Comparison

Voice Journal & Diary vs elsehear

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

Head to head
About

Voice Journal & Diary

This AI-powered voice journal allows you to speak your thoughts instead of writing them. It transcribes your spoken entries, organizes them with headings, and offers advanced features like life threads and mood tracking for deeper self-reflection. Enjoy a beautifully designed interface that feels personal and intuitive.

Highlights
  • Voice-to-text transcription
  • Automatic entry headings
  • Life threads and mood tracking
  • Weekly summary letters
  • Multi-language support
  • Biometric journal lock
  • Customizable page designs
Features
Read full description

Your mind is full. The page is blank. Dearly is the AI voice journal that lets you skip the page and just talk. Most journals ask you to sit down and write, and that is the part people give up on. Dearly asks for a minute of talking out loud, the way you'd tell a friend. Tap the orb, say what's on your mind, and it comes back as a written page you'll actually want to read again. NO BLANK PAGE, EVER No sentences to structure, no grammar, no cursor waiting for you. Talk for a minute in the car, on a walk, or in bed with the lights off. Dearly writes it down in clean serif type, gives the entry a heading so you can find it again, and puts it away. • 10 entries written out every day. Free, forever. YOU DON'T THINK IN A SECOND LANGUAGE Writing gives you time to find the right words. Talking doesn't, and it shouldn't have to. Dearly speaks English, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese and Korean. Your headings, your questions and your Sunday letter all come back in the language you chose. Pick it on the very first screen, and change it whenever you like. YOU SAID MORE THAN YOU REMEMBER (PRO) Everyone loses the thread of their own life. The thing that's been bothering you since March. The person who comes up every time you're tired. The worry you thought you were over. • Threads of your life: the things you keep coming back to, drawn together from what you actually said, with a few written lines about how each one has gone. • You close a thread yourself, when it feels settled. Dearly never closes one for you. • This month's cast: the people, places and topics that keep appearing in your thoughts. • Mood horizon: your month as a painted sky of moods, not a spreadsheet. • Open an entry and get a question drawn from its own words. Talk it through, and read back later what you worked out. THE WEEK GOES BY. SUNDAY, YOU GET IT BACK (PRO) Once a week, Dearly writes you a letter about the week you just lived. Short, and yours. Every letter is kept, so you can go back to any week you like and meet the person you were in it. WHAT YOU SAY HERE STAYS YOURS • Your voice travels over an encrypted connection purely for transcription, and is never stored. • Recordings stay on your phone. • Face ID or Touch ID on the whole journal, if you want it. • Export everything, or delete your account and all of it, from inside the app. IT SHOULDN'T FEEL LIKE WORK Serif type, warm paper surfaces, and moods that drift like weather. A place for your own head shouldn't look like a task manager or a spreadsheet. You pick the page you write on: Stone Sage in the morning, Obsidian or Indigo Ink when it's late. Stone Sage is free forever. The other three come with Pro. FREE AND PRO, HONESTLY • Free forever: unlimited voice recording, 10 entries written out a day, your full written journal, biometric lock, and the Stone Sage page to write on. • Dearly Pro: threads of your life, your Sunday letter and every letter before it, mood horizon, your cast of people and topics, a question drawn from any entry, three more pages to write on (Rose Quartz, Obsidian and Indigo Ink), and export. Every Pro feature is free for your first 7 days. Call it an audio journal, a mood tracker, a mental health diary, or just thinking out loud. Start tonight. Say the things you'd never slow down to write. Dearly Pro is an auto-renewable subscription (monthly or annual); a one-time lifetime purchase is also available. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; manage or cancel anytime in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://brooo.app/dearly/privacy

About

elsehear

Explore live soundscapes from real places globally. Discover locations, save favorites, and enjoy immersive audio experiences. Features include Lock Screen Live Activities and Apple Watch integration.

Highlights
  • Live global soundscapes
  • Location discovery
  • Save favorite places
  • Lock Screen Live Activities
  • Apple Watch companion app
  • Multi-language support
Features
Read full description

Listen to real places around the world, live. Browse places around the world and tune into their live soundscapes. Discover the coordinates and stories behind the sounds you hear. Tap "Take me somewhere" and let Elsehear choose your next destination. Save your favorite places and return to them whenever you like. Favorites sync across your iPhones when you sign in with the same Apple account. See your current place and playback status on the Lock Screen with Live Activities. Browse places and control playback on your paired iPhone with the Apple Watch companion. Available in English, Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, French, and German. Elsehear is an art project for sharing the sounds of the world. With thanks to Locus Sonus and the contributors who keep these open microphones listening. Sign in with Apple and an internet connection are required. Audio comes from live sources, so sounds and stream availability vary. Be here, hear elsewhere.

Screenshots

Voice Journal & Diary4 screens
elsehear4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Voice Journal & Diary at 15.1 against elsehear's 17.0. On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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. Voice Journal & Diary sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and elsehear sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Voice Journal & Diary ships an update every 5 days, elsehear every 3 days. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Voice Journal & Diary versus elsehear: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVoice Journal & Diaryelsehear
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSwapnil Tiwaridohyun ahn

Customer experience

Voice Journal & Diary

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

elsehear

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Voice Journal & Diary

Subscriptions2
  • Dearly Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Dearly Pro Annual7 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Dearly Pro Lifetime$79.99
1 purchases

elsehear

One-time1
  • support elsehear$6.99

Questions

Is Voice Journal & Diary free?
Voice Journal & Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is elsehear free?
elsehear is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Voice Journal & Diary or elsehear have ads?
Neither Voice Journal & Diary nor elsehear shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Voice Journal & Diary or elsehear?
Voice Journal & Diary ships an update every 5 days, and elsehear every 3 days. Most recently, Voice Journal & Diary was updated on November 10, 2026 and elsehear on November 10, 2026.

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