Productivity · head to head
Day One vs Milanote
Day One
Productivity
Journalling app for iOS, Android and Mac now sold as a subscription after years as a one-time purchase
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Milanote
Productivity
Board-based visual workspace for creative planning, free up to 100 items for the whole account
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Day One it moved from a one-time purchase to a subscription after the Automattic acquisition, so long-term cost is materially higher than the original pricing implied.; Milanote the free plan caps the entire account at 100 notes, images or links and 10 file uploads rather than capping per board, so one properly worked project exhausts it and the tool stops working rather than degrading gracefully.
- They diverge on capability: Day One covers Multiple journals, Milanote covers Infinite board canvas.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Day One and Milanote actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Day One
- Multiple journals
- Rich entries
- End-to-end encryption
- On This Day
- Cross-platform sync
- PDF and Day One export
Only in Milanote
- Infinite board canvas
- Mixed content
- Nested boards
- Templates
- Web clipper
- Shared boards with comments
- Mobile apps
- Free plan
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Day One
- Someone wanting a private daily journal with photos that syncs between phone and laptopnot Milanote
- A person keeping a travel journal that auto-attaches location and weather to each entrynot Milanote
- Someone who wants encrypted entries kept separate from an unencrypted general journalnot Milanote
- A user who wants automated daily writing prompts and On This Day nostalgia reviewnot Milanote
Milanote
- Moodboards and visual references for a branding or design project, gathered from the web and arranged for a client review.not Day One
- Storyboarding a video or planning a shoot, where the whole sequence needs to be visible at once.not Day One
- Structuring a book, script or long article by physically moving sections around until the order works.not Day One
- A shared board where a small creative team reacts to work in progress without the overhead of a project tool.not Day One
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Day One
- It moved from a one-time purchase to a subscription after the Automattic acquisition, so long-term cost is materially higher than the original pricing implied.
- The free tier caps at one journal and 25 photo entries, which is restrictive enough that anyone journalling seriously for more than a few weeks needs to pay.
- End-to-end encryption is opt-in per journal rather than on by default, so users have to actively choose it and understand which journals are protected.
- Cancelling Premium after using multiple journals or heavy photo storage can leave content viewable but with sync and some features disabled, so people should export before cancelling.
- As an Automattic product, its roadmap sits behind a company whose primary focus is WordPress and Tumblr, not journalling specifically.
Milanote
- The free plan caps the entire account at 100 notes, images or links and 10 file uploads rather than capping per board, so one properly worked project exhausts it and the tool stops working rather than degrading gracefully.
- The value of a board is its arrangement, and arrangement is the one thing export does not carry, so a PDF gives you a picture and a text export gives you the words while nothing reconstitutes the board in another tool.
- Pricing is per person and the tool spreads naturally to reviewers and clients who only look and comment, so a team plan ends up covering people who never create anything.
- There is no database layer, no properties, no filtering and no dependency tracking, so a project that starts on a Milanote board has to be re-entered somewhere else the moment it acquires owners and dates.
- Offline support is minimal, so a board full of references is effectively unavailable without a connection, which is a real problem for a tool aimed at people who work on location and in meetings away from a desk.
Pricing, plan by plan
Day One
Free- FreeFree
- One journal
- Up to 25 photo entries
- Basic sync
- Day One Premium$3.99/month
- Unlimited journals and photos
- End-to-end encryption
- On This Day and audio transcription
- Day One Premium Annual$34.99/year
- Same as monthly Premium at a lower effective rate
Milanote
Free- FreeFree
- 100 notes, images or links
- 10 file uploads
- Unlimited shared boards
- Individual$9.99/month
- Unlimited notes, images or links
- Unlimited file uploads
- Unlimited shared boards
- Team$49/month
- Unlimited notes, images or links
- Unlimited file uploads
- Unlimited shared boards
Which should you pick?
Choose Day One if
- You need multiple journals.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS, Android, macOS, Web.
- You also want rich entries.
Choose Milanote if
- You need infinite board canvas.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want mixed content.
Questions people ask
- Is Day One or Milanote better?
- Neither clearly leads. Day One starts at Free and Milanote at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Day One or Milanote?
- Day One starts at Free and Milanote at Free.
- Does Day One or Milanote run on more platforms?
- Day One runs on iOS, Android, macOS, Web. Milanote runs on Web.
- Can I use Day One for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Day One best used for?
- Day One is most often used for someone wanting a private daily journal with photos that syncs between phone and laptop, a person keeping a travel journal that auto-attaches location and weather to each entry, someone who wants encrypted entries kept separate from an unencrypted general journal, a user who wants automated daily writing prompts and on this day nostalgia review. Of those, someone wanting a private daily journal with photos that syncs between phone and laptop and a person keeping a travel journal that auto-attaches location and weather to each entry are not what Milanote is typically brought in for.
- What can Day One do that Milanote cannot?
- Day One covers Multiple journals, Rich entries, End-to-end encryption, On This Day. Milanote covers Infinite board canvas, Mixed content, Nested boards, Templates.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Day One: Is Day One still a one-time purchase?
No. Since the 2021 Automattic acquisition it is sold as Day One Premium, a subscription. Older lifetime purchasers were grandfathered but new users pay a subscription.
Milanote: How long does the free plan last?
Indefinitely. It is limited by quantity rather than by time: 100 notes, images or links and 10 file uploads for the account as a whole, so it ends when you hit the cap rather than on a date.
Day One: Is encryption on by default?
No, end-to-end encryption is an option users turn on per journal, not a default for all entries.
Milanote: Can I export a board?
You can produce PDFs and images of a board and extract the text, but the spatial arrangement is not portable, so nothing you export reconstructs the board in another tool.
Day One: Can I export my entries if I cancel?
Yes, PDF and native Day One export formats are available regardless of subscription status, though some sync and premium features stop working.
Milanote: Is it a project management tool?
No. There are no dates, dependencies or workload views. It suits the thinking phase, and the work has to be handed to a tracker once it becomes a plan.
Milanote: Do collaborators need paid accounts?
Shared boards are unlimited even on the free plan, and the paid question is about who creates rather than who looks. Confirm the current plan terms before rolling it out to a client's team.
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