Comparison

Surfacing vs Stroll

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

Head to head
About

Surfacing

This app allows users to privately track mental health symptoms, log episodes, and identify patterns. It generates encrypted reports for sharing with healthcare providers, all while keeping data securely on the device.

Highlights
  • Track 40+ conditions
  • Log intensity and feelings
  • Identify triggers and patterns
  • Track coping skill effectiveness
  • Generate encrypted reports
  • Local-first data storage
Features
Read full description

The easiest mental health journal on the market. Try it, log one moment, and see for yourself how frictionless it is. Surfacing is a private, local-first symptom tracker built for people managing mental health conditions. Log episodes, track patterns, and generate encrypted reports to share with your therapist, without ever creating an account or sending your data anywhere. https://surfacingapp.com/index.html WHAT YOU CAN TRACK • 40+ conditions across 10 diagnostic groups, PTSD, anxiety, OCD, ADHD, BPD, mood disorders, BFRBs, eating disorders, and more • Intensity levels, feelings, physical symptoms, and coping skills • Condition-specific fields tailored to your diagnosis • Custom conditions if yours isn't listed UNDERSTAND YOUR PATTERNS • Charts showing intensity over time, when episodes occur, and what triggers them • Skill effectiveness tracking, see which coping tools actually help • Filter by date, intensity, time of day, and more • Build custom charts from your own data SHARE WITH YOUR PROVIDER • Generate an encrypted, password-protected HTML report • Decrypted locally in any browser, nothing touches a server • Includes sortable tables, charts, and full entry history • Send to your therapist to support, not replace, your sessions YOUR PRIVACY IS THE POINT • No account required • No internet connection needed • All data stored on-device with AES-256 encryption • Nothing leaves your device unless you choose to share it • Device loss means data loss, store your exports somewhere safe Surfacing is a personal tracking tool. It does not replace clinical care, diagnosis, or treatment.

About

Stroll

Features
Read full description

Some of your clearest thinking happens on a walk — and then it's gone by the time you're home. Stroll is a calm place to keep it. Leave your phone behind, take an unplugged walk (a sunrise one is lovely), and when you're back, write down the thoughts that surfaced. That's the whole app. No feeds, no streaks that punish you, no noise. WALK FIRST, PHONE SECOND The best walks are unplugged, so Stroll is built to work even when your phone never came along. Just enter how long you were out when you get home. Prefer to time it? Bring your phone on airplane mode — the timer keeps perfect time even with the screen locked and no signal. ONE NUMBER THAT ONLY GROWS Stroll adds up every walk into a single, quiet total: the time you've spent walking and thinking. It never resets and never guilts you. It just grows. A GENTLE PLACE TO REFLECT • A simple, notebook-style space for what came to mind • A calm prompt to get you started • Your past reflections, gathered by day • A quiet "look back" months later, so you can see how your thinking has changed PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No login. No ads. No analytics. Your reflections live on your device — they're never sent to a server, and no one (including me) can read them. Optional iCloud Backup keeps a private copy in your own iCloud so your words survive a new phone. FREE, AND IT'LL STAY FREE Stroll is free with nothing locked away. If it's helped you, you can leave a one-time tip to support an independent maker — but there's no pressure, and tipping never unlocks anything. Take a walk. Let your mind wander. Keep what it brings back.

Screenshots

Surfacing4 screens
Stroll4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Stroll at every 2 days against Surfacing's every 4 days. 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Surfacing ships an update every 4 days, Stroll every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Surfacing versus Stroll: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSurfacingStroll
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.115.1
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB51 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperCorrick KnightConnor Burns

In-app purchases

None

Surfacing

No in-app purchases

None

Stroll

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Surfacing free?
Surfacing is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Stroll free?
Stroll is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Surfacing or Stroll have ads?
Neither Surfacing nor Stroll shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Surfacing or Stroll?
Surfacing ships an update every 4 days, and Stroll every 2 days. Most recently, Surfacing was updated on October 2, 2026 and Stroll on October 9, 2026.

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