Day One vs Penzu

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.

Penzu is an online diary and personal journal for private writing, available in browsers and through iOS and Android apps. Its Basic plan includes unlimited entries, and entries save as the user types on a computer or on the go. Writers can set daily, weekly, or custom reminders. The product is suited to reflective writing, food diaries, pregnancy journals, dream journals, and free-form entries. Listed capabilities include media attachments, offline access, search and filters, and a privacy lock. Penzu says account entries are password protected and journals can be secured with encryption. Encryption Lock is a paid-plan feature; if its password is lost, the journal cannot be recovered. Pro and Pro+ members can create entries by email using an individual Penzu Post address for each journal. Those plans also include PDF export on the full website. The plan range includes Basic, Pro, Pro+, and Pro+ Lifetime; no prices are listed. Customer support is included on all plans, and Pro+ Lifetime includes 24-hour support.