A journal is one of the last places you want a subscription trap. Yet Day One, Journey, and most of the polished consumer diaries lock the export behind a paywall and store your most personal writing in someone else’s cloud. Open source turns that around: your entries stay in plain files on your machine, encrypted when you want them to be, exportable in one command when you decide to switch.
We tested eight open-source journaling apps for the desktop. All eight are free forever. Most run on Windows, macOS, and Linux. A few give you sync as an option, others insist on staying strictly local. None of them will hold your writing hostage.
What to look for in an open-source journaling app
- Plain-text or Markdown storage. If the app disappeared tomorrow, could you still read your entries in Notepad or
cat? - Encryption on disk. Especially useful if you journal about work, health, or relationships.
- Optional sync. Nextcloud, WebDAV, git, or Syncthing over anything proprietary.
- Tags and search. A five-year journal without search is a shoebox of paper.
- Backups and export. Markdown, PDF, HTML, or JSON should all be one click away.
- Cross-platform. Mixed household? The Linux and macOS versions should not be an afterthought.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Paid tier | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joplin | End-to-end encrypted daily diary | Free, open source | Optional Joplin Cloud from ~$3/mo | E2E encrypted sync |
| RedNotebook | Rich text with templates | Free, open source | None | Timeline calendar view |
| jrnl | Terminal-first quick entries | Free, open source | None | Command-line workflow |
| Obsidian | Journal inside a broader vault | Free personal | Sync ~$4/mo, Publish ~$8/mo | Daily notes plugin |
| Standard Notes | Simplest E2E encrypted notes | Free tier | Productivity ~$9/mo | Encrypted history |
| Zettlr | Long-form and academic writing | Free, open source | None | Citation manager built in |
| Trilium Notes | Hierarchical, database-like journal | Free, open source | None | Nested notes with attributes |
| Logseq | Outliner-style daily journals | Free, open source | Optional Sync add-on | Block-level references |
The apps
1. Joplin — best for an end-to-end encrypted daily diary
Joplin is the closest open-source match for the “one app for everything you write” workflow. It has a daily journal folder, tags, attachments, notebooks, full-text search, and end-to-end encrypted sync to Joplin Cloud, Nextcloud, WebDAV, Dropbox, or OneDrive. Every entry is a Markdown file in a SQLite index.
Where it falls short: The mobile clients are stable but not as polished as the desktop app. Search on very large journals (10,000+ notes) slows down.
Pricing:
- Free, MIT-licensed
- Joplin Cloud (optional sync host): from about $3/month for the basic plan
- Local-first works without any subscription
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Download: joplinapp.org
Bottom line: The pick if you want E2E encryption, sync, and a journaling workflow that scales into a full knowledge base.
2. RedNotebook — best for a rich diary with templates
RedNotebook is a classic desktop journal with a big calendar on the left and rich-text editor on the right. Templates cover common entries (daily reflection, phone call log, trip notes, meeting minutes) and you can build your own. Cloud sync is not built in, but the storage format is a plain folder you can point at Syncthing or Nextcloud.
Where it falls short: The UI is functional, not modern. It is a desktop-only app; no mobile client.
Pricing:
- Free, open source (GPL)
- No paid tier
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Download: rednotebook.app
Bottom line: A great fit if you like a calendar-first diary with reusable templates.
3. jrnl — best for terminal-first, one-line-a-day journaling
jrnl is a command-line journal. Type jrnl I finally fixed the sink and hit enter; the app timestamps and stores the entry in a plain text file. There is a search command, tags with @tag, filters by date, and optional AES-256 encryption of the underlying journal file.
Where it falls short: No rich formatting, no images, no calendar. If a GUI matters, jrnl is not your app.
Pricing:
- Free, open source
- No paid tier
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Download: jrnl.sh
Bottom line: The fastest way to keep a journal if you already live in a terminal.
4. Obsidian — best when your journal is one folder inside a bigger vault
Obsidian is not fully open source (the core is source-available, plugins are), but the file format is plain Markdown you fully own, and the Daily Notes core plugin is what most heavy users pick for journaling. Templater, Periodic Notes, and Journals plugins add prompts, monthly reviews, and lookback features.
Where it falls short: Not OSI-approved open source. Sync and Publish are paid; local files stay yours either way.
Pricing:
- Free for personal use
- Sync: about $4/month
- Publish: about $8/month
- Commercial license: about $50/user/year
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Download: obsidian.md
Bottom line: Pick Obsidian if your journal lives next to your notes, projects, and research in one vault.
