Daylio vs DailyBean in 2026: Which Mood Diary Fits Better?

Quick verdict

Choose Daylio for custom mood-and-activity records, goals, and documented export options. Choose DailyBean for a visual diary built around mood beans, configurable blocks, and themes. Both offer reports; DailyBean also documents sleep and exercise analysis. Calling it a diary with little analysis would miss a meaningful part of the current product.

The deciding question is what you want to revisit. A list of activities connected to moods points toward Daylio. A calendar of beans with notes, photos, and selected daily details points toward DailyBean. These are fit judgments based on the official sources below, not measured winners for speed or usability.

Oubaitori publishes this comparison and appears later as a third option for separate trackers and monthly reflection. Start with the two apps you came to compare:

Pricing checked on October 3, 2026; store and regional prices may vary. Both apps have free versions and paid tiers. We did not verify one universal subscription price for either, so compare the offer displayed on your own device.

What we checked

This is a source-verified comparison, not a hands-on test. We reviewed public product pages, help articles, plan descriptions, and available privacy information. We did not buy subscriptions, keep parallel diaries, time entry creation, test restores, or audit either app’s security. There are no original app screenshots or customer results in this article.

The examples below are hypothetical ways to evaluate the documented features. They are not accounts of our own use. Platform, version, region, and plan can change what is available, so check any essential feature on your device before committing an archive or paying.

Entries: activities or blocks?

Daylio’s product page describes a mood followed by activities, with optional notes, templates, photos, and voice memos. A practical reason to choose that structure is wanting your own activity categories to remain central to the record.

For example, suppose you want to distinguish a workday at home from one in the office and revisit those entries later. Before subscribing, try naming the categories you actually need. If your list becomes too detailed to use consistently, reduce it. Customization only helps when the resulting record remains understandable to you.

DailyBean’s FAQ describes icon entries, text, photos, and health-data syncing. Its blocks guide says custom and special blocks are free to create, with optional health integrations. Deeper analysis is a separate plan decision.

That gives you a different starting point: decide which pieces of the day belong on the entry screen. For a hypothetical evening entry, you might want a mood, a short note, and sleep context. Try that small combination before adding every available block. Neither app requires you to fill every possible field.

Speed: no stopwatch winner

Both companies market quick entries. That supports shortlisting both for a brief daily routine; it does not establish which is faster on your phone.

A useful personal check is to save the smallest entry you would make when tired, then reopen it. Can you understand it without adding more context? If not, add the missing detail and repeat. An entry that takes ten seconds but says nothing useful to you is not necessarily better than one that takes a minute.

We have not measured these steps. The comparison is about the choices each app offers, while your trial establishes how those choices feel in practice.

Reports: compare the question, then the plan

Daylio’s overview documents mood/activity statistics and correlations. Its Premium guide lists advanced statistics, unlimited moods and goals, custom note templates, automatic backups, and PDF export among paid features.

DailyBean’s report guide lists monthly and yearly reports, mood distributions, and frequently recorded items in the free tier. Premium adds Icon Deep Dive and sleep/exercise analysis. DailyBean therefore deserves consideration even when later review matters as much as the visual calendar.

For a hypothetical question such as “What did I record on lower-mood days?”, inspect a report’s underlying entries and date range. Decide whether you need activity categories, a specific health integration, or simply a readable month. That question is more useful than choosing the app with the longest analytics list.

Associations in self-reported entries do not establish why a mood changed. Missed entries, changing labels, and several things happening at once can affect what you see. Use a pattern as a reason to revisit context, rather than treating it as a diagnosis or proof that one activity caused a feeling.

Customization and motivation

Daylio is worth trying if custom mood labels, activity categories, and goals are essential. Its Premium documentation helps identify which controls require payment. Confirm the current in-app list for your platform.

DailyBean’s custom-block documentation describes adding your own blocks and hiding ones you do not use. Its product overview also presents themes. A characterful calendar may be a reason to return, but that is a preference, not evidence of better wellbeing or consistency.

