Diarium pulls a lot into your journal automatically: social posts, photos, steps, location, weather. For some people, that's exactly right. I wanted close to the opposite: a journal that only contains what I sat down and wrote.
The short version
- What it's for. Diarium is a life log that fills itself in from other apps. Cozy is a quiet journal where you decide what goes in.
- Where your entries live. Diarium uses its own database with optional cloud sync. Cozy keeps every entry as a file in a folder you choose.
- Platforms. Both run on Mac, Windows, iPhone and iPad. Diarium also has Android; Cozy doesn't.
- How you pay. Diarium is a one-time buy per platform, with no subscription. Cozy is $49 once, for Mac, Windows, iPhone and iPad together, no subscription.
Different ideas of a journal
Diarium treats your day as a feed of inputs and stitches them together for you. If you want a journal that fills itself in while you sleep, that's a real strength.
Cozy treats your day as something you wrote. The entry is what you typed, plus a mood, a place, and any photos you chose to add. Nothing shows up in your journal unless you put it there.
Where your writing lives
Diarium keeps entries in its own database and syncs them through your own iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox. You can export, but the primary copy is inside the app.
Cozy doesn't have a database. Each entry is a plain text file in a folder you can open in any text editor. If Cozy goes away, you open the folder.
With Diarium's database, moving your journal to another app or another machine means an export, and hoping nothing gets dropped along the way. With Cozy, you copy the folder.
No AI in Cozy
Cozy doesn't have any AI features, on purpose. I wrote a longer post about why Cozy doesn't have AI if you want the reasoning. Short version: a journal isn't the place I want a chat window or autocomplete.
Pricing
Diarium is a one-time purchase on each platform you install it on, with no subscription. Pro, which adds sync, is $14.99 on iPhone.
Cozy Standard is $49 once: one purchase covers every Mac, Windows PC, iPhone and iPad you own. No subscription. Cozy Forever is $89 once and makes updates on Mac and Windows free, always.
Sync
Diarium syncs through several cloud providers you already use. Cozy doesn't run a sync service at all. Because your journal is a folder of files, you put it inside iCloud or Dropbox and it syncs the same way your other files do. To reach Cozy for iPhone and iPad it has to be iCloud Drive: the only folder iOS lets an app read. Diarium is more flexible here.
So which one is for you?
If you want a journal that automatically captures everything you do across apps and devices, Diarium is built for that.
If you want a journal where every entry is something you chose to write, kept as a file you own, paid for once, pick Cozy.
Comparing other apps? Read Cozy vs Day One, Cozy vs Apple Journal, Cozy vs Obsidian, Cozy vs Bear, or Cozy vs Journey.
“I've been using it for a week and I do not regret the purchase at all! :) Very solid, intuitive and aesthetic. I synced with two of my computers to be able to access it from bed, which is where I like to do my digital journaling, and works like a charm. I hope your app continues to grow!”
u/sorabood