# Diary, Journal, Notes vs Diary

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Diary at none against Diary, Journal, Notes's 2. Diary also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 70%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). Diary, Journal, Notes's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

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

Diary, Journal, Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4.5K and 1.7K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 70% of Diary, Journal, Notes's written reviews are positive against 81% of Diary'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, Diary every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Diary, Journal, Notes | Diary |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (4.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diary-journal-notes-diaro/id882519460/reviews)** | [4.5 (1.7K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diary-journal-with-password/id1259894631/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4.5K** | 1.7K |
| Positive reviews | 70.1% of reviews | **80.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 5 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 56 MB | 28 MB |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Abhishek Kumar](https://appshunter.io/developer/1652325499) | [Aurel Criste](https://appshunter.io/developer/1190603157) |

## 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


### Diary

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diary-journal-with-password/id1259894631)

This app provides a secure and beautiful space to record your thoughts, plans, and life moments. Protect your entries with a password and enjoy a customizable interface with features like image support and PDF export.

**Highlights:** Password protection with PIN, Add/edit/remove images, Search functionality, Export entries to PDF, Customizable color and font styles, Reminders, Auto-lock for privacy

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

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Awesome app
- 🔒 Password protected
- 👍 Customizable font, color, and theme
- 💡 Ability to add photos
- 💡 Ability to set reminders

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Entries disappear without warning
- 🐛 Password issues, unable to reset
- 🐛 Scrolling/jumping text when writing longer entries
- 🔋 Excessive ads
- 🐛 Unable to recover deleted entries

**Reported bugs**

- Password not working consistently
- Entries disappearing or not saving properly
- Scrolling/jumping text when writing longer entries
- Inability to recover deleted entries

**Requested features**

- Backup and sync across devices
- More customization options (fonts, colors, backgrounds)
- Ability to export entries
- Night mode/dark theme
- Voice-to-text entry


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Diary, Journal, Notes free?

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

### Is Diary free?

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

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

Diary, Journal, Notes is rated higher. Diary, Journal, Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while Diary averages 4.5 from 1.7K ratings.

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

Both Diary, Journal, Notes and Diary show ads.

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

Diary, Journal, Notes ships an update weekly, and Diary every 5 months. Most recently, Diary, Journal, Notes was updated on November 1, 2026 and Diary 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.*