DailyTxT vs Journalistic

DailyTxT

• Self-hosters who want a private diary on their own server
• Households sharing one instance with separately encrypted accounts
• People who write in Markdown and attach photos or files to each day

Journalistic

• People who want a few bullet points a day instead of long entries
• Keeping count of activities and people with #tags and @mentions
• Logging dreams alongside a daily journal

DailyTxT

• There is no hosted version beyond a live demo: you run it with Docker and look after TLS, updates and backups yourself.
• Encryption is done on the server, not end to end in the browser; the README says search would not work otherwise.
• There are no native mobile or desktop apps; phones use the responsive web app, which installs as a PWA.
• The author does not guarantee backward compatibility, and moving from version 1 means following the migration steps.

Journalistic

• A Pro plan at $4.90 a month is announced but not on sale; the docs say Focus, Insights and other Pro features will leave free accounts when it launches.
• There is no App Store app, and the Google Play listing the site links to was not found when checked; phones install it from the browser.
• Nothing can be imported, not even Journalistic's own exports; Day One and Journey imports are on the roadmap.
• End-to-end encryption is planned but not available, and the site's news page has no post after January 2024.

DailyTxT

Encryption on the server

Entries and files are encrypted with ChaCha20-Poly1305 before they reach storage, using a per-user key unlocked by a key derived from the password. The admin cannot read them.

Markdown editor

Entries are written in Markdown with a live preview and saved automatically. A read mode shows a month's entries without the editor.

File uploads and image viewer

Any file can be attached to a day, up to 500 MB each, and is stored encrypted. Images are recognized and shown in a gallery with a full-screen view.

Tags, search and templates

Entries take tags, search covers any word, tag or file name, and custom templates can be created, including a default template.

Map and GPX tracks

Locations can be pinned to each day and viewed on a map. The map also shows GPX files when they are available.

Multi-user, admin panel and export

One instance holds several accounts, each with its own encryption key. An admin panel manages users and registration, and entries export to HTML with their files.

Journalistic

Bulleted micro entries

Each day is logged as a few short bullet points instead of long paragraphs, which the vendor describes as a bullet journal with a low word count.

Tags, people and highlights

A #tag marks an activity and an @mention marks a person, and tapping a bullet marks it as a highlight. Tags and mentions are visible only to you.

Optional modules

Dreams, Notes, Wisdom (quotes and lessons), Ideas and Focus (a prioritized goal list) sit beside the daily log, and each module can be switched off.

Reflect

A customizable stream shows yesterday's entry, the past week's notable items, the entry from one year ago and a random older entry called Memory lane.

Insights

Statistics, timelines and charts are compiled from your entries, such as words per day or which weekdays you dream most. It is marked as a Pro feature and is free for now.

Data export

All journal data can be downloaded from the Account page as plain text, Markdown or JSON. The JSON file carries most of the metadata.

DailyTxT

• Self-hosted$0

  The complete web app as a Docker image for AMD64 and ARM64, with multiple user accounts on your own server.

Journalistic

• Basic$0

  Unlimited entries, the standard modules (Reflect, Dreams, Highlights, Tags, People, Notes, Wisdom, Ideas) and sync on unlimited devices.