Alternatives to Diarium
One-time-purchase journal with sync
Diarium ranks #3 of 6 in Journaling apps, with an Alt Score of 80. It is proprietary, freemium from Free and available on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. 8 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
People who want a private, cross-platform personal diary for capturing daily life in rich detail — text, photos, video, and audio — while keeping full control of where their data lives.
Entries support rich text formatting plus photos, videos, audio recordings, and file attachments, with calendar, timeline, and map views for browsing past entries. The app can auto-pull context into entries, like weather, calendar appointments, fitness data (Fitbit, Google Fit, Strava), and social/activity feeds (Facebook, GitHub, Last.fm, Trakt). Entries can be locked with a password, PIN, or biometrics (Face ID, Touch ID, Windows Hello). You can export your journal as Word, HTML, JSON, or plain text.
Diarium runs natively on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android with no account required to start journaling. Optional cross-device sync works through your own cloud storage — OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, or WebDAV — rather than a proprietary server, and is unlocked via a one-time Diarium Pro purchase per platform.
Where Diarium stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave Diarium
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 | Diarium | Journey | Day One | Daylio | Stoic | Apple Journal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Diarium is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
-
Pricing model Freemium verified 2026-07-08
Diarium is free to use on most platforms, with optional Diarium Pro features like Cloud Sync, unlimited attachments, Word export, widgets, custom fonts, weather and integrations.
https://diariumapp.com/en/faq -
Starts at Free verified 2026-07-08
Free on Android/iOS/macOS; Windows paid; Pro is one-time per platform.
Diarium is free to use on most platforms, with optional Diarium Pro features
https://diariumapp.com/en/faq -
Platforms Windows, macOS, iOS, Android verified 2026-07-08
Available for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows & Android
https://diariumapp.com/en -
Status active verified 2026-07-08
Winner of the Microsoft Store Awards 2024
https://diariumapp.com/en -
License Proprietary verified 2026-07-08
App moved from timodenk.com/diarium to diariumapp.com (same developer).
No login or sign-up required. Start journaling in under a minute.
https://diariumapp.com/en -
E2E encryption No verified 2026-07-08
Local password/PIN/biometric lock; not E2E sync encryption.
Protect your journal using password, PIN or biometrics (Face ID, Touch ID, Fingerprint, Windows Hello, …)
https://diariumapp.com/en -
Templates & prompts Yes verified 2026-07-08
Use journal templates for consistent and structured entries
https://diariumapp.com/en/features -
Photos & media Yes verified 2026-07-08
Add photos, videos, audio recordings or any kind of file to your diary
https://diariumapp.com/en/features -
Mood tracking Yes verified 2026-07-08
keep your entries organized with tags or use them to track your mood, weight or other metrics
https://diariumapp.com/en/features -
Export formats Yes verified 2026-07-08
Export your journal in many formats: Word (.docx), plain text (.txt), Web Page (.html) or JSON
https://diariumapp.com/en/features -
Sync across devices Yes verified 2026-07-08
Diarium can sync your journal data across Windows, Android, iOS and macOS using your own cloud storage, including OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud and WebDAV.
https://diariumapp.com/en/faq -
On-this-day memories Yes verified 2026-07-08
The On this day page takes you on a journey into the past
https://diariumapp.com/en/features -
One-time purchase option Yes verified 2026-07-08
No subscription: Diarium Pro is a one-time purchase per platform
https://diariumapp.com/en/faq
FAQ
Yes. Journey, Day One and Daylio have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.