Tomefold › Journal app with no subscription
A journal app with no subscription: what it really means
Updated October 17, 2026
A journal is something you keep for decades, so how an app charges matters more than for most apps. Here is how Tomefold charges, what you get for free, what the one purchase adds and what you may still pay for elsewhere, plus a short checklist you can use on any journal app.
The short answer
Tomefold is free to download and to write in. Tomefold Pro is a single in-app purchase, bought once with your Apple ID and shared with your family if you use Apple Family Sharing. There is no subscription, no trial that turns into a charge and no account. The price is shown in your own currency on the App Store.
What is free
- One journal with unlimited entries, photos, videos, places on a map, calendar, tags, favorites, search and statistics.
- Importing your journals from Day One, Journey, Daylio, Diaro, Evernote, CSV tables and folders of Markdown, text or HTML files.
- Exporting everything: a JSON file compatible with Day One and one Markdown file per entry, plus a PDF book.
- Locking the app with Face ID or Touch ID, the 30-day Trash and automatic text backups.
- Receiving a journal that someone shared with you.
What Pro adds
- iCloud sync between your iPhone, iPad and Mac.
- Unlimited journals and sharing a journal with one other person.
- Claude cleanup for dictated text, which works with your own Anthropic API key.
What you may still pay for elsewhere
- iCloud storage, if you turn on sync and your journals are large (photos and videos take room). It is your own iCloud, not ours.
- Anthropic, only if you use the Claude cleanup: requests are billed to your Anthropic account, not to Tomefold.
Five questions to ask any journal app
- Can I export everything in an open format, for free? Tomefold: yes, JSON and Markdown.
- Where are my entries stored? Tomefold: on your device and, if you sync, in your own iCloud.
- What happens if I stop paying? Tomefold has no recurring payment to stop; what you wrote stays yours.
- Do I need an account? Tomefold: no.
- What leaves my device? Tomefold: nothing, except iCloud if you turn it on and, only on your tap and with your own key, the text of one entry sent to Anthropic. See what makes a journal app private.
An honest note
A one-time price is not a promise that every future feature is included. If Tomefold one day adds something that costs real money to run, it would be a separate decision. What does not change is that your entries are yours, in open formats, and that you can leave at any time.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tomefold really free?
Yes for writing, reading, photos, video, places, calendar, tags, search, statistics, import and export. Pro is an optional one-time purchase for iCloud sync, unlimited journals, journal sharing and the Claude cleanup.
Is Tomefold Pro a subscription?
No. It is a one-time, non-consumable in-app purchase. You buy it once with your Apple ID and can restore it on your other devices.
Does Family Sharing work with Pro?
Tomefold Pro is set up for Apple Family Sharing, so members of your family group can use the purchase.
Do I need to pay to move my Day One journal in?
No. Importing from Day One and from the other supported apps is free, with or without Pro.
What if I stop using Tomefold?
Export is free and always available: a JSON file compatible with Day One and one Markdown file per entry, with your photos as normal files.
Keep your journal on your terms
Tomefold is free to write in, to import into and to export from. Pro is a single purchase: no subscription.
Coming soon to the App Store Discover Tomefold