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Best Journaling Apps for iPhone (2026)
Day One: Daily Journal & Diary is the top-ranked of 40 journaling apps on iPhone, at S tier with 4.8/5 from 118,608 ratings.
- 1
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 118,608 ratings · score 98 - 2
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 70,819 ratings · score 96 - 3
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 36,019 ratings · score 96 - 4
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 62,084 ratings · score 96 - 5
Free + IAP · ★ 4.9 · 44,966 ratings · score 95
What belongs in this list
Write regular diary entries to record my days, thoughts and experiences.
Not here: A plain notes app alone; A blank text editor alone; A journal template or wallpaper pack alone; Mood tracking alone; A general chatbot that could be prompted to act as a diary alone
More lists: Best Baby Journaling Apps · Best Gratitude Journaling Apps · Best Mood Journaling Apps
How we pick
For this list we ask the App Store the same searches a person would, in several countries, and keep every app it returns. A model reads each app's listing and rejects the ones that only mention the use case. Every app that stays is scored out of 100 from four parts, each 0 to 100 and averaged with no weights: its App Store rating, how many people rated it, where the App Store itself ranks it for this list's searches, and how recently its current version shipped. An app showing Apple's Editors' Choice badge gets a fifth part of 100, which can only lift its score. Tiers follow fixed score bands: S from 90, A from 80, B from 70, C from 60, D from 50, F below. The list's leader is S if it scores 80 or more. On a list of 20 or more ranked apps, a tier from S to D takes in new apps only up to a quarter of the top 40: an app pushed out of a full tier falls to the next tier with room, and F takes the rest. An app already in a tier keeps its place while the tier is at most 2 apps over a quarter; past that, only the apps over that margin go down, lowest score first. Equal scores share a tier, and no app has a better tier than an app ranked above it. An app keeps its tier until its score passes the band edge by more than 1 point, or a full tier or the order above moves it. Only the top 40 of a list get a tier. Read the full method →
Compare every app
- 1Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 118,608 ratings · score 98 · best in class
- 2Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 70,819 ratings · score 96 · best in class
- 3Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 36,019 ratings · score 96 · best in class
- 4Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 62,084 ratings · score 96 · best in class
- 5Free + IAP · ★ 4.9 · 44,966 ratings · score 95 · best in class
- 6
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 27,161 ratings · score 95 · best in class - 7
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 28,294 ratings · score 95 · best in class - 8
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 56,540 ratings · score 93 · best in class - 9
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 5,626 ratings · score 93 · best in class - 10
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 17,599 ratings · score 93 · excellent - 11
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 81,688 ratings · score 93 · excellent - 12
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 48,318 ratings · score 92 · excellent - 13
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 21,013 ratings · score 91 · excellent - 14
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 11,340 ratings · score 91 · excellent - 15
Free download · ★ 4.7 · 14,316 ratings · score 90 · excellent - 16
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 6,905 ratings · score 90 · excellent - 17
Free + IAP · ★ 4.9 · 765,307 ratings · score 89 · excellent - 18
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 333,005 ratings · score 88 · excellent - 19
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 6,518 ratings · score 87 · excellent - 20
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 7,281 ratings · score 86 · good - 21
Free download · ★ 4.7 · 3,132 ratings · score 86 · good - 22
