Honest Daylio Review (2026): Is the Mood Tracker Worth It?

By Soothfy Team · Mon Oct 26 2026

Thinking about Daylio for mood tracking? Here's an honest 2026 review of its features, pricing, pros, cons and who it's really for.

You want to understand your moods. Why some weeks feel fine and others fall apart. Whether that new habit is actually helping. But writing a full journal every night feels like homework, and you've abandoned three notebooks already.

Daylio's promise is a journal you can keep without writing a single line. Tap your mood, tap what you did, and over time the app shows you patterns. It's one of the most popular mood trackers on the App Store, on both iPhone and Android.

In this honest review we look at Daylio's features, pricing, pros and cons, what real users say, who it's best for, and the best alternatives if you need more than tracking.

Daylio at a Glance

Details from the U.S. App Store listing, October 2026.

What Is Daylio?

Daylio is a mood tracker and micro-diary. Each entry takes two steps: pick a mood, then choose the activities you did, like work, exercise, friends or sleep. You can add a note or photo if you want, but you don't have to. Over time, Daylio turns those entries into charts that show how your activities and moods connect.

It's very flexible. People use it as a mood diary, a habit tracker, a gratitude log, a food diary or a simple way to remember their days. That flexibility, plus its speed, is why it has stayed popular for years.

Daylio Features

1. Two-tap mood and activity logging

You choose from five mood levels, which you can rename and recolor, then tap icons for what you did. It's fast enough to do in bed or on the bus, which is the main reason people stick with it. You can also log several entries a day, which helps if your mood changes a lot.

2. Statistics and Year in Pixels

Daylio shows your average mood, mood streaks and which activities tend to come with good or bad days, on weekly, monthly and yearly charts. Year in Pixels colors every day of the year by mood, which many users find surprisingly motivating.

3. Goals and habits

You can set daily, weekly or monthly goals, like meditating three times a week, and collect achievements as you go. It's a light habit tracker built into your mood diary.

4. Privacy and backups

Daylio stores entries on your device, with optional backups to your own Google Drive or iCloud, a PIN lock and PDF or CSV export so you can share entries with a therapist.

Daylio Pricing

Daylio is free to download and use, and the free version covers the core experience: mood and activity logging, basic stats and the calendar. Premium unlocks advanced statistics, more customization, unlimited goals and extra features. In the U.S. App Store, Daylio Premium is listed at several prices, from $4.99 up to $59.99, depending on the plan and offer (October 2026).

For a mood tracker, the free version is generous, which is a big part of its appeal.

Daylio Pros and Cons

Pros

• Very fast: an entry takes seconds
• No writing required
• Useful stats and Year in Pixels
• Private, with PIN lock and export
• Free version is generous
• iPhone and Android

Cons

• Shows patterns but doesn't help you change them
• No help in the moment when anxiety or low mood hits
• Sleep is just another activity, not a real sleep log
• Advanced stats need Premium, and several prices are listed

What People Say About Daylio

Daylio has a loyal following, and many reviewers say it helped them understand depression and anxiety. Here's what real users say:

"I use this app to help track my anxiety and how I feel leading up to an anxious period as well as other moods."
App Store review (U.S.)

"I suffered from depression for many years in my life, in 2018 I discovered this app to help cope with it."
App Store review (U.S.)

Who Is Daylio For (and Not For)?

Daylio is a great fit if you:

• Want a quick, private mood diary
• Don't enjoy writing long journal entries
• Like charts and spotting patterns
• Want to see how habits affect your mood

It may not be enough if you:

• Need help when anxiety, panic or low mood hits
• Want a plan to improve, not just a record
• Want sleep tracked properly alongside mood
• Have ADHD and need structure and routines

Daylio Alternatives

If Daylio isn't quite what you need, these are the best options in 2026, starting with our pick. See our full Daylio alternatives guide.

1. Soothfy: Best Alternative for Mood Tracking Plus Real Help

Soothfy is a mental health app for anxiety, ADHD, depression, stress, insomnia and more. Like Daylio, it makes mood tracking quick. The difference is what happens next. Soothfy tracks mood and sleep together, with weekly and monthly trends and reports you can share with your doctor, and when a hard moment hits, Instant Relief gives you 3 CBT exercises for your exact symptom with a 2-minute timer.

A personalized 30-day plan and Anchor Habits turn what you learn from your mood data into small daily changes, and the journal lets you write, record voice notes or add images.

• Mood and sleep tracker with weekly and monthly trends and doctor reports
• Instant Relief: 3 CBT exercises for your exact symptom, 2-minute timer
• Personalized 30-day plan that adapts to your mood and energy
• Anchor Habits tied to your routine
• Journal with text, voice notes and images
• Price: free to download, 7-day free trial, then $49.99/year or $8.99/month (U.S.)

