Daily You vs RedNotebook
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
RedNotebook
Free desktop diary that stores entries as plain text files
Free
Where they differ
- Daily You is free. RedNotebook is free.
- Only Daily You lists an Android app.
- Only RedNotebook lists Linux and Windows apps.
- Daily You also covers Markdown and mood tracking.
- RedNotebook also covers templates.
In commonFree planOpen sourceWorks offlineLocal-firstDaily notes
At a glance
| Daily You | RedNotebook | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Free and open source under GPL-3.0, with no accounts, ads, locked features or tracking. The project takes donations through Liberapay and Buy Me a Coffee. | Free Software under the GPL with no paid version or feature limits. The downloads page accepts voluntary donations in US dollars or euros. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Demizo | Jendrik Seipp |
| Price read from | github.com | rednotebook.app |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Daily You
- Android users who want a diary with no account, ads or subscription
- People who want a mood recorded alongside each day's entry
- Writers who format notes in Markdown and keep their data in a folder they control
RedNotebook
- Linux and Windows users who want a diary kept as plain text on their own disk
- People who tag entries with #hashtags and search across years of them
- Writers who want their journal exported to plain text, HTML or LaTeX
Worth knowing
Daily You
- Android only: releases contain Android APKs for Android 7.0 or newer, with no iOS, desktop or web build.
- There is no account or cloud service; using it on a second device relies on a folder you sync yourself or on backup and restore.
- The README offers F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid and GitHub downloads and does not mention a Google Play listing.
- Imports from other apps may not be one-to-one, because Daily You has different features.
RedNotebook
- There are no mobile apps or web version, and macOS has no official support, only Homebrew or source builds to try on your own.
- There is no built-in encryption or lock; the help suggests an encrypted folder or an encrypted home partition.
- Sync is not built in: using it on several computers means keeping the journal folder in Dropbox, Syncthing or on a server.
- Word clouds are missing from version 2.x on Windows, and there is no direct PDF export.
Key features
Daily You
- Daily logs
- A log for each day holds thoughts, reflections or routines, and text and images can be shared into the app from other apps.
- Mood tracking
- Each log can record a mood, and a statistics page gives a view of how mood changes over time.
- Photo memories
- Pictures can be added to a day's log, and a gallery page collects the photos you have saved.
- Markdown notes
- Entries are formatted with Markdown, so headings, lists and emphasis are written as plain text.
- Random reminders
- The app can send a daily reminder at a random time as a nudge to keep writing.
- Data location and imports
- You choose where the data lives, including external storage or a folder that is synced. Settings can also import logs from other diary apps.
RedNotebook
- Formatted daily entries
- Text can be bold, italic, underlined or struck through, with lists and links. You write in an edit mode and read the result in a preview mode.
- Hashtags, search and word clouds
- Entries are tagged with #hashtags and found with search-as-you-type. Clouds show the most common words and tags, though not in version 2.x on Windows.
- Templates
- There is one template for each day of the week plus any number of named templates, all kept as editable text files in a template directory.
- Images, files and links
- An Insert menu adds images, files and links at the cursor. Inserted items are linked to, not copied into the journal directory.
- Plain-text storage and backups
- A journal is a directory of plain text files, one per month. Entries save automatically, and a Backup command packs the journal into a zip archive.
- Export
- The journal exports to plain text, HTML or LaTeX. A PDF is made by printing the HTML export from a browser or compiling the LaTeX file.
Plans
Daily You
Daily You$0
The complete Android app with no account, ads or locked features.
RedNotebook
RedNotebook$0
The complete desktop journal for Linux and Windows, with every feature included.
