The best journaling apps for iPhone and iPad are absolutely necessary if you want to get in the habit of regularly writing down your thoughts and feelings. Being like a digital form of therapy, getting the right app with the choices and options can be a bit of a problem, especially considering there are so many great choices out there.
The joy of there being so many options is that you get to explore as many as you like until you find the perfect one. Are you looking to write your dreams every morning to remember what plagues you as you sleep? Maybe you are more interested in writing down the great moments you have with your friends. Either way, grab one of the best iPhones or best iPads and get them all written down.
Here are some of the best journaling apps for iPhone and iPad we can find.
The best journaling apps for iPhone and iPad
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Journal
Journal deserves a mention in this list not just because it's a good journaling app but also because of what it will be one day. Being officially created and supported by Apple itself, its updates will often play into big iOS updates and it has compatibility with all of Apple's major apps. It can take images, videos, and voice notes you've made and start a journal, which you can then add to at will.
If you're someone who wants to journal more but you don't quite have an idea to get you started, Journal is the perfect choice for you thanks to its smart implementation of other notes and pictures. It is missing some grander features right now and can be a little basic as a result but it's an excellent starting point that will only get better over time.
Day One Journal
Day One Journal is my absolute favorite way to keep a journal. This beautiful app lets you create multiple journals and color-code them for easy organization. All of your journal entries can be formatted with rich text options, have photos, include activity, location, and even weather data of your site, and more. The latest update added audio recording capabilities, a new intuitive editor, a gorgeous Dark Mode, and other slick features.
Day One Journal is free to download, but you have a few limitations on the number of journals you can keep and how many photos you can upload. If you go for a Premium subscription, which starts at $3.99 a month or $34.99 a year, it unlocks unlimited journals, up to 30 photos per entry, audio recording, Dark Mode, 25 percent off of printed books, and more.
Momento
Momento is similar to Day One, except it's more about automation with your social network feeds. The real magic lies in linking up your social media accounts, which populate each day's entries as you go. All your updates and posts are fetched and pulled into Momento, so it's like a digital record of your private and online lives.
Momento is free to download and use, but you'll be limited to three social accounts. You can add three more through in-app purchases or subscribe to Premium to get unlimited accounts. Premium starts at $3.99 a month.
Moodnotes
Keeping track of how you feel is just as important as remembering memories. Because some of us don't mind keeping track of our mental health and well-being. The colorful interface is warm and welcoming, asking you how you're feeling. Pick an attitude that reflects how you are doing, and each one is represented with an emote and color. You can choose to add more details to the entry or just leave it as is.
If you opt for more details, the app asks why you feel the way you do. Doing this makes you think and reflect on why you feel that way. For negative moods, Moodnotes helps you identify traps you've fallen into and even gives tips on avoiding doing the same thing in the future.
Over time, Moodnotes keeps track of patterns in your moods and helps you get into the mindset of developing healthier perspectives. This app is most effective when used daily.
Journey
If you want something like Day One, but is available on pretty much every platform, then Journey is for you. Journey lets you create journal entries with text, photos and videos, location, activity, and more. Like the other journaling apps, Journey is free to download and use, but you'll get the most out of the app by becoming a Premium subscriber. This starts at $3.99 a month or $29.99 per year.
Like the idea of journaling but just don't have time? Then Daylio's micro-journaling method may be best for your needs. Daylio simply asks you to pick your mood for the day, and then add an activity to go along with it, presumably the one that makes you feel the way you do. This counts as an entry, and optionally, you can add some notes to it if needed, just like a traditional diary. But the core focus with Daylio is fast and simple micro journaling. As you use it more, it keeps track of your mood by showing the data in simple charts and graphs, and you'll see what your average mood is.
Grid Diary
If you tend to be someone who has trouble getting started with writing a journal entry from scratch, then Grid Diary is a good option. It uses journaling templates of inspiring questions to answer and has them all lined up in a grid. Pick the one you want to answer for the day, and then write your answer as a journal entry.
For many, it's just hard to write, so having journaling templates is more effective in getting the juices flowing. You can also add photos to your entries, search for specific keywords, and sync your data. Grid Diary is free to download and use, but you can upgrade to Pro ($4.99 one-time purchase or $1.99 monthly) for passcode lock, multiple export formats, multiple reminders, custom font styles, and more.
5 Minute Journal
Do you have five minutes to spare each day? If so, then grab Five Minute Journal, because that's all you need. Five Minute Journal has writing prompts and questions that you answer quickly and easily. You can even add photos if you'd like, and there are also daily quotes to help inspire you, as well as weekly challenges. All of your entries get displayed in a beautiful timeline, where you can go back and reflect on memories with ease. There are also reminders, passcode lock, and backup/export to PDF options available.
Penzu
Penzu is a journaling app that focuses on your privacy. With Penzu, you can create rich text entries with photos and sync your journal to access the web for free. All you have to do is create a free Penzu account. However, to get the most out of Penzu, you'll need Penzu Pro, which you can get for $4.99 a month, and $19.99 a year.
Penzu Pro unlocks all available features, such as a passcode lock for your journals, unlimited journals,, and photos, customized journal covers, and more.
What are your favorites?
These are some of the best journaling apps we've come across in the App Store. Journal is where we recommend starting as it is free, will be automatically installed on any iPhone that has iOS 17, and is pretty great.
From here, start exploring the other options until you find the app that provides the right options for your specific style of journal.
