Comparison

Daily Planner 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

Daily Planner

Read full description

Take Control of Your Day... Meet Sessionized, the daily planner designed for real life. Finally, a planning app that adapts to you, not the other way around. Why You’ll Love It: -Reusable Sessions: Tasks automatically roll over to the next session of the same type—no more rewriting your to-do list every day. -Flexible Day Views: Group your day by hour, 2, 4, or 6-hour blocks—morning, afternoon, evening. Focus on what matters, not the clock. -Backlog for Everything Else: Keep track of tasks that didn’t find a spot on the schedule just yet - never lose an idea or responsibility again. -Built-In Pomodoro Timer: Boost your focus with the built-in Pomodoro Timer and stay in the zone. Plan smarter. Work happier. Live stress-free. Using Sessionized requires a subscription or a one-time lifetime in-app purchase. Start your free trial today and choose from: • Monthly subscription • Yearly subscription • Lifetime in-app purchase https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ https://www.sessionized.com/privacy

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

Daily Planner4 screens
Dot Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

Daily Planner and Dot Journal are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Daily Planner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 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

Daily Planner ships an update every 3 days, Dot Journal every 6 days. Both last shipped on October 28, 2026.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Daily Planner versus Dot Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDaily PlannerDot Journal
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB50 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPascal GroteHong Chi Law

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Daily Planner

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Annual3 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$24.99
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 Daily Planner free?
Daily Planner 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 Daily Planner or Dot Journal have ads?
Neither Daily Planner nor Dot Journal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Daily Planner or Dot Journal?
Daily Planner ships an update every 3 days, and Dot Journal every 6 days. Most recently, Daily Planner was updated on October 28, 2026 and Dot Journal on October 28, 2026.

Other comparisons