Best Journaling Free Apps

250+ iOS apps curated and reviewed

4.8 avg rating
20 free apps
Updated August 2026

With an average user rating of 4.8★, the journaling free category is one of the App Store's strongest. Browse all 250+ apps we track, sorted so the most loved ones surface first.

Compare top Journaling Free Apps (August 2026)

#AppPriceRatingAdsIn-App PurchasesUpdated
1JournalJournalFree4.8★ (231K)NoNoAug 2026
2Day One: Daily Journal & DiaryDay One: Daily Journal & DiaryFree4.8★ (118K)NoYesAug 2026
3Notly - Secret Diary with LockNotly - Secret Diary with LockFree4.0★ (1)YesYesAug 2026
4Notebook - Diary & Journal AppNotebook - Diary & Journal AppFree4.7★ (14K)YesYesAug 2026
5My Diary - Journal with LockMy Diary - Journal with LockFree4.7★ (28K)YesYesAug 2026
6Quick Journal: just writeQuick Journal: just writeFree4.9★ (20)NoNoAug 2026
7Diary With PasswordDiary With PasswordFree4.7★ (27K)NoYesAug 2026
8Planner & Journal - ZinniaPlanner & Journal - ZinniaFree4.6★ (55K)YesYesAug 2026

Top Picks for Journaling Free

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
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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
Day One: Daily Journal & Diary#2

Day One: Daily Journal & Diary by Bloom Built Inc

Private Gratitude Journaling
Strong Contender
💪 Health & Fitness
4.8😊(118K ratings)
FreeIn-App Purchases
#90in Health & Fitness
Day One: Daily Journal & Diary screenshot 1
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Day One: Daily Journal & Diary screenshot 5
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
Notly - Secret Diary with Lock#3

Notly - Secret Diary with Lock by Sneyder Cante

Private Diary & Well-Being
Worth Considering
🌟 Lifestyle
4.0(1 ratings)
FreeAdsIn-App Purchases
Notly - Secret Diary with Lock screenshot 1
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This app provides a secure space to journal your thoughts, track your mood, and reflect on your life. It offers customizable writing options, mood logging with visual patterns, and rich entry features, all while ensuring your data remains private on your device.

More Journaling Free apps to explore

4
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
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
Quick Journal: just write
Quick Journal: just write
Quick Journal: just write
Simple, easy and customizable
Free

This app offers a straightforward journaling experience with extensive customization options. Personalize themes, fonts, icons, and layouts to create your ideal digital notebook. Widgets and draft saving features enhance usability for daily reflection.

Customizable themes and fontsApp icon and layout personalizationHome screen widgets
🌟 Lifestyle
(20)
free
7
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
(27K)
free with in-app purchases
8
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
9
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
10
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
11
Mark - Make Your Mark
Mark - Make Your Mark
Mark - Make Your Mark
Journal, Diary, Habits & Tasks
Free

This app helps you capture and organize life's moments, rituals, and tasks in a single, private timeline. It allows you to build meaningful habits and look back on your memories without pressure or streaks.

Capture moments with photos, notes, location, or voice memosTrack tasks and build meaningful ritualsUnified timeline for all entries
🌟 Lifestyle
(2)
freemium
12
Scarloe & Sage Journal
Scarloe & Sage Journal
Scarloe & Sage Journal
Mindfulness Diary & Planner
Free
🌟 Lifestyle
(0)
13
Private Journal - Voice Diary
Private Journal - Voice Diary
Private Journal - Voice Diary
Audio, video & photo logs
Free

This app provides a private and secure space to record life's moments with text, photos, and mood tags. It offers offline functionality, password protection, and export options for your entries. Enjoy a distraction-free experience with a clean interface and dark mode support.

Effortless recording with clean editorAdd weather and mood tagsInsert photos for multimedia entries
🌟 Lifestyle
(1)
freemium
14
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
(5.5K)
free with in-app purchases
15
Digital Journal Diary
Digital Journal Diary
Digital Journal Diary
Private Journal - Photo,Video
Free

Document your life, track goals, and monitor your mood with this versatile journaling app. Enhance well-being, creativity, and productivity through daily reflection. Secure your entries with password protection and sync across devices.

Add photos, videos, and audio recordingsTrack mood, goals, and activitiesCreate to-do lists and business plans
💪 Health & Fitness
(6.5K)
free with in-app purchases
16
Bible For Women - Devotional
Bible For Women - Devotional
Bible For Women - Devotional
Daily Prayer & Faith Journal
Free
📚 Books
(0)
17
DrugsPRO Guide
DrugsPRO Guide
DrugsPRO Guide
Journaling & Drug Checking
Free

This app provides a comprehensive resource for understanding drug effects, risks, and harm reduction. It features a detailed knowledge base, substance journaling, and drug checking tools with extensive test kit results and lab alerts. Designed for educational and safety purposes, it prioritizes user privacy with no accounts or tracking required.

Substance journaling and sobriety trackingExtensive drug encyclopediaDrug checking and lab alert database
📚 Education
(1)
free with in-app purchases
18
Diarly : AI Journal
Diarly : AI Journal
Diarly : AI Journal
AI Journal, Made Easy
Free
🌟 Lifestyle
(0)
19
Real Self
Real Self
Real Self
Understand yourself, deeply
Free
💪 Health & Fitness
(0)
20
Inkput - Mindful Journaling
Inkput - Mindful Journaling
Inkput - Mindful Journaling
Beautiful Daily Rituals
Free

This app offers a digital journaling experience with a paper-like feel, featuring guided writing protocols for emotional processing, gratitude, and ideation. Customize your journal's appearance and track your progress with session analytics, all within a private, device-only environment.

Guided writing protocols (Pennebaker, Gratitude, Ideation, Free Writing)Customizable paper styles and cover designsRefill system for intentional journaling
🌟 Lifestyle
(1)
free

FAQ about Journaling Free

What are the best journaling free apps for iPhone?
Journal tops our journaling free apps ranking as of August 2026, with a 4.8-star average from 231K App Store ratings, and it's free to download.
Journal has no ads and has no in-app purchases, according to its App Store listing as of August 2026.
We track 250+ journaling free apps on the iOS App Store as of August 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.