If goals encourage you, include them in your trial. If they feel like another obligation, pay attention to that response. Likewise, decide whether choosing a theme is enjoyable or simply another decision. Neither preference makes you a better or worse journaler.

Privacy, backup, and switching devices

Daylio’s privacy policy says entries are stored locally, without a Daylio account, with optional Google Drive or iCloud backups. Its backup guide distinguishes those backups from a manually exported backup file that can be restored into Daylio, including when moving between Android and iOS.

A backup is not the same thing as live device sync. Daylio’s computer guidance says there is no native desktop or web app and describes backup/restore steps when switching between installations. If you expect to alternate between phone and laptop every day, this is a substantial limitation.

DailyBean’s FAQ describes retrieving records through its account system on a new device and an app passcode. We could read that FAQ, but could not retrieve its linked full privacy policy during this check. Treat the FAQ as the company’s description, not a complete security review; read the policy linked there before relying on a particular storage or deletion promise.

DailyBean’s plan overview advertises Premium device sync for up to five devices. We have not tested sync or restore reliability. Its official blocks documentation names iOS and Android availability; do not assume a browser diary from the existence of its website.

Pricing: pay for the feature you need

The useful comparison is the free routine you can sustain versus the particular paid capability you need. Daylio’s Premium list and DailyBean’s plan overview provide that starting point. The amount, billing interval, trial, and renewal terms belong to the current offer shown in your store.

If portable records matter, investigate export before paying. Daylio publicly documents CSV and PDF exports, with PDF listed in Premium. We did not verify an equivalent DailyBean export format or direct Daylio import in the sources reviewed. That is an evidence gap to resolve with DailyBean, not a claim that the feature cannot exist.

Before moving a long-running diary, keep a separate copy of the old record and verify what the destination accepts. A readable file and a restorable app backup serve different purposes. Neither guarantees that another app can preserve your categories, photos, or dates.

A disclosed third option: Oubaitori

Oubaitori fits a different preference: a few separate trackers, followed by tracker-specific monthly reflection. Its public product guide explains what each entry can contain and how daily or occasional rhythms work. You choose at least three trackers during setup, but do not have to use every enabled tracker each day.

Illustrative setup, using fictional entries: choose Mood, Sleep, and Highlight. Save a five-point Mood rating, record sleep and wake times separately, and write “A walk with a friend” in Highlight. Mood has no note field; written context belongs in the separate journal tracker. My Days lets you revisit those records together by date.

When you choose to look deeper, Mood’s monthly view can help you revisit the distribution and timing of ratings, while the other trackers retain their own views. Oubaitori does not calculate correlations between trackers or conclude that the walk or sleep caused a mood change. This example demonstrates the entry structure, not a promised result.

Explore the Mood Tracker example, then see how Highlight works if you want written context. These public pages let you inspect the approach before creating an account. The existing signup links on this page lead to free early access, with no credit card required.

Oubaitori works in phone and desktop browsers and can be installed as a PWA on supported devices. Private entries need an internet connection to load and save, including after installation. It has no streak counter or public feed. Account privacy is explained in the privacy policy; it is not an end-to-end-encryption claim.

Direct import/export and AI guidance are not available today. Oubaitori is not a clinical symptom or medication record or a long-form multimedia journal. Frequent releases arrive through the web during early access, but choose on current capabilities rather than an expected future feature.

Which should you try first?

Choose Daylio first when custom activity categories, goals, or documented export controls decide the purchase. Choose DailyBean first when you want beans, themes, and blocks, while retaining reports and optional health-data context. Try the free workflow before comparing subscriptions.

Choose Oubaitori when separate trackers, a browser workflow, and monthly reflection fit better, and its current portability and internet requirements work for you. For a wider shortlist, use our mood tracker roundup. If you already have a Daylio archive, start with the switching checklist.