PlimmPlimm vs Rosebud
Rosebud and Plimm are both journals with an AI that reads your entries and answers. The difference is where that AI runs. Rosebud's runs in the cloud, on models from companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic, and your journal lives in your Rosebud account. Plimm's runs on your phone: there is no account and no Plimm server, and your entries are never sent to Plimm or any AI service.
| Plimm | Rosebud | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the AI runs | On your phone: Qwen2.5-0.5B-Instruct through llama.cpp for reflection, Whisper through whisper.cpp for speech | In the cloud. Its privacy policy names OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, AWS and Groq as AI providers, under zero-data-retention agreements |
| Account required | No | Yes: entries are kept in a Rosebud account registered with an email address |
| Where entries are stored | On your phone. There is no Plimm server and no sync | On Rosebud's servers, encrypted in transit and at rest. The policy describes no end-to-end encryption, and authorized staff can open entries for support, technical or safety reasons |
| Works offline | Yes, AI included, after a one-time 437 MB download | Not stated. Its help center says saving, transcription and reflections fail when a network blocks Rosebud |
| Platforms | iPhone and Android | iPhone, iPad, Android and the web; Mac and Apple Vision run the iPad app |
| Voice journaling | Yes, transcribed on the phone, in English | Yes, transcribed in the cloud by ElevenLabs |
| AI conversation about your entries | Yes, with a companion that has read your journal: one a day free, as often as you need with Pro | Yes: Ask Rosebud answers questions from your entries, and long-term memory recalls past ones |
| Patterns and insights | Yes, as plain sentences about emotions, themes and energy across weeks | Yes: an AI reflection on each entry, tags for mood, people and themes, and a weekly report |
| US price | Free; Pro is $4.99 a month with a 7-day free trial, or $39.99 a year | Bloom: $12.99 a month or $107.99 a year. Thrive plans with bigger AI usage budgets cost more |
| Free plan | Unlimited writing, one AI conversation a day, voice takes up to 0:30, the latest insight | No free plan from September 30, 2026, per its help center; existing entries stay exportable |
| Entries used to train AI models | No. Entries are never sent to Plimm or any AI service | Its site and help center say entries are never used to train AI, and its policy says AI providers keep no data after processing |
| Crisis support | Shows crisis resources, such as 988 in the US, if an entry suggests you may be struggling; never contacts anyone | Its help center says Rosebud can't handle a crisis and points to Find a Helpline; detecting crisis language is not described |
When Rosebud is the better choice
- You want larger cloud models, and a choice between them.
- You write on more than one device, or on the web: one account keeps entries and memory in sync.
- You journal in a language other than English. Rosebud's help center lists 17 supported languages.
- You want the AI to work across your whole history: questions answered from past entries, long-term memory and weekly reports.
When Plimm is the better choice
- You want the AI to run on your phone, not on a company's servers.
- You don't want an account.
- You want the AI to keep working offline, in airplane mode.
- You want a free plan, or a lower price: Plimm Pro is $39.99 a year.
Sources
Every fact about Rosebud comes from Rosebud's own pages and store listing, checked on September 28, 2026. Facts about Plimm come from this site: how Plimm's AI works, the privacy policy and the prices.
- Rosebud privacy policy (updated September 8, 2026): AI providers, storage, encryption, staff access, voice transcription, data kept by AI providers, account and email registration
- Changes to the Free Plan: the free plan's end date, exports
- Rosebud home page: Bloom prices
- Usage limits: model choice, Thrive plans
- Install the mobile app and the App Store listing: platforms, one account across web and mobile, what syncs, prices
- Voice journaling: voice entries
- Ask Rosebud and Long-term memory: conversation about your entries
- Weekly report and Auto-tagging: patterns and insights
- Connection issues: what fails without a connection
- Therapy and coaching and ChatGPT vs. Rosebud: entries not used to train AI
- Rosebud's limitations: crises
- Language support: languages