Feature comparison matrix
The table below covers the attributes that most directly affect journal privacy, ownership, and portability.
| Feature | Mini Diarium | Day One | Notion | Obsidian | Standard Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local storage only | ✓ Yes | Optional | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Encryption at rest | ✓ AES-256-GCM | ✗ No | ✗ No | Plugin required | ✓ E2E encrypted |
| No network access by app | ✓ No HTTP client | ✗ Sync over network | ✗ Full cloud app | ✓ Offline-first | ✓ Local-first |
| No telemetry / analytics | ✓ Verified | ✗ Analytics present | ✗ Full telemetry | ✓ No telemetry | ✓ No telemetry |
| Open export format | ✓ JSON + Markdown | JSON (paid) | Export limited | ✓ Markdown files | ✓ Markdown / HTML |
| Desktop platforms | ✓ Win, Mac, Linux | ✓ Mac, iOS | ✓ Win, Mac, Linux | ✓ Win, Mac, Linux | ✓ Win, Mac, Linux |
| Mobile app | ✗ Desktop only | ✓ iOS, Android | ✓ iOS, Android | ✓ iOS, Android | ✓ iOS, Android |
| Open source | ✓ MIT license | ✗ Proprietary | ✗ Proprietary | Gated features | ✓ MIT license |
| Key-file auth (no password required) | ✓ Supported | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Import from Mini Diary | ✓ Direct support | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
What this means in practice
Day One is a polished journaling app with strong writing UX and iCloud sync. If you want to keep entries on your own device only, you can disable sync — but the app is designed around the sync model and it is easy to accidentally leave it on.
Notion is a collaborative workspace. It is excellent for databases, wikis, and team documents. Journal entries stored in Notion are on Notion's servers and accessible to their team. Notion has added AI features that process content on their infrastructure.
Obsidian stores notes as plain Markdown files on your device. This makes it fully portable and local. Encryption is not built in — you need a community plugin for that, and the vault lives as unencrypted files on disk unless you add a plugin.
Standard Notes uses end-to-end encryption with a freemium model. It is local-first and the vault is encrypted. The sync service is paid; without it you manage backups manually.
Mini Diarium is built around one constraint: entries are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before they reach the local SQLite database, and the app has no network client. This is verifiable — there is no HTTP client in the binary. The trade-off is desktop-only; there is no mobile app.
Choose Mini Diarium if you want:
- Encryption that is on by default, not a plugin or option
- A journal that works fully offline with no sync service
- Portable exports in open formats (JSON, Markdown)
- Import directly from Mini Diary JSON
- A desktop-only app where data never leaves your machine
Choose something else if you need:
- Mobile sync across devices (Day One, Notion, Obsidian all support this)
- Collaborative features or team sharing (Notion)
- Free-form notes with no structured journal model (Obsidian)
- E2E encrypted sync as a managed service (Standard Notes)