Comparison

Shadow Work vs Shadow Work Journal & Prompts

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

Head to head
About

Shadow Work

This app offers a structured journaling experience based on Jungian psychology to explore hidden aspects of yourself. It guides you through stages of self-discovery, integration, and self-actualization with written prompts and body awareness exercises. All your entries are stored privately on your device.

Highlights
  • 25 structured sessions across 3 stages
  • Shadow Archetype and Exile reveal
  • Trigger & Glimmer tracker
  • The Mirror reflection tool
  • Grounding breathwork and body check-ins
  • Private, device-only journaling
  • Progress tracking and daily streaks
Features
Read full description

Shadow Forge is a structured shadow work journal built on Jungian psychology. Not a mood tracker. Not a gratitude log. A guided descent into the parts of yourself you've been ignoring, judging, or hiding from the world. HOW IT WORKS Shadow Forge divides your inner work into 3 stages and 25 sessions: Stage 1 - Shadow: 7 sessions Meet the parts you cast away. Explore your projections, your triggers, and the qualities you deny in yourself. Ends with your Shadow Archetype reveal - and the Exile it has been protecting. Stage 2 - Integration: 10 sessions Stop fighting what you found. Learn to own the shadow instead of being owned by it. Stage 3 - Self: 8 sessions The work becomes who you are. Live from a more complete version of yourself. WHAT EACH SESSION INCLUDES - A grounding ritual to prepare the container - 3 written prompts designed to surface what hides beneath the surface - A body check-in to locate emotion as sensation - Everything stored privately on your device THE FIRST STAGE IS FREE Complete all 7 sessions of Stage 1 at no cost. Unlock Stage 2 and Stage 3 with a monthly or annual subscription. YOUR JOURNAL. NO ONE READS IT BUT YOU. Every response is stored locally on your device. No account. No cloud. No server ever receives your entries. FEATURES - 25 structured sessions across 3 stages - Shadow Archetype reveal, plus an Exile card - the wound your Archetype has been protecting - Trigger & Glimmer tracker - log what drains you and what lifts you, see the pattern over 14 days - The Mirror - a 5-question reflection that reveals your relationship pattern, synthesized with your Shadow Archetype - Grounding breathwork before each session - Body awareness check-in - Private journal - device only, no cloud - Progress tracking across all sessions - Daily streak - Grounding exercise available anytime - 11 languages supported Privacy Policy: https://enginaytekin.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Shadow Work Journal & Prompts

Features
Read full description

A nightly shadow work ritual for the dark night of the soul. Twelve questions name the pattern running your life. One card a night asks the question you have been avoiding. And once you have written enough, the journal reads you back. You were never broken. You were just never given the blueprint. THE QUIZ Twelve questions, no account, free. It names which of six archetypes is running your life right now: the Performer, the Carrier, the Exile, the Guardian, the Ghost, the Architect. You get the shadow it casts and the line it lives by. Not a horoscope, and not a label to wear. ONE CARD A NIGHT A deck of 54 cards, nine for each archetype, in three kinds. Truth cards name what you are carrying. Prompt cards ask the question you have been avoiding. Mirror cards hand your own behaviour back to you without judgment. Most nights your card comes from your own archetype. Every fourth night it crosses over from another, because the pattern you cannot see is rarely the one you would have chosen. THE JOURNAL Tap Reflect and write with the card in front of you, or open the journal and answer that night's written prompt. Entries are kept on your phone and can be locked behind Face ID. Search everything you have written. Export all of it as plain text whenever you want. A year on, the app will quietly show you what you wrote on this night. Your shadow stays yours. THE SHADOW READING Most journals hand you good questions and then leave you on your own with the answers. This is the part that does not. Once you have written two reflections, premium unlocks a reading of your own journal: the themes, the contradictions, the figures that keep coming back. It reads across the whole run of what you have written, not just this week, and it reads the readings that came before it, so it can tell you what has moved since the last one and what is still standing exactly where you left it. It gets sharper the longer you keep going, because there is more of you in it. Your entries are sent for a reading only when you ask for one, and only after the app has asked your permission and named exactly who processes them. Everything else stays on your phone. THE PASSAGE Thirty nights. The count rises only on the nights you actually write, and it never falls. Miss a night and it waits where you left it. This is not a productivity metric and there is nothing to lose. WHEN IT GETS HEAVY Shadow work can go further than you planned. A "Too deep tonight?" button sits on the writing screen: it ends the session and walks you back to solid ground in three steps. Crisis lines for the US, the UK and the Netherlands are always one tap away. ALSO INSIDE A home screen and lock screen widget that keeps tonight's card in view. Face ID lock, free for everyone. Optional sign in with Apple or Google, and account deletion in two taps. No ads. FREE AND PREMIUM Free: the quiz, your archetype, tonight's card, the nightly written prompts, the app lock, the widget, and your first five reflections. Premium: the full deck of 54 cards, unlimited writing, and the Shadow Reading. 9.99 USD per month or 59.99 USD per year, with the first two weeks free. Prices vary by country and are shown before you buy. Subscriptions renew automatically unless you turn renewal off at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel in your Apple account settings at any time. Some part of you has been waiting a long time to be seen. Tonight is a reasonable time to begin. Terms of Service: https://www.architectwithin.co/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.architectwithin.co/privacy Billed through Apple. One week free, then $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year. Cancel any time in two taps in your iPhone settings. Your journal is stored on your device. Entries leave it only when you ask for a Shadow Reading, and they are not kept on our side after it is written.

Screenshots

Shadow Work4 screens
Shadow Work Journal & Prompts4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Shadow Work Journal & Prompts at every 2 days against Shadow Work's fortnightly. Shadow Work's advantage is iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). 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. Shadow Work sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Shadow Work Journal & Prompts sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shadow Work ships an update fortnightly, Shadow Work Journal & Prompts every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Shadow Work versus Shadow Work Journal & Prompts: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShadow WorkShadow Work Journal & Prompts
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB17 MB
Age rating9+17+
DeveloperEngin AytekinBram Amine

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Shadow Work

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Annual7 Days trial$59.991 Year
2 purchases

Shadow Work Journal & Prompts

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly14 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Yearly14 Days trial$59.991 Year

Questions

Is Shadow Work free?
Shadow Work is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shadow Work Journal & Prompts free?
Shadow Work Journal & Prompts is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Shadow Work or Shadow Work Journal & Prompts have ads?
Neither Shadow Work nor Shadow Work Journal & Prompts shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shadow Work or Shadow Work Journal & Prompts?
Shadow Work ships an update fortnightly, and Shadow Work Journal & Prompts every 2 days. Most recently, Shadow Work was updated on October 13, 2026 and Shadow Work Journal & Prompts on October 14, 2026.

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