Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
User consensusAlternativesIs it worth it?
Is it worth paying for

Digital Planner

30
Value score / 100 Worth paying? No Skip it

This app is generally not worth paying for due to an aggressive paywall, limited free features, and numerous usability issues, despite some users finding it helpful for organization.

Free + in-app purchases seen up to $69.99 4.3★ lifetime (14,223) since 2022

Digital Planner by TULSTAIL is a digital planning app that many users find aesthetically pleasing and helpful for organization, but it is heavily criticized for its aggressive monetization strategy. Most features are locked behind a subscription, leading to a poor free user experience and frequent paywall prompts.

Free vs paid

The free version of the app is extremely limited, offering only a few basic items like one template per category, three plain notebooks, one sticker per section, and a restricted color palette R3R8. Users report being unable to access most features without a subscription, with some even claiming they couldn't get past the payment screen to use the app at all R2R5R22. The paid subscription, which can be as high as $69.99 annually or $6.99 per week, unlocks more templates, stickers, covers, and other customization options R3R8R79. However, even with a subscription, some users still report usability issues like menus blocking the screen and difficulty with text editing R10R45.

Value complaints

  • The app forces users to pay immediately or frequently prompts them to subscribe, making it unusable for free.R2R5R11R22
  • Almost everything, including basic features like templates, stickers, colors, and covers, is locked behind a subscription or in-app purchase.R1R3R6R8
  • The subscription price is considered too high for the value offered, with some users mentioning $70 a year or $6.99 per week.R8R10R45R79
  • The app is perceived as a 'scam' or 'rip off' due to its monetization practices.R22R23R34R40

Where it delivers

  • Some users find the app helpful for organization and planning.R7R9R20R28
  • The app is praised for its cute, aesthetic, and beautiful design and concept.R8R11R14R17
  • A few users found the app easy to use and understand.R7R55R59
Worth paying if

It might be worth paying if you are a teacher looking for an aesthetic and organized planner and are willing to overlook the aggressive paywall and potential glitches .

Skip / stay free if

You should skip this app if you are looking for a free planning tool, as most features are paywalled R1R2R5. It's also not recommended if you expect robust functionality and a smooth user experience, as many reviews mention glitches, difficulty with text editing, and menus blocking the screen R10.

Evidence note: The lifetime rating of 4.28 from over 14,000 ratings seems to contradict the overwhelmingly negative recent reviews regarding the paywall and limited free content. Many positive reviews are short and unspecific, or explicitly state they rated 5 stars to be seen while criticizing the paywall . This suggests the current user experience, especially for free users, is significantly worse than the overall rating implies.

Frequently asked

Is Digital Planner by TULSTAIL free to use?
While the app is free to download, most features are locked behind a subscription or in-app purchases, making the free experience very limited R1R2R5R8.
How much does the subscription cost?
Reviewers mention various prices, including $6.99 per week, $24-$25 for two months, and up to $70 per year for a subscription R8R10R11R45.
What are the main complaints about the app?
The primary complaints revolve around an aggressive paywall that locks most features, frequent prompts to subscribe, limited free content (e.g., only 1-3 templates, stickers, or covers), and various usability issues like glitches, menus blocking the screen, and difficulty with text editing R1R2R3R5.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R2] 1/5 · US No free option: I wasn’t given any option other than to pay. If it’s going to be a paid app just make it one, that sucked and I was really excited
  2. [R5] 1/5 · US Didnt like: I fidnt realize that you had to have a subscriptionto get in cause my phone didnt sya it and when ever i downloaded the app aftr having so much trouble to download it i read that yoh had to pay and it wouldnt lwg me go on without pying so did not like app other aps are free and plus i just wanted a appl the viuld help me plan thinc sbut mo for this app
  3. [R11] 3/5 · US Please read this developer😩: Basically, at first when I saw this stuff, I was so excited because I knew it was free but then all the sudden and then I came in the game looked very beautiful and fun but like it said that you have like buy and subscribe but then like it said two months and I’m like per two months only 25 or $24 but whatever but then I wanted to do it for free, but there was no error
  4. [R22] 1/5 · US Rage bait pls do not fall for it 🫩: I buy the app, super excited!!! YÆ! But ohhhhhh no! Guess what. I can’t even get into the app without it asking me for money like it’s mom’s kinda homeless 🫩c’mon now. We can’t be so desperate we scam ppl into maxing out their phone storage for a notes app. The last thing a broke college student needs is to use their whole savings for one little notes app.
  5. [R1] 1/5 · US I hate this app: Within 10 minutes of having this app I deleted it without ANY hesitation. First of all, all the things cost money!! I feel like to actually enjoy this app you have to spend SO much money on it!!
  6. [R3] 1/5 · US Bad: It’s been horrible, absolutely horrible three brushes three covers three 3 templates two brushes everything’s limited if anything else you have to pay for VIP and every single time you open the app you have to always ask you to pay the subscription
  7. [R6] 1/5 · US Terrible: Please change this: why do people without premium only get 3 book covers like why? Second question why do you want people to have premium just to get more book covers ? Please remove premium so people will give this five stars and this app is so useless and I can’t use notes instead
  8. [R8] 4/5 · US Ok but like…: I really like the concept and idea and I thinks it’s really cute, but basically EVERYTHING is in the subscription. And I know you need to make money, but like come on, Only ONE template per category. Only THREE plain not books out of all of them. Only ONE sticker per sticker section. AND THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY COLORS. I really like this app and I want to keep it, but could you please
  9. [R10] 2/5 · US Unimpressed: Maybe I’m just not familiar with how to use these kind of apps but this particular one was really hard to use. I couldn’t change the size of the font and whenever I wanted to move a text box to the left-hand side, it would be covered by the text box editor. I also expected there to be way more templates to use for $70 a year. My biggest pet peeve though was that there was actually no
  10. [R45] 1/5 · US Not worth $13: was pulled in at first because of the cute and cozy designs, but the creator part is pretty mid. lacking user free flow and the side bar to the left cannot be minimized, so 1/7th of the page sadly cannot be edited.. It's good, but def expected better for $13/monthly.
  11. [R79] 1/5 · US Insane: $6.99 per week for a subscription for a planner?! That is insane!
  12. [R23] 1/5 · US Rip off: You have to pay for all the good and helpfuy templates
  13. [R34] 1/5 · US OMG DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY FOR THIS TRASH!!!: It is horrible and what you see in the pictures is FAKE you have to pay for almost all of it!! It's really annoying so please do not get it it's really not worth it ❌.
  14. [R40] 1/5 · US horrible and useless: this app crashes every 2 seconds, does not store any of your work (so you have to start over every time it crashes), is so unbelievably difficult to use, the response time of simple things like typing, selecting colours and italicising text takes 10 minutes. Horrible scammy app. If I could rate it 0 I would.
  15. [R7] 5/5 · US Top 1000: This app is insane works so well let’s go people this app is so easy and I get everything I need done I’m a new person download now!👌🏻💕
  16. [R9] 5/5 · US Merlina: I love it because you get like keep track of the day❤️
  17. [R20] 5/5 · US OWNER PLEASE READ!!!! Good app: So this is honestly a really great and fun app to use… there is a subscription but i think the stuff without a subscription is fine too BUT.. there are some stickers that have months of the year and days of the week and only one month and one day are aloud.. i think that ATLEEAST the days and months should be aloud and not haft to be paid for, because than its reall
  18. [R28] 5/5 · US Thank you: My life is more easy now and I’m a kid and now I know when I’m free and not thanks to much
  19. [R14] 4/5 · US Not what I thought it was: So bestie u have to make the templates but overall its pretty good
  20. [R17] 3/5 · US It's really good, but it's difficult to understand some of the things. You also need premium (to pay) for almost everything. · translated
  21. [R55] 5/5 · US Best app I’ve ever used: This is probably one of the easiest apps to understand how to take notes,journal anything down, etc. I highly recommend if you’re not too sure which app to try first.
  22. [R59] 5/5 · US So cute: So cute and so easy to use

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store