# Palate Journal vs Restaurant Journal_

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Restaurant Journal_ at none against Palate Journal's 2. Restaurant Journal_ also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Palate Journal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. Restaurant Journal_ asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Palate Journal against 5.0 for Restaurant Journal_. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 13, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Palate Journal | Restaurant Journal_ |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/palate-journal/id6763765669/reviews) | [5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/restaurant-journal/id6787706637/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | **2** |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | Every 4 days |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 45 MB | 7 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **17.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [The Ivy Studios LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1461937417) | [Timothy Brandt](https://appshunter.io/developer/1239208701) |

## What reviewers say

### Palate Journal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/palate-journal/id6763765669)

Create a private, personal guide to your favorite dining experiences. Log meals, dishes, and companions with custom tier marks. Generate an annual PDF summary of your culinary year.

**Highlights:** Editorial tier system, Visit log with details, Dish-of-the-year highlighting, Annual PDF guide generation, Cross-device sync, Private by design

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Palate Pro | $4.99 | per year |
| The 2026 Edition | $9.99 | one-time |


### Restaurant Journal_

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/restaurant-journal/id6787706637)

This app automatically creates a private map and journal of your dining experiences using your existing food photos. It identifies meals, organizes them by location, and allows you to add ratings, notes, and voice memos without manual check-ins or accounts.

**Highlights:** Automatic journal from photos, Private dining map, Meal ratings (Yay, Okay, Meh), Add notes and voice memos, Photo and video storage per visit, Optional iCloud backup

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Palate Journal free?

Palate Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Restaurant Journal_ free?

Restaurant Journal_ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Palate Journal or Restaurant Journal_?

Palate Journal and Restaurant Journal_ are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 2 ratings respectively.

### Do Palate Journal or Restaurant Journal_ have ads?

Neither Palate Journal nor Restaurant Journal_ shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Palate Journal or Restaurant Journal_?

Palate Journal ships an update every 4 days, and Restaurant Journal_ every 4 days. Most recently, Palate Journal was updated on September 13, 2026 and Restaurant Journal_ on September 19, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*