# Free alternatives to Day One

> Day One (Silver) costs $49.99 a year. Free alternatives: Memos and jrnl. Data checked 2026-10-17.

- Page: https://stoprenting.dev/apps/day-one/
- Category: Notes & Docs (https://stoprenting.dev/categories/notes-and-docs/)
- Vendor: Automattic
- Plan: Silver
- Price: $4.17/month, $49.99/year
- Billing: annual
- Price quote from the vendor's page: "Silver Everything you need for consistent, daily journaling $49.99 per year"
- Price source: https://dayoneapp.com/pricing/ (checked 2026-10-17)

## Alternatives

### Memos

- Website: https://usememos.com
- Repository: https://github.com/usememos/memos (63,871 stars, last push 2026-10-16)
- License: MIT
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: server app
- Linux: self-hosted server; web UI
- Self-hostable: yes
- Note: A self-hosted notes timeline rather than a journal app: no official phone apps, prompts, maps or printed books.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/memos/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### jrnl

- Website: https://jrnl.sh
- Repository: https://github.com/jrnl-org/jrnl (7,344 stars, last push 2026-10-16)
- License: GPL-3.0
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: command-line tool
- Linux: Arch extra: jrnl
- Self-hostable: no
- Install: `sudo pacman -S jrnl`
- Note: A command-line text journal: no phone app, photos or sync, and it can't import current Day One exports.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/jrnl/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

## FAQ

### Is there a free alternative to Day One?

Yes. The 2 free alternatives are Memos (open source, MIT) and jrnl (open source, GPL-3.0).

### How much does Day One cost?

Day One's Silver plan costs $4.17 a month, which is $49.99 a year (annual). Source: the official pricing page at dayoneapp.com, checked Oct 17, 2026.

### Which Day One alternatives run on Linux?

Memos (self-hosted server; web UI) and jrnl (Arch extra: jrnl).

### Can you self-host a Day One alternative?

Yes. Memos runs on your own server. jrnl is a command-line tool.

### Are these Day One alternatives open source?

Yes. All 2 use OSI-approved open-source licenses: Memos (MIT) and jrnl (GPL-3.0).

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Source: Stop Renting (https://stoprenting.dev). Methodology: https://stoprenting.dev/methodology/