Calculate savings

Free alternatives to Day One

Swap Day One for Memos or jrnl and stop paying $49.99/yr.

2open source2run on Linux1in Arch/AUR1self-hostable

Prices and project data checked · How we check

$49.99/yr Silver Verified on dayoneapp.com, Oct 17, 2026

2 alternatives

Memos

Self-hosted server About Memos →
Replaces it Active Open source · MIT Linux Self-hostable
usememos/memos63.9k★last push Oct 16, 2026checked Oct 17, 2026

A self-hosted notes timeline rather than a journal app: no official phone apps, prompts, maps or printed books.

Self-host

Runs on your own Linux server. Setup docs are on usememos.com.

jrnl

Command line About jrnl →
Partly replaces it Active Open source · GPL-3.0 Linux Arch/AUR
jrnl-org/jrnl7.3k★last push Oct 16, 2026checked Oct 17, 2026

A command-line text journal: no phone app, photos or sync, and it can't import current Day One exports.

Install
$ sudo pacman -S jrnl

At a glance

Free alternatives to Day One compared
AlternativeVerdictLicenseLinuxAURSelf-hostStars
Memos Replaces it MIT open source Yes — Yes 63.9k★
jrnl Partly replaces it GPL-3.0 open source Yes Yes No 7.3k★

Day One alternatives: questions

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).

Built or know a better alternative to Day One? Suggest it free, or get it featured on this page.

Notes & Docs

More to cancel in Notes & Docs

All Notes & Docs →
Newsletter

One cancellation a week.

One subscription, the free thing that replaces it, and how to move your data over, with a Linux or self-host recipe.

No spam. Buttondown sends it, and your address is never sold. Unsubscribe anytime.