# Diary, Journal, Notes vs Prompted Journal

The clearest difference is ads: Prompted Journal at none against Diary, Journal, Notes's shown. Prompted Journal also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 70%). Diary, Journal, Notes's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, ratings volume 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 Prompted Journal sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Diary, Journal, Notes against 4.8 for Prompted Journal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4.5K and 6.9K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of Diary, Journal, Notes's written reviews are positive against 95% of Prompted Journal's.

Diary, Journal, Notes ships an update weekly, Prompted Journal every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Diary, Journal, Notes | Prompted Journal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (4.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diary-journal-notes-diaro/id882519460/reviews) | **[4.8 (6.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/prompted-journal-shadow-work/id1208362996/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 4.5K | **6.9K** |
| Positive reviews | 70.1% of reviews | **94.6% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 56 MB | 71 MB |
| Requires iOS | **14.0** | 16.4 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Abhishek Kumar](https://appshunter.io/developer/1652325499) | [Oatmeal Apps](https://appshunter.io/developer/1633130995) |

## 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


### Prompted Journal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/prompted-journal-shadow-work/id1208362996)

This app provides a guided journaling experience with over 190 prompts and "Dive Deeper" questions to encourage self-reflection and personal growth. It helps users establish a consistent self-care routine through daily reminders and offers privacy with no data storage required.

**Highlights:** 190+ journal prompts, "Dive Deeper" questions, Daily reminders, PDF export, Custom prompt creation, Private journaling

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Prompted Journal Monthly | $0.99 | per month |
| Monthly | $6.99 | per month |
| Premium | $11.99 | per year |
| Yearly | $39.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 💖 Great for self-reflection
- 🔒 No ads or data collection
- 👍 Simple and user-friendly interface
- 🤗 Helpful and thought-provoking prompts
- 🌟 Aesthetically pleasing design

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Issues with editing/deleting past entries
- 🔍 Lack of search/filter functionality
- 📱 Compatibility issues on larger screens
- 🔁 Repetitive prompts

**Reported bugs**

- Entries disappearing or being lost
- Blank screens when opening the app

**Requested features**

- Ability to add custom prompts
- Option to password protect entries
- Exporting/printing journal entries
- More variety in prompt types


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Diary, Journal, Notes free?

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

### Is Prompted Journal free?

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

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

Prompted Journal is rated higher. Diary, Journal, Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while Prompted Journal averages 4.8 from 6.9K ratings.

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

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

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

Diary, Journal, Notes ships an update weekly, and Prompted Journal every 2 months. Most recently, Diary, Journal, Notes was updated on October 26, 2026 and Prompted Journal on October 26, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*