Day One vs Natus: which journal is actually for you
Day One vs Natus comes down to what you want the journal for. Day One is the best archive: photos, locations, multiple journals, years of your life stored well. Natus is for understanding: it starts with a reading of how you operate, then reads your week back to you every Sunday. If you want to keep everything, pick Day One. If you want to know why you keep doing what you do, pick Natus.
What Day One users say in their own reviews
Verbatim from public 1 and 2 star App Store reviews. Day One is rated 4.8 on the App Store overall, so plenty of people are happy. These are the ones who were not.
Too expensive1 star review
$75 for a digital journal??? And....deleted.
Deleted my information1 star review
The app deleted years of journaling with an update. I'm beyond furious that I've lost my written thoughts and memories upon the birth of my daughter.
Can't access the free journal anymore1 star review
Now the screen shows up as Buy or no longer being able to access the basic version? This is not nice at all.
They took away features that I paid for1 star review
I've been a paying user of Day One for years and have hundreds of entries in this app. I already thought the subscription was expensive.
Side by side
| Feature | Day One | Natus |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A life archive: entries, photos, locations, multiple journals. | A journal that knows how you operate and reads your week back. |
| How it starts | A blank page. You bring all the context. | A First Reading built from your name and birth details. |
| What you get back | On this day memories, streaks, a searchable archive. | A Sunday read-back of your week in your own words, plus Ask. |
| What it costs | Free tier, then roughly $50-75 a year for the real app. | Free First Reading, Preview, private journal, and first Sunday letter. Annual plan includes the full Blueprint. |
| The common complaint | Price hikes, features moved behind tiers, lost entries. | It is new and iPhone only. |
| Who it fits | People who want to keep everything and browse it years later. | People who journal to understand why they keep doing what they do. |
Where Day One is genuinely better
Day One has had over a decade to get good. Photo entries, locations, multiple journals, printing books, strong export. If your goal is a permanent record of your life, it is the most complete option on iPhone and nothing else comes close.
Where people get burned
The 1 star reviews tell one story: the price keeps rising, features people paid for move into more expensive tiers, and a minority lose entries during updates. You are renting the archive, and the rent goes up.
Where Natus is different
Natus is not trying to out-archive Day One. It is built for the other reason people journal: to finally see the pattern. Your First Reading maps how you operate before you write a word, your week is read back to you every Sunday, and Ask answers questions against all of it. If you have years of entries you never reread, that difference matters more than features.
Common questions
- Is Natus better than Day One?
- They do different jobs. Day One is the better archive and has more features. Natus is better if the reason you journal is to understand yourself, because it reads your week back instead of only storing it.
- Is Natus cheaper than Day One?
- Natus has a real free tier: First Reading, Preview, private journal, and your first Sunday letter. Paid plans are Monthly (A$19.99) or Annual (A$149.99), and the annual plan includes the full Blueprint book. Day One's paid tier is roughly $50-75 a year depending on the plan.
- Can I use both Day One and Natus?
- Yes. Some people keep Day One as the archive and use Natus for the weekly read-back and Ask. They do not conflict.