# Diary, Journal, Notes vs HighNotes

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: HighNotes at none against Diary, Journal, Notes's 2. HighNotes also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 14.0). Diary, Journal, Notes's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (4.5K vs 47). On price, review sentiment and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Diary, Journal, Notes sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per year. HighNotes asks for nothing beyond the download.

Diary, Journal, Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Diary, Journal, Notes has 4.5K ratings behind it against 47, 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 73% of HighNotes'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, HighNotes every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Diary, Journal, Notes | HighNotes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (4.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diary-journal-notes-diaro/id882519460/reviews)** | [4.4 (47 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highnotes/id1249114868/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4.5K** | 47 |
| Positive reviews | 70.1% of reviews | **72.7% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Free** |
| Size | 56 MB | 23 MB |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | **9.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Abhishek Kumar](https://appshunter.io/developer/1652325499) | [Aleksandr Fiodorov](https://appshunter.io/developer/571378481) |

## 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


### HighNotes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highnotes/id1249114868)

This app encourages frequent, brief journaling to build a consistent habit. Easily add photos to your entries to make them more engaging and enjoyable to revisit.

**Highlights:** Frequent, brief note-taking, Builds journaling habit, Attach photos to notes, Enhances memory, Improves emotional health

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Diary, Journal, Notes free?

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

### Is HighNotes free?

HighNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

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

Diary, Journal, Notes is rated higher. Diary, Journal, Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while HighNotes averages 4.4 from 47 ratings.

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

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

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

Diary, Journal, Notes ships an update weekly, and HighNotes every 2 months. Most recently, Diary, Journal, Notes was updated on October 1, 2026 and HighNotes on September 30, 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.*