Answers
A journal that locks because it's encrypted, not because it asks nicely.
A curtain, or a key.
Most apps that advertise a "password protected journal" mean something weaker than you'd hope. The password is a curtain: the app checks it before showing your entries, but the entries themselves sit readable underneath — on your phone, on a server, in a backup. Anyone who gets past the curtain, or around it, gets everything.
The Sealed Journal takes the other route. Your passphrase isn't checked against your writing — it is the key that your writing is mathematically scrambled with. Every entry is encrypted on your own device before it is stored, using the same class of cryptography that protects banking sessions. There is no server copy, no account, and no recovery email, because there is nothing on our side to recover. Without the passphrase, the stored data is noise — to a thief, to us, to anyone.
That design has a cost, and we state it plainly: if you lose your passphrase, your journal is gone. We consider that the honest version of privacy. A lock that the manufacturer can open for you is a lock the manufacturer can open.
The Typewriter Experience
The cursor stays. The text moves.
In Write mode, your cursor remains exactly at the centre of the screen. The page rises up to meet it. Past words fade into soft shadow at the edges, leaving the present sentence in clear focus. Switch to Read mode and the entry flattens into an evenly lit document — the fade is for writing; the flat light is for returning.
Radical Privacy & Encryption
AES-256-GCM, in your browser, with a key only you derive.
- ·PBKDF2 key derivation at 600,000 iterations — the OWASP 2024 recommendation. Existing journals upgrade transparently on first unlock.
- ·No accounts, no telemetry, no analytics, no cookies, no third-party scripts.
- ·IndexedDB storage with a localStorage fallback. Encrypted before it touches the disk.
- ·The file is not minified. You can read the source. We'd rather you trust it than us.
What It Does Not Do
- ✕No word counts chasing you across the screen.
- ✕No formatting toolbar wrestling your thoughts into neatness.
- ✕No cloud sync. No distant servers. Your words stay yours.
- ✕No social sharing. Your vulnerability is not content.
- ✕No AI assistant finishing your sentences.
- ✕No streak counters. No guilt. No gamification.
- ✕No subscriptions. No mood trackers. No noise.
Licensing & Gift Copy
One purchase covers up to three of your personal devices. It also includes a second untouched copy of the file — meant to be given to one person you trust. Lifetime updates. 30-day, no-questions refund. If you run a clinic, school, or workplace and want a copy for everyone, ask us about a site licence.
One Purchase. Yours Forever.
The price is $24 today. It will become $29.
One-time payment
Get The Sealed JournalQuestions
Is a password-protected journal the same as an encrypted one?
No. Password protection often just gates the interface while the text stays readable in storage. Encryption transforms the text itself so it cannot be read without the key. The Sealed Journal does the second.
What if I forget my passphrase?
Then the journal cannot be opened — by you or by us. There is no reset, because a reset mechanism would be a back door. Choose a passphrase you can live with for years, and consider writing it down somewhere physical and safe.
Do I need an account?
No. There is nothing to sign up for. The journal is a single file that runs in your browser and stores encrypted entries on your own machine.
More in Answers
See all →The diary with a lock, grown up.
The statement, and the substance.
How encrypted journaling actually works.
A short list of things you have to trust.
Are journaling apps actually private?
A bedroom with the door ajar.
Can a digital journal be subpoenaed?
Architecture, not advice.
Will my journal be used to train an AI?
What you write here feeds nothing.
How to back up a journal no one else can read.
Not a cloud account — a routine.
You might also read
Core
An encrypted journal where the passphrase never leaves your device.
AES-256-GCM with PBKDF2 key derivation at 600,000 iterations — the OWASP 2024 recommendation. Done in your browser, not on a server.
Core
No account. No email. No "create your profile."
The Sealed Journal asks for one thing on first run: a passphrase you choose. That's it. That's the entire onboarding.
Core
A private, offline journal that asks nothing of you.
One file. One password. Yours forever. No accounts, no cloud, no algorithms reading your three-in-the-morning thoughts.
Comparisons
The Sealed Journal vs Day One.
Both are journals. They're built on opposite assumptions about where your writing should live.
The cursor will be there when you return.
Centered. Blinking. Patient.
Start Writing