Best Journaling App

238+ iOS apps curated and reviewed

4.7 avg rating
20 free apps
Updated July 2026

Looking for free journaling app? 20 of our 238+ tracked titles are free to download — no subscription, no trial. The rest are premium picks worth paying for.

Compare top Journaling App (July 2026)

#AppPriceRatingAdsIn-App PurchasesUpdated
1JournalJournalFree4.8★ (231K)NoNoAug 2026
2Diary With PasswordDiary With PasswordFree4.7★ (27K)NoYesAug 2026
3Day One: Daily Journal & DiaryDay One: Daily Journal & DiaryFree4.8★ (118K)NoYesAug 2026
4Daylio Journal - Mood TrackerDaylio Journal - Mood TrackerFree4.8★ (61K)NoYesAug 2026
5My Diary - Journal with LockMy Diary - Journal with LockFree4.7★ (28K)YesYesAug 2026
6Planner & Journal - ZinniaPlanner & Journal - ZinniaFree4.6★ (55K)YesYesAug 2026
7Notebook - Diary & Journal AppNotebook - Diary & Journal AppFree4.7★ (14K)YesYesAug 2026
8stoic. journal & mental healthstoic. journal & mental healthFree4.8★ (35K)NoYesAug 2026

Top Picks for Journaling App

Journal#1

Journal by Apple Inc.

Reflect on life’s moments
Editor's Choice
💪 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
Diary With Password#2

Diary With Password by 帆 杨

No Ads Journal Diary Notebook
Strong Contender
📊 Productivity
4.7😊(27K ratings)
FreeIn-App Purchases
Diary With Password screenshot 1
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Diary With Password screenshot 3
Diary With Password screenshot 4
Diary With Password screenshot 5
Diary With Password screenshot 6

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.

What We Love

  • 💻 Simple and easy to use
  • 🔒 Password protection
  • 📝 Customizable fonts and layout
  • ⏱️ Time stamp feature

Room to Improve

  • 🔍 Difficulty finding/accessing past entries
  • 🖼️ No image/media support
  • 🔄 Lack of syncing across devices
Day One: Daily Journal & Diary#3

Day One: Daily Journal & Diary by Bloom Built Inc

Private Gratitude Journaling
Worth Considering
💪 Health & Fitness
4.8😊(118K ratings)
FreeIn-App Purchases
#90in 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
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Day One: Daily Journal & Diary screenshot 6

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

More Journaling App apps to explore

4
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
(61K)
free with in-app purchases
5
My Diary - Journal with Lock
My Diary - Journal with Lock
My Diary - Journal with Lock
Journaling Diary with password
Free

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.

Password-protected diaryAdd photos and drawingsCustomizable themes and backgrounds
🌟 Lifestyle
(28K)
free with in-app purchases
6
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
(55K)
free with in-app purchases
7
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
8
stoic. journal & mental health
stoic. journal & mental health
stoic. journal & mental health
AI journaling, Gratitude diary
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
9
DailyBean - simplest journal
DailyBean - simplest journal
DailyBean - simplest journal
Mood tracker, daily log, diary
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
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
11
How We Feel
How We Feel
How We Feel
An emotional wellbeing journal
Free

This app helps users understand and manage their emotions with science-based strategies. It tracks sleep, exercise, and health trends to identify patterns and offers guided exercises for stress, anxiety, and relationship building. Share your feelings with trusted friends to strengthen connections.

Emotion identification and trackingSleep, exercise, and health trend monitoringScience-based emotional regulation strategies
💪 Health & Fitness
(29K)
free
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
Clearful - Journal & Diary
Clearful - Journal & Diary
Clearful - Journal & Diary
Journaling for Personal Growth
Free

This app provides a secure and private space to explore your thoughts, emotions, and experiences through journaling. It offers tools to express yourself with text, photos, and audio, organize entries with rich formatting, and rediscover past moments. Guided journals and habit-building features support personal growth and mental well-being.

Text, photo, and audio journalingRich text formatting optionsRediscover past journal entries
💪 Health & Fitness
(3K)
free with in-app purchases
14
Reflectly - Journal & AI Diary
Reflectly - Journal & AI Diary
Reflectly - Journal & AI Diary
Self-Care Mood Tracker & CBT
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
15
Sol - Inner Growth & Community
Sol - Inner Growth & Community
Sol - Inner Growth & Community
Self-care, support, & purpose
Free

Discover your inner self through personality assessments, name meanings, and astrological insights. Build healthy daily rituals like mood journaling, affirmations, and meditations. Connect with a supportive community to foster personal growth and live a more purposeful life.

Personality assessmentName meanings explorationAstrology profiles
💪 Health & Fitness
(1.3K)
free with in-app purchases
16
Fabulous: Daily Habit Tracker
Fabulous: Daily Habit Tracker
Fabulous: Daily Habit Tracker
Morning Routines & ADHD Help
Free

Build healthy habits and routines to improve your life and mental well-being. This app offers daily coaching, journaling, and community support to help you achieve your goals.

Daily habit trackingMorning and evening routinesSelf-improvement coaching
💪 Health & Fitness
(89K)
free with in-app purchases
17
5 Minute Journal・Daily Diary
5 Minute Journal・Daily Diary
5 Minute Journal・Daily Diary
Gratitude・Journal・Mood Tracker
Free

This app guides users through a daily gratitude journaling practice using principles of positive psychology. It helps cultivate a more positive outlook by focusing on what's good, with features like guided prompts, reminders, and secure entry protection. The app aims to improve overall well-being and mental health through consistent practice.

Guided journaling promptsDaily gratitude entriesMood tracking
💪 Health & Fitness
(17K)
free with in-app purchases
18
Habit Tracker
Habit Tracker
Habit Tracker
Goal Tracker & ADHD Planner
Free

This app helps you build lasting habits and achieve your goals through simple daily planning and routine tracking. It offers features like syncing with health data, group challenges, and insightful analytics to support your self-care and personal growth journey.

Build and quit habitsFlexible goal tracking with specific unitsGroup habits and friendly competition
📊 Productivity
(145K)
free with in-app purchases
19
Lemon Diary-journaling app
Lemon Diary-journaling app
Lemon Diary-journaling app
Daily notebook with lock
Free

This app allows you to record your daily life through a digital journal. It offers a variety of decorative materials like stickers and fonts to personalize entries. Secure your private thoughts with password protection and easily share your journal entries.

Exquisite material library (stickers, backgrounds, fonts)Text and picture entriesCalendar browsing
🌟 Lifestyle
(912)
free with in-app purchases
20
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
(21K)
freemium

FAQ about Journaling App

What is the best journaling app for iPhone?
Journal tops our journaling app ranking as of July 2026, with a 4.8-star average from 231K App Store ratings, and it's free to download.
Yes — 20 of the top journaling app we rank are free to download, including Journal and Diary With Password.
Journal has no ads and has no in-app purchases, according to its App Store listing as of July 2026.
We track 238+ journaling app on the iOS App Store as of July 2026, ranked by rating, recency, and analysis of real user reviews.
This app allows you to capture and reflect on your daily moments and special events. You can write entries, add photos, videos, audio recordings, and even your state of mind. It provides journaling suggestions and prompts to help you get started and maintain a consistent practice.
Key features include intelligent journaling suggestions based on your iPhone usage, the ability to illustrate entries with rich media, handwriting and sketching capabilities, organization into multiple journals, habit tracking with streaks and insights, and secure syncing across iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud.

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