Ben Journal Digital Diary vs Readmate
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ben Journal Digital Diary
This app helps you capture life's moments through text, photos, and voice recordings. It focuses on your feelings and moods, offering a space for reflection and memory keeping. An optional subscription unlocks enhanced features for a richer journaling experience.
- Text journaling
- Photo attachments
- Voice recordings
- Mood tracking
- Timeline view
- Password lock
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## Journal ## Digital Diary Ben is more than just a diary. It is a rich, multidimensional archive of your life. By seamlessly integrating Text, Photos, and Voice, Ben helps you capture the true texture of your days. It doesn’t ask what you achieved today. It only cares about one thing: How are you feeling? --- Capture Life in 3 Dimensions Go beyond simple text. Ben empowers you to preserve memories in their fullest form: - Write: Journal your thoughts and stories without the pressure of deadlines. - Snap: Keep the visual beauty of your journey with photos attached to every entry. - Record: Capture the sound of rain, laughter, or your own inner voice to bring memories back to life. A Gentle Companion - Track your moods and reflect on your mental "weather." Whether it's a sunny day or a stormy one, Ben holds space for your true self. Immersive Reflection - Your memories deserve to be cherished. With a beautifully designed timeline, revisit your past moments as if you were there again. Turn ordinary days into a poetic collection of life. --- Ben PLUS Features Unlock the full potential of your archive with a subscription (optional): - Enhanced Visuals: Add Multiple Photos and Live Photos to a single entry for richer storytelling. - Atmospheric Themes: Set immersive Video Wallpapers that match your mood. - Personalization: Customize your diary with Custom Fonts and App Icons. - Privacy: Keep your inner world safe with a secure Password Lock. --- Our Story The world is moving faster every day. Everyone is chasing the next goal, the next notification. In this relentless rhythm, have we forgotten how to simply pause and feel the moment? There was a time when we poured our hearts onto paper and scribbled dates on the back of photographs. It was slow, but it was real. Ben was created to bring that warmth back to your screen. Ben isn't about efficiency or productivity. It simply offers you a quiet corner to write, snap, and listen. We believe that "feeling" is the true foundation of life. Let Ben be the gentle companion that helps you savor every ordinary moment. --- Ben PLUS Subscription Info - Become a Ben PLUS member to unlock all Ben paid features, enjoy free access to future premium updates, and promise an ad-free experience. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal by going to your iTunes/Apple ID Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. This service is voluntary; if you choose not to cancel, your subscription will automatically renew for the next billing cycle. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Readmate
This app helps you revisit and organize your saved book highlights and personal notes. It syncs with your reading history, allowing you to rediscover meaningful passages and share them as beautifully designed cards. Keep your favorite quotes accessible through widgets and search functionality.
- Sync WeRead highlights and thoughts
- Organize highlights by book
- Daily highlight reminders
- Search highlights and books
- Create shareable highlight cards
- Home screen widgets for highlights and bookshelf
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Some lines stay with you longer than the book itself. Every line you save means something to you. Revisit it later, and it may mean something different. Readmate brings them back. Sync your books, highlights, thoughts, and reading history from WeRead, and keep the words you once highlighted together on your own bookshelf. Revisit old highlights, read the thoughts you wrote at the time, find a line you remember, or turn a favorite passage into a card worth sharing. Sync your WeRead highlights & thoughts There is no need to organize everything you have already highlighted all over again. • Sync books, highlights, thoughts, and reading history from WeRead • Keep highlights and thoughts organized by book • Sync again to bring in newly saved highlights and thoughts • Return to books you have read from your bookshelf Your highlights. And the thoughts between. Sometimes what stays with you is not just the passage, but what you thought when you read it. • A note corner peeks out beside highlights with thoughts, pull it out to read what you wrote at the time • Switch to see what other readers wrote on the same passage, or browse all notes and reviews in Book Info • Tear off any note to copy the text, save it as an image, or share it Scroll through past highlights A line you highlighted does not have to be something you see only once. Scroll through your saved highlights in Readmate and rediscover words from your past reading. It might be something you highlighted yesterday, or a sentence from a book you finished years ago. Revisit a highlight every day Let something you once highlighted find its way back to you. • Set a daily highlight reminder • Rediscover a past highlight each day • Open Readmate directly from the reminder • Keep saved highlights and your bookshelf on your Home Screen with widgets You do not have to remember which book to open. A line you wanted to keep can simply show up again. Find the line you remember Remember a few words, but not where they came from? Search your books, authors, or highlight text to find the passage in your collection and return to the book it came from. Share the words worth keeping Some words are worth keeping. Some are worth passing on. • Turn highlights into beautifully designed cards • Choose from different templates, typography, and layouts • Adjust text size, line spacing, margins, and aspect ratios • Keep the book title, author, and attribution • Give longer passages room to breathe with multi-page or full-length layouts • Export cards and share them with other apps Keep highlights and your bookshelf on your Home Screen You do not have to open Readmate to view an old highlight again. Choose from different Daily Quotes and Bookshelf widget sizes and keep your books and saved lines where you can see them. A quick glance can bring back a book, a passage, or the reason you highlighted those words in the first place. Your reading stays on your device Readmate does not require an account. Your reading data is stored on your device. Your WeRead API key is securely stored in iOS Keychain, and highlight cards are rendered on device. Readmate currently supports WeRead, with more reading sources planned for the future. Some features require a one-time purchase. Readmate is an independent, unofficial product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Tencent or WeRead. WeRead and related names, logos, and trademarks belong to Tencent and their respective rights holders. Questions or feedback: hello@readmate.app Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Readmate at free against Ben Journal Digital Diary's freemium. Readmate also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks) and ratings volume (40 vs 6). Ben Journal Digital Diary's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 89%). On price, rating, 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. Ben Journal Digital Diary sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Readmate sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Readmate holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Readmate has 40 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of Ben Journal Digital Diary's written reviews are positive against 89% of Readmate's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Ben Journal Digital Diary ships an update every 2 weeks, Readmate every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ben Journal Digital Diary | Readmate |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (6 ratings) | 4.8 (40 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 89.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 40 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.3 | 18.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 121 MB | 181 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | 韵 曾 | WHITESSPACE SDN. BHD. |
Customer experience
Ben Journal Digital Diary
Readmate
In-app purchases
Ben Journal Digital Diary
- Monthly$4.991 Month
- Yearly$11.991 Year
- Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Lifetime$29.99
- Lifetime$59.99
Readmate
- Lifetime$2.99
Questions
Is Ben Journal Digital Diary free?
Is Readmate free?
Which has better reviews, Ben Journal Digital Diary or Readmate?
Do Ben Journal Digital Diary or Readmate have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ben Journal Digital Diary or Readmate?
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