# Diary, Journal, Notes vs Lifely

The clearest difference is rating: Diary, Journal, Notes at 4.7 against Lifely's 3.8. Diary, Journal, Notes also leads on review sentiment (70% vs 33%) and ratings volume (4.5K vs 6). Lifely's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 Lifely sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Diary, Journal, Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Diary, Journal, Notes has 4.5K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Diary, Journal, Notes's written reviews are positive against 33% of Lifely's.

Diary, Journal, Notes ships an update weekly, Lifely every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Diary, Journal, Notes | Lifely |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (4.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diary-journal-notes-diaro/id882519460/reviews)** | [3.8 (6 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lifely-timeline-maker-journal/id1579863000/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4.5K** | 6 |
| Positive reviews | **70.1% of reviews** | 33.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 10 days |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Size | 56 MB | 76 MB |
| Requires iOS | **14.0** | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Abhishek Kumar](https://appshunter.io/developer/1652325499) | [Sheep Apps Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1578838302) |

## 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


### Lifely

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lifely-timeline-maker-journal/id1579863000)

This app helps you record life's important moments, achievements, and memories in a chronological timeline. It offers secure data encryption and synchronization, allowing you to easily navigate and revisit past events.

**Highlights:** Chronological timeline of memories, Secure data encryption, Server synchronization, Event tracking by category, Zoom and scroll navigation, Password protection

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

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full access for 1 month | $4.99 | per month |
| Full access for 1 year | $29.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Diary, Journal, Notes free?

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

### Is Lifely free?

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

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

Diary, Journal, Notes is rated higher. Diary, Journal, Notes averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while Lifely averages 3.8 from 6 ratings.

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

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

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

Diary, Journal, Notes ships an update weekly, and Lifely every 10 days. Most recently, Diary, Journal, Notes was updated on November 1, 2026 and Lifely on November 3, 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.*