Alternative to Day One

A free Day One alternativea journal that stays yours

Pagelight is a journal with the habits Day One taught: a timeline grouped by day, a calendar, a photo grid, On This Day, coloured journals, tags and daily prompts. Add as many photos to an entry as you like. Entries stay on your device, and an optional passcode encrypts every one of them.

PagelightA private photo journal that never leaves your device.

Get Pagelight free Choose its name and colour

Free, with no account. Pick its name and colour first if you like.

Free forever
No account
Works offline
Interface in English and French
Unlimited photos

Pagelight

Compare

Day One and Pagelightside by side

What you need	Day One	Pagelight
Timeline, calendar and media views	Yes	Yes
On This Day, prompts, templates, streaks	Yes	Yes
Several coloured journals, tags, stars	Yes	Yes
Photos per entry on the free plan	1	Unlimited
Map of places	Yes	Partlya list of places, no map
Video, audio and drawings	PartlySilver plan	No
Sync across devices	PartlySilver plan	Nobackup file to move data
Passcode lock	Yes	Yeswith AES-256 encryption of every entry
Import a Day One JSON export	Yes	Yeswith photos
Export	YesPDF, JSON, Markdown	YesMarkdown, PDF, JSON
Account needed	Required to sync and back up	None
Price	Free with limits; $49.99 or $74.99 a year	$0, forever

What Pagelight does not do

No sync between your phone and your computer; a backup file moves your journal.
No video, audio or drawings in entries.
No automatic location or weather; you can add them by hand.
No printed books and no AI features.
If you set a passcode and forget it, your entries cannot be recovered. Pagelight tells you before you turn it on.

Price

What Day One costsand what Pagelight costs

Day One's free plan is generous with entries but strict with photos and devices.

Plan	Price	What you get
Basic	$0	Unlimited entries, 1 photo per entry, 1 device, no video
Silver	$49.99 a year	Up to 30 photos or videos per entry, unlimited devices, audio, PDFs, drawings
Gold	$74.99 a year	Silver plus AI features

Source: dayoneapp.com/pricing · dayoneapp.com/day-one-pricing-features-guide, checked on 16 October 2026. Day One's guide says monthly plans are not offered; the iPhone app also lists a monthly Silver purchase.

$0No plan, no trial, no card, nothing to cancel.

Pagelight has no photo limit and no plan to renew.

Why people switch

Why people leave Day One

From buy-once to subscription
Day One was once a one-time purchase. Long-time users on its forum still ask for a lifetime option.
Source: forums.dayoneapp.com
One photo per entry
The free Basic plan keeps one photo per entry and one device. A trip or a birthday usually needs more.
Source: dayoneapp.com
Same price everywhere
Users outside the US ask for local pricing, since $49.99 a year weighs more in many countries.
Source: forums.dayoneapp.com

Questions

Before you switch

Is there a free alternative to Day One?

Yes. Pagelight is a free journal with the timeline, calendar, photo grid, On This Day and prompts, and no limit on photos per entry.

Can I import my Day One journal?

Yes. Export your journal from Day One as JSON (a zip with your photos), then import it in Pagelight's Settings. Entries, dates and photos come across, in a journal of their own.

Is Pagelight private?

Your entries never leave your device: Pagelight sends nothing over the network. With a passcode, each entry and photo is stored encrypted with AES-256.