Day One
Day One is a cross-platform personal journaling application offering end-to-end encrypted text, photo, video, audio, and location entries on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Web, and Apple Watch, monetized via freemium subscriptions (Silver $49.99/year, Gold $74.99/year with AI features). The product serves individual consumers seeking private long-term journaling, memory preservation, and wellness reflection.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersLehi, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Day One does
Day One is a cross-platform personal journaling application founded in 2011 by Paul Mayne and Eric Cohen (originally as Bloom Built LLC) and now operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Automattic Inc. The product targets individual consumers seeking structured, private, long-term journaling, with supporting use cases in mental health and wellness, memory preservation, travel documentation, and fitness logging. Its core architecture consists of native apps for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Apple Watch, browser extensions, and a web version (dayone.me), unified by the proprietary Day One Sync cloud infrastructure, which was introduced in 2015 and now ships with end-to-end private-key encryption that has been audited by nVisium. Notable product capabilities include multi-format entries (text, photos, video, audio, drawing, location), an On This Day memory recall feature, calendar view, multiple journal support, templates, Apple HealthKit Mindful Minutes integration, shared journals, and a book printing service.
The company operates a freemium, product-led distribution model, acquiring users through the Apple App Store, Google Play, Mac App Store, Microsoft Store, web access, and content marketing (blog, social channels on Instagram/X/LinkedIn/Facebook/Bluesky, YouTube tutorials, podcast, and a public community forum). Revenue is generated via two annual subscription tiers introduced as part of a 2026 tier restructure: Silver ($49.99/year, formerly "Premium") covering cross-device sync and multimedia journaling, and Gold ($74.99/year) covering all Silver capabilities plus AI-powered features — Daily Chat (text and voice conversational journaling), Go Deeper reflection prompts, image generation, entry summaries, and title suggestions. All AI features operate under end-to-end encryption with no data used for training.
Day One firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Day One
- Legal name
- Automattic Inc.
- Website
- https://dayoneapp.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Day One is a cross-platform personal journaling application offering end-to-end encrypted text, photo, video, audio, and location entries on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Web, and Apple Watch, monetized via freemium subscriptions (Silver $49.99/year, Gold $74.99/year with AI features). The product serves individual consumers seeking private long-term journaling, memory preservation, and wellness reflection.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Day One industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Personal Journaling Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Email, Calendar & Scheduling (BPAMAMAC)
Keywords
Where Day One is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lehi
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Day One business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Premium Subscriptions: Day One generates revenue through tiered subscription plans. The free tier provides basic journaling functionality. The Silver tier ($49.99/year) offers unlimited device access and media logging. The Gold tier ($74.99/year) adds AI-powered features including Daily Chat conversational journaling, Go Deeper AI prompts, image generation, entry summaries, and title suggestions. Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Free tier - Basic journaling with core features |
| Subscription | Annual | Silver tier ($49.99/year) - Multi-device sync and media logging |
| Subscription | Annual | Gold tier ($74.99/year) - Full AI-powered journaling experience |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels7 records
Marketing channels11 records
Day One product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Day One is a cross-platform personal journaling application available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, Apple Watch, and web browsers. The app supports text, photos, video, audio, drawing, and location-tagged entries with end-to-end encryption, cloud sync across devices, and features such as On This Day memory recall and calendar view. A free tier provides basic journaling, while Silver ($49.99/year) adds multi-device sync and media logging, and Gold ($74.99/year) adds AI-powered features including conversational Daily Chat, Go Deeper prompts, image generation, entry summaries, and title suggestions.
Product overview
Day One is a unified journaling platform consisting of a core mobile and desktop application with subscription tiers (Silver and Gold), cloud sync infrastructure (Day One Sync), and supplementary features. The Silver plan ($49.99/year) provides cross-platform access and multimedia journaling; the Gold plan ($74.99/year) adds AI-powered features including Daily Chat conversational journaling, image generation, entry summaries, and title suggestions. Additional offerings include book printing, browser extensions, shared journals, and an experimental Labs program. The platform is available on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and web, with end-to-end encryption as a default security feature.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Day One Journaling App Cross-platform personal journaling application available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, Apple Watch, and web browsers. Supports text, photos, videos, drawings, audio recordings, and location-tagged entries with passcode/biometric security, calendar view, and the On This Day memory recall feature.
