Comparison

Good Diary vs Ember

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

Head to head
About

Good Diary

Features
Read full description

Good Diary is a private journal designed to help you remember, organize, and better understand your personal encounters. Record each encounter with dates and times, contacts, location, notes, photos, videos, and custom details. Create categories and options that match your needs, while always deciding which information you want to keep. ORGANIZE YOUR ENCOUNTERS β€’ Save completed encounters or leave them temporarily unfinished. β€’ Link one or more contacts to each encounter. β€’ Add notes, locations, photos, and videos. β€’ Create custom categories with single or multiple selection. β€’ Quickly find your data using search and advanced filters. β€’ Browse your encounters through the calendar. CONTACTS AND OPTIONAL INFORMATION Manage your contacts and, if useful to you, add optional information such as sex and sexual orientation. These details can be used in filters and statistics, but you always decide what to enter. PRIVACY AND SECURITY Your data stays first of all on your device. Access can be protected with a PIN and Face ID. Good Diary does not require a proprietary account and does not display advertising. If you enable backup or synchronization, your data is stored in your personal iCloud account. BACKUP, SYNC, AND EXPORT β€’ Create and restore iCloud backups. β€’ Synchronize data between compatible devices. β€’ Export your data as an organized multi-sheet Excel XLSX file. β€’ Review and manage backups directly from Options. Good Diary gives you a personal, flexible, and private space built around the information you actually want to remember.

About

Ember

Features
Read full description

Ember is a diary for the things you wouldn't say out loud yet. The day you almost quit. The walk that fixed you. The sentence your mother said in 2007 that you still think about. It's not a notebook for productivity or a journal for habits. It's a place to write the way you'd write to yourself at three in the morning, when nobody is watching and the sentences don't have to be good. The page is plain on purpose. Fraunces or Lora for the writing, set at a size that doesn't make you squint. A title field that doesn't ask much. A small line for the weather, the mood, the song that was playing. Voice memos when typing feels like too much. Photos when a photo says it faster. A drawing layer for the days a doodle is the whole entry. Each morning, one prompt, if you want one. Ignore it if you don't. Everything you write stays on this iPhone, encrypted with AES-GCM the moment you tap save. There is no Ember server. No account to make. No analytics looking over your shoulder. We couldn't read your entries if we tried β€” we built it that way on purpose. Ember is free to download with everything unlocked. One small banner supports development β€” remove it anytime with a single one-time purchase. No subscription, no auto-renewal, no popups asking you to upgrade in eighteen months. Export to Markdown or PDF whenever you like, and take what you wrote with you. The diary is yours; we're just the room it sits in. Write something today. Even one line.

Screenshots

Good Diary4 screens
Ember4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Good Diary at none against Ember's 1. Good Diary also leads on ads (none vs shown). Ember's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 weeks). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Ember sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Good Diary asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Good Diary ships an update every 6 weeks, Ember every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 3 level
Good Diary versus Ember: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGood DiaryEmber
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 3 weeks β€” better
AdsNo β€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 β€” better17.4
Further details β€” not scored
Size11 MB12 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperFabrizio FiammenghiδΈ½δ½³ ζ–½

In-app purchases

None

Good Diary

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Ember

One-time1
  • Ember Pro$0.99

Questions

Is Good Diary free?
Good Diary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ember free?
Ember is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Good Diary or Ember have ads?
Ember shows ads; Good Diary does not.
Which is updated more often, Good Diary or Ember?
Good Diary ships an update every 6 weeks, and Ember every 3 weeks. Most recently, Good Diary was updated on October 9, 2026 and Ember on October 7, 2026.

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