VERDICT
Should I use Day One?
Your Journal For Life - dayoneapp.com
Depends. Buy if you journal daily across devices and want encrypted sync. Skip if you're a casual writer — Apple's free Journal app covers the basics.
New check
Categories
Confidence
Medium. Based on 20+ public sources: official pages, Reddit, Day One forums, app store listings. Snippets were short, so some detail is inference flagged as guess.
Ratings
Pricing
$49.99/year
Premium
ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Best for
- Daily personal journalers
- Multi-device Apple users
- Privacy-minded diary writers
- Photo and audio memory keepers
Not for
- Businesses or teams — this is a personal diary, not collaboration software
- Anyone unwilling to pay $50/year to keep a journal
- Casual writers content with Apple's free Journal app
- People needing confidence in the vendor's long-term survival
Gotchas - check before you buy
high
Price jumped to $49.99/year; several public posts describe quitting over the hike.
medium
Performance complaints: lag 'like it's the early 90s' per one forum user.
medium
Guess: years of entries in proprietary format may be painful to migrate; test export first.
medium
Store listings push a free trial; the features you likely want sit behind the subscription.
Pros and cons
Pros
- End-to-end encryption protects synced entries
- Apps for iOS, Android, Windows, plus web access
- Users report 15+ years of loyal daily use
- Revenue-funded, no investor pressure
- Appears in note-taking app roundups
Cons
- Price raised to ~$50/year, angering longtime subscribers
- Users report severe app lag
- Community threads question the app's long-term future
- Apple's free Journal app undercuts its value
- Users publicly hunting replacements after pricing changes
Sources & method
official x2review x6security x2
Key stats
Value for money: 2/5
Rating
$49.99/year
Starting price
10
Sources
Analyzed
- Value for money: 2/5. Price hike to ~$50/yr drove users to alternatives
- Ease of use: 4/5. 15-year users call it a top-5 app
- Feature depth: 4/5. Photos, audio, multi-device sync, web access
- Support quality. Only forum chatter found, no verdict
- Security posture: 4/5. End-to-end encryption for sync, per founder
- $49.99/yr Premium price Users report a recent hike to ~$50
- 15+ years Longest reported tenure Reddit power user, still a top-5 app
- Revenue-funded Funding No outside investors, per company FAQ
- 4+ Platforms iOS, Android, Windows, Web
Pricing
Premium
$49.99/year
- Full premium feature set
- Sync across all devices
- Priority care per Windows listing
Security
End-to-end encryption for sync, dedicated security and privacy pages.
No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.
What users say
Longtime users love the app, but the $50/year price hike and lag complaints are pushing some toward alternatives.
“been using dayone for 15+ years...still a top 5 app (except ...”
“Dayone recently raised their price to 50 dollars USD a year.”
“App really lagging like it's the early 90s”
Alternatives
Compare Day One with each alternative.
Apple Journal
Free, built into iPhone; fine for casual daily entries.
Everpaper
Positioned as a cheaper, simpler Day One alternative.
Day One vs EverpaperDaylio
Guess: quick mood-and-micro-entry journaling, cheaper than Day One.
Day One vs Daylio
Journey
Guess: cross-platform journaling with similar sync, lower price.
Day One vs Journey
Companies that use it
- BBC 5 Live
Full analysis
Based on 20+ public sources: official pages, Reddit, Day One forums, app store listings. Snippets were short, so some detail is inference flagged as guess.
Beloved 15-year journaling app, but $50/yr price hikes, lag complaints, and future doubts push casual users away.
Methodology
Based on 20+ public sources: official pages, Reddit, Day One forums, app store listings. Snippets were short, so some detail is inference flagged as guess.
Sources
- Day One Journal App — official sitedayoneapp.comofficial
- Day One Plans (pricing)dayoneapp.comofficial
- Day One security pagedayoneapp.comsecurity
- End-to-End Encryption for Day One Syncmedium.comsecurity
- Reddit: price raised to $50/yearreddit.comreview
- Reddit: 15+ years, still top 5 appreddit.comreview
- Forum: app lag complaintsforums.dayoneapp.comreview
- Reddit: Is Day One going under?reddit.comreview
- Reddit: replacement after price changesreddit.comreview
- Everpaper: Day One alternatives 2026everpaper.appreview
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