Day One alternative: import your journal and make it answer back

Day One is a beautiful place to put entries. KNOW ME - SHOW ME is a place to get something back from them — and your existing Day One export comes across intact.

Day One vs KNOW ME - SHOW ME

What happens after you write

Day One stores the entry and shows it again when you scroll back.

Your entries become searchable material you can ASK questions of — answered in your own words first, with the source entry shown.

Outside sources

None, or generic AI text with no citation.

1,950+ public-domain classics, 111,000+ attributed quotes, 6,100+ artworks, indexed podcasts, and published research — every answer tied back to one of your entries and cited.

Private vs shared

One private pile, plus an all-or-nothing export.

Entry-by-entry spaces: PRIVATE, PUBLIC, PROJECT, ADVISOR. Family and friends only ever reach what you filed for them.

Legacy

Nothing built in.

FUTURE LETTERS delivered on a date years away, a named digital executor, and printable keepsakes for relatives who will never sign in.

Getting your data out

Varies by plan and format.

Export everything, or only entries since a date, at any time — including entries you wrote here.

How to export from Day One and import here

Open Day One on desktop and choose File → Export → JSON (or Settings → Import/Export on mobile).
Pick the journal you want and save the .zip to your computer.
Sign in here and open IMPORT MY OLD JOURNAL from SITE TOOLS.
Choose Day One as the source, drop in the .zip or the JSON file inside it, and review the parsed entries before confirming.
Dated entries keep their original date; undated ones land in import order, newest first.

Open the import tool

Why people switch from Day One

Day One excels at capture: photos, locations, weather, and a clean writing surface. What it does not do is reason across your entries. If you have ever wished your journal could remind you what you actually believe, or which decision pattern keeps repeating, you are looking for a different category of tool.

KNOW ME - SHOW ME keeps the private capture part and adds retrieval: ask a question, get an answer built from your own entries first, then from cited books, quotes, art, podcasts, or research if your vault needs backup.

What carries over

Entry text, entry dates, and titles where your export includes them. Entries arrive filed as PUBLIC by default so they are easy to work with, and you can move any of them to PRIVATE in one action from the vault.

Nothing is deleted on the Day One side. Import here, use both for a while, and decide later. If you want to leave, export everything — or only entries written since a date — at any time.

The first thing to try after importing

Open ASK MYSELF and ask something you would ask a friend who had read every page: what keeps coming up when I write about work, or what did I say about this same decision two years ago. The answer quotes your own entries and links to them.

Then try ASK A BOOK or ASK GREAT MINDS with one of your entries attached. The source material is public-domain classics and attributed quotes, and every answer shows how strongly it applies to your situation.

Common questions

Can I move my entries back to Day One later?

Yes. Export everything or only entries written since a chosen date, at any time, in a plain readable format. Your data is never held hostage.

Is there a free trial?

Yes — 30 free days, and the first 100 members get six months free. Founder pricing is $4/month or $25/year.

Will my Day One photos import?

Text, dates, and titles import cleanly. Photo handling depends on what your Day One export includes; review the parsed preview before confirming.

Is this a journaling app or a legacy app?

Both. It is smart journaling that also lets you share selected entries, write future letters, and name a digital executor.