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Best Journal Writing Apps in 2025

Showing 49 writing apps that match your search.

Ignite your creativity. Coach your brain to think creatively & spark brilliant ideas at work and in life.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad

Best for: Outlining, Journal, and Free

Website: https://brainsparker.com/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Creative card decks

Templates

Creative workouts

★★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★ Accessibility

★★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.7 on the App Store

The Internet's best write-reward system! Write one hundred words, get an image of a kitten!

Platforms: Online

Best for: Drafting, Book, Story, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Blog, and Free

Website: https://writtenkitten.co/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Kittens!

★★★★★ Performance

★★★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★★ Value

Drafts opens to a new page with the keyboard ready so you can type immediately. Go hands-free with Dictation. Drafts lets you get things down before you forget without fiddling folders, naming, etc.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Essay, Blog, and Free

Website: https://getdrafts.com/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Dictation

Tags for organization

Customizable ediitng

Fast sync

★★★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★★ Accessibility

★★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.8 on the App Store

Unload your thoughts by creating a personal layout with notes, links and media in a second to visualize your creative process and move forward faster.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android, Online, PC

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Blog, Essay, Story, Book, and Free

Website: https://xtiles.app/en

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

$8.00 monthly

Realtime collaboration

Visual search

Organize visually

★★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★ Value

Also rated 4.9 on Capterra

With Scrittor store all your ideas, thoughts and whatever your mind tells you.

Platforms: Android, Chrome

Best for: Note-taking, Story, Book, Blog, Journal, Poetry, and Free

Website: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shahid.nid

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Search notes

Password protection

Arrange notes by categories

Dark and light mode

★★★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.4 on Google Play

Writemonkey is a Windows zenware writing application with an extremely stripped down user interface, leaving you alone with your thoughts and your words. It is light, fast and free.

Platforms: Windows, PC, Mac

Best for: Drafting, Book, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Story, Blog, and Free

Website: https://writemonkey.com/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Customizable with a clean text format

Visual progress bar

Timed writing

★★★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.0 on TechRadar

A focused environment where you can write freely. With iA Writer, you can gain unparalleled insight into your writing structure, detect superfluous words and clichés, and navigate through your documents and notes with ease.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android, Chrome, PC

Best for: Drafting, Book, Story, Poetry, Journal, Essay, and Blog

Website: https://ia.net/writer

Base price:

$49.99 one-time payment

Premium price:

Focus mode

Markdown & syntax highlight

Style check

Wikilinks

★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★ Value

Also rated 4.0 on PC Magazine

Make mind map documents that flow like your ideas.

Platforms: Online

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Essay, Blog, and Free

Website: https://coggle.it/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

$5.00 monthly

Powerful online flowcharts

Realtime collaboration

Add floating text and images

★★★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.5 on Capterra

In Outline you can create notebooks for your personal needs of widest range: travel or recipe book, any kind of journal or diary, photo album, daily planner, and so on and so forth. Just everything you could imagine!

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac

Best for: Note-taking and Journal

Website: https://outline.app/

Base price:

$9.99 one-time payment

Premium price:

Multi-touch gestures

Handwriting functionalities

Hightlight and annotate

★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★ Accessibility

★★★ Value

Also rated 4.2 on the App Store

Traditional word processors include dozens of options for formatting text, distracting you from what really matters: writing. Calmly Writer is an editor designed to focus on what you want to tell, with a simple, unobtrusive and ease-to-use user interface.

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Online, Chrome, PC

Best for: Drafting, Book, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Story, Blog, and Free

Website: https://www.calmlywriter.com/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

$10.99 one-time payment

Focus mode

Auto save

Light and dark mode

★★★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.0 on TechRadar

From boardroom to lecture hall, project plan to daily diary, Nebo makes note-taking smarter, more efficient and more enjoyable.

Platforms: Android, iPhone, iPad

Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Poetry, and Blog

Website: https://www.nebo.app/

Base price:

$9.99 one-time payment

Premium price:

Write-to-text

Copy-paste to Notes

Mix handwriting with text

★★★★ Performance

★★★★ Features

★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.3 on the App Store

The simplest way to keep notes. All your notes, synced on all your devices.

Platforms: Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, PC, Chrome, PC

Best for: Note-taking, Drafting, Book, Story, Journal, and Free

Website: https://simplenote.com/

Base price:

Free

Premium price:

Automatic syncing

Tags for organization

Share documents and notes

★★★★★ Performance

★★★ Features

★★★★★ Accessibility

★★★★★ Value

Also rated 4.0 on TechRadar

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