Grid Diary vs Journey

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.