Penzu

Shown for US

• Free to download
• In-app purchases

Last verified 5 Aug 2026

Shown for US

4.2 2526 ratings · App Store

1. 5/5If you want the best journal in app history this is your gem

   I have to explain this in order to share how come I have given this app a five star rating. I’ve had a lot of trouble with missing phones, a few bad phone service providers a few good ones and downloading the data between all of the different devices and community of service providers. Now, after stating this, I can ensure why I give this app such a good review. This app has been one of the easiest apps to get my data from across all devices. It has been very easy to use . While I was in college when we were using state funded or government funded programs getting the best service Penzu was still my best asset when I wanted to do personal journaling. Not that I took advantage of the service yes I provided by my university I just wanted to elaborate on the clscope of duality. On the app they have passed the test in providing everything that you would possibly need and they didn’t leave anything out, at least not to my understanding. If you want to save what you have journal all you have to do is hit the back button. That’s very simple that could confuse some users as it did with me initially. Aside from that it’s very straightforward and I would suggest this to anyone of any age who has a desire to journal with a spirit of personal growth . thanks Penzo Keep up the great work sincerely Fant

   Montreal Cohen · 5 Aug 2026

2. 5/5Only journaling app I’ve used

   This is the only journaling app I’ve used, and I haven’t had any issues. I use it on my iPhone and PC. I started this digital journal about 6 years ago and haven’t needed anything more than what it offers. I like the different covers, font options, and ease of use. I used to write in journals but I wasn’t consistent, and I’m a lot more consistent with the app. I realized I don’t have to go into a lot of detail or talk through everything. It’s nice to go back and read simple lists of what I did in a day, or read something funny that someone said and I wrote it down. I’ve used it both for therapy and as a simple record of events, and I can’t think of anything I need that this app doesn’t already have. I do believe I bought a lifetime access in 2018 because I don’t have any ongoing fees. I’ve never needed to call support or had a complaint. It’s been good.

   Reddfoxx79 · 5 Aug 2026

3. 1/5Terrible

   I have been using this app for many years but there have been a number of glitches, including not syncing up with multiple devices. The most recent issue, which is why I rated it a one, is that I literally cannot add anything into a journal on any of my mobile devices. I paid the premium fee, I contacted customer service, and all they’ve been able to do is ask me questions about ridiculous things that of course anyone would have done. Did you update the app? Did you delete the app and reload it? Of course. And yet the app doesn’t work on my any mobile device. If you add text to a journal it simply does not save. The only way to update any entry or have any new entry be saved is to go onto your computer, add your journal entry there and then you will see it on your device. This is archaic and ridiculous. I have also lost countless entries until I realized that nothing was getting saved on my iPad. The only response they’ve given me is that at some point they are going to give us an updated app. That’s extremely unhelpful. I’m going to switch over to a different online journal today and stop my premium subscription to Penzu. I suggest anyone who is considering downloading this app for the first time not do it until they fix whatever this problem is that literally destroys your ability to use their app on the go. For anyone who does extensive journaling, not being able to do it on your mobile app is ridiculous.

   Bramante68 · 5 Aug 2026

4. 3/5Crashy and too many emails

   Every time I tap on the calendar icon in an entry the app crashes on my iPhone 12 Pro Max. Every. Time. Even tried uninstalling/reinstalling and the issue persisted. I am often up after midnight and need to write about the previous calendar day. So this is kind of a dealbreaker for me. If that wasn’t enough, I’ve gotten 4 emails from the Penzu service in 2 days and there is no easy way to opt out of them. There is no unsub link in the nag emails and no “unsub all” link in the other emails—so you have to log in to the service to opt out of everything. You can unsub all from the unsub link but the UI doesn’t make it obvious at all. What’s even worse is that when you log in via the “manage email preferences” link on your phone it says “This page cannot be accessed via mobile. Please download our free mobile app or try again from your computer.” What is this company thinking? Just trying out this app has become a much bigger hassle than it’s been worth considering I deleted it within an hour of installing it. It feels like the developers of this app need to consider the customer experience more. Or the non-customer experience in this case. Now that I have opted out of these emails I am not looking back.

   Nerdy Pete · 5 Aug 2026

5. 1/5Awful experience!

   I downloaded Penzu and started by using the free version; I was needing to find a nice solid personal journal app for medical reasons. It was so pretty and easy to use, loving all the great features of the free version. So I'd decided it was the perfect app for my needs and had decided to begin a subscription--but before I took the time to do so, something happened when I was using it and EVERYTHING was erased. All my hard work! It happened when I was in a rush to close the app and a pop-up box appeared. I obviously misread it and, with one tap, erased my entire journal. I ran and checked the app on my Mac, and I checked via the browser version--but everything had already synced to total deletion, total nothing. Obviously I should have been paying more attention to this random, single pop-up box, but how can a journaling app allow for everything disappear so easily? I contacted Support and it took almost two weeks for them to respond (it was over the holidays)--only to have them tell me that there was no journal in my account, or rather, that I had not created a journal. Morals of the story: find a journaling app that doesn't let complete deletion happen so easily (!!!) and back it up (paid version only with Penzu), and don't expect Penzu's customer service to treat you like a human being under the age of 100 who knows how to use technology.

   meaganalyssa · 5 Aug 2026

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