Best Journal Writing Apps in 2026

FreeOffice 2021 is a complete Office suite with a word processor, a spreadsheet application and a presentation program – all seamlessly compatible with their counterparts in Microsoft Office.

Platforms: Mac, PC, Windows

Best for: Drafting, Book, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Story, Blog, and Free

Website: https://www.freeoffice.com/en/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

Ever scribbled ideas on a piece of paper and drawn lines between related thoughts? Then you already know what Scapple does. It's a virtual sheet of paper that lets you make notes anywhere and connect them using lines or arrows.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, PC

Best for: Note-taking, Outlining, Journal, Book, Story, Essay, Poetry, and Blog

Website: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scapple/overview

Also rated 5.0 ★ on TechRadar

Joplin is an open source note-taking app. Capture your thoughts and securely access them from any device.

Platforms: Android, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Essay, Blog, and Free

Website: https://joplinapp.org/

Also rated 4.3 ★ on the App Store

Life Note is an AI journaling app that lets you reflect with history's greatest minds—Jung, Marcus Aurelius, Thich Nhat Hanh, and 1000+ others—each trained on their actual writings.

Platforms: Online, iPhone, Android

Best for: Journal

Website: https://www.mylifenote.ai

Also rated 5.0 ★ on Apple Store

Black Note is the black theme's notepad. It's the simple notes app.

Platforms: Android

Best for: Note-taking, Story, Book, Blog, Journal, Poetry, and Free

Website: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=notepad.not...

Also rated 4.8 ★ on Google Play

You have a story to tell, article to publish, or class notes to take. Scrivo Pro can help you organize your writing, research, generate ideas, and remove distractions so you can focus on the most important thing: writing.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Outlining, Drafting, Journal, Book, Story, Essay, Poetry, and Blog

Website: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/scrivo-pro-for-scriveners-a...

Also rated 4.4 ★ on the App Store

Writemonkey is a Windows zenware writing application with an extremely stripped down user interface, leaving you alone with your thoughts and your words. It is light, fast and free.

Platforms: Windows, PC, Mac

Best for: Drafting, Book, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Story, Blog, and Free

Website: https://writemonkey.com/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

LibreOffice is a free and powerful office suite, and a successor to OpenOffice.org (commonly known as OpenOffice). Its clean interface and feature-rich tools help you unleash your creativity and enhance your productivity.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, PC

Best for: Drafting, Book, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Story, Blog, and Free

Website: https://www.libreoffice.org/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

The Internet's best write-reward system! Write one hundred words, get an image of a kitten!

Platforms: Online

Best for: Drafting, Book, Story, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Blog, and Free

Website: https://writtenkitten.co/

Elevate your writing, create beautiful documents, and collaborate with others—anywhere, anytime.

Platforms: Online, Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Chrome, PC

Best for: Drafting, Essay, Journal, Book, Story, Poetry, and Blog

Website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/word

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

WPS Office is a lightweight, feature-rich comprehensive office suite with high compatibility. As a handy and professional office software, WPS Office allows you to edit files in Writer, Presentation, Spreadsheet, and PDF to improve your work efficiency.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, Android, iPad, iPhone, PC

Best for: Drafting, Book, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Story, Blog, and Free

Website: https://www.wps.com/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

We’re more than a doc. Or a table. Customize Notion to work the way you do.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, Chrome, PC

Best for: Note-taking, Outlining, Journal, Book, Story, Essay, Poetry, Blog, and Free

Website: https://www.notion.so/product

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar