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MoodSync

MoodSync vs Daylio: which mood tracker for bipolar disorder?

2 min read · Sources last checked: May 2026 · Editorial comparison, not affiliate.

TL;DR

Choose MoodSync if you live with bipolar disorder and want clinical-style scales tied to sleep and meds (the same setup also works for structured anxiety or BPD tracking alongside care).

Choose Daylio if you want a colorful mood diary for general well-being and like the activity-tag system.

  • Mood scale

    0–3 mirrors GAD-7 and PHQ-9; sits in the same compact-ordinal tradition as HAM-D, YMRS, ASRM (0–4)

    MoodSync
    0–3 clinical-style anchors per axis
    Daylio
    1–5 face emojis

  • Bipolar-specific axes

    Daylio collapses everything into one mood axis

    MoodSync
    Depression, elevation, irritability, anxiety as separate scales
    Daylio

  • Sleep tracking

    MoodSync
    Built in, plotted next to mood
    Daylio
    Tag only, not charted with mood

  • Medication tracking

    MoodSync
    Daily 'meds taken' toggle on every entry
    Daylio
    Tag only

  • Data storage

    MoodSync
    On device, with optional private iCloud sync
    Daylio
    Local + optional Daylio cloud backup (Premium)

  • Account required

    MoodSync
    No MoodSync account
    Daylio
    Optional, required for cloud sync

  • Free tier

    MoodSync
    Free, with an optional Pro tier
    Daylio
    Free + Daylio Premium subscription

  • Activity tags

    MoodSync
    Light
    Daylio
    Extensive — Daylio's main feature

Daylio is a popular mood diary. For general mood tracking, it works well. But most people who land on this page are here for one reason: Daylio does not fit how bipolar disorder shows up day to day.

Where Daylio works well

Daylio is designed around two ideas: a single 1–5 face-based mood, and activity tags ("ran 5k", "ate junk food", "argued with partner"). For someone whose mood drifts gently (better when they exercise, worse when they don't sleep), that pairing produces a useful diary.

Where Daylio falls short for bipolar

A single mood scale can't separate depression from hypomania from a mixed state. Mania has been measured on its own scale since 1978 for a reason1978: it doesn't live on the same axis as depression, and reading both off the same 1–5 face throws away most of the signal.

Sleep, the most consistent prodrome of an episode, is a tag in Daylio. In bipolar disorder, sleep disruption usually precedes mood shifts2008. A tag can't show you a stretch of 4-hour nights against a stretch of 2-rated days. A chart can.

Medication tracking lives in tags too. Mood data over weeks, paired with adherence and sleep, is what lets you and a clinician answer "is this medication working?" with something other than a guess.2015

Where MoodSync goes further

  • Four 0–3 scales: depression, elevation, irritability, anxiety
  • Sleep hours and medication adherence on the same chart as mood
  • Mood values stay on your device, with optional private iCloud sync
  • Free to download and use, with an optional Pro tier for deeper history and analytics

The trade-off

If activity tagging is the feature you care most about, Daylio is built around it. MoodSync keeps tagging light on purpose — the time goes into the bipolar-specific work: clinical scales, sleep–mood, the meds toggle.

Worth reading next

FAQ

Is Daylio good for bipolar disorder?

Daylio is built as a general-purpose mood diary with a 1–5 face-based scale and activity tags. It can work for tracking general well-being, but it does not separate depression from elevation, irritability, or anxiety, and it does not surface sleep or medication patterns alongside mood. Those are the things that matter most for bipolar disorder.

Does MoodSync sync to the cloud like Daylio Premium?

Yes — through your own private iCloud (CloudKit), encrypted and not accessible to us. There is no separate MoodSync server. Daylio offers cloud backup behind its Premium subscription on its own infrastructure.

Is MoodSync free?

Yes. MoodSync is free to download and use, with an optional Pro tier that unlocks deeper history and analytics. Daylio is also free with a separate Premium subscription.

Sources

  1. Harvey AG (2008). Sleep and circadian rhythms in bipolar disorder: seeking synchrony, harmony, and regulation, American Journal of Psychiatry. link
  2. Young RC, Biggs JT, Ziegler VE, Meyer DA (1978). A rating scale for mania: reliability, validity and sensitivity, British Journal of Psychiatry. link
  3. Faurholt-Jepsen M, Frost M, Vinberg M, et al. (2015). Smartphone-based self-monitoring in bipolar disorder: an RCT, JAMA Psychiatry. link