# Diary, Journal, Notes vs Diary Journal

The clearest difference is ads: Diary Journal at none against Diary, Journal, Notes's shown. Diary, Journal, Notes's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks) and ratings volume (4.5K vs 368). On price, rating, review sentiment 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 Diary Journal sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $19.99 per year. 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 4.7 for Diary Journal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Diary, Journal, Notes has 4.5K ratings behind it against 368, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of Diary, Journal, Notes's written reviews are positive against 67% of Diary Journal's.

Diary, Journal, Notes ships an update weekly, Diary Journal every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Diary, Journal, Notes | Diary Journal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (4.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diary-journal-notes-diaro/id882519460/reviews) | **[4.7 (368 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diary-journal-with-lock/id1572225395/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **4.5K** | 368 |
| Positive reviews | **70.1% of reviews** | 66.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 6 weeks |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 56 MB | 57 MB |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Abhishek Kumar](https://appshunter.io/developer/1652325499) | [Heyou Co., Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1480358223) |

## 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 Journal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diary-journal-with-lock/id1572225395)

This app provides a secure and private digital space for recording thoughts, memories, and dreams. It encourages self-reflection and personal growth through daily journaling, ensuring all entries are kept confidential.

**Highlights:** Secret diary entries, Log life events and progress, Record emotions and feelings, Password protection for privacy, Encourages self-reflection, Modern journal interface

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

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Diary Pro 1 Year | $19.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🔒 Password protection and privacy features
- 📹 Video diary functionality highly valued
- 👍 Easy to use and intuitive interface
- 📸 Ability to add photos and videos to entries
- 🎙️ Audio recording capability

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🚫 Limited free version (one entry per day)
- 💰 Premium features behind paywall
- 🔐 Password recovery impossible if forgotten
- 📱 Data transfer issues between devices
- ☁️ Backup to cloud not working reliably

**Reported bugs**

- Video uploads fail and crash repeatedly
- Long video entries don't save properly
- Data doesn't transfer to new phone despite cloud backup
- Import from ZIP file causes app to close
- App crashes when importing exported data

**Requested features**

- Timestamp for each journal entry
- Password reset or recovery option
- Multiple entries per day in free version
- Font customization (size, bold, italics, underline)
- Location tagging for entries


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Diary, Journal, Notes free?

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

### Is Diary Journal free?

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

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

Diary Journal is rated higher. Diary, Journal, Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while Diary Journal averages 4.7 from 368 ratings.

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

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

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

Diary, Journal, Notes ships an update weekly, and Diary Journal every 6 weeks. Most recently, Diary, Journal, Notes was updated on October 29, 2026 and Diary Journal on October 20, 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.*