Daylio vs Grid Diary
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Daylio
Mood tracker and micro-diary you fill in with a couple of taps
Grid Diary
Prompt-based diary and planner laid out as a grid of questions
Where they differ
- Daylio starts at $4.99 (lowest US App Store in-app purchase; billing period not shown). Grid Diary starts at $4.99 per month, or $29.99 per year.
- Only Grid Diary lists a macOS app.
- Daylio also covers goals and mood tracking.
- Grid Diary also covers Markdown.
At a glance
| Daylio | Grid Diary | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.99 (lowest US App Store in-app purchase; billing period not shown) | $4.99 per month, or $29.99 per year |
| Free plan | Free version with no time limit: the core mood and activity diary, with caps on moods, goals, reminders and important days. Advanced stats, automatic backups and PDF export need Premium. | Many of the app's features are free to use. Sync between all your devices, the passcode lock and more color themes are member-only. |
| Free trial | Free 7-day trial of the Premium features. | The vendor's site lists a 3-day free trial on the monthly plan and a 14-day free trial on the annual plan. |
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Relaxio s.r.o. and Habitics s.r.o. | Sumi Interactive |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Daylio
- People who want to log a mood in a couple of taps instead of writing
- Seeing which activities go with better or worse moods over time
- Privacy-minded users who want entries kept on the phone, not a vendor server
Grid Diary
- People who find a blank page hard and prefer answering prompts
- Weekly, monthly and yearly reviews alongside a daily diary
- Building a custom journal or planner from templates
Worth knowing
Daylio
- No desktop or web version: Daylio says the app is not being developed for computers or the web.
- There is no real-time sync; using a second device means a manual backup and restore each time you switch.
- Advanced stats, automatic backups, PDF export and, on iOS, the PIN lock require Premium.
- Daylio's site publishes no price list; Premium prices appear in the app and on app store listings.
Grid Diary
- Sync between devices, the passcode lock and extra color themes require the paid membership.
- The vendor's site quotes $2.99 monthly and $22.99 annual, while the US App Store lists $4.99 and $29.99.
- Apps are listed for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android; no Windows app is offered.
- The App Store version requires iOS 26, iPadOS 26 or macOS 26 or later.
Key features
Daylio
- Two-tap entries
- A daily entry is a mood plus the activities you did. Notes, writing templates, photos and voice memos can be added, and moods and activities are customizable.
- Stats and correlations
- Entries feed weekly, monthly and yearly charts, from simple mood lines to correlations between moods and activities. Advanced stats are a Premium feature.
- Year in Pixels
- A single chart shows the whole year with one dot for each day. It can be exported as a picture and shared with other people.
- Goals and reminders
- Daily, weekly or monthly goals sit alongside the diary, with achievements for habits. The free version limits the number of goals and reminders.
- On-device storage and backups
- Entries are stored on the phone and are not sent to Daylio's servers. Backups go to iCloud on iOS or Google Drive on Android; automatic backups need Premium.
- Lock and export
- The diary can be locked with a PIN, fingerprint or Face ID, and entries export to PDF or CSV. The PIN lock on iOS and PDF export are Premium features.
Grid Diary
- Grid format with prompts
- An entry is a customizable grid of prompted boxes on a single page. Prompts come from a built-in library, or you can write your own.
- Day, week, month and year entries
- Separate daily, weekly, monthly and yearly entries let you plan and review at each time scale within the same journal.
- Templates
- Customizable templates cover a gratitude journal, a goal tracker, a weekly planner and more, so the app can double as a planner.
- Mandala layout
- A 9-grid layout inspired by the mandala keeps a fixed center cell, which the vendor compares to journaling as a mind map.
- Markdown editor and attachments
- The editor supports Markdown with rich preview, inline images and to-dos, and photos can be attached to entries.
- Multiple journals, tags and export
- Keep dedicated journals for areas such as family, work and travel, organize entries with tags, and export in PDF, Markdown, JPG and other formats.
Plans
Daylio
Free$0
The core mood and activity diary with no time limit, and caps on the number of moods, goals, reminders and important days.
Daylio Premium$4.99 to $59.99
billing period not shown on the US App Store listing
Unlimited moods and goals, advanced stats, automatic backups, PDF export and custom note templates. The US App Store lists $4.99, $17.99, $23.99, $35.99 and $59.99.
Grid Diary
Free$0
Many of the app's features without a subscription. Sync between devices, the passcode lock and extra color themes are excluded.
Membership$4.99
per month, or $29.99 per year (US App Store)
One in-app subscription covering all your devices: sync, passcode lock, more color themes and future member-only features.
Ways to pay less
Daylio
- Lifetime license
One-time purchase instead of a subscription
Daylio's terms describe a One-Time Purchase that grants access without a time limit, alongside monthly and yearly Premium subscriptions. The price is shown in the app.
- Other savings
Apple Family Sharing for Premium
On iOS, a Daylio Premium purchase can be shared with family members through Apple Family Sharing once it is set up in Apple settings.
Grid Diary
- Annual discount
About 50% less with the annual membership
The US App Store lists the membership at $4.99 monthly or $29.99 annual, which is about 50% less than twelve monthly payments.