"This app is so helpful and I noticed great improvements after just a few days! All of the trackers and reminders help me so much!"
App Store review (U.S.)

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2. How We Feel: Best Free Emotion Tracker

How We Feel is free, made by a nonprofit with Yale's Center for Emotional Intelligence. Instead of five mood levels, you choose from dozens of specific emotions and get short strategies for each. Your data stays on your device by default. It's a good choice if you want more nuance than Daylio's faces.

3. Bearable: Best for Tracking Symptoms and Health

Bearable tracks mood alongside symptoms, medication, sleep and health factors, then shows what correlates with your good and bad days. It's more detailed than Daylio and popular with people managing chronic health conditions or medication changes. See our Bearable alternatives guide.

4. Finch: Best Gentle Self-Care Tracker

Finch combines mood check-ins and small goals with a virtual pet that grows as you look after yourself. It's gentler and more game-like than Daylio, and great for low-energy days. Read our honest Finch review.

Daylio vs Soothfy: Where Each One Wins

Choose Daylio if you want the fastest possible mood diary and enjoy studying your own stats. Choose Soothfy if you want to understand your moods and also get help changing them, with CBT relief in hard moments and a plan that adapts to you.

Final Verdict: Is Daylio Worth It?

Yes, for many people. Daylio is one of the simplest, most private ways to track your mood, and its free version is generous. If you've struggled to keep a journal, it's well worth trying.

But it's a mirror, not a coach. It shows you patterns without helping you act on them. If you want mood and sleep tracking plus CBT exercises for hard moments and a plan to feel better, Soothfy is the best alternative.

More guides: Best Daylio Alternatives, Bearable Alternatives, Honest Finch Review, Habit Tracker Alternatives, Soothfy vs Wysa, How to Break Out of a Depression Spiral, Best Apps for Panic Attacks and Best Anxiety Relief Apps.

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Daylio Review: FAQs (2026)

1. Is Daylio free?

Yes. Daylio is free to download, and the free version covers mood and activity logging, basic stats and the calendar. Premium adds advanced stats and extra features, listed at several prices from $4.99 to $59.99 in the U.S. App Store (October 2026).

2. Is Daylio Premium worth it?

If you use Daylio every day and want advanced statistics, unlimited goals and more customization, Premium can be worth it. Many people are happy with the free version, so try that first.

3. Is Daylio good for depression?

Many users say tracking with Daylio helped them notice what affects their mood, which is useful for depression. It doesn't offer coping tools or treatment. If low mood lasts more than two weeks, talk to a doctor or therapist.

4. Is Daylio good for anxiety?

Daylio can help you notice patterns, like which days or activities come before anxious periods. It doesn't help in the moment. Soothfy's Instant Relief gives you CBT exercises for your exact anxiety symptom when it hits.

5. Is Daylio private?

Daylio says entries are stored on your device, with optional backups to your own Google Drive or iCloud, and you can add a PIN lock. Check the App Store privacy label for full details.

6. Does Daylio track sleep?

You can log sleep as an activity or note in Daylio, but it isn't a dedicated sleep tracker. Soothfy tracks mood and sleep together, with trends and reports you can share with your doctor.

7. Is Daylio on Android?

Yes. Daylio is available on iPhone and Android.

8. Can I share Daylio with my therapist?

Yes. Daylio lets you export your entries as PDF or CSV files, which you can share with a therapist or doctor.

9. What is the best alternative to Daylio?

Soothfy is the best Daylio alternative if you want mood and sleep tracking plus CBT exercises for hard moments and a personalized daily plan. For a free, more detailed emotion tracker, How We Feel is a good choice.

10. Is Daylio good for ADHD?

Daylio's quick logging works well for ADHD brains that hate long journaling. If you also need structure, routines and help with overwhelm, Soothfy is built for ADHD, with Anchor Habits and a plan that adapts to your energy.

11. How many times a day can I log in Daylio?

You can create multiple entries per day, which is helpful if your mood changes a lot or you want to track anxiety at different times.

12. What is Year in Pixels?

Year in Pixels is a Daylio view that colors each day of the year by your mood, so you can see good and bad stretches at a glance.

13. How do I cancel Daylio Premium?

On iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions. On Android, open the Play Store, then Payments and subscriptions. Deleting the app does not cancel the subscription.

14. Can I use Daylio and Soothfy together?

Yes. Some people keep Daylio as a quick diary and use Soothfy for CBT relief, sleep tracking and a daily plan. Over time, many find Soothfy's tracker covers what they need.

Ready to do more than track your mood?

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This article is for information only and is not medical advice. Prices and features change often. Last updated October 26, 2026.