Journaling app privacy ratings
Diary and journaling apps. Journals hold some of the most personal writing people keep.
9 journaling apps are rated against 4 public criteria, and 9 have enough evidence for a letter grade. Of the 4 with a known jurisdiction, 2 are based in a Five Eyes country, and 2 in the wider Fourteen Eyes.
Open-source journaling apps only · Criteria for this category · Suggest an addition · Markdown
| Name | Grade | Score | Data | Jurisdiction | Open source | No trackers or telemetry | No ads or data sales | Independent audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Self-hosted, encrypted diary web app run with Docker, with Markdown entries, tags, encrypted file uploads and multiple users. |
Grade B | 80 | 100% | – | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Command-line journal that stores entries in plain text files, with tags, search, optional AES encryption and editor integration. |
Grade B | 80 | 100% | – | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Offline journal and note-taking application with built-in encryption, WYSIWYG editing, tags and tools that turn entries into tables and charts. |
Grade B | 80 | 100% | – | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Self-hosted journal web app with mood tracking, writing prompts, media uploads, search and writing statistics, run with Docker. Released as beta software. |
Grade C | 65 | 100% | – | Yes | Partial | Yes | No |
Apple's built-in journaling app for iPhone, iPad and Mac, with multimedia entries, multiple journals and on-device writing suggestions. Journal data syncs through iCloud with end-to-end encryption. |
Grade F | 35 | 100% | United States Five Eyes | No | Partial | Yes | No |
Closed-source journaling app from Automattic for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and the web, with photos, audio, templates, cloud sync and end-to-end encrypted journals. |
Grade F | 20 | 100% | United States Five Eyes | No | No | Yes | No |
Closed-source journal app for Windows, Android, iOS and macOS that stores entries locally and can sync them through the user's own cloud storage, such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud or WebDAV. |
Grade F | 20 | 100% | – | No | No | Yes | No |
Closed-source journal and diary app for Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and the web, with photos, location tagging, cloud sync and optional end-to-end encryption. |
Grade F | 20 | 100% | Singapore Outside Eyes | No | No | Yes | No |
Closed-source mood tracker and micro-diary for Android and iOS where entries are made by picking moods and activities, with statistics and optional backups to Google Drive or iCloud. Entries are stored on the device. |
Grade F | 10 | 100% | Slovakia Outside Eyes | No | No | Partial | No |
Questions
What is the most private option among journaling apps?
No pick has been made yet. The table above is sorted by score, based on public evidence.
How are journaling apps rated?
Each entry answers 4 questions: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales and independent audit. Answers need links to evidence. See the full criteria.
Does jurisdiction matter?
Jurisdiction decides which laws can compel a provider to hand over data. Each entry shows its country and whether it is in the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes. The data a provider can hand over depends mostly on what it stores and who holds the keys. Read about jurisdictions and the CLOUD Act.