What is the best gratitude journal app?

Gratitude: Self-Care Journal, for most people. It's free to download on iPhone and Android, and its reminders arrive with a prompt. If you want the same morning and evening questions every day, get the Five Minute Journal.

What is the best free gratitude journal app?

Presently on Android, which has no ads and nothing to buy and keeps entries on your phone. On iPhone, Apple's own Journal app is free and includes gratitude prompts.

Is the Five Minute Journal app free?

Yes, for the core. The guided morning and evening entries, reminders, the lock, streaks and export are free. Photos, your own questions, the mood tracker and the widget are paid, from US$4.99 a month on the App Store.

How often should you write in a gratitude journal?

Three times a week is enough. Greater Good in Action suggests up to five specific things, at least three times a week, for at least two weeks.

Is a gratitude journal app better than paper?

An app is better if you need a reminder, a lock and search, and paper is better if you'd rather keep screens out of your evening. Greater Good in Action says either works, as long as you write the entry down.

9 best gratitude journal apps in 2026, free and paid

How we chose

The best gratitude journal app for most people is Gratitude: Self-Care Journal. It's free to download on iPhone and Android, and each reminder arrives with a prompt, so the hardest part, the first line, is already started. If you'd rather answer the same few questions every morning and night, get the Five Minute Journal instead.

A gratitude journal is a short list of good things from your day, written down. That's all an app has to help you do, and most of them pile on extras. We asked six questions of each one:

What does it cost, and what can you use for free with no end date?
Does it run on iPhone and Android, or only one of them?
How few taps does it take to write an entry?
Does it hand you a prompt when your mind goes blank?
Can you lock it, search it and take your entries with you if you leave?
What's the one thing it does badly?

Every price and feature below comes from the maker's own website or its App Store and Google Play listings, read on 30 October 2026. We didn't install and test the apps, so there are no star ratings or test scores here. Prices are US prices, and makers charge different amounts in other countries.

The 9 best gratitude journal apps

Start at the top and stop at the first one that sounds like your evenings.

1. Gratitude: Self-Care Journal: best for most people

Gratitude, made by Hapjoy Technologies, sends you a reminder with a prompt in it, so you open the app with a question already waiting. You can add photos to an entry, record it in your own voice, keep a streak going and pick from hundreds of other prompts. Around the journal sit affirmations you can read or listen to, vision boards built from photos and goals, and Daily Zen, a feed of quotes and real stories.

It's free to download. The App Store listing puts the Pro plan at US$4.99 a month or US$29.99 a year, and it doesn't say which features need Pro, so look inside the app before you pay. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android.

Pick it if you want prompts that find you, on either kind of phone. Skip it if you only want a journal. Affirmations, vision boards and a quote feed come in the same app.

2. Five Minute Journal: best for a set morning and evening template

The Five Minute Journal app turns Intelligent Change's paper journal into two short check-ins, one guided entry each morning and one each evening, built around gratitude. A timeline and calendar let you scroll back through old days, and weekly challenges and a daily quote keep it from going stale.

The free version covers the guided morning and evening entries, reminders, a passcode or Face ID lock, streaks and export to PDF or HTML. Photos and video, your own questions, a notes page, a mood tracker, On This Day memories and the home screen widget are paid. The App Store lists the upgrade from US$4.99 a month or US$19.99 a year. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android.

Pick it if you like the same few questions in the same order, every day. Skip it if a fixed template feels like a form. Day One gives you a blank page.

3. Presently: best free app for Android

Presently does the one job and stops there. You write today's entry, read back old ones, get a daily reminder and a quote or prompt, and lock the app with your fingerprint or face. Search, export, import and colour themes are all in.

Its maker calls it free and ad free, with nothing to buy, and says your entries stay on your device. It runs on Android, and its developer has no iPhone version in the App Store.

Pick it if you're on Android and want a plain gratitude list that costs nothing. Skip it on an iPhone, or if you like a photo with each entry, which its listing never mentions.

4. Apple Journal: best free pick for iPhone

Journal is Apple's own app, free on iPhone and iPad. Its suggestions pull in the day's photos, outings, workouts and media, so you can start from a moment instead of an empty screen, and its reflection prompts include gratitude. You can add photos, video and voice recordings, which it transcribes, and doodle with a finger or an Apple Pencil.

