Best Free Journaling App

239+ iOS apps curated and reviewed

4.8 avg rating
20 free apps
Updated June 2026

From beginner-friendly picks to power-user tools, our free journaling app list covers 239+ iPhone apps updated through June 2026. Compare ratings, prices, and screenshots in one place.

Top Picks for Free Journaling App

Day One: Daily Journal & Diary#1

Day One: Daily Journal & Diary by Bloom Built Inc

Private Gratitude Journaling
Editor's Choice
💪 Health & Fitness
4.8😊(117K ratings)
FreeAdsIn-App Purchases
#64in Health & Fitness
Day One: Daily Journal & Diary screenshot 1
Day One: Daily Journal & Diary screenshot 2
Day One: Daily Journal & Diary screenshot 3
Day One: Daily Journal & Diary screenshot 4
Day One: Daily Journal & Diary screenshot 5

Record your life with a private digital journal. Securely save text, photos, audio, and video. Features include reminders, prompts, and automatic data import to help you stay consistent and reminisce.

What We Love

  • 💻 Excellent journaling app
  • 🗓️ Ability to create multiple journals
  • 🎨 Customizable journal templates
  • 🔍 Powerful search and filtering

Room to Improve

  • 🔒 Subscription model for premium features
  • 🗓️ Issues with syncing and data loss
  • 🖌️ Limited customization options
Journal#2

Journal by Apple Inc.

Reflect on life’s moments
Strong Contender
💪 Health & Fitness
4.8😊(231K ratings)
Free
Journal screenshot 1
Journal screenshot 2
Journal screenshot 3
Journal screenshot 4
Journal screenshot 5
Journal screenshot 6

Capture and reflect on life's moments with rich media like photos, videos, and audio. Intelligent suggestions and prompts help you start writing, while multiple journals and goal tracking support a consistent practice. Sync across devices for seamless access.

What We Love

  • 🚀 Journaling made easy
  • 🔒 Private and secure
  • 👍 Organized and intuitive
  • 👍 Helpful suggestions and prompts

Room to Improve

  • 🐛 Cursor jumps around while typing
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Lack of search and filtering options
My Diary - Journal with Lock#3

My Diary - Journal with Lock by BetterApp Tech Co., Limited

Journaling Diary with password
Worth Considering
🌟 Lifestyle
4.7😊(28K ratings)
FreeAdsIn-App Purchases
My Diary - Journal with Lock screenshot 1
My Diary - Journal with Lock screenshot 2
My Diary - Journal with Lock screenshot 3
My Diary - Journal with Lock screenshot 4
My Diary - Journal with Lock screenshot 5
My Diary - Journal with Lock screenshot 6

This app offers a secure and personalized digital journal for recording daily thoughts, memories, and emotions. Enhance entries with photos, themes, and mood tracking. It's designed to support mental well-being by providing a private space for self-reflection and emotional processing.

What We Love

  • 🔒 Secure with password, fingerprint, and security question options
  • 📝 Easy to write and express thoughts
  • 🎨 Customizable with themes, stickers, and photos
  • 🗓️ Helpful for tracking moods and daily activities

Room to Improve

  • 💰 Many features locked behind premium paywall
  • 🔍 Limited free theme and sticker options
  • 🐛 Issues with formatting, text editing, and photo placement

More Free Journaling App apps to explore

4
Prompted Journal - Shadow Work
Prompted Journal - Shadow Work
Prompted Journal - Shadow Work
Private journaling for therapy
Free

This app provides a guided journaling experience with over 190 prompts and "Dive Deeper" questions to encourage self-reflection and personal growth. It helps users establish a consistent self-care routine through daily reminders and offers privacy with no data storage required.

190+ journal prompts"Dive Deeper" questionsDaily reminders
🌟 Lifestyle
(6.9K)
free with in-app purchases
5
Ink: Daily Journaling Prompts
Ink: Daily Journaling Prompts
Ink: Daily Journaling Prompts
Your Private Diary & Timer
Free
🌟 Lifestyle
(6)
6
Notebook - Diary & Journal App
Notebook - Diary & Journal App
Notebook - Diary & Journal App
A diary that flips like a book
Free

This app offers a natural journaling experience by organizing daily notes on a single page, allowing you to flip through your entries like a physical book. It prioritizes simplicity, security with passcode locks, and seamless iCloud synchronization for easy access across devices.

Realistic page-turning effectOne page per day organizationiCloud sync and backup
📊 Productivity
(14K)
free with in-app purchases
7
PencilDiary: Notes, PDF Markup
PencilDiary: Notes, PDF Markup
PencilDiary: Notes, PDF Markup
Journal, Planner & Note taking
Free

This app provides a daily handwritten journal experience with a new page automatically generated each day, organized by date. It offers seamless light and dark mode adaptation with smart color inversion for optimal readability and a minimalist design for focused reflection.

New page generated daily, organized by dateAutomatic light and dark mode with color inversionPure handwriting input with Apple Pencil support
💪 Health & Fitness
(26)
free with in-app purchases
8
Daily Journal: Diary with Lock
Daily Journal: Diary with Lock
Daily Journal: Diary with Lock
Your Private Secret Journaling
Free

This app serves as a private digital journal to record daily experiences, emotions, and memories. Secure your entries with password, fingerprint, or face ID, and enhance them with photos. Track your moods and use built-in reminders to cultivate a consistent journaling habit.

