Compass vs Day One
Day One keeps the story of your life. Compass keeps the thinking behind your company.
Compass is an iPhone app for founders who think out loud, in early access now.
Updated . We make Compass. Here is where each tool fits.
The short answer
Choose Day One for personal journaling: photos, video, longer entries, printed books and end-to-end encryption on every plan, with opt-in AI on Gold. Choose Compass for founder thinking: speak a quick note on your iPhone and Compass files it by topic, links it to earlier notes and people, and reviews the patterns with you each week.
Choose Compass if
- Your notes are about customers, hires and strategy more than your day.
- You capture in short bursts between meetings, mostly by voice.
- You want patterns across weeks and X or LinkedIn drafts from your notes.
Choose Day One if
- You want a life journal with photos, video and printed books.
- You want end-to-end encryption, or apps beyond the iPhone.
- You prefer longer, reflective entries written when you sit down.
You can keep Day One for life and Compass for work.
Keep Day One for your life. Use Compass for the company you are building.
Join the early access list in seconds
14-day free trial, then $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr.
Price will increase to $19.99/mo after the first 100 founding members.
Compass vs Day One at a glance
| Feature | Compass | Day One |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A voice-first notebook for founders | A personal journal for your life and memories |
| Capture | Short voice or text notes, filed automatically | Journal entries with photos and video; audio recording on Silver and Gold |
| Organization | Files each note into founder categories automatically | Journals and templates you choose |
| AI | Included: filing, patterns, a weekly review and chat with your notes | Opt-in on the Gold plan: Daily Chat, Go Deeper prompts, entry highlights |
| Patterns over time | Surfaces recurring themes and sends a weekly review | Gold adds summaries of entries from the same date across years |
| Build-in-public posts | Drafts X and LinkedIn posts from your notes for you to edit and approve | Export entries as PDF, JSON or text, or print them as books |
| Privacy | Encrypted at rest (AES-256-GCM); export as Markdown | End-to-end encryption on every plan |
| Platforms | iPhone only (iOS 17 or later) | iOS, Android, Mac, Windows and web |
| Price | 14-day free trial, then $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr, early access price. Price will increase to $19.99/mo after the first 100 founding members. | Free plan; Silver $49.99/yr; Gold, with AI, $74.99/yr |
Why use Compass if you already journal in Day One?
Built for work thinking
Compass sorts notes into founder topics such as product strategy, team and finances, so a note about runway and a note about a hire land in different places without any tagging.
Quick notes, not sittings
Day One shines when you sit down to write. Compass is built for the minute after a customer call, when you want to say the thought and move on.
Patterns and posts
Compass reviews your notes each week for recurring themes, and turns notes you choose into X and LinkedIn drafts that you approve before they post.
Where Day One is better
A richer journal
Photos, video, audio, templates and printed books make Day One the better home for the story of your life. Compass is built for quick voice and text notes, not media-rich entries.
End-to-end encryption
Day One offers end-to-end encryption on every plan. Compass encrypts notes at rest and decrypts them in memory to run its AI features.
More platforms and a free plan
Day One runs on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows and the web, and has a free plan. Compass is iPhone only, and it is a paid subscription after the free trial.
Day One is one of the best-made journaling apps there is, and for the story of your life it is hard to beat. If your daily notes are about the company, and you want them to do something (show patterns, remember people, turn into posts), that is the job Compass is built for.
Common questions
Is Compass a journaling app?
Partly. You can use it as a journal, but it is built as a notebook for founder thinking: short voice notes that are filed by topic, linked to earlier notes and people, and reviewed each week.
Can I import my Day One journal into Compass?
Not today. You can keep Day One for personal journaling and start fresh in Compass for work thinking.
Does Day One have AI now?
Yes. Day One Gold ($74.99/yr) adds opt-in AI features such as Daily Chat, Go Deeper prompts, entry highlights and title suggestions. In Compass, filing, pattern detection, the weekly review and chat with your notes are part of the subscription.
What does Compass cost?
14-day free trial, then $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr. Everyone on the early access list keeps $9.99/mo for as long as their subscription stays active. Price will increase to $19.99/mo after the first 100 founding members. Join the early access list now and subscribe when Compass is live.
Sources
We checked each claim about Day One against these pages. Features and prices change, so check the latest before you decide.
- Day One Pricing and Features Guide, accessed
- Day One Guides: AI Features, accessed