- Day One Book Printing Print-on-demand service allowing users to compile journal entries into physical books that are mailed to a specified address for a fee.
- Day One Browser Extensions Browser extensions that let users save web content directly into their Day One journal from any browser.
- Day One Sync Proprietary cloud-based synchronization service that backs up and syncs journal entries across all supported devices, with end-to-end encryption where the encryption key is stored locally on the device and optionally in iCloud.
- Apple Journal Import Tool Migration utility that enables Apple Journal users to transfer their entries into Day One through a dedicated import flow on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Quantifiable outcome
- Users report maintaining journaling streaks of 1,000+ days, demonstrating strong habit formation
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Day One
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Day One technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability5 records
Feature10 records
Day One partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Day One competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Apple Journal: Apple's native journaling app shipped with iOS 17.1. Directly competes with Day One by offering preinstalled journaling on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with similar memory and reflection features. Day One has even launched an import tool to capture Apple Journal migrants.
- Journey: Cross-platform journaling app available on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and web. Closest direct competitor to Day One's premium multi-device journaling offering with end-to-end encryption and cloud sync, and a similar target customer.
- Penzu: Long-standing private online journaling service emphasizing encryption and privacy. Targets the same privacy-conscious journaling user base as Day One with cross-device access.
- Reflectly: AI-powered journaling and mood-tracking app with conversational prompts. Competes with Day One's Gold tier AI features by offering guided reflection and mental health journaling experiences.
- Daylio: Mood-tracking and micro-journaling app with a large consumer base. Targets the mental health journaling segment that overlaps with Day One's wellness use cases.
- Stoic: Mental health and journaling app focused on gratitude, mood tracking, and guided reflection. Directly competes with Day One's mental health and wellness segment.
- Bear: Apple-platform-focused note-taking and journaling app for iOS and Mac. Comparable cross-device note-taking product with strong design pedigree, competing for journaling use cases within the Apple ecosystem.
Broad incumbents
- Notion: Broad productivity and notes platform with collaborative journaling templates and Notion AI. Larger incumbent that addresses personal journaling as a use case within a much wider knowledge-management surface area.
- Evernote: Mature cross-platform notes and personal organization platform with long-tenured users. Incumbent in personal knowledge capture with broader scope than pure journaling.
Emerging players
- Mem: AI-native self-organizing workspace and memory app using conversational capture. Emerging direct competitor in the AI-augmented personal memory/journaling category overlapping with Day One's Gold tier.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Day One social profiles
Digital presenceDay One compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Day One financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Day One leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Day One funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Day One M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Day One
What does Day One do?
Day One is a cross-platform personal journaling application available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, Apple Watch, and web browsers. The app supports text, photos, video, audio, drawing, and location-tagged entries with end-to-end encryption, cloud sync across devices, and features such as On This Day memory recall and calendar view. A free tier provides basic journaling, while Silver ($49.99/year) adds multi-device sync and media logging, and Gold ($74.99/year) adds AI-powered features including conversational Daily Chat, Go Deeper prompts, image generation, entry summaries, and title suggestions.
Is Day One a public or private company?
Day One is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Day One founded?
Day One was founded in 2011. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Day One based?
Day One is headquartered in Lehi, United States, in the North America region.
How does Day One make money?
One revenue line is on record: premium Subscriptions.
Who are Day One's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Apple Journal, Journey, Penzu, Reflectly, Daylio, Stoic and Bear. Broad incumbents are Notion and Evernote. Mem is listed as an emerging player.
Does Day One have an API?
Yes. Day One historically offered IFTTT integration allowing third-party services to create journal entries automatically. The E2EE FAQ references 'Using IFTTT with Day One' troubleshooting guides, indicating IFTTT can interact with encrypted journals. No current public REST API or developer portal was found on the main site or documentation. The privacy policy mentions Day One Sync as a proprietary backup/sync service rather than a public API.
What industry is Day One in?
Day One's product category is Personal Journaling Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAMAC, Email, Calendar & Scheduling. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.