Best Journal Writing Apps in 2026

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

Build your best ideas together, in Google Docs. Create, edit, and collaborate with others on documents from your Android phone or tablet with the Google Docs app.

Platforms: Online, Chrome, iPhone, iPad, Android

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

Website: https://www.google.com/docs/about/

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

Zoho Writer is a fully-featured word processor on the cloud, designed for collaborative work that gives you everything you need to create powerful documents. With a clean UI, intuitive interface and document modes, it introduces you to a new way of writing.

Platforms: Android, Windows, PC, iPad, iPhone

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

Website: https://www.zoho.com/writer/

Also rated 3.4 ★ on Google Play

Don’t stop typing. If you do all your work will disappear and be gone forever. Danger Notes is the ultimate writing tool to help fight writer’s block. Whether you are writing a term paper, an essay, a book, your best-man speech, promising rap lyrics or just free writing, Danger Notes will help you fight writer’s block by forcing you to keep writing in order to save your progress from being deleted.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad

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

Website: http://swivelapps.com/apps-by-david/dangernotes.html

Also rated 4.8 ★ on Capterra

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

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

Notes are just the beginning. Create and annotate anything, from study guides to storyboards. We've got an intuitive, minimal interface for you to start in seconds.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad

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

Website: https://notability.com/

Also rated 4.7 ★ on the App Store

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

Get organized. Stay creative. Milanote is an easy-to-use tool to organize your ideas and projects into visual boards.

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

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

Website: https://milanote.com/

Also rated 3.0 ★ on PC Magazine

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

The simplest way to keep notes. All your notes, synced on all your devices.

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

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

Website: https://simplenote.com/

Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar