Journaling apps
Best journaling apps
Which journaling app suits you depends on what you want it to do. Most journaling apps are built for reflection: they help you write down how the day felt, with prompts and a mood log. A few also help you act on the day by showing where your hours went.
Last updated
Reviewed by Mohammed Raqeeb
Two kinds
Two kinds of journaling apps.
Before comparing apps one by one, it helps to see that journaling apps come in two kinds. Most are built for reflection: they give you a place to write down what happened and how it felt, with prompts to get you started, a log of your mood, and room for photos.
Reflection is worth doing, and every app on this page lists it. A second kind of journaling app also helps you act on the day. It shows where your hours went, so a week that felt like all work can be checked against the hours it really held. It keeps a to-do list that your entries can tick off, so writing “sent the report” marks the report done. And it holds your targets, such as ten hours of study a week, against the hours you really spent.
How we compared
What we looked for, and how the apps were read.
With those two kinds in mind, each journaling app was checked for the same six things, three of each kind. For reflection: reflective journaling, prompts or templates, and mood. For acting on the day: time tracking, to-dos your entries tick off, and targets against your real hours.
The last three are meant narrowly. Time tracking means seeing how many hours went to each part of your day. A to-do list counts when an entry can tick it off, not when you tick a checklist by hand. A target counts when it is set in hours and checked against the hours you spent, so goals and streaks that count days or entries do not.
We did not install and test the apps. Instead, each one was compared from its own website or store listing, read on . A check means the app’s own pages list the feature. A dash means those pages do not, which is not proof the app lacks it.
One app in the table, Think in Numbers, is ours: the app this site belongs to. Its row is checked against the app itself, and it sits in alphabetical order with the others rather than at the top. The three criteria on the right are the ones it was built around, so weigh the table with that in mind.
Side by side
Reflection and acting on the day, side by side.
Every journaling app here lists reflective journaling and prompts or templates, and most list mood. The difference is in the last three columns: time tracking, to-dos your entries tick off, and targets against your real hours.
- Listed on its own pages
- Partly, see the note
- Not listed on its own pages
Apple Journal
Reflection
Acting on the day
Day One
Reflection
Acting on the day
Daylio
Reflection
Acting on the day
Diarium
Journey
Reflection
Acting on the day
Reflection
Reflection
Acting on the day
Rosebud
Reflection
Acting on the day
Stoic
Reflection
Acting on the day
Think in Numbersours
Reflection
Acting on the day
- 1Diarium can show your working times from a separate app, WorkingHours.
- 2Diarium can show the tasks you finished in a separate app, Microsoft To Do.
- 3Stoic has a habit tracker but no to-do list; the to-do list its App Store listing mentions is a morning journaling prompt.
Listed in alphabetical order, not ranked. The other apps’ rows come from their own pages, read on , and each card below links the page it was read from. We are not affiliated with any of them.
Built for reflection
Journaling apps built for reflection.
The table shows what each app lists. Below, each of the other eight apps gets a line or two on what it is for, taken from its own site or store listing, with a link to the page it came from.
Apple Journal
Apple Journal is Apple's journaling app for reflecting on your day. Its App Store listing describes reflection prompts, suggested moments from your photos and outings, and a log of your state of mind.
Read on : App Store listing
Day One
Day One is a journaling app. Its plans page sums it up as “Start journaling. Stay consistent. Reflect more deeply.” and lists a daily prompt and journal templates on every plan.
Read on : dayoneapp.com/plans
Daylio
Daylio is a mood diary you fill in with two taps: pick a mood, then the activities you did. Its site adds notes, writing templates and photos.
Read on : daylio.net
Diarium
Diarium is a private diary you can start without an account. Its site lists journal templates, tags that track your mood, and photos and audio in entries.
Read on : diariumapp.com/en
Journey
Journey is a journal and diary app for keeping life's moments in words, photos, video and audio. Its site lists templates to guide your thoughts and mood tracking across your entries.
Read on : journey.cloud
Reflection
Reflection is a journaling app with a coach. Its features page says the coach asks a follow-up question drawn from the entry you just wrote, and lists guided journeys and templates.
Read on : reflection.app/features
Rosebud
Rosebud is a journaling and self-reflection app. Its App Store listing describes guidance as you write or speak, guided journals, and a mood tracker.
Read on : App Store listing
Stoic
Stoic is a journaling app built around a reflection to begin and end your day. Its features page lists daily prompts and mood tracking with the factors behind it.
Read on : getstoic.com/features
Day One and Stoic each have their own side by side with Think in Numbers: the Day One alternative page and the Stoic alternative page.
Acting on the day
A journaling app that helps you act on your day.
Across the eight reflection apps above, time tracking shows up once, as Diarium’s link to a separate app. So a week can feel full of study, work or time with friends, and your entries still will not say how many hours each one got.
If you want journaling to change what you do next week, look for an app that keeps the reflection and adds the hours, counted from the words you already write or say, with no timer to start or stop. Most journaling apps stop at how the day felt, which is worth keeping, but on its own it does not show where the day went.
One app built for this is Think in Numbers, a smart journaling app with time tracking built in.
You write or say your day in your own words, as it happens or all at once. The app reads what you wrote and counts the hours that went to each part of it: work, sleep, time with people, your phone, and the time you never mentioned (shown as unaccounted). Then it shows those hours over days and weeks. The reflection is there too: morning and evening reflective journaling, daily prompts, a mood and energy check-in, and photos and voice notes on journal pages. To-dos and habits come with reminders and streaks, and your targets sit against your real hours, with a weekly plan. The app runs on iPhone and Android.
For iPhone and Android. Try it on your own day before you pay.
Keep reading.
- Time journalingThe method: write or say your day in your own words, then see it as hours.
- Day One alternativeJournaling like Day One, plus where your hours went.
- How to start journalingSeven small steps for the first week, and an example first entry.
- Reflective journalingWhat happened, what it meant, what comes next.
- Where did my week go? calculatorEnter a typical day and see your week accounted and unaccounted.
Questions
Questions people ask.
Which journaling app should I use?
Which app suits you depends on what you want it to do. If you want to look back on how your days felt, every app compared here lists reflective journaling and prompts or templates. If you also want to see where the hours went, look for an app that counts them from what you write; one app built for this is Think in Numbers, a smart journaling app with time tracking built in.
What does a journaling app built for reflection do?
A journaling app built for reflection gives you a place to write down what happened and how the day felt. Most offer prompts or templates, a mood log, and room for photos. Most stop there, without showing where your hours went.
Which journaling apps track time?
Of the nine apps compared here, Think in Numbers lists time tracking, counted from what you write or say about your day. Diarium can show your working times from a separate app, WorkingHours. The other seven apps' own pages do not list time tracking.
Does Think in Numbers have reflective journaling?
Yes. Alongside the hours, there is reflective journaling in the morning and evening, daily prompts, and a mood and energy check-in, with photos and voice notes on journal pages.
How were these journaling apps compared?
Each app was checked for the same six things, from its own website or store listing, on the date shown above the table. The apps were not installed and tested. A check means the app's own pages list the feature, and a dash means they do not. The apps are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked.
Try it on my day.
Write today down in your own words, and see where the hours went.
For iPhone and Android. Try it on your own day before you pay.