How to choose a private journaling app

Choose a private journaling app by the way you will use it: the devices you write on, the photos you want to keep, the price, and how you can take your writing with you. Check those first, then decide whether the page feels like somewhere you want to return.

This guide is written by the Inpages team. It will help you compare the choices, including when another kind of journal may suit you better.

Start with the one thing your journal needs to do

Write a sentence such as “I want to write on my laptop and add photos from my phone” or “I need to bring years of entries from my current app.” Use that sentence to rule out a poor fit before comparing smaller features.

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Compare the cost of the features you will use

A free plan can be enough for ordinary writing. Day One Basic includes unlimited journals and entries, with one photo per entry. Penzu also offers free unlimited entries. Diarium Pro is a one-time purchase per platform. Inpages has two paid yearly memberships and requires payment before the first entry.

Essential is US$1/year for one journal, unlimited memories, and one Photo Book. Premium is US$39/year for unlimited journals and Photo Books, larger photos, and other extras. Extra protection for your writing is included in both. Choose Premium when those extras solve a need you already have.

For example, one journal may hold your whole year comfortably. If you want separate journals and photo collections for everyday life, travel, and a home project, read how to organize multiple journals before choosing.

Plan details checked September 28, 2026: Day One, Penzu, Diarium, and Inpages memberships.

Know who can see your pages

Look for a clear answer to three questions: are new entries private, can you choose to share them, and what does any extra lock protect? Check photos and attached files as well as the writing.

Inpages starts with private writing. You can save a memory with extra protection, which adds a private lock to its writing and files. That memory cannot be published. Dates and hashtags do not receive this extra lock. A signed-in, unlocked device still needs to be kept safe.

For the differences between an account password, a device lock, and protected writing, read what an online diary lock protects. The aim is a choice you understand, not a long list of security terms.

Check recovery before you need it

Find out what happens if you forget your password or lose your phone. For writing saved with extra protection in Inpages, keep your Recovery Key somewhere safe. If you lose both the password that unlocks the vault and your Recovery Key, that protected writing cannot be recovered.

Read how the Recovery Key works before using extra protection for something irreplaceable.

Try the routine you want to keep

Where a product offers a free plan or trial, use it to test an ordinary entry, a photo, search, and signing back in. Inpages requires a paid membership before writing, so review its features and price first.

A useful test entry could be three lines about a weekend walk and one photograph. After saving it, return on your other device and see whether you can find the page. Check the export instructions too. A product tour tells you what exists; this small routine tells you whether it fits.

If you mainly write to think through choices, try a decision journal entry about one small decision instead. Record what you know now, then return after the outcome.

If photos are part of that routine, look at turning journal photos into a digital Photo Book. Keep the longer story in the original entry and curate the pictures later.

Know when Inpages fits

Consider Inpages if you want notebook-style writing in your browser, photos beside your memories, and separate journals as different parts of your life grow. Essential suits one notebook; Premium suits a collection.

Inpages does not currently import a Day One archive or offer a native offline app. If either is essential, compare those options before buying. See Inpages and Day One or Inpages and Penzu for a closer comparison.

Once the fit is clear, compare Inpages memberships. Choose the smallest plan that holds the writing and photos you want to keep.