Journals reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 149 Reddit reviews across 19 subreddits and 34 posts to rank the best Journals brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/Journaling, r/fountainpens, r/notebooks, r/hobonichi, r/bulletjournal. Top-rated brands include Midori (4.9/5), Rhodia (4.9/5), Leuchtturm1917 (4.5/5).
Stats
Reviews149
Subreddits19
Posts34
Brands71
Products58
149 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Midori
4.9
(15)
"I second MIDORI A5. Mine is "graph" paper style. I mostly write with Fountain Pens and some highlighters. Midori paper is wonderful for fountain pens!!"
"Midori MD with their notebook covers. Cheap, clean, durable."
"Midori MD. Nice paper, never had a problem with ghosting. They come in several sizes with line, grid, and blank paper options."
"Midori is always a great choice. Tons of sizes and fantastic paper."
"As for brands, I use Midori and Clairfontaine."
"Midori, stalogy, and kokuyo campus are great pocket notebooks and commonplace journals"
"I love their paper. It might not show ink properties as well, but it's just very nice to write on."
"I stopped buying any other kind: beautiful, great paper, inexpensive."
"Midori, Leuchtturm1917, Paperblanks and Penco are my favourite FP friendly journal brands."
"My go to are Midori (A5 notebooks for me) and Clairefontaine (A5 too)."
#2
Rhodia
4.9
(12)
"Rhodia and apica are my favorites."
"Rhodia is by far my favorite."
"Rhodia, clairefontaine, Midori MD, tomoe river."
"My suggestions are the Rhodia cahier A5 or a Midori A5 notebook."
"I like rhodia the best so far"
"I like Clairefontaine and Rhodia notebooks."
"Oxford Optik notebooks are very fountain pen friendly, as are Rhodia."
"Rhodia/Clairefontaine. I use pretty much nothing else now."
"Perfect for daily journaling and capturing thoughts."
"Rhodia notebooks have very nice paper for fountain pens."
#3
Leuchtturm1917
4.5
(11)
"I write in fountain pen and have been a happy Leuchtturm user for years now; the 80gsm variant is my go-to."
"Leuchtturm is my go-to! switched to it after using moleskine and have been using them for about a decade now, they are solid quality and I love dotted paper."
"I use the "official" Bullet Journal from LT1917 and it works well."
"Leuchtturm1917 (my favorite, consistently good paper with a hardback cover and numbered pages). Do not use Molskine, despite looking similar and being everywhere. They smear."
"Go for a Leuchtturm, Midori, Rhodia... Anything else."
"Leuchtturm dotted are my favourite, but I’m pretty minimalist. They have a bullet journal edition, which is nice to get started, and come in many colours."
"Midori, Leuchtturm1917, Paperblanks and Penco are my favourite FP friendly journal brands."
"I recommend leuchtturm for dot or graph grid paper."
"Get a softcover A5 Midori, Leuchtturmi 1917, or Molsekin."
"If you decide on Leuchtturm, be sure to take the one with 120 gsm paper, because that’s the only one resistant to bleeding from most inks."
#4
Clairefontaine
4.8
(6)
"As for brands, I use Midori and Clairfontaine."
"I like Clairefontaine and Rhodia notebooks."
"Rhodia/Clairefontaine. I use pretty much nothing else now."
"My go to are Midori (A5 notebooks for me) and Clairefontaine (A5 too)."
"Clairefontaine has a lot of designs and types of notebooks to choose from and they’re FP friendly."
"Claire Fontaine is nice too but definitely in the extremely smooth/coated side"
#5
Moleskine
3.9
(7)
"The travel journal is compact and lightweight, making it perfect for trips."
"I prefer the physical act of writing. My journal is like my second phone and I bring it everywhere."
"I started with a pack of Moleskin Cahier Journals."
"I think, in this case, the Moleskine is your best bet."
"Moleskin is good for ballpoint and gel pens."
"I use dotted A5 moleskine notebooks just because I like the feel of the paper. But I know there are cheaper and better options out there."
"Get a softcover A5 Midori, Leuchtturmi 1917, or Molsekin."
#6
Tomoe River Paper
5.0
(5)
"Tomoe River ruined ever other paper for me."
"I love tomoe river paper."
"Tomoe river paper journals like hobonichi, Life, Midori."
"Tomoe River Paper notebooks."
"Tomoe River Paper notebooks are my favourite."
#7
Leuchtturm 1917
4.3
(4)
"Leuchtturm 1917 (dotted pages and other options), 80gsm."
"I have zero bleed through issues with my Leuchtturm 1917s."
"The leuchturm 1917 notebooks are a great choice."
"I just got a Leuchtturm 1917 yesterday, because I'd heard they're good for fountain pens."
