Daylio records what already happened; Solo Era gives you something to do and then records how it felt. Daylio is a mood and activity diary: you pick a mood, tick activities and read the statistics. Solo Era is an iPhone app that hands you small missions to do alone, with nervousness ratings before and after and a photo journal. Pick Daylio for a fast passive log, and Solo Era if you want to do something new and keep a record of it.
At a glance
| Solo Era | Daylio | |
|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Do a small mission alone, then rate and journal it | Log mood and activities in a couple of taps |
| Who decides what you do | You pick from missions or write your own | You decide your own activities to track |
| Input | Before and after nervousness rating, photo and notes | Mood, activities, optional notes, photos, voice memos |
| Output | Ratings over months, XP, weekly streak, journal | Charts, calendar, correlations, Year in Pixels |
| Platform | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch (App Store listing) |
| Cost | Free to download; a subscription is required to start missions | Free to download (listing); check the App Store for what is included |
| Best for | Practising new solo outings | A quick daily mood and habit diary |
We quote no prices for either app. Check the App Store listings for current offers.
What Solo Era is
Solo Era is an iPhone app built on one idea: doing things alone is a skill, and a skill is practised in small steps. The site's line is "A bucket list for doing things alone."
- Missions. Shown as a mission ticket; the task stays up front, and you can turn it over for instructions and what it helps you practise.
- Weekly mission and custom missions. A place to begin each week, plus missions you write yourself.
- Seven categories and five levels. Food, movement, culture, travel, everyday, solitude and people; level 1 is the gentlest. A level 1 food mission reads "Put together a picnic from a supermarket and eat it outside." A level 3 culture mission reads "Spend an evening at a jazz bar."
- Before-and-after ratings. You rate how nervous you felt before and after.
- Progress. The ratings plotted over months, plus XP and a weekly streak.
- Journal and Solo Pass. A photo and notes with each completed mission, or a free journal entry of your own. Your Solo Pass keeps the same code as your story grows.
It is free to download, and a subscription is required to start missions. Any free trial depends on the offer and eligibility shown in the app. Solo Era is iPhone only. It is not therapy or medical care.
What Daylio is
Daylio (Relaxio s.r.o., read 2026-11-01) calls itself a micro-diary. According to the App Store listing and daylio.net, you create an entry in two taps by picking a mood and the activities you did. You can also add notes, and the site mentions writing templates, photos and voice memos. The data then feeds statistics, charts, a calendar and correlations, with a Year in Pixels view, goals, reminders, PIN lock and export to PDF and CSV. Daylio says entries are stored locally on your phone with optional backups.
The listing also contains wellbeing language. We do not repeat it as fact, because we have not checked any evidence behind it; read the listing yourself if it matters to you.
Head to head
Passive versus active
This is the main difference. With Daylio you decide what to track and record it after the fact. The app does not ask you to do anything new. With Solo Era the app proposes the activity: a mission such as having a coffee in a cafe alone or going to a museum, written so that the task is clear. If you already have a full diary of things you do but do not know what to try next, the mission side is the gap. If you have a rich life and just want to see patterns in it, a tracker like Daylio does that directly.
Mood versus nervousness
Daylio's central scale is mood. Solo Era's central scale is how nervous you felt before and after a specific outing, which is narrower. A before-and-after pair on the same task tells you something a general daily mood cannot: how that particular step felt at the start and at the end. Our write-up on the self-rating method explains how to use such a pair.
Statistics versus a picture
Daylio is strong on charts and correlation: which activities show up on better and worse days. Solo Era's progress view plots your before-and-after numbers over months and keeps XP and a weekly streak. Its journal is photo-led: a picture and notes with each completed mission. If you love data, Daylio offers more breadth. If you want a visual record of things you tried, Solo Era's journal fits.
Effort per entry
Daylio is designed to be quick: two taps. A Solo Era entry follows a mission, so it needs the mission to happen first. That is more effort, but it is also the point: the entry records something you did rather than a mood you had.
Choose Solo Era if you...
- want a prompt to try something new alone each week
- like the idea of a nervousness rating before and after, not just a mood
- enjoy a photo journal of places you went
- have a log already but feel stuck in routine
Choose Daylio if you...
- want the quickest possible daily entry
- care about charts, correlations and a long view of your moods
- already know which activities you want to track
- prefer a diary that does not ask you to do anything
Using both
They overlap very little. Use Daylio to log your day in seconds, and Solo Era for the one thing a week you do on purpose. If you want a notes-first journal instead, see our look at journaling apps and the guide to starting a journal. For a reflection-first app see Solo Era vs Stoic, and for long-form writing see Solo Era vs Day One. More choices are in our Daylio alternatives. The wider Day One alternatives page covers more writing-focused choices.
Solo Era for iPhone
Try it with Solo Era
Solo Era gives you one realistic mission a week, records how nervous you felt before and after, and keeps a photo journal of what you did. An iPhone app. A subscription is required to start missions; any free trial depends on the offer and eligibility shown in the app.
A note on wellbeing
This page is not medical advice. A mood diary can help you notice patterns, but it does not diagnose anything, and neither app is treatment. If your mood is persistently low or you are struggling, talk to a doctor or licensed therapist. If you feel very low or unsafe, findahelpline.com lists services by country. For a broader view, see our list of self-improvement apps.
Last checked: 2026-11-01. Facts about other apps come from their official sites and App Store listings and can change, so confirm current details before you decide.
FAQ
Is Solo Era a Daylio alternative?
Partly. Both keep a diary-style record, but Daylio logs your mood and activities, while Solo Era gives you missions and records nervousness before and after. They suit different goals.
Can I use Daylio and Solo Era together?
Yes. Daylio takes seconds a day, and a Solo Era mission is a separate weekly step. They do not duplicate each other.
Does Solo Era track mood?
Not as such. It records how nervous you felt before and after each mission, plus a photo and notes. It is not a general mood tracker.
Is Daylio free?
The App Store listing shows it as free to download. We do not quote prices, so check the listing for what is included.
Is either app therapy?
No. Neither replaces professional help. Solo Era is not therapy or medical care.
Does Solo Era work on Android?
Solo Era is an iPhone app. We do not claim Android, iPad or Apple Watch support.
Solo Era for iPhone
Try it with Solo Era
Solo Era gives you one realistic mission a week, records how nervous you felt before and after, and keeps a photo journal of what you did. An iPhone app. A subscription is required to start missions; any free trial depends on the offer and eligibility shown in the app.
