Comparison

Rant & Private Burn Journal vs dab

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

Head to head
About

Rant & Private Burn Journal

This app provides a private space to write down or record thoughts and emotions without judgment. You can choose to save entries that matter or permanently delete (burn) those you wish to release. It offers writing prompts and on-device storage for your privacy.

Highlights
  • Private journaling
  • Voice and text entries
  • Burn entries to delete permanently
  • Writing prompts
  • On-device storage
  • Optional biometric lock
Features
Read full description

Get it out of your head. Rant, vent, spiral, overthink, say the thing you wouldn’t send. This is a private place for the thoughts you need to put somewhere before they keep circling. Write it down or record it out loud. Then decide what happens next: Keep it if it matters. Burn it if it doesn’t. WRITE WITHOUT CLEANING IT UP No audience. No likes. No need to make it thoughtful, productive, positive, or calm. Write the ugly version. BURN WHAT YOU’RE DONE CARRYING Burn an entry when you’re ready to let it go. Burned entries are permanently deleted and can’t be recovered. Burns are unlimited. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Your entries stay on your device. We don’t receive them, read them, or store them on our servers. Premium adds Face ID / biometric protection and App Lock for extra privacy. KEEP THE THOUGHTS THAT MATTER Not everything needs to disappear. Free users can keep up to 10 entries in their private vault. Premium removes the limit. USE A SPARK WHEN YOU’RE STUCK Start with more than 90 included writing prompts for venting, reflection, emotional release, and getting unstuck. Premium adds more prompt collections for the things that are harder to write about. LET IT DISAPPEAR LATER Premium Timed Burns can automatically remove an entry after 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days. FREE • Unlimited writing and burns • Text and voice entries • 90+ writing prompts • Keep up to 10 entries • On-device storage PREMIUM — ONE-TIME PURCHASE • App Lock with Face ID / Touch ID • Unlimited saved-entry vault • Timed Burns • Premium prompt collections No subscription. Some thoughts are worth keeping. Some are better burned. Privacy Policy: https://dahvio.com/rant-privacy

About

dab

Read full description

your journal, your stickers, your stamps, your page a day. dab-dab is a warm little journal you actually get to decorate. snip the subject out of any photo into a sticker — right on your phone — or doodle one from scratch, then keep them in your own tin and reuse them on any day. it's your sticker book and your diary, in one. make your own stickers cut anyone (or anything) out of a photo with a tap, or draw a sticker by hand. dress it with an outline, a dashed cut-out edge, a torn-paper rim, or a puffy pop. then drop it in your tin — your growing little collection — and pull it back out to decorate any page, any day. a page to fill, your way • doodle across two layers with soft vintage inks and pens • write a note in a warm handwriting font • press a postmark: pick from dozens of shapes, add your place and a picture, or snap a photo and stamp it • stick on washi tape, or make your own • set a photo — or a live photo — behind the day • look back on the year wall: a poster of every page you kept, with a calendar of your stamps a collection that grows your stickers, your stamps and ready-made editions, all in one place. open a tin, file things by dragging, and make something new from one button. on your home screen a widget in your page's own paper, and a desk of loose stickers from your tin. calm, never a chore no streaks, no scores, no chain to keep. show up however small — it's a place to land, not one more thing to keep up with. yours, and only yours no account, no sign-up, no cloud sync. everything stays on your phone, and nothing is collected. free dab-dab is a real, everyday journal, with the whole year wall and your first stamp and tape. dab-dab+ opens the studio: an unlimited sticker tin, every writing font and size, the full drawing kit, the stamp and tape studios, widgets that show your page, live-photo backgrounds, more notes and photos a day, and extra papers and editions. — dab-dab+ is a monthly or yearly auto-renewing subscription (yearly includes a 7-day free trial) or a one-time lifetime purchase. payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation. subscriptions renew automatically unless turned off at least 24 hours before the period ends; manage or cancel anytime in Settings. Privacy Policy: https://reveriearchive-studio.github.io/dab-dab-privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Rant & Private Burn Journal4 screens
dab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Rant & Private Burn Journal at 16.4 against dab's 18.6. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Rant & Private Burn Journal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and dab sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Rant & Private Burn Journal against 5.0 for dab. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Rant & Private Burn Journal ships an update every 3 weeks, dab every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Rant & Private Burn Journal versus dab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRant & Private Burn Journaldab
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB118 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRaymond RothwellAntheia Li

Customer experience

Rant & Private Burn Journal

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

dab

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Rant & Private Burn Journal

One-time1
  • Premium$3.99
3 purchases

dab

Subscriptions2
  • dab-dab+ Monthly$2.991 Month
  • dab-dab+ Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • dab-dab+ Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is Rant & Private Burn Journal free?
Rant & Private Burn Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is dab free?
dab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Rant & Private Burn Journal or dab?
Rant & Private Burn Journal and dab are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Rant & Private Burn Journal or dab have ads?
Neither Rant & Private Burn Journal nor dab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Rant & Private Burn Journal or dab?
Rant & Private Burn Journal ships an update every 3 weeks, and dab every 9 days. Most recently, Rant & Private Burn Journal was updated on October 31, 2026 and dab on November 5, 2026.

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