#8
Paperblanks
4.3
(4)
"Midori, Leuchtturm1917, Paperblanks and Penco are my favourite FP friendly journal brands."
"Paperblanks works great for me, get anything GSM 120"
"Paperblanks"
"For my daily journal I like the Paperblanks Midi, which is close to B6 although a bit bigger I believe."
#9
Hobonichi
4.0
(4)
"Hobonichi, leuchtrum, Midori, Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Tomoe river, Stalogy."
"Hobonichi is a very popular planner brand that fountain pen users turn to for daily journaling and planning."
"I have kept a sketch diary (fountain pen and watercolor mainly) in a Hobonichi day-free."
"I don’t recommend the Notes."
#10
Peter Pauper Press
4.3
(3)
"Peter Pauoer Press. They're really high quality journals and they're beautiful. And I also think the paper is perfect for a variety of uses such as if you use a fountain pen."
"Peter Pauper Press notebooks are cheaper for pretty much the same amount of pages/quality as Leuchtturm1917."
"Peter pauper press has some pretty journals"
#11
TN Standard
4.3
(3)
"Great for documenting trips."
"Good for tracking daily activities."
"Perfect for keeping memorabilia."
#12
Michael's
4.0
(3)
"I personally LOVE the $5 hard covered sketchbooks from Michael’s, the almost a5 size. They are my main go to as they pages are thick, the binding can handle them getting THiCk"
"Michael's sells dot grid notebooks for ~$10-15 and often puts them on sale."
"I just got the $7 journal from Micheals… probably not the best long term, but good that you don’t feel like it was a complete waste if some spreads don’t turn out how you hope"
#13
MD
5.0
(2)
"I like the additional paper covers - I'm on my 13th A6 and still using the original cover."
"I love these too. They’re just beautiful notebooks. Well made and surprisingly durable."
#14
Tomoe River
5.0
(2)
"The Tomoe River I love can be quite expensive."
"Sterling ink for Tomoe river planners/notebooks that can be used as journals."
#15
Midori MD
5.0
(2)
"My go-to are these: Midori MD, Mnemosyne, Campus, Life, Century by Kokuyo, Stalogy, CD Apica."
"Midori MD and Apica Premium CD are my favorite notebooks."
#16
Morning Glory
5.0
(2)
"Morning Glory from Korea"
"Morning Glory from Korea"
#17
Cureus
4.5
(2)
"It's free and PubMed indexed."
"You should check cureus which should be free to publish upto 5 co-authors"
#18
Happy Planner
4.5
(2)
"Happy Planner. Tons of customization!"
"It’s ridiculously easy to pull the pages out and work on them and slip them back in, allows for expansion when the pages add thickness"
#19
Iroful
4.0
(2)
"Iroful and Yu-sari seem to be popular recently."
"I like it more than midori."
#20
Stalogy
4.0
(2)
"Midori, stalogy, and kokuyo campus are great pocket notebooks and commonplace journals"
"Both Stálogy and Moleskin are good brands but it’s all up to what you’re looking to do in your book."
#21
Hobo
4.0
(2)
"Prompts gratitude and positivity."
"Basic planner for errands and tasks."
#22
Pen & Gear
4.0
(2)
"If you’re looking for something a bit cheaper I have had pretty good success with pen and gear journals (you can get them at Walmart)."
"I went to a local Walmart and picked up a pen & gear dotted notebook. It was hardcover with three bookmarks and an elastic to keep it shut."
#23
Bullet Journal
4.0
(2)
"I would recommend you to read "the bullet journal method" or to check the website of the creator at bulletjournal.com."
"I had a parental-like figure give me the bullet journal that he would “grade” once a week..."
#24
Hobo Weeks
4.0
(2)
"Helps keep track of yearly and monthly goals."
"Great for tracking health and fitness goals."
#25
TN Passport
3.0
(2)
"Casual way to jot down daily thoughts."
"Fun and easy to use."
#26
Two Hands Paperie
5.0
(1)
"These are my favorite!"
#27
Dingbats
5.0
(1)
"I like graph grid better than dot grid and I’m using an A5 Dingbats graph grid notebook - pretty and great paper!"
#28
Traveler's Company
5.0
(1)
"TRAVELER'S COMPANY! 🥰"
#29
The Vespiary
5.0
(1)
"The Vespiary handmakes and sells beautiful notebooks"
#30
Leuchtturm
5.0
(1)
"I ADORE the leuchttrum notebooks and have used them as my daily for years now (120g, dotted grid). Classy, lowkey, and high quality."
#31
Shakespeare and Company
5.0
(1)
"Shakespeare and Company!"
#32
Mitsubishi Bank Paper
5.0
(1)
"Mitsubishi Bank Paper - Paper Mind has a great lined journal."
