Second By Second vs One Last Second
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Second By Second
Capture your life one second at a time with this free journaling app. It offers simple recording, complete privacy with local storage, and powerful features like a calendar view and instant timeline. Maintain your habit with daily reminders.
- One-second video recording
- Local storage for privacy
- Calendar and timeline views
- One-tap video stitching
- Smart video importer
- Daily recording reminders
Read full descriptionHide full description
Capture your life, one second at a time! What if you could watch your entire year unfold in just 6 minutes? Second By Second is the simplest, most private and totally FREE way to journal your journey. SIMPLE & FAST Recording your day shouldn’t be a chore. Open the app, record (or import) your one second, and you're done. It’s the fastest habit you’ll ever keep. COMPLETE PRIVACY BY DESIGN Your memories are yours alone. Unlike other apps, we don’t store your videos on our servers. - 100% Local Storage: Your videos stay on your phone. - No Cloud Tracking: We don’t track where you are or what you do. - No Account Needed: Start recording immediately without giving up your email. TOTALLY FREE We believe everyone should be able to look back on their life for free. - No Hidden Subscriptions: All core features are open to everyone. Why charge for simple functionality? - No "Pay-to-Unlock" Features: High-quality stitching and exporting are included. You can take as many clips as you want and send them to anyone you want! - Optional Support: If you love the app, you can choose to watch an ad or send a small donation to support development, but it's never required. Thanks for any support! POWERFUL FEATURES - Beautiful Calendar View: See your journey grow day by day. - Instant Timeline: Scroll through your memories in a smooth, continuous feed. - One-Tap Stitching: Combine weeks, months, or years into a single cinematic masterpiece. - Smart Importer: Pick any video from your library; we’ll help you trim it to the perfect second. - Daily Reminders: Gentle notifications to help you maintain your streak. Start your day, Second By Second!
One Last Second
Capture a brief video each day to create a visual diary of your life. Once a day's clip is recorded, it's sealed forever, encouraging mindfulness of the present moment. Review your weekly memories and track your life's journey.
- Daily 3-second video capture
- Sealed memories, no edits
- Weekly video playback
- Life grid with week tracking
- Memento mori countdown
- Optional private sharing
Read full descriptionHide full description
Your life has about 4,000 weeks. One Last Second is a daily practice for noticing them. The entire app is one constraint: capture one 3-second video each day. At midnight, it seals forever. No edits, no do-overs, no backfilling from your camera roll. That's not a missing feature - it's the whole point. When today is the only day you can capture, you start paying attention to it. THE PRACTICE Open the app, record a moment, done... under a minute a day. Every Sunday evening, watch a short film of the week you just lived. On the first of the month, watch the whole month. Anniversaries resurface with On This Day. And your life grid, one dot for every week of your life, slowly fills in, captured weeks glowing white among the rest. MEMENTO MORI The app is built in an old tradition: remember that you will die. Not morbidly - clearly. A live countdown to midnight. Your weeks, counted. Daily lines like "2,912 Sundays remaining." It sounds heavy. In practice, it's the opposite: it makes ordinary Tuesdays feel worth filming. NO SHAME FOR GAPS You'll miss days. That's part of it. Empty dots are part of your story. There are no streak-shame mechanics here, and the only failure is never showing up again. NO NOISE No AI. No ads. No algorithms. No strangers. Nothing to fill in: sign in with Apple in one tap, and your archive outlives your phone. If you want, invite your close friends and family into a private circle and share your one last seconds. ONE SUBSCRIPTION One Last Second is a subscription: $34.99 a year with a 7-day free trial, or $4.99 a month. No free tier, no lifetime plan, no ads. Everything is included: moments from 3 to 8 seconds, every alternate take kept in your Vault, a 48-hour grace window for missed days, weekly and monthly films, unlimited chapters and friends, export to Photos anytime, and cloud backup of every moment. Cancel anytime. Everything you've kept stays. A year from now, you'll have 365 days kept: about 18 minutes of ordinary life you'd otherwise have lost. Start with today - you don't get it back. --- One Last Second is an auto-renewable subscription. Annual: $34.99/year, with a 7-day free trial. Monthly: $4.99/month, no trial. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase, or when the free trial ends. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Prices shown in USD and may vary by region. Terms of Use: https://www.onelastsecond.com/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://www.onelastsecond.com/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: One Last Second at 16.4 against Second By Second's 18.0. On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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. Second By Second sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and One Last Second sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly daily. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Second By Second | One Last Second |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.1 (11 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 11 — better |
| Update frequency | Daily | Daily |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 137 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Joshua Brunk | ONE PT SIX LLC |
Customer experience
Second By Second
One Last Second
In-app purchases
Second By Second
- Support the Development$0.99
One Last Second
- One Last Second Plus: Monthly$4.991 Month
- One Last Second: Annual7 Days trial$34.991 Year
Questions
Is Second By Second free?
Is One Last Second free?
Do Second By Second or One Last Second have ads?
Which is updated more often, Second By Second or One Last Second?
Other comparisons















