Best Journaling App for iPad in 2026

Updated 2026-09-29 · By the Journal for iPad team

Disclosure first: we make Journal for iPad, one of the apps below. We've tried to be fair. Each of these apps is good at something, and the right one depends on how you like to write. Pricing models were checked in September 2026; prices change, so confirm in the App Store.

Quick picks

*As listed by each developer in September 2026. Prices and plans vary by country and change over time; check the App Store.

What to look for

• Typing or handwriting: most journaling apps are built for typing. If you want to write with an Apple Pencil, choose an app designed for it.
• Devices: do you write only on your iPad, or also on your phone, Mac or a browser?
• Structure: blank pages, prompts, templates or guided programs. Structure helps many people keep going.
• Privacy: an app lock, where entries are stored, and whether sync is encrypted.
• Getting your entries out: export to PDF or another format, so your journal isn't locked into one app.
• Pricing model: free, subscription or one-time purchase, and what the free tier includes.

Day One

One of the best-known journaling apps, and a strong all-rounder. It runs across Apple devices and other platforms, handles photos well, offers templates, and has an end-to-end encrypted sync option for people who care about privacy. It's a good fit if you journal on your phone during the day and on your iPad in the evening.

Consider something else if you'd rather write by hand, or you don't want a subscription for the full feature set.

Apple Journal

Apple's own Journal app launched on iPhone in 2023, and Apple brought it to iPad with iPadOS 26 in 2025. It's free, simple and suggests moments to write about based on things like photos and places you've visited, if you allow it. For someone who wants to try journaling without choosing an app, it's an easy place to start. Check that your iPad supports iPadOS 26.

Consider something else if you want templates, guided programs, handwriting-first pages or more control over how entries look.

Journey

Journey's strength is reach: it works across platforms, including a web version, so you can write from almost any device, including a work computer. It's a sensible pick if not everything you use is made by Apple.

Consider something else if you only use an iPad and want an app built specifically around it, or you want to write by hand.

Diarly

A clean journaling app for Apple platforms with markdown support, so you can format entries with simple text shortcuts. It suits people who like typing, want a tidy interface, and use an iPhone, iPad and Mac together.

Consider something else if you don't use other Apple devices, don't care for markdown, or prefer handwriting.

Goodnotes

Goodnotes isn't a journaling app as such. It's a handwritten notebook app. But many people use it for journaling because it feels close to writing in a paper notebook. You can import journal templates (many are sold by independent creators) or use the ones in its template library.

Consider something else if you want prompts, mood tracking and guided programs built in, rather than setting up your own journal system.

Journal for iPad (ours)

We built Journal for iPad for people who want to journal on an iPad, especially by hand. You can write with Apple Pencil or type with a keyboard, on ready-made pages from a library of 145 page templates: gratitude, mood tracker, dream journal, travel journal, shadow work, one line a day, letter to your future self, vision board and more. There are also six guided 30-day programs (including morning pages, gratitude, a worry program and shadow work) that give you a session each day.

Your journal can be locked with Face ID or a passcode, entries are stored in iCloud Drive, and you can export to PDF. Mood tracking templates let you log how you feel alongside your entries.

Honest limitations:

• it's iPad-only, with no iPhone or Mac app;
• there's no web version;
• there are no audio entries and no widgets;
• it's newer and smaller than Day One, with a smaller community.

Choose it if your iPad is where you journal, you like writing by hand, and you want templates and guided programs ready to go.

Browse the templates →

Typed vs handwritten journaling

This is often the real deciding factor, more than any single feature.

• Typing is faster, easy to search and works on every device. Day One, Journey, Diarly and Apple Journal are built around it.
• Handwriting is slower, which many people find helps them think, and it feels more like a paper journal. On an iPad that means an Apple Pencil and an app designed for it, such as Goodnotes or Journal for iPad.

If you're not sure, try a week of each. Most of these apps let you start free.

Privacy and keeping your entries

A journal holds things you wouldn't say out loud, so it's worth a few minutes of checking before you commit years of writing to one app.

• Lock: make sure the app can be locked with a passcode or Face ID, especially if anyone else uses your iPad.
• Storage and sync: find out where your entries live: on the device, in iCloud, or on the developer's own servers. If that matters to you, look for encrypted sync (Day One offers an end-to-end encrypted option).
• Privacy label: every app's App Store page lists what data it collects. Read it.
• Export: check that you can get your entries out, for example as PDF, in case you switch apps later. A journal you can't take with you is a risk.

Our recommendation

• Want a typed journal on all your devices? Day One.
• Want free and simple? Apple Journal.
• Need a web version or non-Apple devices? Journey.
• Love markdown and use Apple devices? Diarly.
• Want to handwrite with your own templates? Goodnotes.
• Want to handwrite on iPad with built-in templates and guided programs? Journal for iPad.

Summary: For typed journaling across devices, Day One is the strongest all-rounder, Journey adds a web version, Diarly suits markdown fans on Apple devices, and Apple Journal is free and simple. For handwritten journaling on iPad, Goodnotes works if you bring your own templates, and Journal for iPad (ours) comes with 145 templates and guided 30-day programs, but it's iPad-only.

New to journaling? Read how to journal or pick a question from our journal prompts.

Frequently asked questions