Tool profile
Day One: cost, fit and limits
Day One is a journaling app made by Automattic Inc. that stores text, photo, audio and video entries with end-to-end encryption and adds AI summaries and a guided chat on its top Gold plan, for personal diarists.
What to know first
Day One has three plans, all billed annually: Basic at $0, Silver at $49.99 and Gold at $74.99. Basic already includes unlimited text entries, daily prompts, search and end-to-end encryption. Silver adds sync, audio transcription and up to 30 photos or videos per entry. Gold adds Daily Chat, reflective AI summaries, title suggestions and image generation with daily usage limits. Paid plans include one free month.
Day One at a glance
| Maker | Automattic Inc., Not stated on the vendor pages |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes |
| Entry price | $0 per year (Basic); Gold with AI is $74.99 per year |
| API access | No |
| Category | Best AI Journaling Apps in 2026, rank 3 of 12 |
| Website | dayoneapp.com |
Who Day One is best for
Long-term diarists on Apple devices
Basic offers unlimited text entries and encryption at no cost, so a person can build years of writing before deciding whether sync is worth $49.99 a year.
Photo and audio journalers
Silver supports up to 30 photos and videos per entry and audio recording with transcription, which covers travel and family logs better than a text-only diary app does.
Writers who want AI as an extra
Gold gives Daily Chat and summaries without making AI the core, which suits users who mostly write unaided and prompt the model only now and then for a reflective push.
Day One plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $0 per year | Unlimited text entries and journals, daily prompts, search and end-to-end encryption, with no payment needed. |
| Silver | $49.99 per year | Sync across devices, audio recording and transcription, up to 30 photos and videos per entry, Strava, Zapier and IFTTT, PDF scanning, 25% off printed journals. |
| Gold | $74.99 per year | Everything in Silver plus Daily Chat, reflective AI summaries and prompts, Go Deeper prompts, entry summaries, title suggestions, image generation and 35% off printed journals. |
Checked November 2026.
What Day One does
- End-to-end encryption
- Applies on the free Basic plan too, so privacy does not depend on paying, which is unusual among diary apps that charge extra for any kind of lock or protection.
- Audio and photo entries
- Silver transcribes audio and allows up to 30 photos or videos in one entry, which makes a single day's record much richer than text alone for trips and family events.
- Daily Chat
- A Gold feature for guided reflection, with Go Deeper prompts that ask a follow-up when an entry feels thin, plus reflective AI summaries across the writing you already have.
- Integrations
- Silver connects Strava, Zapier and IFTTT, letting a run or an automation create entries without manual writing, which helps people who want a log that fills itself.
- Printed journals
- Plans carry a discount on printed journals, 25% on Silver and 35% on Gold, for people who want a physical copy of the diary on a shelf after a year of writing.
How Day One handles your data
Day One's privacy policy is published by Automattic Inc. and does not mention AI training, so the vendor's position on using entries for model training was not stated on the pages we read. Closing an account starts a 5-day recovery window, after which journal entries are permanently deleted. The policy says data may be used, stored or accessed by individuals outside the European Economic Area and gives no hosting region. No certifications are stated. The plans page says Basic includes end-to-end encryption.
Where Day One falls short in practice
- Gold AI has usage caps. Daily Chat and the other Gold AI features carry daily limits, and the plans page does not publish the numbers, so a heavy chat user cannot predict when the cap will arrive in practice.
- AI starts at $74.99. No AI feature appears below Gold. A buyer who wants only summaries pays $25 more per year than Silver for the full Gold bundle, which also includes title suggestions and image generation.
- Trial rules on iOS. App Store rules may block a second free trial when moving from Silver to Gold, so the one-month trial that comes with paid plans may not cover the AI tier for an upgrading user.
Works with
Alternatives to Day One
Day One: common questions
Is Day One's encryption free?
Yes. The plans page lists end-to-end encryption on the Basic plan, which costs $0 per year. Basic also includes unlimited text entries, journals, daily prompts and search. Sync across devices and audio recording need Silver at $49.99 per year, according to the same page.
What does Day One Gold add over Silver?
Gold, at $74.99 per year, adds Daily Chat for guided reflection, reflective AI summaries and prompts, Go Deeper prompts, entry summaries, title suggestions and image generation, plus 35% off printed journals. The AI features have daily usage limits that the page does not quantify.
Does Day One train AI on my entries?
The privacy policy does not mention AI training, so the pages we read give no statement either way. For a firm answer, ask Automattic in writing before you turn on Gold's AI features with sensitive entries, since silence in a policy is not a promise.
How long can I recover a closed Day One account?
The privacy policy gives a 5-day recovery window after account closure. After that, journal entries are permanently deleted. That is shorter than the 30-day recovery windows some other journaling vendors state, so export your entries first if you are leaving the app for good.
Can Day One create entries from my workouts?
Silver lists Strava, Zapier and IFTTT integrations, so activity from a Strava account or from an automation can create entries. The plans page does not describe the entry format or how often the integrations run, so test one before relying on it.