Burn Journal vs SelfPush
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Burn Journal
This app provides a private, offline space for therapeutic journaling. Express your thoughts freely and then watch them permanently disappear through a unique "burning" process, offering emotional release and closure.
- Distraction-free writing interface
- Entries permanently "burn" away
- 100% offline functionality
- No cloud storage or data collection
- Daily and monthly journaling modes
- Dark mode support
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Burn Journal: Your Safe Space to Release & Let Go Sometimes you need to write it out—without judgment, without keeping it forever. Burn Journal is a therapeutic journaling app designed to help you express your thoughts freely, then let them go completely. HOW IT WORKS • Write daily or monthly entries in a simple, distraction-free interface • Each entry is limited to help you focus on what truly matters • At the end of each week or month, watch your words scramble and "burn" away • 100% offline—your thoughts never leave your device WHY BURN JOURNAL? Release Without Attachment: Express difficult emotions knowing they won't be stored forever Completely Private: No cloud storage, no accounts, no data collection Therapeutic Ritual: The "burning" process provides closure and emotional release Daily & Monthly Modes: Choose weekly check-ins or deeper monthly reflections Dark Mode Support: Write comfortably any time of day PERFECT FOR • Processing difficult emotions • Daily gratitude or reflection practices • Working through temporary challenges • Anyone who wants to journal without the pressure of permanence YOUR PRIVACY MATTERS Burn Journal operates 100% offline. Your entries are stored locally on your device and are never uploaded to any server. When entries "burn," they're permanently deleted—no backups, no recovery, no trace. Write it. Release it. Burn it. Move forward.
SelfPush
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SelfPush turns reminders into push notifications you actually want to receive — because you wrote them yourself. Sometimes you already know what you need to hear. You just need to hear it at the right moment. The night before a hard day. Five minutes before a difficult conversation. On the morning of an anniversary you don't want to forget. SelfPush lets you write that message in advance and schedule the notification, so the right words arrive at the right time — from the only voice you fully trust: your own. HOW IT WORKS • Write a short message in your own words • Pick an exact day and time, or use a daily delivery schedule • Let SelfPush choose from your message pool, or use a random delivery window • Your phone delivers it as a normal push notification — tap to read the full message in a clean, focused view • Edit, reschedule, or delete any message at any time WHY SELFPUSH IS DIFFERENT Most reminder and affirmation apps push generic quotes from strangers, generated by an algorithm. SelfPush does the opposite. Every word is yours. There are no curated quotes, no AI-generated affirmations, no daily "wisdom" from people you've never met. Just your own voice, sent forward in time to the version of you who needs it. DESIGNED TO BE QUIET SelfPush uses a soft "Quiet Paper" design — warm whites, hairline borders, a single coral accent. There is nothing to scroll, no feed to refresh, no streak to break. You open the app to write or edit a message, and then you close it. The product happens later, on your lock screen. PRIVACY BY DESIGN • No ads. Ever. We will never sell your attention. • No tracking. We do not run analytics SDKs that profile you. • No account required. There is nothing to sign up for. • Your messages live on your device, and — if you turn on iCloud sync — in your private iCloud container. They never touch our servers. • Export your saved messages to JSON when you want a portable copy. SELFPUSH+ (OPTIONAL ONE-TIME PURCHASE) The Free tier is genuinely useful: 20 messages, one push per day, local storage. SelfPush+ is for people who want to make this a long-term practice: • Unlimited messages • 1, 2, or 3 pushes per day instead of one • Random delivery inside a time window you choose (e.g. between 9am and 6pm) • Start and end dates for focused seasons (e.g. only during exam week) • iCloud sync — write on your iPhone, read on your iPad • Notification history — see every push you've already received • Family Sharing supported It's a one-time purchase. There is no subscription, and there will never be a subscription. PERFECT FOR • Self-coaching before meetings, presentations, interviews, or hard conversations • Habit reminders that don't feel like nagging — because past-you wrote them • Anniversaries, milestones, and dates you don't want to forget • A personal "open this when you feel like quitting" message scheduled six months out • Anyone who has ever wished a wiser, calmer version of themselves could text them at exactly the right moment WHAT WE BELIEVE Your most honest words to yourself shouldn't sit next to an ad. They shouldn't be analyzed by a recommendation engine. They shouldn't be uploaded to anyone's training set. SelfPush is built so that the only person who ever reads what you write is you. Write something kind to your future self today.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: SelfPush at 13.0 against Burn Journal's 15.1. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Burn Journal | SelfPush |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Allwater Marine Group, LLC | Peppertree |
In-app purchases
Burn Journal
No in-app purchases
SelfPush
No in-app purchases