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 23,718 ratings · score 85 · good - 23
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 29,379 ratings · score 84 · good - 24
Free download · ★ 4.9 · 3,333 ratings · score 83 · good - 25
Free download · ★ 4.6 · 5,068 ratings · score 82 · good - 26
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 10,481 ratings · score 82 · good - 27
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 5,171 ratings · score 81 · good - 28
Free download · ★ 4.9 · 8,149 ratings · score 80 · good - 29
Free + IAP · ★ 4.8 · 5,148 ratings · score 80 · good - 30
Free + IAP · ★ 4.4 · 8,850 ratings · score 70 · situational - 31
Free + IAP · ★ 4.9 · 20,300 ratings · score 70 · situational · provisional - 32
Free download · ★ 4.9 · 5,720 ratings · score 69 · situational · provisional - 33
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 4,105 ratings · score 68 · situational · provisional - 34
Free download · ★ 4.7 · 6,638 ratings · score 68 · situational · provisional - 35
Free download · ★ 4.9 · 2,643 ratings · score 68 · situational · provisional - 36
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 4,539 ratings · score 68 · situational · provisional - 37
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 5,333 ratings · score 68 · situational · provisional - 38
Free download · ★ 4.8 · 2,835 ratings · score 68 · situational · provisional - 39
Free + IAP · ★ 4.7 · 8,183 ratings · score 68 · situational · provisional - 40
Free + IAP · ★ 4.6 · 6,528 ratings · score 67 · situational · provisional
Beyond the top 40
14 more, not ranked yet
- Diary, Journal, Notes - Diaro
- Grateful: A Gratitude Journal
- Moleskine Journal
- GraceNotes - Gratitude Journal
- Secret Diary With Passcode
- Mood Tracker - My Daily Diary
- Moodnotes - Mood Tracker
- Penzu
- Dream & Emotion Journal - Mila
- Emolog - Diary & Mood Tracker
- Being Me: Journal/Goals/Habits
- Christian Journal -Bible& More
- DailyMood - Cute Mooda Journal
- Koan: self-discovery journal
New in the last 30 days
- Diary With Password (S)
- My Diary - Journal with Lock (S)
- Daily Journal: Diary with Lock (S)
- 5 Minute Journal・Daily Diary (A)
- Mininote - Cute note and diary (A)
- My Daily Diary - Mood Journal (A)
- Notebook - Diary & Journal App (A)
- Prompted Journal - Shadow Work (A)
- Finch: Self-Care Pet (A)
- Digital Journal Diary (A)
- My Wonderful Days Journal (B)
- Clearful - Journal & Diary (B)
- Mood AI - Daily journal (B)
- Rosebud: AI Journal & Diary (B)
- Journey - Diary, Journal (B)
- Waffle: Shared Journal (B)
- Journi Blog - Travel tracker (B)
- Birdy: Photo + Video Journal (B)
- Diamond Diary Notes With Lock (C)
- Gratitude Plus - Journal (C)
- Voidpet Garden: Mental Health (C)
- Orca - Gratitude Journal (C)
- Tangerine: Self-care & Goals (C)
- Foxtale: Mood Tracker Journal (C)
- 365 Gratitude Journal & Diary (C)
- AJournal - Planner & Journal (C)
- Zenfulnote: Journal & Heal (C)
- Confide - Video Journal (C)
- Heartspring Journal (C)
Questions people ask
- What is the best journaling app for iPhone?
- Day One: Daily Journal & Diary, S tier, ranked #1 of 40, rated 4.8 by 118,608 people.
- Which journaling apps are free?
- 40 of 40 are free to download: Day One: Daily Journal & Diary (S), DailyBean - simplest journal (S), stoic. journal & mental health (S), Daylio Journal - Mood Tracker (S) and more. 25 of them sell in-app purchases.
- Which journaling app has the best App Store rating?
- Finch: Self-Care Pet at 4.9 from 765,307 ratings.
- How many journaling apps reach S or A tier?
- 19 of 40. Tiers follow fixed score bands: S from 90, A from 80, B from 70, C from 60, D from 50, F below. The list's leader is S if it scores 80 or more. On a list of 20 or more ranked apps, a tier from S to D takes in new apps only up to a quarter of the top 40: an app pushed out of a full tier falls to the next tier with room, and F takes the rest. An app already in a tier keeps its place while the tier is at most 2 apps over a quarter; past that, only the apps over that margin go down, lowest score first. Equal scores share a tier, and no app has a better tier than an app ranked above it. An app keeps its tier until its score passes the band edge by more than 1 point, or a full tier or the order above moves it. Only the top 40 of a list get a tier.