Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to A free private journaling app
https://github.com/inoda/private_journal Built this to use myself, and I'm curious if anybody would be interested in using it. I'm also wondering if anybody has tips to make it more secure (I'm super super new to encryption and whatnot). The security is probably a bit overkill since chances are that nobody cares about what I'm journaling, but it is fun to implement from a code standpoint.
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. A free private journaling app launched in 2019; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
- 1
Write every day in your encrypted private journal. Track your mood to follow your level of happiness.
2019 · gekri.com · its alternatives →
- 2
- 3
Pagecord▲122Hey HN I’ve been at a loose end for the past few days so I decided to build a thing. I’m largely devoid of original ideas so I built a (micro-) blogging app with a slight twist: you run it using email. All you need is an email account. No new tools to wrangle. No password to forget. Compose in your favourite email editor and send to a secret address. Pagecord does the rest. It's great for bloggy long-form writing, but it’s maybe even more fun for micro-blogging your thoughts as you would a Twitter feed (you can subscribe to people/blogs using RSS). I figured nobody would pay so it's…
2024 · pagecord.com · its alternatives →
- 4
- 5
ZenJournal is a minimalist private journaling app for quick logging, search, and discreet writing. Open, type, done. No prompts, titles, or reminders.
2021 · thezenjournal.com · its alternatives →
- 6
I have a short term memory and i have no passion to writing but i want to learn to write something, so i need my note as my second brain, but i need not only note app, i want to freely to write something from my mind, and set some to-do list, so i decide to create one web application that fit to my requirement. And here is my final product that you can try and maybe give me some feedback. This is a free application. Access https://paperly.id for detail
2025 · paperly.id · its alternatives →
- 7IF
Journaling is a great practice to learn more about yourself - if done daily. I tried it multiple times and couldn't stick to it. This project is how I finally fixed it for myself. It works by eliminating my excuses. There is only one question a day that I'll answer - no time spent on "finding the perfect topic". I only need to go to the page - not find my notebook or create a new note/paragraph in another app. I only left myself a relatively small input area, less than a page in a small notebook - that way the commitment doesn't feel too big. I really enjoy the process and it has become…
2022 · dailyprompt.org · its alternatives →
- 8
A local-only journal with serious encryption. Free, open source, and never touches the internet. - fjrevoredo/mini-diarium
Feb 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 9
Journalistic▲176A free micro journaling app with minimalistic design
2020 · journalisticapp.com · its alternatives →
- 10
BetterWrite▲134So this weekend I and a friend of mine (@ronitrajfr) created a minimalist writing editor. It's ui is clean, beautiful and distraction free, it also has a vim mode and everything stays on your computer no authentication is required to write your thoughts and all we wanted an application where we just start typing with no BS and that's what we made. and did I tell ya that it's open source as well lmk your thoughts and feedback!!
Dec 2025 · betterwrite.ronitt.xyz · its alternatives →
- 11
Decryption key derived from master password never leaves the browser. It's just a text editor so far, but a we have a few features planned: retrospective tooling, sentiment analysis, journaling modules, guidance and information inline, better habit formation & rewards UI.
2023 · jumblejournal.org · its alternatives →
- 12PB
Dec 2025 · tempblog-psi.vercel.app · its alternatives →
- 13
- 14
Yeah I know I hate the name too but I wasn't about to pay up for odyssey.app. It's an open source project so feel free to poke around with it / fork it. I talk about it more on the marketing website, but a few of us have been using it for the past month and kind of fun. Obviously there will be a slew of issues / feedback / nits that come from this, but c'est la vie. GH is here: https://github.com/johnlarkin1/odozi
Apr 2026 · odozi.app · its alternatives →
- 15OI
I'm trying to get the motivation up to actually finish building out a "real" product, and I found myself needing a "win" to keep my momentum up. So, I hacked out a little one sentence journal app last night. I experimented with a few UI things (e.g.., the autosaving of the sentence for today and so on), so it was a good learning experience also. You can check it out at: http://osod.im
2012 · osod.im · its alternatives →
- 16LY
Almost one year ago I asked HN if anybody is interested to make a Web app to make reading and finding scientific papers smarter [http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1664648]. No one did, at least no one did what "I" think is the best way to approach this problem. A a few month ago I decided to do it myself.<p>Meet JournalClub iPad app (absolutely free), http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/journalclub/id443819334? I have a recommendation engine in the pipeline that I would introduce in the next update (hopefully in a month or so). I really appreciate any comments, feedbacks.
2011 · its alternatives →
- 17
2015 · bitjournal.io · its alternatives →
- 18
Secure digital diary for thoughts & secrets. Fully encrypted
Jan 2026 · personaldiary.online · its alternatives →
- 19
Personal productivity. Offline-first. E2E encryption.
Dec 2025 · liveit.me · its alternatives →
- 20SI
2015 · startwriting.in · its alternatives →
- 21
Writed▲12Chat with your journal. Nothing leaves your browser
Jul 2026 · writed.app · its alternatives →
- 22
It's dead simple. There's no fancy interface. Basic features are gone. That's all on purpose. If you're like me, you're always writing down ideas on pieces of paper. My webapp is like that, but for the internet. Let me know if you find it useful.
2012 · ideab.in · its alternatives →
- 23FW
I’m specifically looking for a tool a user shared on here that facilitated writing for content by scrolling up and disappearing text as new text was inputted. I believe it was a HTML/JSS only solution - a small personal project. I’ve done a lot of focused searches, but haven’t been able to find this comment. That said, I love these sorts of projects. I know they’re a self-indulgence and often a distraction. I’m celebrating that for a moment, personally. Please share your favorites writing tools, the smaller and more personal the better.
2021 · its alternatives →
- 24
Hello HN, Over the last year we've been building snote.app, a Privacy focused, End-to-End Encrypted alternative to Notion. You can write, plan, collaborate and get organized - it allows you to take notes, store files, add tasks, manage projects & more. Whether you're working solo or in a team. We are hoping to use this post as an opportunity to collect feedback from fellow hackers. If there's anything we can do better, please let us know
2023 · snote.app · its alternatives →
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →