# A Day One alternative for a journal kept by email If you use Day One, or are weighing it, and would like to journal by email, this page sets what Day One says of itself beside what ohmylife is. ohmylife is a journal you keep by replying to an email: [How it works](/journal-by-email/) goes through each part. What is said of Day One is quoted from its own pages as they stood on 13 November 2026, with a link to each. Prices and plans change, so theirs is the page to trust. ohmylife is not connected with Day One. ## Day One's plans, in its own words From [Day One's plans page](https://dayoneapp.com/plans/): - "Basic", shown as "$0 per year", "Best for getting started with journaling": "Unlimited journal entries", "Unlimited journals", "1 photo per entry", "End-to-end encryption", "Daily Prompt & Prompt Library", "Journal Templates", "Search & Filters", "On This Day Memories", "Journal Streaks". - "Silver", shown as "$49.99 per year", "Everything you need for consistent, daily journaling": "Everything in Basic", "Unlimited photos & videos (30 per entry)", "Journal across all your devices", "Audio recordings & transcription". - "Gold", shown as "$74.99 per year", "A deeper journaling experience, designed for reflection": "Everything in Silver", "Daily Chat for guided reflection", "Reflective AI summaries & prompts". - Its comparison table gives Basic "1 device" under "Device access". - Its comparison table lists "Export to PDF" and "Data export (CSV/JSON)" for all three plans. - On apps: "Download the free Day One journal app on iPhone, Android, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Or access your Day One Journal from any browser." ## Journaling by email on Day One From [Day One's help guide, Create Entries with Email](https://dayoneapp.com/guides/tips-and-tutorials/create-entries-with-email/): - "You can create journal entries by sending an email to Day One." - "When you enable it, each of your journals gets a unique email address — send an email to that address, and a Day One entry will be created." - "This feature is exclusive to our Silver or Gold plan." - "Image attachments are turned off by default." Its plans page lists "Email & SMS journaling" in its comparison table for Silver and Gold and not for Basic. In Day One's words, you "send an email to that address". On ohmylife, an email arrives on the days and at the hour you choose, asking how your day went, and your reply becomes that day's page. ## What ohmylife is Each evening an email arrives: how did your day go? You reply the way you would to a friend, and that reply becomes the day's page. There is no app to open and nothing to remember. You sign in with a Google account. The emails are part of the service, not advertising. Each one has a link that stops them for that journal. [The pricing page](/pricing/) lists what is included, and all of it is free: - An email on the days and at the hour you choose, asking how your day went. Your reply becomes that day's page. - A journal on the web as well: write or change any day, mark how it felt, and tag a day with a word to find it again. - As many journals as you like, each with its own days and its own email. - Photos kept with your days: up to ten a day, 10 MB each, 1 GB in all. - The earlier versions of every day, each showing when it was written and by whom. - A day from your past in the email, if you turn that on. - Your own AI assistant reading your journal and writing in it for you, within what you allow. - Everything you wrote as plain files, whenever you ask, and a copy by email once a year. - Your journal passed to one person you name, or deleted, after a long silence, if you ask for that. For the journal on the web, see [An online diary](/online-diary/). For other journals kept by email set beside ohmylife, see [Journals you keep by email, side by side](/email-journals-compared/). [Start your journal](/app/). Sign in with Google and write your first day tonight. ## The differences, side by side Each point gives Day One's own words and then what ohmylife's pages say. Nothing here is ranked. - Journaling by email. Day One's guide says: "You can create journal entries by sending an email to Day One." On ohmylife, an email arrives on the days and at the hour you choose, asking how your day went. Your reply becomes that day's page. - Which plan has it. Day One's plans page lists "Email & SMS journaling" for Silver and Gold and not for Basic, and its guide says: "This feature is exclusive to our Silver or Gold plan." On ohmylife, the evening email is on the list of what the pricing page gives for free. - Apps. Day One's plans page says: "Download the free Day One journal app on iPhone, Android, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Or access your Day One Journal from any browser." On ohmylife, there is no app to open, and there is a journal on the web when you want one. - Encryption. Day One's plans page lists "End-to-end encryption" under Basic. ohmylife is not end-to-end encrypted, because the service has to open the text to send you a day from years ago and to take your reply by email. What we promise instead is that we do not read it. There are no ads, nothing is sold, and no AI is trained on what you write. [The privacy page](/privacy/) says exactly what we can and cannot promise. - Photos and recordings. Day One's plans page lists "1 photo per entry" under Basic, and "Unlimited photos & videos (30 per entry)" and "Audio recordings & transcription" under Silver. ohmylife keeps JPEG, PNG, WebP and GIF pictures of up to 10 MB each, ten to a day, and 1 GB of them in all. - Journals. Day One's plans page lists "Unlimited journals" under Basic. On ohmylife, you can keep as many journals as you like, each with its own days and its own email. - Looking back. Day One's plans page lists "On This Day Memories" under Basic. On ohmylife, a day from your past comes in the email if you turn that on. - Prompts and AI. Day One's plans page lists "Daily Prompt & Prompt Library" and "Journal Templates" under Basic, and "Daily Chat for guided reflection" and "Reflective AI summaries & prompts" under Gold. ohmylife's email asks one question and says how to answer it. If you connect your own AI assistant, it can read your journal and write in it for you, within what you allow. - Finding a day. Day One's plans page lists "Search & Filters" under Basic. On ohmylife, you mark how a day felt and tag a day with a word to find it again. Those are the facts on each side. Which of them matter is yours to weigh. ## Moving your writing Day One's comparison table lists "Export to PDF" and "Data export (CSV/JSON)" for all three plans. On ohmylife, you can download all of it at any time, from Settings. You get a folder for each journal with one plain text file for each day, which any computer can open, your photos beside the days they belong to, and one file holding the earlier versions of every day, who wrote them, and how each day felt if you recorded that. Once a year ohmylife also emails you that same download, attached, without your asking, so that you always hold a copy of your own. If ohmylife ever closes, you will be told well beforehand and sent your journal first. ## What each costs Day One's plans page shows Basic at "$0 per year", Silver at "$49.99 per year" and Gold at "$74.99 per year". It also says: "Start your free 1 month trial inside the app." and "Cancel anytime without losing your data." ohmylife is free: nothing is charged, and no card is asked for. [The pricing page](/pricing/) lists what is included. There is no advertising. What you write is not sold, not shown to anyone and not used to train AI. ## Questions people ask ### Is ohmylife connected with Day One? No. ohmylife is not connected with Day One. It is a journal you keep by replying to an email. ### Can I create a Day One entry by email? Day One's help guide says: "You can create journal entries by sending an email to Day One." It also says: "This feature is exclusive to our Silver or Gold plan." ### Does Day One have an app, and does ohmylife? Day One's plans page says: "Download the free Day One journal app on iPhone, Android, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Or access your Day One Journal from any browser." ohmylife has no app to open: an email arrives and you reply to it, and there is a journal on the web when you want one. ### Is ohmylife end-to-end encrypted? No. ohmylife is not end-to-end encrypted, because the service has to open the text to send you a day from years ago and to take your reply by email. What we promise instead is that we do not read it. Day One's plans page lists "End-to-end encryption" under Basic. [The privacy page](/privacy/) says exactly what we can and cannot promise. ### What do ohmylife and Day One cost? Nothing is charged, and no card is asked for. [The pricing page](/pricing/) lists what is included. Day One's prices are on [its plans page](https://dayoneapp.com/plans/), and are quoted above as they stood on 13 November 2026. ### Can I get everything out of ohmylife again? Yes. Download the whole journal whenever you like, as a folder of plain text files with your photos beside the days they belong to. Once a year the same download is emailed to you. Day One's comparison table lists "Export to PDF" and "Data export (CSV/JSON)" for all three plans. ### Something on this page is out of date. Who do I tell? Write to hello@ohmylife.app. Day One's own pages are the ones to trust on its prices and plans. Last changed 13 November 2026. [Start your journal](/app/). Sign in with Google and write your first day tonight. --- Contact: hello@ohmylife.app