The journal locks with your passcode, Face ID or Touch ID and backs up to iCloud. Insights shows your streaks, a widget can put a prompt on your Home Screen, and you can set a writing schedule or let it pick a good time to remind you. You can also print or export entries.

Pick it if you have an iPhone and want nothing to install or pay for. Skip it if you also want it on an Android phone or a laptop, because the listing names iPhone and iPad only.

5. Orca: best for a photo a day

Orca, the app that used to be called Happyfeed, is a gratitude journal built around pictures. Each day you post your good things with photos, a short video or a place, and tag your best days with an emoji. After a week the app starts showing you memories from a week ago, then months, then years, and the Gratitude Jar pulls up a random old post. Pods let you share chosen posts with a partner or family, and everything else stays private.

The free version lets you post every day with no limit and has no ads. Orca Plus adds search, export to PDF or CSV, up to 10 good things a day, four photos a post, 30-second videos and the full calendar, at US$3.99 a month or US$39.99 a year on the App Store. It needs an account, and it runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android and the web.

Pick it if a photo says more about your day than a sentence. Skip it if you want to search old entries for free, because search is a Plus feature.

6. Gratitude Plus: best for doing it with family or friends

Gratitude Plus keeps a private journal and adds Circles, small groups where you share entries with your partner, family or friends. A public feed shows what strangers are grateful for, if you want it. You also get prompts, a daily mood check, affirmations, and insights that show the words and moods you write most.

It's free to use. The App Store listing gives the subscription as US$10.99 a month or US$39.99 a year. It runs on iPhone, iPad and Android.

Pick it if you'll keep going because your sister will see whether you posted. Skip it if a feed of other people's posts sounds like one more thing to scroll.

7. 365 Gratitude: best for a new prompt every day

365 Gratitude gives you a fresh prompt each day, which its maker says psychologists wrote, and turns the habit into a game with points, streaks and badges. You can track your mood and drop entries into a digital gratitude jar. There's also Joy, an AI coach that walks you through exercises on stressful days, and a community where members share what went well.

It starts with a free trial. The App Store lists its GratPlus plan from US$4.99 a month or US$17.99 a year. It runs on iPhone, iPad and Android.

Pick it if a blank page stops you and a daily question gets you going. Skip it if points, badges and a community feel like a game you didn't sign up for.

8. Day One: best for gratitude inside a full journal

Day One is a full diary, and gratitude can be one journal in it. On the free Basic plan you write as many entries as you like, in as many journals as you like, with one photo each. Prompts, templates, search, streaks and On This Day are free too, and entries are encrypted end to end.

The catch is devices. Basic works on one device, plus the web. Silver, at US$49.99 a year, adds every device, up to 30 photos or videos per entry and audio with transcription. Gold, US$74.99 a year, brings Daily Chat and AI summaries. Day One runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Android and in a browser.

Pick it if you also want a place for longer entries, and gratitude is one part of that. Skip it if you want a phone and a laptop in sync for free.

9. Stoic: best for a morning plan and an evening look back

Stoic frames each day with a morning check-in, where you plan, and an evening one, where you reflect. Gratitude is one of its guided topics, next to happiness, stress and relationships, and you can write, record a voice note or add a picture. It also tracks moods and habits and has breathing, meditation and app blocking.

It's free to start. Its website says entries are stored on your devices, and the paid plan backs them up and syncs them across Apple devices and the web. The App Store lists plans from US$6.99, up to US$299 for lifetime access. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Android.

Pick it if you want gratitude as one part of a bigger daily check-in. Skip it if you only want to list three good things, because the rest of the app comes with it.

What each one costs

Presently and Apple Journal are the only two with nothing to buy. The rest charge from US$3.99 a month, at US prices as of October 2026.

App	Free	Paid from	Runs on
Gratitude	Free to download	US$4.99 a month	iPhone, Android
Five Minute Journal	Core entries	US$4.99 a month	iPhone, Android
Presently	Everything	Nothing to buy	Android
Apple Journal	Everything	Nothing to buy	iPhone, iPad
Orca	Unlimited posts	US$3.99 a month	iPhone, Android, web
Gratitude Plus	Free to use	US$10.99 a month	iPhone, Android
365 Gratitude	Free trial	US$4.99 a month	iPhone, Android
Day One	One device	US$49.99 a year	Every platform
Stoic	Free to start	US$6.99	iPhone, Android, Mac

Which one fits you

Find your line.

