Comparison

BrightLog Journal Mood Tracker vs The Franklin Chart

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

Head to head
About

BrightLog Journal Mood Tracker

Features
Read full description

Your space. Your thoughts. Your wellness, your way. BrightLog is the private diary for your mental wellness and self-care. It helps you understand how you feel, untangle your thoughts and look after yourself, one day at a time. Log your mood in a tap, put a name to your feelings, hold on to the good moments and build healthy habits. Find calm with meditation, and see hard thoughts in a new light with a thought record from cognitive behavioral therapy. And above all, your privacy comes first. We never see what you write: your information never leaves your device. YOUR PRIVACY, YOUR RULES Your thoughts stay safely on your device. • No account needed. Open BrightLog and start writing. • It’s your call. Backup happens only if you sign in and you enable it, and goes only to your own iCloud. Your journal, moods, gratitude and habits come back on a new device. • Your diary, under lock and key. Turn on App Lock with Face ID, Touch ID or your device’s screen lock. Your words are yours. Always. HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY? Sometimes a few seconds is all it takes to pause and check in with yourself. That is self-care too. Log your mood in a tap: Awesome, Good, Not sure, Bad or Terrible. FIND THE WORDS FOR WHAT YOU FEEL The feelings wheel gives you 82 words, starting from seven core emotions. Naming a feeling is the first step to understanding it. WHEN THOUGHTS WEIGH HEAVY, SHIFT YOUR PERSPECTIVE With a thought record from cognitive behavioral therapy, you note what happened and what went through your mind. You weigh the facts for and against, and find a more balanced view. One thought at a time. YOUR DIARY, YOUR STORY Write freely, or simply speak and watch your words appear. Add photos, videos, voice notes and documents. With a photo, you see right away where it was taken. LEARN TO SAVOR THE LITTLE THINGS Collect the good things in your Gratitude Pot: a sentence, a photo, a video. Each day, BrightLog brings one back to you. Because even on the hardest days, there’s room for something good. BUILD HABITS THAT DO YOU GOOD You don’t have to change everything overnight. Pick a goal, get inspired by ten Goal ideas or create your own, with daily reminders, even for taking your medication. Take a break: no day counts as missed. When you reach a goal, BrightLog celebrates with you, and you can share it as a picture. SEE HOW FAR YOU’VE COME A ring for every goal and twelve weeks side by side: notice your progress and find fresh motivation. LITTLE ACTS OF SELF-CARE Gentle nudges through your day: a glass of water, a quick stretch, a kind word to yourself. Tap Done and let that moment count. FIND YOUR CALM WITH MEDITATION A meditation timer from 5 to 30 minutes, soothing sounds or silence, and simple prompts for your breath and body. GET TO KNOW YOUR PATTERNS Monthly and yearly insights show your journey in five views: Story, Heatmap, Trend, Wheel and Mood. A clearer picture of your mental wellness. Export it as a PDF. WALK INTO THERAPY WITH A CLEARER HEAD It isn’t always easy to remember everything you wanted to say in a session. Choose the dates, and BrightLog gathers your moods, diary entries, notes and goals into one tidy summary, ready to share as a PDF. You arrive knowing what you want to talk about, and your therapist gets the bigger picture. In the Experts tab, you’ll find psychologists and counselors near you. ALWAYS WITHIN REACH From your Home Screen, log your mood and see today’s habits at a glance. EVERY MILESTONE DESERVES TO BE CELEBRATED 30 badges for journaling, mood, gratitude and habits: every step forward counts. NOT SURE WHERE TO START? Tap the ? on any tab for a short, friendly guide. YOUR SPACE, EVERY DAY Dark mode and 20 languages, on iPhone and iPad. A calmer, healthier lifestyle and better mental wellness, one small step at a time. BrightLog is your diary. Your thoughts stay yours. We never see what you write.

About

The Franklin Chart

Features
Read full description

In 1726, on a long voyage home from London, Benjamin Franklin set himself a quiet project: to become a better man — not by grand resolution, but by patient daily attention. He chose thirteen virtues, gave one his full attention each week, and kept a small chart, marking each day he fell short. The goal was never a perfect record. It was the satisfaction of watching the marks grow fewer. The Franklin Chart brings that practice, faithfully, to your iPhone. THE METHOD - Thirteen virtues, from Temperance to Humility, in Franklin's own order and words. - One virtue under close attention each week — the focus rotates, completing the full course every thirteen weeks. - A weekly chart where you mark a fault on any day you slip. A mark is information, never a verdict. THE EVENING EXAMINATION Franklin sat each day with two questions — one in the morning, one at night. The app guides that short reflection and lets you note, in a line, where the day went. MAKE IT YOURS Write what each virtue means for you, in your own words and your own life. A virtue you can picture is a virtue you can keep. SEE IT DIMINISH A gentle progress view shows your faults week by week, and where your attention is owed next — so you can watch the line tend downward over time. PRIVATE BY DESIGN The Franklin Chart collects nothing. Everything you record stays on your device. No accounts, no advertising, no tracking — and it works entirely offline. It is, like the practice itself, yours alone. "I was surpris'd to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish." — Benjamin Franklin

Screenshots

BrightLog Journal Mood Tracker4 screens
The Franklin Chart3 screens

Verdict

The call

BrightLog Journal Mood Tracker and The Franklin Chart are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
BrightLog Journal Mood Tracker versus The Franklin Chart: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrightLog Journal Mood TrackerThe Franklin Chart
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size106 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCristian MiliaCIPRIAN ALEXANDRU FRASINESCU

In-app purchases

None

BrightLog Journal Mood Tracker

No in-app purchases

None

The Franklin Chart

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BrightLog Journal Mood Tracker free?
BrightLog Journal Mood Tracker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Franklin Chart free?
The Franklin Chart is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do BrightLog Journal Mood Tracker or The Franklin Chart have ads?
Neither BrightLog Journal Mood Tracker nor The Franklin Chart shows ads.

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