Comparison · iPad · Apple Pencil
The Best Diary Apps for iPad in 2026, Honestly Compared
Apple Journal, Day One, Goodnotes and Virtual Diary compared: handwriting, privacy, accounts and price, and which diary app on iPad suits which writer.
The short answer: for a free diary that is already on your iPad, use Apple Journal. For a rich, multimedia journal across every device, use Day One. For freeform handwritten notebooks, use Goodnotes. For a private, paper-like diary you write by hand with Apple Pencil, one page a day, paid for once, use Virtual Diary.
That last one is ours, so read the rest with that in mind. We have tried to be fair: each of these apps is good, and each is built for a different kind of writer.
At a glance
| App | Best for | Handwriting with Apple Pencil | Account needed | Price (at the time of writing) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Journal | A free diary already on your iPad | Yes, inside an entry | Your Apple Account | Free, built in |
| Day One | Photos, video and audio, on every device | Drawings, on paid plans | Yes, to sync | Free plan; Silver $49.99/year |
| Goodnotes | Freeform handwritten notebooks | Yes, the whole page | Optional | Free for 3 notebooks; Essential $11.99/year |
| Virtual Diary | A private paper diary, one page a day | Yes, the whole page | No | First page free; then $49 once |
Prices change; check each app's own page before you decide.
Apple Journal: the free one you already have
Since iPadOS 26 and macOS 26, Apple's Journal app comes with the iPad and the Mac, as well as the iPhone. It is free, it syncs through iCloud, and on iPad you can write and sketch with Apple Pencil inside an entry, alongside typing, photos and audio. It suggests things to write about from your photos, workouts and places, keeps multiple journals, and shows your entries on a map. You can lock it with Face ID or Touch ID and export entries as PDFs.
Choose it if you want something free, built in and on your iPhone too, and you like a journal that mixes words with photos and places.
Skip it if you want a diary that feels like paper, or one that never suggests what to write. Read our longer comparison of Virtual Diary and Apple Journal.
Day One: the most complete digital journal
Day One has been the best-known journaling app for years. It holds text, photos, video, audio and locations, supports templates and multiple journals, and runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Apple Watch and the web. Sync goes through a Day One account, with end-to-end encryption available. Drawing is on its paid plans: Silver is listed at $49.99 a year and Gold at $74.99 a year on dayoneapp.com.
Choose it if you want to capture your life in many forms, on every device you own.
Skip it if you mainly want to write by hand, or would rather not subscribe. More in Virtual Diary vs Day One.
Goodnotes: a notebook you can turn into a diary
Goodnotes is a note-taking app, not a diary, but many people keep a handwritten journal in it with a downloaded planner or diary template. Its handwriting is excellent and its pages are fully freeform. The free plan allows three notebooks; Essential is $11.99 a year and Pro $35.99 a year on goodnotes.com.
Choose it if you want total freedom on the page: stickers, layouts, bullet journals, planners.
Skip it if you want the diary to organise itself by date, or you want something made only for a diary rather than for notes, study and work.
Virtual Diary: a private paper diary for iPad and Mac
Virtual Diary is one dated, ruled page a day inside a leather cover. On iPad you write on it with Apple Pencil, in black, blue or sepia ink, or type; on Mac you type, and your iPad handwriting shows up exactly as you wrote it. Your handwriting is recognised on the iPad itself, so search finds it. On This Day shows what you wrote on the same date in past years, and a page you lock can never change.
It has no account, no servers that hold diaries, no analytics and no AI. The diary opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, and its only copy outside your devices is in your own iCloud Drive. You can export the whole diary, handwriting included, at any time.
Your first page is free. After that it is $49 once for iPad or for Mac, or $79 for both. No subscription.
Choose it if you want your diary to feel like paper, to stay private, and to be paid for once.
Skip it if you want photos and video in your journal, an iPhone app, or writing prompts. Virtual Diary does none of those, on purpose.
How to choose
- Want it free? Apple Journal.
- Want photos, video and every device? Day One.
- Want a freeform handwritten notebook? Goodnotes.
- Want a private diary that feels like paper, without a subscription? Virtual Diary.
Whichever you pick, write a full page in it before you decide. If you are weighing handwriting apps in particular, our guide to choosing a diary app for iPad with Apple Pencil lists the eight things worth checking.