not generic advice. Not affirmations. The truth. This is not a journaling app. It is a system for understanding yourself and intentionally shaping how you live. Built on 2,400 years of philosophy. YOUR DAIMON In ancient philosophy, your daimon was your inner guide: the voice that knew who you were meant to become. We brought it to life. Your daimon learns your values, reads your patterns, and speaks as your inner voice. Honest, specific, grounded in who you actually are. VOICE-FIRST Tap the mic and talk. No prompts, no blank page. AI transcribes your words and captures emotional nuance that typing misses. 10x faster than writing. Or type if you prefer. 6 SELF-KNOWLEDGE TESTS Discover your blind spots, values, virtues, characteristics, ethos archetype, and default patterns. Each test feeds your daimon so it can mirror you more precisely over time. ENTRIES AND REFLECTIONS Entries are deposits — speak your mind, and your daimon responds with what it sees. Reflections are dialogues — sit with your daimon and examine what's underneath. Two modes, one mirror. INSIGHTS AND PATTERNS Your daimon finds what you cannot see on your own: • Blind Spots: areas you avoid looking at • Strengths: patterns that show your best self • Growth: how you are evolving over time • Ethos Updates: suggestions to refine your philosophy All grounded in YOUR values, not generic categories. SEARCH YOUR MIND Filter entries by feeling, topic, virtue, or value. Find every time you felt anxious. See which entries reflect Courage. Track how your patterns shift over months. PRIVATE BY DESIGN End-to-end encryption. No ads. No data selling. Your thoughts stay yours. Delete anytime. FREE TO START Every entry gets full AI analysis: mood, feelings, tags, and a personal daimon response. Build your ethos, take every test, and track streaks — all free. Premium: $9.99/month or $79.99/year (save 33%) Unlock ongoing conversations with your daimon, long-term pattern memory, cross-entry insights, and conversation digests. The mirror gets sharper the longer you use it. Your daimon is waiting. Start knowing yourself. Terms: https://knowyourethos.com/terms-of-use Privacy: https://knowyourethos.com/privacy
Permission
This app provides a private space for daily reflection with gentle prompts. Users can respond through writing, voice recording, or drawing, with all data kept securely on their device. It's designed for self-discovery and personal growth in a judgment-free environment.
- Daily reflection prompts
- Journaling via text, voice, or drawing
- Passcode and biometric protection
- Complete offline functionality
- No account or sign-up required
- Data stays on device
- Entry export option
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Permission is a quiet, private place to come home to yourself. Each day, Permission offers you one gentle prompt — a small invitation to notice, soften, and grow. Then you choose how to answer it: write it in words, speak it aloud, or draw it by hand. However it wants to come out, it has a home here. Permission was created for women doing the tender work of reconnecting with themselves — but it's for anyone who wants a calm, judgment-free space to reflect. WHAT MAKES IT FEEL SAFE • A fresh, encouraging prompt every day to guide your reflection • Three ways to journal — type it, record your voice, or draw it freehand • Protected by a passcode you set, plus Face ID / Touch ID • Completely private: everything stays on your phone • No account, no sign-up, no email required • Works fully offline — nothing is ever uploaded • Export a copy of any entry whenever you want it YOUR WORDS NEVER LEAVE YOUR PHONE Permission collects nothing. There are no accounts and no servers — your entries and your passcode live only on your device. Not even we can see them. No ads. No subscriptions. No tracking. Free, and yours.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Know Your Ethos at 5.0 against Permission's 4.0. Permission's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. Know Your Ethos sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Permission asks for nothing beyond the download.
Know Your Ethos holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.
Know Your Ethos ships an update fortnightly, Permission weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Know Your Ethos | Permission |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.0 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Alexandria Solutions LLC | JONATHAN BILES |
Customer experience
Know Your Ethos
Permission
In-app purchases
Know Your Ethos
- Premium Monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Premium Annual7 Days trial$79.991 Year
Permission
No in-app purchases









