Day One vs Skrive

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.

Skrive is a daily journal built around one plain-text entry per day. Users can browse entries by date and search the full text of their journal history. The free app does not limit how much users can write, and entries are saved locally first, so writing and reading can continue offline or when the cloud service is unavailable. Skrive is available for macOS, iOS, and Android, and entries can be exported as JSON or plain text. Before transmission, entries are encrypted on the device with AES-256 using a key controlled by the user. The maker says encrypted backups are stored on servers in the EU. Skrive Pro adds encrypted cloud backup and sync across devices; it is listed at $3.99 a month. The encryption passphrase cannot be recovered if lost, and entries may become inaccessible after signing out, changing devices, or reinstalling the app. The maker is based in Oslo, Norway. The product has a free plan and a 14-day trial.