Comparison

OwnJournal vs Zolio

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

OwnJournal

Read full description

OwnJournal is a privacy-first journal app built on one idea: your data belongs to you. We don't store your journal on our servers — you choose where it lives. WHAT'S FREE • Write and edit entries with photos • Mood tracking with a 5-level emoji picker (great, good, okay, poor, terrible) • Tag activities — exercise, social, work, meditation and more • Mood calendar heatmap and statistics (distribution, trends, streaks) • Save and sync to your own cloud — iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox or Nextcloud • Optional end-to-end encryption • Use across iPhone, iPad and Mac/PC • Available in 21 languages • Open source (AGPL-3.0) • No ads YOUR CLOUD, YOUR CONTROL Your journal lives in your cloud account — iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox or Nextcloud. It is never stored on OwnJournal's servers, giving you full control over your data, seamless sync across all your devices and no lock-in to a single service. END-TO-END ENCRYPTION (OPTIONAL) With E2E encryption turned on, entries are encrypted on your device with AES-256-GCM. Only you hold the keys — neither we nor your cloud provider can read your journal. Zero-knowledge by design. MOOD & ACTIVITY INSIGHTS Track how you feel and what you did. Tag activities, see a month-at-a-glance heatmap colored by your daily mood, view distribution, trends, best/worst days and streaks, and filter your timeline by mood, activity or tag to spot patterns. Perfect as a minimalist mood tracker or a full journal — use as much or as little as you want. OWNJOURNAL PLUS OwnJournal Plus is an auto-renewing yearly subscription that unlocks optional premium features: AI mood and theme analysis, AI title and tag suggestions, Activity Insights showing which activities correlate with better or worse moods, long-term mood and trend analysis, and PDF/Word export. Subscription details: • Title: OwnJournal Plus • Length: 1 year, auto-renewing • Price: USD 19.99 per year (the App Store shows the price in your local currency at checkout) • 14-day free trial available for eligible new subscribers • Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase • Renews automatically at the same price unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period • Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings AI only runs when you explicitly use it. Plus is optional — the core journal works fully without it. MINIMAL DATA COLLECTION We collect only what's needed: email for sign-in, your display name if your sign-in provider supplies it, and anonymous diagnostics to improve stability. OPEN SOURCE OwnJournal is open source under the AGPL-3.0 license. Inspect the code, verify our privacy claims, see exactly how your data is handled. No black boxes. Your thoughts and records stay yours. Privacy Policy: https://ownjournal.app/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://ownjournal.app/terms

About

Zolio

A minimalist journaling app designed for daily reflection. It offers a calm, private space to write, track habits, and check in with your mood without pressure. Enjoy a beautiful, paper-like experience on your device.

Highlights
  • Minimalist journaling interface
  • Daily page prompts
  • Mood check-in
  • Light habit tracking
  • Private by default (on-device storage)
  • Cloud backup option
  • Customizable themes and papers
Features
Read full description

Zolio is the beautiful journal you'll actually keep. A calm, minimalist notebook for a page a day. Some days you fill a page. Some days it's a single line. Zolio never nags, and it never makes you feel guilty for skipping. You open it, you write, you close it. A minute is enough. Most journaling apps ask for too much. Complicated setup, endless features, a streak you're scared to break. That's why so many notebooks end up half-finished. Zolio is the calm one you keep coming back to. A page a day, in about a minute When the page feels blank, a gentle prompt is there. Write whatever you like, or answer one small question. No essays expected. Feels like a real notebook Warm paper, soft type, and covers you'll actually want to open. The feeling of paper, with the convenience of your phone. Made for quiet moments A soft night mode for writing before bed, easy on your eyes when the lights are low. Private by default Your words, photographs, voice notes, and things to do stay on your device by default. If you turn on backup, Zolio copies them only to the personal Google Drive or iCloud account you choose, never to Zolio or PurposeLab servers or unrelated third parties. Anonymous analytics and crash reports never include notebook content. Beautiful, without the work Curated palettes, papers, and covers that look good the moment you open them. No design skills needed. Gentle rhythm, not streaks A quiet nudge when you want one. A simple mood check-in and a light habit tracker help you notice how your days are going, without turning life into a score. Free, with no ads Zolio is free to journal, and always will be. If you want more, Folio Plus adds extra palettes and papers, yearly reflections, PDF export, and backup to your personal cloud account. Pay monthly, or once for life. Keep a daily journal, a gratitude journal, a minimalist diary, or just a quiet place to land at night. Folio is a calm home for all of it. Your words are always yours. Export them anytime. Start the notebook you'll actually keep. Terms of Use: https://purposelabstudio.com/privacy-policies/folio-terms.html Privacy Policy: https://purposelabstudio.com/privacy-policies/folio.html

Screenshots

OwnJournal4 screens
Zolio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Zolio at every 5 days against OwnJournal's every 2 months. OwnJournal's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. OwnJournal sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $19.99 per year and Zolio sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OwnJournal ships an update every 2 months, Zolio every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
OwnJournal versus Zolio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOwnJournalZolio
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size40 MB61 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRecsty ABAtul Chaturvedi

In-app purchases

1 purchases

OwnJournal

Subscriptions1
  • OwnJournal Plus14 Days trial$19.991 Year
2 purchases

Zolio

Subscriptions1
  • Folio Plus$2.991 Month
One-time1
  • Folio Plus Lifetime$12.99

Questions

Is OwnJournal free?
OwnJournal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Zolio free?
Zolio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do OwnJournal or Zolio have ads?
Neither OwnJournal nor Zolio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OwnJournal or Zolio?
OwnJournal ships an update every 2 months, and Zolio every 5 days. Most recently, OwnJournal was updated on October 31, 2026 and Zolio on November 5, 2026.

Other comparisons