Comparison

Inkday vs Inkday Diary

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

Head to head
About

Inkday

Features
Read full description

Inkday is a private journal that's yours alone. We believe something simple: your journal is yours. Inkday runs no servers and cannot see your content. Everything — your writing, photos, videos, audio, moods, tags, location, weather, calendar snapshots, and anniversaries — is stored only in your own iCloud, syncing quietly across iPhone, iPad, and Mac through your Apple ID (activity data is the exception: it stays only on the device that captured it, and isn't synced through iCloud). No account to create, no third-party sign-in, no ads, no cross-app tracking (only anonymous device and OS-version statistics and crash reports, to improve stability). ■ Capture every day - One clean, text-first entry a day, at a glance on the calendar - Add photos, short clips, and voice notes to any entry - Tap any photo or video for a full-screen view, swipe through the day's media, pick a daily cover, or save media back to Photos or a file - Organize life with moods and tags; filter and revisit anytime - Auto-record where you were and the weather as you write (optional); search a landmark or nearby place to set where the day happened - Snapshot that day's calendar events into the entry, so you can look back even after switching calendars or phones (choose which calendars to include) - On iPhone and iPad, automatically save that day's activity from Health into the entry: active energy is free, while Inkday Pro also records steps, exercise minutes, and full workouts (type, duration, distance, pace, heart rate, and more). This stays only on the device where it was captured, not synced with the entry (can be turned off anytime) ■ Remember the days that matter - Anniversaries: record the day you got together, a birthday, or a day to count down to; Inkday works out the years, months, and days that have passed (or just the total days), or how many days remain - Reminders on day 100, 500, 1000 and every anniversary; that day is also marked in your diary, calendar, and list, and one tap adds the sentence to your entry - (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch) Lock Screen, Home Screen, and watch face widgets show how long it's been, or how many days are left, at a glance - Import events straight from your Calendar, or turn a day's event in your diary into an anniversary - Free for up to 3 anniversaries; Inkday Pro removes the limit, adds custom colors and milestone intervals, and lets you look back on each past anniversary with On This Day ■ Look back, gently - Media calendar: browse a whole month as photo thumbnails and switch freely between List and Calendar, like an album; scroll all the way back to any past date to backfill older entries - "On This Day" brings back the same day in years past - See your writing streaks and most-used moods - A footprint map shows the places you've been ■ Built for privacy - Your data lives only in your own iCloud; the developer can't access it - No accounts, no ads, no cross-app tracking (only anonymous stability statistics) - Built-in App Lock: protect the whole app with a PIN and Face ID / Touch ID (free) ■ Your data, portable - Import from other journaling apps to move in easily - Export your entire journal to a file anytime for a full backup ■ Three platforms, one journal - Shared across iPhone, iPad, and Mac; syncs automatically with one Apple ID - Seven warm, papery themes, with dark mode (follow the system, or stay light or dark) The core is free forever, including location tagging and the footprint map. Inkday Pro unlocks extra themes, weather, calendar snapshots, full workout records, statistics, unlimited anniversaries, and export backups — available as a yearly plan, a monthly plan, or a one-time Lifetime purchase. Tired of renewing? Inkday lets you buy it once. Every day of yours deserves to be kept well. Privacy Policy: https://seanseanyin.github.io/inkday-site/privacy-policy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Inkday Diary

Features
Read full description

Inkday is a private voice diary for iPhone. You speak one page a day. The recording becomes text on your device and stays there. There is no account and no cloud. Inkday has no developer servers, no analytics, and no subscription. Recording, transcription and mood detection run on Apple’s on-device frameworks. The last 30 days are always yours to read. Older pages stay on the phone and can be unlocked once. • One page a day, up to ten minutes • On-device speech-to-text • Original audio kept with each page • A haptic timeline through past days • A year of days as a quiet dot grid • Optional daily reminder — one, never a streak • Light and dark paper themes • Home-screen widget for the year Unlock the archive Pages older than 30 days can be unlocked with a single one-time purchase. Nothing is deleted if you wait. Restore Purchase is in Settings. Requires iOS 26 or later. — Unlock the archive (optional) One-time In-App Purchase to unlock diary pages older than 30 days, forever. No subscription. Price: $4.99 USD / €4.99. Price may vary by region. Restore purchases in Settings. — Privacy Policy: https://inkday-neon.vercel.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://inkday-neon.vercel.app/terms

Screenshots

Inkday4 screens
Inkday Diary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Inkday Diary at none against Inkday's 3. Inkday's advantage is device support (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.5). On price and ads 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. Inkday sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Inkday Diary asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
Inkday versus Inkday Diary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInkdayInkday Diary
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChienHsiang YinFabian Gruss

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Inkday

Subscriptions2
  • Inkday Pro (Monthly)$1.991 Month
  • Inkday Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$7.991 Year
One-time1
  • Inkday Pro (Lifetime)$14.99
None

Inkday Diary

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Inkday free?
Inkday is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Inkday Diary free?
Inkday Diary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Inkday or Inkday Diary have ads?
Neither Inkday nor Inkday Diary shows ads.

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