Comparison

Dot Journal vs ShotMark

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

Head to head
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

About

ShotMark

Organize your screenshots into searchable notes and folders. Quickly find important information without endless scrolling. Export your organized content as clean shareable images.

Highlights
  • Save screenshots with notes
  • Organize into folders
  • OCR text detection
  • Instant search
  • Clean export to images
  • iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

Save the screenshot. Keep the reason. ShotMark keeps screenshots and their context together. Save ideas, receipts, conversations and references as cards, add notes, and find them again without searching through your photo library. KEEP THE CONTEXT Add notes, voice notes and reminders to screenshot cards. Keep related screenshots together in one card. ORGANISE YOUR LIBRARY Browse in Grid or List, pin important cards, and group screenshots into Collections. Archive cards without deleting their content, then restore them when you need them. Select several cards to move, pin, archive or delete them together. With Pro, use Projects to organise Collections and individual cards. FIND WHAT YOU SAVED Search titles, notes and tags. Detect and copy text from screenshots, with OCR search available in Pro. SHARE AND SYNC Export cards as images to share. Pro adds watermark-free export and optional iCloud sync across your Apple devices. Pro access is required on each platform used for sync. MAKE IT YOURS Choose Light, Dark or System appearance. Available in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Portugal), Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. START FREE, UPGRADE WHEN YOU NEED MORE Save up to 12 cards free on iPhone and iPad. Archived cards count toward this limit. Pinning, archiving, multi-select and Collection moves are included free. Pro adds unlimited saved cards, Project organisation, OCR search, iCloud sync and watermark-free export. PRO THAT FITS YOUR DEVICES Choose iPhone & iPad Pro, Mac Pro, or All Platforms Pro covering iPhone, iPad and Mac. Eligible existing Pro owners can add the other platform with an owner discount through the App Store. Each option is a one-time purchase, with no subscription. Prices are shown in your local App Store currency. No ShotMark account is required.

Screenshots

Dot Journal4 screens
ShotMark4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Dot Journal at every 6 days against ShotMark's every 3 weeks. 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Dot Journal sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and ShotMark sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dot Journal ships an update every 6 days, ShotMark every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Dot Journal versus ShotMark: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDot JournalShotMark
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.7 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—7 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHong Chi LawZhen Chyi Lee

In-app purchases

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
3 purchases

ShotMark

One-time3
  • Unlock Pro$2.99
  • ShotMark Mac Unlocked$5.99
  • ShotMark Pro — All Platforms$6.99

Questions

Is Dot Journal free?
Dot Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ShotMark free?
ShotMark is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Dot Journal or ShotMark have ads?
Neither Dot Journal nor ShotMark shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dot Journal or ShotMark?
Dot Journal ships an update every 6 days, and ShotMark every 3 weeks. Most recently, Dot Journal was updated on October 28, 2026 and ShotMark on October 25, 2026.

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