Day One vs Encrypted Diary

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.

Encrypted Diary is a private journal with an optional on-device AI companion and a vault for documents and media. The Companion can discuss entries, offer prompts, transcribe speech, summarize writing, and compose a memoir locally. News Reporter Mode interviews the writer over time and assembles responses into a profile. The vault can hold wills, final wishes, secrets, photos, voice recordings, and video alongside entries. The maker describes legacy-sharing options such as scheduled or inactivity-triggered release, contact- or milestone-based release, per-entry sharing, and QR memorial access; these features are rolling out after launch. A FamilyTreesAI integration for posthumous publishing of selected entries is marked as coming. The app is listed for Android, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows, and supports offline access, a privacy lock, media attachments, and end-to-end encryption. The maker says encryption happens on the device and that a lost passphrase cannot be recovered. Optional cloud plans include encrypted backup and cross-device sync. Prices range from $2.99 a month to 499.00 USD once, with a 14-day trial and no free plan.