Best Journaling Free Apps

250+ iOS apps curated and reviewed

4.6 avg rating
20 free apps
Updated August 2026

With an average user rating of 4.6★, 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)NoNoSep 2026
2Day One: Daily Journal & DiaryDay One: Daily Journal & DiaryFree4.8★ (118K)NoYesSep 2026
3Notly - Secret Diary with LockNotly - Secret Diary with LockFree4.0★ (1)YesYesAug 2026
4Notebook - Diary & Journal AppNotebook - Diary & Journal AppFree4.7★ (14K)YesYesSep 2026
5My Diary - Journal with LockMy Diary - Journal with LockFree4.7★ (28K)YesYesSep 2026
6Quick Journal: just writeQuick Journal: just writeFree4.7★ (24)NoNoSep 2026
7Diary With PasswordDiary With PasswordFree4.7★ (27K)NoYesSep 2026
8Planner & Journal - ZinniaPlanner & Journal - ZinniaFree4.6★ (56K)YesYesSep 2026

Top Picks for Journaling Free

Journal#1

Journal by Apple

Reflect on life’s moments
Editor's Choice
💪 Health & Fitness
4.8😊(231K ratings)
Free
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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
  • 👍 Convenient voice recording
  • 👍 Integrates with photos and activities

Room to Improve

  • 🐛 Cursor jumps around while typing
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Lack of search and filtering options
  • 🔍 Inability to organize entries into folders or tags
  • 🔍 Limited customization options for fonts, colors, etc.
  • 📱 Not available on iPad or Mac
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
#77in Health & Fitness
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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
  • 🗺️ Location and weather tracking
  • 🔒 Secure and private
  • 🤖 Voice recording and transcription
  • 📚 Ability to print journal books
  • 🧠 Helps with mental health and personal growth

Room to Improve

  • 🔒 Subscription model for premium features
  • 🗓️ Issues with syncing and data loss
  • 🖌️ Limited customization options
  • 🔍 Clunky search and navigation
  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes
  • 🗣️ Poor customer support
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
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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

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.