Best Journal Writing Apps in 2025

Apple’s App of the Year with over 15 million downloads and 200,000 5-star ratings globally, Day One has reinvented journaling, letting you record your life as you live it. Securely save audio, video, photos, notes, and more wherever you are, whenever you want.

Platforms: iPad, Mac, iPhone, Android

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, and Free

Website: https://dayoneapp.com/

Also rated 4.8 ★ on the App Store

Ideas, stories, and life’s events. Capture them in a journal that’s easy to carry and offers more than bound sheets. Chronicle for iPad is about you and your words. Write comfortably and benefit from being able to find anything you wrote with built-in search.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac

Best for: Note-taking and Journal

Website: http://slidetorock.com/apps/Chronicle-for-iPad-journal.html

Also rated 4.5 ★ on the App Store

With Scrittor store all your ideas, thoughts and whatever your mind tells you.

Platforms: Android, Chrome

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

Website: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shahid.nid

Also rated 4.4 ★ on Google Play

The human brain is non-linear: we jump from idea to idea, all the time. Your second brain should work the same. In Obsidian, making and following connections is frictionless. Tend to your notes like a gardener; at the end of the day, sit back and marvel at your own knowledge graph.

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

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

Website: https://obsidian.md/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

Traditional word processors include dozens of options for formatting text, distracting you from what really matters: writing. Calmly Writer is an editor designed to focus on what you want to tell, with a simple, unobtrusive and ease-to-use user interface.

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Online, Chrome, PC

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

Website: https://www.calmlywriter.com/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

Capture your thoughts, discoveries, and ideas and simplify overwhelming planning moments in your life with your very own digital notepad. With OneNote, you can plan that big event, seize that moment of inspiration to create something new, and track that list of errands that are too important to forget.

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

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

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

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar

Drafts opens to a new page with the keyboard ready so you can type immediately. Go hands-free with Dictation. Drafts lets you get things down before you forget without fiddling folders, naming, etc.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac

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

Website: https://getdrafts.com/

Also rated 4.8 ★ on the App 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

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

Freedom blocks distractions across all your Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, and Chrome devices so you don’t have to fight off the temptation of distracting pings, notifications, headlines, and emails.

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

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

Website: https://freedom.to/

Also rated 4.4 ★ on Google Play

Note down, shape, & share your ideas with the world's best loved digital paper. Fall in love with handwriting all over again with Goodnotes’ digital ink.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad

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

Website: https://www.goodnotes.com/

Also rated 4.8 ★ on the App Store

Create beautiful handwritten notes, sketch your ideas, record audio, and organize your notes like never before.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android

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

Website: https://www.noteshelf.net/

Also rated 4.4 ★ on the App Store