Day One vs Diarly

Day One is a journaling app for creating and organizing entries across iPhone, Android, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Windows, browsers, and browser extensions. Entries can contain text, photos, video, audio, drawings, and documents. Daily prompts, templates, reminders, and streaks support regular writing, while search and filters help organize entries. Shared Journals let families, friends, or small groups keep journals together. Security options include passcodes, biometric protection, end-to-end encryption, and automatic backups; offline access is also available. Basic is free, works on one device, and allows one photo per entry. Silver costs $49.99 a year and permits up to 30 media attachments per entry, with unlimited devices and integrations including Strava, Zapier, and IFTTT. Gold costs $74.99 a year and includes advanced reflection and AI features. A one-month trial is available in the app subject to App Store eligibility; cancel before a paid trial ends to avoid a charge. Billing changes must be made on the platform where the subscription began. Data can be exported anytime; PDF and CSV/JSON exports are available on paid plans.

Diarly is a journaling app for daily reflection, with apps for Android, iOS, and macOS. Its editor supports Markdown, formatting tools, checklists, and links between entries and notes. Entries can contain images, files, audio recordings, location, weather, links, and tags; iOS also supports sketches. Calendar, map, gallery, timeline, and notes views offer different ways to browse journals. The app works offline, and Siri Shortcuts can add text and attachments to a daily note. Diarly can import activity, sleep, workout, and mindfulness data from Apple Health. The maker says journals are stored on the user's device or in iCloud Drive, not on Diarly's servers. Premium encryption covers journal text but not images, photos, videos, or attachments; encrypted entries cannot be recovered if the password is forgotten. The free plan is free and includes unlimited entries and media in one journal.