# Diary, Journal, Notes vs Zero

The clearest difference is ads: Zero at none against Diary, Journal, Notes's shown. Zero also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 70%) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 14.0). Diary, Journal, Notes's advantage is ratings volume (4.5K vs 32). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Diary, Journal, Notes sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per year and Zero sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Diary, Journal, Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Diary, Journal, Notes has 4.5K ratings behind it against 32, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 70% of Diary, Journal, Notes's written reviews are positive against 81% of Zero's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Diary, Journal, Notes ships an update weekly, Zero every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Diary, Journal, Notes | Zero |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (4.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diary-journal-notes-diaro/id882519460/reviews)** | [4.5 (32 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zero-a-pure-design-journal-and-note/id1088721484/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4.5K** | 32 |
| Positive reviews | 70.1% of reviews | **81.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 8 days |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 56 MB | 27 MB |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | **8.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Abhishek Kumar](https://appshunter.io/developer/1652325499) | [素琼 曹](https://appshunter.io/developer/1212815207) |

## What reviewers say

### Diary, Journal, Notes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diary-journal-notes-diaro/id882519460)

Record daily activities, thoughts, and memories securely. Organize entries with tags, locations, and folders. Sync across devices and export your data easily. Features include mood tracking, photo attachments, and a calendar view.

**Highlights:** Secure PIN and fingerprint lock, Customizable themes and 30+ languages, Powerful search and filtering, Mood tracker and Atlas view, Backup, restore, import, and export options, Cloud sync via Dropbox, Attach unlimited photos

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

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Diaro Pro 1 Year | $8.99 | per year |
| Diaro PRO | $39.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Consistent for years
- 🚀 Excellent app
- 🚀 Great app and great support
- 👍 Love this app
- 👍 Fantastic replacement to a physical diary

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Suddenly become useless
- 🐛 Terrible app
- 🐛 Doesn't work anymore
- 🐛 Horrible, don't work
- 🐛 PIN protection doesn't work

**Reported bugs**

- Reminders broken on iOS
- Crashes after activating Touch ID
- Stuck on blue logo page after Touch ID stopped working
- Sync issues between devices
- Entries disappearing or not saving properly

**Requested features**

- 💡 Add bold, underline, italics formatting
- 💡 Add ability to add captions to images
- 💡 Add ability to customize moods
- 💡 Add Face ID, iCloud sync, and additional fonts
- 💡 Add ability to format text, add bullet points, link to calendars


### Zero

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zero-a-pure-design-journal-and-note/id1088721484)

This app offers a minimalist journaling experience with features like a timeline view, photo wall, and secure password protection. Customize your journal with various themes and font sizes, and set reminders to ensure you never miss an entry. VIP features include photo backup and export options.

**Highlights:** Timeline journal view, Photo wall display, Fingerprint & passcode lock, Customizable font size, Multiple theme options, Journaling reminders, Keyword search

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| VIP/Half a year | $0.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Diary, Journal, Notes free?

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

### Is Zero free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Diary, Journal, Notes or Zero?

Diary, Journal, Notes is rated higher. Diary, Journal, Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while Zero averages 4.5 from 32 ratings.

### Do Diary, Journal, Notes or Zero have ads?

Diary, Journal, Notes shows ads; Zero does not.

### Which is updated more often, Diary, Journal, Notes or Zero?

Diary, Journal, Notes ships an update weekly, and Zero every 8 days. Most recently, Diary, Journal, Notes was updated on November 1, 2026 and Zero on November 2, 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.*