Compared
The Sealed Journal vs journaling in Notion.
Notion is a brilliant tool for organising work. It is a strange place to put your inner life.
Notion is hosted by a venture-funded company in San Francisco. Your journal in Notion is a row in their database.
The Sealed Journal has no database, no host, no row. It has a passphrase and a page.
Notion is the right answer for many things. Your three-in-the-morning thoughts are probably not one of them.
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
Why not just journal in Notion?
Notion is a hosted database with your text in someone else's workspace. Fine for shared work, less fine for the sentences you would not want indexed.
Does it have databases, templates, or tags?
None of them. The absence of structure is what makes it usable at 2 a.m.
Can I use both?
Most people do. Notion for the work you share, this for the writing that has no audience.
More in Comparisons
See all →The Sealed Journal vs Day One.
Both are journals. They're built on opposite assumptions about where your writing should live.
The Sealed Journal vs Apple Notes.
Apple Notes is the path of least resistance. The Sealed Journal is the path that takes the journaling seriously.
The Sealed Journal vs Obsidian for journaling.
Obsidian is for building a second brain. The Sealed Journal is for emptying the first one for a moment.
The Sealed Journal vs a paper notebook.
Paper is excellent. It also can't be locked, searched, or carried in the pocket of a thousand future devices.
The Sealed Journal vs Apple Journal.
One comes free with the phone. The other comes free of the phone.
The Sealed Journal vs 750 Words.
One counts your words. The other lets them go uncounted.
You might also read
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.
Answers
Are journaling apps actually private?
A bedroom with the door ajar.
Core
A minimalist journal — by removing, not by adding.
No streaks chasing you. No formatting wrestling your sentences into neatness. No AI finishing your thought before you've had it.
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.
The cursor will be there when you return.
Centered. Blinking. Patient.
Start Writing