5. Standard Notes — best for the simplest encrypted diary
Standard Notes takes the opposite bet from Obsidian: fewer features, more privacy. Every note is end-to-end encrypted by default. The free tier gives you unlimited plain-text notes across all devices. Paid tiers add rich text, Markdown editors, and daily-note-style layouts.
Where it falls short: The free tier is deliberately spartan. Rich text and file attachments are behind the paid plan.
Pricing:
- Free: unlimited encrypted plain notes
- Productivity: about $9/month billed annually
- Professional: about $10.42/month
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, web
Download: standardnotes.com
Bottom line: Choose Standard Notes if privacy and simplicity outrank features.
6. Zettlr — best for long-form and academic journaling
Zettlr is a Markdown editor tuned for writers and researchers. It has citations via Zotero/BetterBibTeX, project workflows, distraction-free mode, and a Zettelkasten-style note layer. If your journal is more essay than daily one-liner, Zettlr respects that.
Where it falls short: Overkill for a five-minute daily entry. No mobile app.
Pricing:
- Free, open source (GPL)
- No paid tier
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Download: zettlr.com
Bottom line: The pick for reflective, long-form journaling that occasionally slides into writing projects.
7. Trilium Notes — best for a structured, database-like journal
Trilium Notes organizes entries in a hierarchical tree with typed attributes, relations between notes, and scripting hooks. It lets you build a journal that behaves like a personal database: mood field, weather field, sleep hours, all queryable later.
Where it falls short: Steep learning curve. Overkill unless you actually want the structure.
Pricing:
- Free, open source (AGPL)
- Self-host the server component if you want sync
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, self-hosted web
Download: github.com/TriliumNext/Notes
Bottom line: The right fit for quantified-self journalers who want typed fields, not free text.
8. Logseq — best for daily journals as an outliner
Logseq treats every day as a page and every entry as a block. Blocks can be referenced from anywhere, so a task you noted on Monday can be pulled into Friday’s review with one click. The engine is Markdown or org-mode, files stay on your disk, and sync is optional.
Where it falls short: The outliner style is polarizing. If you write in paragraphs, Logseq’s block model may feel like it fights you.
Pricing:
- Free, open source
- Optional Logseq Sync add-on (subscription) if you want encrypted sync
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Download: logseq.com
Bottom line: The best pick if you want daily journaling as a block-referenced outline you can revisit forever.
How to pick the right one
- Pick Joplin if you want an all-round encrypted journal with sync and mobile clients.
- Pick RedNotebook if you like a calendar-first diary with rich templates.
- Pick jrnl if you already work in a terminal and want a one-liner-per-day habit.
- Pick Obsidian if your journal is part of a wider notes vault.
- Pick Standard Notes if privacy is the whole reason you are journaling.
- Pick Zettlr for long-form reflective writing and essays.
- Pick Trilium if you want typed metadata (mood, sleep, weather) on every entry.
- Pick Logseq if the outliner block model matches how you think.
For most people the honest recommendation is Joplin as a first attempt, with Obsidian as the graceful upgrade if you outgrow it.
FAQ
What is the best free journaling app for desktop?
Joplin. It combines a daily-notes workflow, end-to-end encrypted sync, tags, attachments, and full-text search, and it costs nothing unless you opt into their optional cloud host.
Which journaling app has end-to-end encryption?
Joplin and Standard Notes both offer E2E encryption by default. Logseq’s paid Sync add-on adds it. Local-only apps (RedNotebook, jrnl, Zettlr, Trilium) rely on your disk encryption instead.
Can I use Obsidian as a journal?
Yes. Obsidian’s Daily Notes core plugin plus the Periodic Notes and Templater community plugins turn it into one of the most flexible desktop journals in existence.
Is there a terminal journaling app?
jrnl. Type jrnl I did the thing and it timestamps and stores the entry. Add --decrypt and AES-256 on the journal file for privacy.
How do I sync my journal across devices without the cloud?
Point Syncthing at your journal folder. It handles peer-to-peer sync between your laptop and phone without any third party in the middle. Joplin, Obsidian, RedNotebook, and Logseq all work fine over Syncthing.
Are open-source journaling apps really private?
They are as private as the disk they live on and the sync method you choose. Enable disk encryption on your OS, use E2E encrypted sync (Joplin, Standard Notes, Logseq Sync), and you are in materially better shape than any cloud diary.