You want prompts that come to you, on any phone: Gratitude.
You like the same questions every morning and night: Five Minute Journal.
You're on Android and won't pay: Presently.
Your phone is an iPhone and you won't pay: Apple Journal.
Your camera roll is already your diary: Orca.
You'll stick with it if someone else is watching: Gratitude Plus.
A blank page stops you cold: 365 Gratitude.
You want gratitude next to longer journal entries: Day One.
A plan in the morning and a look back at night sounds right: Stoic.

If two lines fit, pick the one with the free plan you'd keep. And if you'd like gratitude as one piece of a wider self care app, with sleep and breathing too, look at the best self care apps.

What to write, and how often

Most apps push you to write every day and count your streak. Greater Good in Action, from UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, asks for less. It suggests writing up to five things, for 15 minutes, at least three times a week, for at least two weeks. It says a notebook, your phone's notes app or anything else will do, as long as you write the entry down rather than keep it in your head.

So you don't need an app at all. An app is better than paper when you need a reminder, a lock and search across old entries. Paper is better when you'd rather keep screens out of your evening, because a notebook never sends you a notification.

Its tips are worth more than any feature on this list:

Be specific. "My neighbour carried the stroller up the stairs" beats "my neighbour".
Go deep on one thing rather than wide on ten.
Write about people more than things.
Picture your day without something good in it, and notice what you'd lose.
Write down what surprised you, because unexpected good things bring up the strongest gratitude.

The study behind the practice is by Robert Emmons of UC Davis and Michael McCullough of the University of Miami, published in 2003. People kept weekly or daily records of their lives. The groups who listed what they were grateful for came out ahead on several measures of well-being, not every one, compared with groups who wrote about hassles or other topics. The clearest gain was in positive mood.

If a prompt helps, steal one of these:

Who made today easier, and what exactly did they do?

What went better than you expected?

What would you miss if it disappeared tomorrow?

What surprised you today?

What small thing did you walk past without noticing until now?

Keep your entries private

A gratitude journal fills up with names, worries and family news, so check where it goes before you write a month of it. Every App Store listing has an App Privacy section, and every Google Play listing has a Data safety box. Read both for the app you pick.

Presently stores entries on your phone, and its Data safety box says it can share app activity and device IDs with third parties.
Apple Journal locks with your phone's passcode, Face ID or Touch ID and backs up to your iCloud.
Day One encrypts entries end to end, on the free plan too.
Orca keeps posts private unless you share them and needs an account so it can sync.
Stoic stores entries on your devices, and backup comes with the paid plan.
Gratitude and Gratitude Plus don't mention a lock or an export in their store listings, so look for both in the settings before you write anything personal.

Before you trust an app with a year of entries, check you can get them out. Presently, Apple Journal, Day One and the Five Minute Journal all export on their free plans. Orca keeps export for Plus.

Jo's first two weeks

Made-up example: Jo runs the early shift at a bakery and gets home at 3pm. She has an Android phone and won't pay for an app until she knows she'll keep using it.

Sunday: she installs Presently and sets the daily reminder for 8:30pm, after the kids are in bed. She aims for three entries a week, the least Greater Good suggests, and ignores the reminder on the other nights.

Monday: three lines in four minutes. The regular who brought back the cake tin, washed. The oven that held its heat through the Saturday rush. A voice note from her sister.

Wednesday: she's tired and writes one thing, but in detail: her son reading the bus timetable out loud to her, every stop.

Friday: she skips it for a work dinner and writes on Saturday instead.

Day 14: she counts seven entries, none longer than five minutes. She searches "sister" and finds three of them. She exports a backup to her phone's files, keeps Presently and pays nothing.

Make it last past week two

Most gratitude apps get downloaded on a good day and dropped on a bad one. Set yours up for the bad day.

Pin it to something you already do every night, like plugging in your phone or brushing your teeth. That's habit stacking: the old habit does the remembering for you.
Keep one reminder. Turn off every other notification the app sends.
Write three good things and stop. A short entry you finish beats a long one you put off.
Don't chase the streak. If you miss a night, write the next night and move on.
Once a month, read back through four weeks of entries. That's when the list starts to pay off.

For the full method, with the two-minute start and a plan for the day you miss, see how to build a habit.

Want the habit to sit beside the rest of your day? ActivityTracker's Mind and mornings routine puts three things you are grateful for at 9:45 each night, and if the time comes and it isn't done, the assistant nudges you.

See how routines nudge you