Alternatives to Apple Journal
Apple's built-in journaling
Apple Journal ranks #6 of 6 in Journaling apps, with an Alt Score of 60. It is proprietary, free from Free and available on iOS and macOS. 8 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
People who want to build a private daily journaling habit but struggle to remember what happened in their day or find a blank page intimidating.
Apple Journal suggests moments from your day, drawn from photos, workouts, locations visited, music listened to, and other on-device activity, that you can turn into journal entries. It supports text, photos, video, and audio recordings within entries, and can send periodic reminders to write. Entries are end-to-end encrypted and stored in iCloud (or locally), and the suggestion data used to generate prompts is processed on-device rather than sent to Apple.
The app runs an on-device machine learning process that scans recent activity across apps like Photos, Health, Maps, and Music for notable moments, then surfaces a curated set of these as writing prompts you can accept, edit, or dismiss.
Where Apple Journal stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave Apple Journal
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Journaling apps checklist (13 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Journaling apps checklist | Apple Journal | Journey | Day One | Diarium | Daylio | Stoic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| E2E encryption | ||||||
| Templates & prompts | ||||||
| Photos & media | ||||||
| Mood tracking | ||||||
| Export formats | ||||||
| Sync across devices | ||||||
| On-this-day memories | ||||||
| One-time purchase option | ||||||
| Markdown support |
Every fact and feature listed for Apple Journal is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License Proprietary verified 2026-07-08
Journal, a new iPhone app available today, helps users reflect and practice gratitude through journaling
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/12/apple-launches-journal-app-a-new-app-for-reflecting-on-everyday-moments/ -
Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-08
Free
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/journal/id6447391597 -
Starts at Free verified 2026-07-08
Free
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/journal/id6447391597 -
Platforms iOS, macOS verified 2026-07-08
iPhone/iPad (iOS); macOS via Apple Support Mac guide.
Requires iOS 17.2 or later
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/journal/id6447391597 -
Status active verified 2026-07-08
Learn how to use the Journal app on Mac to record your experiences.
https://support.apple.com/guide/journal/get-started-with-journal-dev732d29921/mac -
E2E encryption Yes verified 2026-07-08
All Journal entries are end-to-end encrypted when stored in iCloud, so that no one but the user can access them.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/12/apple-launches-journal-app-a-new-app-for-reflecting-on-everyday-moments/ -
Templates & prompts Partial verified 2026-07-08
Prompts/suggestions but no user templates.
Daily reflection prompts help users focus on gratitude, kindness, purpose, and more.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/12/apple-launches-journal-app-a-new-app-for-reflecting-on-everyday-moments/ -
Photos & media Yes verified 2026-07-08
include photos, videos, audio recordings, locations, and more to create rich memories.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/12/apple-launches-journal-app-a-new-app-for-reflecting-on-everyday-moments/ -
Mood tracking Yes verified 2026-07-08
Log your state of mind right from within Journal and save it to the Health app
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/journal/id6447391597 -
Export formats Partial verified 2026-07-08
PDF via print; no Markdown/plain-text export.
Print and export entries
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/print-and-export-entries-iph4cad323fe/ios -
Sync across devices Yes verified 2026-07-08
iCloud sync across iPhone/iPad/Mac.
end-to-end encrypted when stored in iCloud
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/12/apple-launches-journal-app-a-new-app-for-reflecting-on-everyday-moments/ -
One-time purchase option No verified 2026-07-08
Free, bundled with iOS; no purchase.
Free
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/journal/id6447391597 -
Markdown support No verified 2026-07-08
No Markdown writing/export documented.
Print and export entries
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/print-and-export-entries-iph4cad323fe/ios
FAQ
Yes. Journey, Day One and Diarium have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.