#33
Oxford
5.0
(1)
"Oxford Optik notebooks are very fountain pen friendly, as are Rhodia."
#34
Itoya
5.0
(1)
"Itoya Oasis is good if you like Tomoe River paper, thin."
#35
Penco
5.0
(1)
"Midori, Leuchtturm1917, Paperblanks and Penco are my favourite FP friendly journal brands."
#36
Platinum Carbon Pigment Inks
5.0
(1)
"Carbon pigment inks by Platinum won’t bleed through any paper."
#37
Life Noble Notebooks
5.0
(1)
"The more popular choices are Life Noble notebooks."
#38
Midori MD Notebooks
5.0
(1)
"Midori MD notebooks."
#39
Mnemosyne Notebooks
5.0
(1)
"Mnemosyne notebooks."
#40
The Paper Mind
5.0
(1)
"All of these will work great with fountain pens."
#41
Nanami Seven Seas Writer
5.0
(1)
"Nanami Seven Seas Writer."
#42
Rhodia Notebooks
5.0
(1)
"Rhodia notebooks have very nice paper for fountain pens"
#43
5 Minute Journal
5.0
(1)
"The “5 Minute Journal” is really nice. It has gratitude, affirmation, and daily reflection prompts."
#44
A6
5.0
(1)
"Great for goal setting and tracking."
#45
Remarkable
5.0
(1)
"The remarkable tablet is designed for focused writing without distractions."
#46
Substack
5.0
(1)
"Essential - highly researched essays into live Bob both historical and present day."
#47
Bethesda
5.0
(1)
"The 'Take Notes' mod enhances the gameplay experience significantly, allowing for better immersion and organization."
#48
Mnemosyne (Maruman)
4.0
(1)
"Mnemosyne (Maruman) pads are pretty good."
#49
Neurodivergent Workbook
4.0
(1)
"The Neurodivergent Workbook of DBT Skills is pretty good"
#50
Children's Emotions Journal
4.0
(1)
"I've also successfully used this children's emotions journal for dealing with trauma with alexithymia"
#51
Mnemosyne
4.0
(1)
"Mnemosyne is definitely better in performance and just off white."
#52
Rettacy
4.0
(1)
"I'm currently using Rettacy notebooks and I'm happy with them. Good quality 100gsm paper, solid color covers, nice features, great prices."
#53
One Line a Day
4.0
(1)
"The "One Line a Day" journal is really cool if you're just starting out."
#54
Arrtx
4.0
(1)
"Arrtx do a nice hardcover journal that lays flat with 60 sheets of 180gsm paper."
#55
Hubman and Chubgirl
4.0
(1)
"Hubman and chubgirl sells a coloring book planner with cute spreads already done that you just have to customize and color in!"
#56
AmandaRachLee
4.0
(1)
"AmandaRachLee has her 6month Undated Planner on sale right now. The spreads are set up for you but you can still colour them if you want to be creative."
#57
Five Below
4.0
(1)
"It was a closed spine sketch book so I didn’t have to worry about it falling apart and it was about $5 so it was low commitment."
#58
Soulseries Journals
4.0
(1)
"Soulseries journals shops @ shopsouls.com the questions will stump you. a really great way to level up your journalling! they are high quality as well"
#59
The Five-Minute Journal
4.0
(1)
""The Five-Minute Journal" is pretty popular. It gives you prompts to help you reflect on the positive aspects of your day."
#60
Noteworthy
4.0
(1)
"Noteworthy has some very cool journals that are designed locally."
#61
Rockin’ Rudy’s
4.0
(1)
"Rockin’ Rudys has a huge variety of different types of journals."
#62
App Store
4.0
(1)
"Go to App Store and search "journaling app". There are a ton of options."
#63
Pen+Gear Journal
4.0
(1)
"I've filled several, and for the majority of the pens I've written entries with I've not had any bleed through."
#64
Itoya Oasis
4.0
(1)
"I’ve recently discovered the Itoya Oasis line, which had midori-like paper."
#65
Wiley
4.0
(1)
"Wiley is good. As we are in low income country. Publication was free"
#66
Wreck This Journal
4.0
(1)
"Maybe wreck this journal?"
#67
The 5 Minute Journal
4.0
(1)
"The 5 minute journal might work"
#68
Endless Recorder
4.0
(1)
"Endless Recorder notebooks can be used with fountain pens really very well."
#69
LIFE
4.0
(1)
"I love the LIFE notebooks. The paper is awesome."
#70
Atoma
4.0
(1)
"The one I surprisingly like because it is so versatile is the Atoma notebooks."
#71
Amazon
2.0
(1)
"Go get one of those fancy ones on Amazon that promises to unlock your inner goblin or whatever."
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