Comparison

LOOP vs Kartka Journal

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

Head to head
About

LOOP

Features
Read full description

/LOOP offers two distinct journaling modes to capture different parts of your life. SOLAR MODE โ€” For the day: Bright, bold, uppercase. Use Solar mode to capture concrete moments: what happened, what you did, what you saw. It's designed for quick, real-time entries about your daily life. LUNAR MODE โ€” For reflection: Soft, lowercase, contemplative. Use Lunar mode for thoughts, feelings, and introspection. It's a space for processing emotions and dreams before they fade. YOUR WORDS BECOME ART: Each entry is analyzed to generate unique visual DNA based on its mood, energy, rhythm, and other linguistic patterns. Your words transform into generative artwork that reflects the essence of what you wrote. FEATURES โ€ข Two journaling modes with distinct visual styles โ€ข Voice-to-text dictation with real-time transcription โ€ข Automatic generative art for every entry โ€ข Calendar view to track your journaling habit โ€ข Edit and revisit past entries anytime โ€ข Choose your default mode (Solar or Lunar) โ€ข Clean, minimal interface with no distractions HOW IT WORKS Open the app and choose Solar or Lunar. Write or speak your entry. When you save, LOOP analyzes your text and generates unique artwork. Return anytime to browse your archive and see your journey.

About

Kartka Journal

Features
Read full description

Kartka is a journal that looks like paper and behaves like a notebook: one page per day, text, photos, handwriting. No account, no ads, no subscription. WRITE THE WAY YOU WANT Text with a title and paragraphs, photos between sentences, a mood with one tap. On iPad and on an unfolded iPhone Duo every day has a second, handwritten page: pen, eraser, colours, photo stickers. On iPhone you read it just as it was written. YOUR PAPER Blank, dots, lines, grid or isometric dots; for handwriting also margin lines, graph paper, Cornell, music staves, calligraphy, a day planner and letter paper. Themes: Paper, Verdant, Sepia, Indigo, Mono, Cerulean, Phosphor. Three typefaces. DAY BY DAY Calendar, a timeline with a photo gallery, Lists with Yesterday ยท Today ยท Tomorrow planning and ready-made templates. A daily reflection question, reminders, widgets, Shortcuts and Siri, Focus filters. A time capsule โ€“ a letter from your future self. YOURS AND YOURS ONLY Face ID, iCloud sync with end-to-end encryption โ€“ the key lives only on your devices. No accounts, no tracking, no analytics. FULL VERSION โ€“ ONE-TIME 7 days free, then one purchase for good: unlimited journals, search, tags, moods, a PDF or EPUB book from your entries, statistics and insights, On This Day and memories, voice notes, the Memoir, your own list templates and day notes, premium themes and papers. The free version keeps three journals, handwriting, four papers, five themes and everything you have written โ€“ forever.

Screenshots

LOOP4 screens
Kartka Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: LOOP at none against Kartka Journal's 1. LOOP also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). Kartka Journal's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Kartka Journal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. LOOP asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LOOP ships an update every 3 months, Kartka Journal every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
LOOP versus Kartka Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLOOPKartka Journal
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 weeks โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 โ€” better17.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size39 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMeixuan LiMichal Milczarski

In-app purchases

None

LOOP

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Kartka Journal

One-time1
  • Full Version$6.99

Questions

Is LOOP free?
LOOP is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Kartka Journal free?
Kartka Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do LOOP or Kartka Journal have ads?
Neither LOOP nor Kartka Journal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, LOOP or Kartka Journal?
LOOP ships an update every 3 months, and Kartka Journal every 2 weeks. Most recently, LOOP was updated on October 25, 2026 and Kartka Journal on October 29, 2026.

Other comparisons