Softly Noted vs How We Feel: which fits your evening?

Softly Noted is a private mood diary and journal with a two-tap check-in, voice to text, prompts and a Year in Pixels, so it fits if you want a record of your days. How We Feel is a free app from a nonprofit, created in collaboration with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, that helps you name a feeling and try a strategy.

They overlap in the check-in and differ in the job. Prices and details here are as of October 2026.

Softly Noted or How We Feel: which job do you need done?

If the job is “help me understand this feeling right now”, How We Feel is built for it. If the job is “keep a private record of my days, and let me add words when I can”, that is Softly Noted.

The second question is the one Softly Noted is built for: looking back in three weeks and seeing how things moved. Here is the table.

What does Softly Noted give you?

It gives you a diary that is easy to keep, and a journal behind it for the days you want more.

You tap one of 15 feelings, add a tag like Sleep or Work if you want, and save. Two taps, and today’s square in your Year in Pixels fills in. For mixed days you can add up to three finer feeling words. If you have more to say, tap the microphone and your words appear as text. Voice to text is free on every entry.

Behind the check-in is a journal. Today’s prompt waits on your home screen, and there are reflection packs and step-by-step guided journals. You can search the whole journal, star days you want to find again, and read a weekly review. After a few weeks your patterns start to show, and our guide on how to track your mood explains what to look for.

It is private by design. There is no account needed, written entries are encrypted on your phone, and the app lock with a PIN or Face ID is free. You can export your journal as a PDF or CSV, or make a password-protected backup for a new phone. It also comes as a desktop version that runs in your web browser. Premium is $3.99 a month or $29.99 a year, as of October 2026.

Where is How We Feel stronger?

In learning the words for feelings. The How We Feel Project is a nonprofit, and the app was created in collaboration with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and based on the work of Dr. Marc Brackett. Its colour-coded grid gives you far more choice than “good” or “bad”, and its listing names short video strategies: Change Your Thinking, Move Your Body, Be Mindful and Reach Out. It can show your sleep and exercise beside your check-ins, and it lets you share check-ins with trusted friends. It is free, funded by donations, and available in English and Spanish.

If you are building a feelings vocabulary, alone or with family, it is a genuinely strong choice.

Who is each app for? Four evenings

Here are four example people, not real users. You may find yourself among them.

Kevin, after a long shift. He does not want to understand anything tonight. He wants to put the day down. He taps “drained”, ticks Work, says one sentence out loud, and goes to bed. This is the Softly Noted evening: a quick, private record.

Marcus, on the bus. He is curious about his year. Is spring different from autumn? He opens his Year in Pixels and reads the colours. This is Softly Noted too, and a good place for our guide on journaling on hard days when the colours get heavy.

Priya, on a Sunday. She feels off and cannot say why. She uses an app that helps her find a word, then picks a short strategy to try. Later she opens a journal and writes three lines about the week. This is both apps, in that order.

Amara and her daughter, at the supper table. Her daughter is eleven and says “fine” to everything. They try an app with a grid of feelings, and her daughter points to “restless”. That one word starts a conversation. This is the How We Feel evening: building the words, together.

Choose Softly Noted if, choose How We Feel if

Choose Softly Noted if

• You want a private record of your days that takes two taps.
• You want to speak or write more when you can, with prompts and guided journals to help.
• You want a Year in Pixels, a weekly review and a searchable journal.
• You want no account, an app lock and encrypted written entries.
• You want to export your journal as a PDF or CSV, or back it up with a password.
• You want a desktop version in your browser too.

Choose How We Feel if

• You want to build words for feelings, for yourself or together with family.
• You like short strategies to try when a feeling is hard.
• You want sleep and exercise shown beside your check-ins.

Can you use both?

Yes, and they ask for very different things. If you want to try the combination, here is a simple start.

1. When a feeling is hard to name, use How We Feel to find the word.
2. In the evening, open Softly Noted, tap that feeling, add a tag, and save.
3. Once a week, look at your Year in Pixels and read your weekly review.

One helps you understand, and the other helps you remember. If you only choose one, choose the one that matches the job you actually need done.

Fair comparison note: How We Feel is a product name or trademark of its owner. JPott Studios is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by it. What we say here comes from its own pages and public store listings, read in October 2026, and may have changed since, so please check the source before you decide. Lines marked “our view” are our opinion.

Softly Noted and How We Feel: your questions

Is Softly Noted a good alternative to How We Feel?

They do different jobs. If you want a private diary and journal with a Year in Pixels, prompts, guided journals and voice to text, Softly Noted fits. If you want help building feeling words and trying strategies, How We Feel is built for that.

Is Softly Noted free?

Yes, it is free to use, including voice to text, search, reminders, the app lock and export. Premium is $3.99 a month or $29.99 a year, as of October 2026, and adds things like patterns over months and past years in pixels.

Is How We Feel really free?

Yes. The App Store listing says the app is free and funded by donations.

Who made How We Feel?

The How We Feel Project, Inc., a nonprofit. It was created in collaboration with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and is based on the work of Dr. Marc Brackett.

Which one is more private?

Softly Noted needs no account, encrypts written entries on your phone and locks with a PIN or Face ID. How We Feel’s own privacy page says that without an account nothing personal is collected and your records stay on your phone, and that with an account some data is stored. Read the policy before you decide.

Does How We Feel have journaling?

Yes. It has a Reflect box for writing with each check-in. Softly Noted is more journal-first, with prompts, guided journals, voice to text and a Year in Pixels.