Comparison

Folio vs SecondWorld

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

Head to head
About

Folio

Features
Read full description

The journal for an overthinking mind. Folio is for the 11pm brain that won't shut off. Open it, dump what's in your head, and let the page do the rest — a thoughtful prompt is always waiting, so you never face a blank page. WRITE WITHOUT PRESSURE - A prompt every time you open - Warm dark theme, serif type — feels like a real journal - Rich text, photos, checklists — auto-saves as you type - Daily reminder at a time you choose KEEP COMING BACK - Writing streak with gentle weekly forgiveness - Mood tracking + a daily quote on home - Weather, location, and music tag each entry automatically - Word-cloud insights show the themes you return to PRIVATE BY DEFAULT - No account, ever — everything stays on your iPhone - Lock with Face ID — zero ads, zero tracking - Export to PDF or Markdown anytime FOLIO PRO Unlock writing tools, document scanner, voice memos, Apple Pencil sketch, multi-photo entries, and custom templates. Seven-day free trial — monthly, yearly, or lifetime. Most journal apps assume you know what to write. Folio assumes you don't — and that's the point. Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy: https://hellosuongtran.github.io/folio-legal/privacy.html

About

SecondWorld

Create and observe a simulated life unfolding in a realistic city. You can gently influence events, plant wishes, or send anonymous gifts, but the person you imagine will never know you exist. Their life continues even when you're not actively playing.

Highlights
  • Create and observe simulated lives
  • Gentle influence on life events
  • Diary entries and social feeds
  • Dynamic fate engine with seasons
  • Realistic city environments and finances
  • Life continues offline
Features
Read full description

Be the god of a parallel world. Imagine someone, and they start living: working, falling in and out of love, writing a diary at 2am, in a real city with real rent. You can watch. You can nudge. You can never speak. Second World is not a chat app. The person you imagine will never know you exist. You cannot talk to them, and they will never talk to you. You are the quiet god of a whole life that unfolds on its own, day after day, even while your phone stays in your pocket. WHAT YOU WILL SEE * A diary in their own voice. Small joys, hard weeks, things they never say out loud. * A social feed of their world. Their friends, their family, their coworkers comment, tease and care. None of them are you. * Right Now. A living window into this exact moment of their day. Cooking, commuting, lying awake at 2am. * Seasons of fate. Their birth date seeds a hidden fate engine. Some years rise, some years sink. Anniversaries echo. Foreshadowing pays off weeks later. * Real ground under their feet. Real cities, real rents, real salaries. When they worry about money, the math checks out. WHAT YOU CAN DO You never control them. You influence, gently, from outside. * Plant a wish in their diary and watch whether life lets it bloom. * Light a candle on a painful night. It changes nothing. It changes everything. * Shape a memory into their past and see how it surfaces, days later, in their own words. * Send money quietly into their world and watch it arrive as a believable piece of their story. * Jump years into their future and meet who they became. THEY KEEP LIVING WHEN YOU ARE AWAY Close the app for a week. Their life moves on without rewinding for you. Come back and read what you missed. The longer you stay away, the more real it feels that someone, somewhere, kept going. FREE TO START Creating a person and following their life is free. Optional subscriptions add daily presence and full life density: * Guardian Basic: $29.99/month. Their life is written every single day, with 700 diamonds granted monthly. * Guardian Pro: $59.99/month. Full density, every world day written, 1500 diamonds granted monthly. * Guardian Pro Yearly: $599.99/year. Everything in Pro at the best price. Someone you imagine. A whole life they live. A world that listens. Auto-Renewable Subscription - Payment: charges are billed to your Apple ID account when your purchase is confirmed. - Auto-Renewal: your subscription renews automatically within 24 hours before the current period ends. The subscription period extends after a successful renewal. - Cancellation: to cancel, at least 24 hours before the period ends, go to Settings, tap your Apple ID, choose Subscriptions, find this app, and turn off Auto-Renewal. - Prices: Guardian Basic is $29.99 per month; Guardian Pro is $59.99 per month; Guardian Pro Yearly is $599.99 per year. Actual prices may vary by region. - Privacy Policy: https://api.secondworld.tech/legal/privacy - Terms of Use: https://api.secondworld.tech/legal/terms

Screenshots

Folio4 screens
SecondWorld4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: SecondWorld at every 2 days against Folio'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. Folio sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and SecondWorld sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $59.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Folio ships an update every 3 weeks, SecondWorld every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Folio versus SecondWorld: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFolioSecondWorld
PriceFreeFree
Rating—3.7 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB487 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAnh Ngoc LeKairo Labs

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Folio

Subscriptions2
  • Folio Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Folio Pro Lifetime7 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Folio Pro$99.99
10 purchases

SecondWorld

Subscriptions2
  • Guardian Pro$59.991 Month
  • Guardian Pro Yearly$599.991 Year
One-time8
  • Diamonds ×100$0.99
  • Diamonds ×525$4.99
  • Rare Occupation$5.99
Show 5 more
  • Custom Occupation$5.99
  • Diamonds ×1080$9.99
  • Diamonds ×2240$19.99
  • Diamonds ×5900$49.99
  • Diamonds ×12500$99.99

Questions

Is Folio free?
Folio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SecondWorld free?
SecondWorld is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Folio or SecondWorld have ads?
Neither Folio nor SecondWorld shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Folio or SecondWorld?
Folio ships an update every 3 weeks, and SecondWorld every 2 days. Most recently, Folio was updated on September 24, 2026 and SecondWorld on October 4, 2026.

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