Comparison

Aura vs Safe Journal

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

Head to head
About

Aura

This app helps you understand and manage stress, anxiety, and low energy with personalized daily plans and guided exercises. It offers bite-sized education on the nervous system and mindset to support your overall wellbeing.

Highlights
  • Personalized wellbeing plans
  • 7-minute guided exercises
  • Daily educational lessons
  • Stress and anxiety management
  • Nervous system resets
  • Mindset improvement
Read full description

Stress, anxiety, tension, brain fog, low energy — your body and mind are always sending signals. Aura helps you notice them, understand them, and act on them, a few minutes at a time. THREE REASONS TO INSTALL AURA: 1. A plan built around you Take a quick quiz and get a personalized path based on your goals and symptoms — calming an overactive stress response, easing tension, improving focus, or just feeling more like yourself. 2. 7-min guided exercises Daily exercises — breathing, somatic movement, nervous system resets — are built to fit into a real schedule, not replace it. 3. Daily lessons that actually stick Bite-sized, easy-to-follow education on stress, the nervous system, and mindset, so you understand the “why” behind every practice. Aura isn’t one technique — it’s a companion for your overall wellbeing, adapting with you as your needs change. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://aura.care/privacy/ Terms of Service: https://aura.care/terms/

About

Safe Journal

This app provides a secure and private space for daily writing, mood tracking, and self-reflection. It offers gentle prompts and tools to help you understand your emotional patterns and personal growth. Optional AI features can provide deeper insights and summaries of your entries.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free writing space
  • Mood and emotion picker
  • Gentle journaling prompts
  • Reflection toolkit
  • Pattern analysis over time
  • Optional AI insights and summaries
  • Passcode and device encryption
Features
Read full description

Safe Journal is a private space to write, notice how you feel, and reflect at your own pace. Open the app and start writing - no account needed. Your entries are protected by a passcode and encrypted on your device. Free journaling is stored locally on your device, with optional account backup. Write freely • A calm, distraction-free space to journal • Name how you feel with a simple mood picker - or use the emotions wheel when a feeling is harder to pin down • Gentle prompts for when you're not sure where to start • A Toolkit of prompts, values exercises, and reflection tools Notice your patterns • Look back on past entries and moods over time • Keep track of thoughts, themes, values, and moments you want to remember • See how your emotions and reflections change over time Safe Journal Plus: optional AI Safe Journal Plus adds AI features that work only when you choose to use them: • Finish an entry and get reflection prompts based on what you just wrote • Discover insights into the values and themes showing up across your writing • Create time-capsule summaries that gather a month of entries into a few thoughtful lines • Generate a Therapist Session Summary when you want help bringing patterns from your journal into a conversation AI never runs in the background, and free journaling never uses AI. Your privacy • No ads. We don't sell your data. No tracking across other apps or websites. • Entries are protected by your passcode and encrypted on your device. • Optional account backup lets you restore your journal on a new device. • You're always in control - back up, restore, or delete anytime. Whether you write every day or once in a while, Safe Journal is here when you need it. Questions? hello@safejournal.com Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://safejournal.com/pages/privacy

Screenshots

Aura4 screens
Safe Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Safe Journal at 100% against Aura's 27%. Safe Journal also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Aura's advantage is ratings volume (2.6K vs 6). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Aura sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month and Safe Journal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Safe Journal holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Aura has 2.6K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of Aura's written reviews are positive against 100% of Safe Journal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Aura ships an update fortnightly, Safe Journal every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Aura versus Safe Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAuraSafe Journal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (2.6K ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews26.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.6K — better6
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 6 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB31 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperAura SASSafe Journal LLC

Customer experience

Aura

All ratings2,616 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral3.9%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews156 reviews
Positive26.9%
Neutral7.1%
Negative66.0%

Safe Journal

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Aura

Subscriptions2
  • 1 Month$17.991 Month
  • 3 Months$29.993 Months
2 purchases

Safe Journal

Subscriptions2
  • Plus (Monthly)$6.991 Month
  • Plus (Yearly)7 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Aura free?
Aura is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Safe Journal free?
Safe Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Aura or Safe Journal?
Safe Journal is rated higher. Aura averages 4.6 out of 5 from 2.6K ratings, while Safe Journal averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Aura or Safe Journal have ads?
Aura shows ads; Safe Journal does not.
Which is updated more often, Aura or Safe Journal?
Aura ships an update fortnightly, and Safe Journal every 6 days. Most recently, Aura was updated on November 8, 2026 and Safe Journal on October 31, 2026.

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