---
title: "The Sealed Journal vs journaling in Google Docs"
description: "A diary in Google Docs is free, familiar — and lives in an account built for sharing. The Sealed Journal cannot share. A comparison."
canonical: "https://sealedjournal.com/j/vs-google-docs"
updatedAt: "2026-08-11"
category: "Comparisons"
---

# The Sealed Journal vs journaling in Google Docs.

_Free, familiar, and never quite private-feeling._

Plenty of people keep a diary as one long Google Doc, and it mostly works: free, autosaving, reachable from any device, familiar as furniture. If that's you, you're in good company.

But notice where the diary lives: in an account built for sharing, one dropdown away from an audience, in the same Drive as your CV, your tax spreadsheet, your shared project folders. The document is private the way a conversation in an open-plan office is private — probably no one is listening, and you write accordingly. Something in the sentences stays presentable.

The Sealed Journal cannot share. There is no collaborator field, no link to copy, no "anyone with the link." Your vulnerability is not content, and the writing changes when the walls are real.

## The facts, side by side

| | Google Docs | The Sealed Journal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing model | Free with a Google account | One-time purchase |
| Current price | Consumer: Free | One purchase: $24 (rising to $29) once |
| Free tier | — | No — a live demo, then one price |
| Platforms | Any platform, via browser | Any modern browser, any operating system |
| Account required | Yes — Google account required | No — no account, ever |
| Cloud sync | Required | No sync, no server — a single offline HTML file |
| Encryption | Encrypted in transit and at rest with Google-held keys for consumer accounts; no client-side passphrase encryption | AES-256-GCM client-side, PBKDF2 at 600,000 iterations |

Google Docs prices verified 11 August 2026. Source: https://docs.google.com

## Questions

### Google encrypts my data, doesn't it?

In transit and at rest — with keys Google holds for consumer accounts, which is what lets them index, sync, and serve it. Ours is encrypted with a key derived from your passphrase, held by no one, including us.

### Docs lets me write on any device. Doesn't that beat a file?

For convenience, yes. Your license covers three devices, and the file or its encrypted export goes where you put it. The inconvenience is deliberate; it's the shape of the wall.

### Docs is free. Why pay $24?

A diary kept in the middle of an office is also free. The twenty-four dollars is for the walls.

## Price

The Sealed Journal is a one-time purchase of $24 (introductory price, rising to $29). No subscription, no account, lifetime updates, 30-day refund. Buy at https://sealedjournal.com/#pricing

## Elsewhere

- Hub: Comparisons — https://sealedjournal.com/journals/comparisons
- All journals — https://sealedjournal.com/journals
- HTML version of this page — https://sealedjournal.com/j/vs-google-docs