Password, fingerprint, and face ID securityAdd photos to journal entriesMood and emotion tracking
🌟 Lifestyle
(5.3K)
free with in-app purchases
9
DailyBean - simplest journal
DailyBean - simplest journal
DailyBean - simplest journal
The simplest way to log a day
Free

This app provides a simple and enjoyable way to log daily experiences and moods. Customize your journal with themes and icons, and gain insights into your patterns with analysis reports. Easily integrate health data and special moments.

Record in secondsFully customizable icons and blocksDecorate with themes
🌟 Lifestyle
(70K)
free with in-app purchases
10
Reflectly - Journal & AI Diary
Reflectly - Journal & AI Diary
Reflectly - Journal & AI Diary
Mood Tracker & Daily Quotes
Free

This AI-powered journaling app helps you track your mood, process thoughts, and improve mental well-being. It offers personalized prompts and insights based on your entries to encourage self-care and mindfulness.

AI-powered journalingMood tracking and analysisPersonalized prompts and insights
💪 Health & Fitness
(82K)
free with in-app purchases
11
Diarly: Diary, Private Journal
Diarly: Diary, Private Journal
Diarly: Diary, Private Journal
Journal & Notes with Password
Free

This app helps you start and maintain a journaling habit with daily prompts, mood tracking, and the ability to add photos and other media. It also allows for creating topic-based notes and seamlessly integrates with other apps and services for a comprehensive personal record.

Daily prompts with enriched data (weather, location, health)Mood tracking and pattern analysisTopic-based note creation
💪 Health & Fitness
(1.4K)
freemium
12
Gratitude: Self-Care Journal
Gratitude: Self-Care Journal
Gratitude: Self-Care Journal
Affirmations and Vision Board
Free

This self-care app helps improve mental health with a private gratitude journal, positive affirmations, and vision boards. It offers daily motivation, prompts, and the ability to record voice entries and add photos to your journal.

Gratitude journal with photo and voice entryHundreds of positive affirmationsCreate multiple vision boards
💪 Health & Fitness
(45K)
free with in-app purchases
13
Pages: Create Documents
Pages: Create Documents
Pages: Create Documents
Documents that stand apart
Free

Create visually appealing documents with a wide range of templates and editing tools. Enhance your work with multimedia, track changes, and collaborate seamlessly. Offers advanced features for writing, design, and presentation.

Apple-designed templatesAdd images, video, audioTrack changes and comments
📊 Productivity
(542K)
free
14
Daylio Journal - Mood Tracker
Daylio Journal - Mood Tracker
Daylio Journal - Mood Tracker
Private Diary, Health, Habits
Free

This app helps you track your moods and activities to understand your well-being. It offers a private micro-diary experience without requiring extensive typing, allowing you to identify happiness triggers and build positive habits.

Mood tracking with icons and emojisActivity loggingPrivate journaling without typing
🌟 Lifestyle
(60K)
free with in-app purchases
15
Untold - Voice Journal
Untold - Voice Journal
Untold - Voice Journal
Secure, Personalized Journal
Free

This app provides a secure and private space for users to record their thoughts and experiences through voice. It utilizes AI-powered speech-to-text and generates personalized content based on journal entries, offering a unique way to reflect and understand oneself.

Encrypted voice journalingSpeech-to-text AIPersonalized content generation
💪 Health & Fitness
(2K)
free
16
Planner & Journal - Zinnia
Planner & Journal - Zinnia
Planner & Journal - Zinnia
Notebook & Creative Diary
Free

This app offers a creative digital journaling and planning experience with a vast library of stickers, templates, and tools. It supports natural handwriting, doodling, and integrates with digital calendars for enhanced productivity and self-care tracking. New content and features are added monthly.

Customizable digital studioMonthly content additionsCalendar and habit trackers
🌟 Lifestyle
(54K)
free with in-app purchases
17
Diary With Password
Diary With Password
Diary With Password
No Ads Journal Diary Notebook
Free

This app provides a private digital space to record daily thoughts, emotions, and life events. It offers robust security features like password and biometric locks, alongside tools for organizing, searching, and exporting your entries. Enjoy a customizable and ad-free journaling experience.

Password and biometric securityDaily entry loggingFull text search
📊 Productivity
(26K)
free with in-app purchases
18
stoic. journal & mental health
stoic. journal & mental health
stoic. journal & mental health
AI Self Care & Daily Gratitude
Free

This app guides users through daily preparation and reflection to improve mental well-being. It offers journaling prompts, habit tracking, mood monitoring, and various mental health tools like meditation and breathing exercises. Users can also journal via voice notes or pictures.

Morning preparation & evening reflectionGuided journaling with promptsMood and habit tracking
💪 Health & Fitness
(35K)
freemium
19
Mininote - Cute note and diary
Mininote - Cute note and diary
Mininote - Cute note and diary
Daily Notes and Journalings
Free

This app serves as a portable electronic notebook and mood tracking diary, allowing users to record daily thoughts and emotions. It offers powerful note editing, custom emoticons, and a calendar view for mood overviews. Security features like password protection and iCloud backup are included.

Mood diary recordingCustom emoticon drawingPowerful note editing
🌟 Lifestyle
(20K)
freemium
20
Reflection: AI Journal & Coach
Reflection: AI Journal & Coach
Reflection: AI Journal & Coach
Mental Health Guided Diary
Free

This app combines a beautiful writing experience with AI to help you gain clarity and unlock your potential. It offers personalized guidance, advanced search capabilities, and over 100 guided programs for various aspects of personal growth. You can also use voice-to-text to capture your thoughts effortlessly.

AI-powered personalized guidanceAdvanced journal search and insights100+ guided journaling programs
💪 Health & Fitness
(1K)
free with in-app purchases