Five Minute Journal vs Journey

Five Minute Journal

• People who want a short guided gratitude routine each morning and evening
• Users of the paper Five Minute Journal who want the same format on a phone
• Beginners who prefer answering set prompts to free writing

Journey

• People who want one journal on phone, desktop (including Linux) and web
• Travel journals, with entries tagged by place and shown on a map
• Guided journaling through coach programs and templates
• Buyers who would rather pay once than subscribe

Five Minute Journal

• Listed for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android; no web or desktop version is offered.
• Photos and video, custom questions, the notes section, the mood tracker and the widget need Premium.
• The vendor's site shows no prices; the US App Store lists several monthly and annual price points, some marked for existing users.
• The App Store listing covers four languages: English, French, German and Spanish.

Journey

• The free version has no desktop app access and caps Journey Cloud Sync at 70MB and 60 entries.
• A Premium license covers a single platform; the help center says the Journey Desktop and web apps do not support it.
• Turning on end-to-end encryption disables search, and the vendor says it cannot be reversed.
• Membership stops at 10GB and 5,000 entries; more needs the separate Signature subscription, whose price is not shown publicly.

Five Minute Journal

Guided morning and evening entries

A guided flow takes you through gratitude prompts at the start and end of the day, in a format modeled on the paper Five Minute Journal.

Timeline and calendar

Past entries appear as short daily excerpts on a timeline, and tapping a date in the calendar view opens that day's full entry.

Quotes, challenges and streaks

The app delivers a daily quote and a weekly challenge, sends optional daily reminders and tracks your journaling streak.

Lock and export

Entries can be protected with a passcode, Face ID or Touch ID, and backed up or exported to PDF, HTML or Dropbox for a chosen date range.

Photos, video and notes (Premium)

Premium lets you attach a daily photo or video to any prompt, browse a photo timeline and write freely in a notes section.

Custom questions and mood tracker (Premium)

Premium adds your own custom questions, a mood check-in with insights, On this Day look-back reminders and a home screen widget.

Journey

Multimedia entries

Entries hold photos, videos and audio, with formatting such as tables, checklists and text color. The free version limits photo uploads and has no audio, video or text formatting.

Atlas, calendar and Throwback

Atlas maps entries and media by tagged location, the calendar shows entries by date, and Throwback resurfaces entries from a week, a month or years ago.

Sync and end-to-end encryption

Journals sync through Google Drive or Journey Cloud Sync. Journey Cloud Sync has optional end-to-end encryption with a passphrase the company does not store, and a Docker image for a self-hosted sync drive is offered.

Coach programs and templates

More than 60 guided journaling programs and a set of prompt templates. Free and Premium get limited access; Membership unlocks all programs and custom templates.

Odyssey AI

A chat assistant answers questions about your own past entries. Free and Premium accounts can ask 10 questions a day, and Membership raises that to 50.

Shared journals and web links

Journals can be shared with other people, and selected entries published as web links that open in a browser. Free accounts get 2 web links, Membership 50.

Five Minute Journal

• Free$0

  Guided morning and evening entries, timeline and calendar views, reminders, quotes, challenges, streaks, passcode lock and export.

• Premium (monthly)$4.99 to $9.99

  per month

  Adds photos and video, custom questions, notes, mood tracker and On this Day. The US App Store lists $9.99 for Journaling Premium and $4.99 monthly items.

• Premium (yearly)$19.99 to $39.99

  per year

  The same Premium features billed yearly. The US App Store lists $39.99 for Annual Journaling Premium, plus $24.99 and $19.99 annual items.

Journey

• Free$0

  Mobile and limited web access, Google Drive sync, 70MB and 60 entries on Journey Cloud Sync, shared journals and limited photo uploads.

• Premium$17.99

  one-time purchase per platform (US App Store price)

  Unlocks rich text, audio, themes, Throwback and export on the platform it was bought for, Android or iOS. Not supported on the desktop or web apps.

• Membership$6.99

  per month, or $49.99 per year

  Every platform including desktop and web, 10GB and 5,000 entries on Journey Cloud Sync, all coach programs, custom templates, email entries and Zapier.

• Lifetime Membership$199.00

  one-time purchase

  The Membership features on every platform for a single payment instead of a subscription.

Five Minute Journal

• Annual discount

  About 67% less with the annual plan

  The US App Store lists Journaling Premium at $9.99 for one month and $39.99 for a year, about 67% less than twelve monthly payments.

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime plan as an alternative to subscribing

  Intelligent Change's help center says Premium is sold under monthly, yearly and lifetime plans. The lifetime price is not published on its site.

Journey

• Annual discount

  About 40% less with the annual Membership

  The US App Store listing prices Membership at $6.99 monthly or $49.99 a year, which works out to about 40% less than twelve monthly payments.

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime Membership for a single payment

  Journey's membership page offers a lifetime purchase as an alternative to the subscription. The US App Store lists Lifetime Membership at $199.00.