Here’s another question from a reader who needs help finding a specific type of notebook:

I’m looking for a pocket-sized daily planner (that’s NOT Moleskine). Something that has a full page for each day, not a planner that has a week layout on two pages. There are a thousand of those and I use them and I like them. But I’m looking for one that has a day to a page. (Ideally I’d also like to have a monthly layout in the planner as well, but it’s not necessary.)

The planner I think comes closest to it is the old Marquette planners you wrote about here:

1940 Marquette Diary

I’m sure this reader isn’t the only one who has this question. I remember that last year, Kathrin Jebsen-Marwedel, one of my favorite notebook artists, was looking for alternatives after finally deciding she couldn’t live with the decline in Moleskine’s paper quality anymore. After 24 years of keeping an illustrated diary in a daily pocket Moleskine, she switched to a Leuchtturm daily planner, and it sounded like she was happy with it. Leuchtturm’s size is 3.5 x 6″ vs. Moleskine’s 3.5 x 5.5″, but if you can handle an extra half inch in height, Leuchtturm is probably the closest design to Moleskine’s in every other respect. The 2026 version is now available.

If you are open to an undated daily planner, Nolty‘s Dailybook is something to consider. It has the 3.5 x 5.5″ format, and the pages are laid out with a header where you can put the date, and then a section with a light grid pattern. The paper is a creamy color, super smooth and fantastically fountain pen friendly. I reviewed the original limited editino 2020 dated version of the Nolty Dailybook here and the undated Dailybook here. The undated Dailybook was also produced in a leather covered “Gold” version for Nolty’s 60th anniversary. It’s still available here.

The only problem with the Nolty Dailybook is that it might be expensive to order from Japan– I’ve found that shipping can be around $25 and up. It’s available via Nolty’s online shop, which has an English-language international purchasing service built in. I also noticed an Etsy seller offering these.

Another undated option is Stalogy. I reviewed the Stalogy Editor’s Series 365 Day Notebook a few years ago. At the time, the only “pocket” size option was a true A6, but they have now introduced an “A6 Slim” size that measures 3.5 x 5.8″– close to the size of the Leuchtturm diary. Here too the pages have a header space and a squared layout. The smooth, lightweight paper is fountain pen friendly.

Then there’s Sterling Ink. I reviewed some of Sterling Ink’s plain pocket size notebooks and was very impressed by the quality. Their planners also seem to be very popular, and a 2026 pocket size daily planner is available. (Or it was when I started writing this post, anyway. These seem to have now sold out, but other sizes are still available.) In addition to the daily pages, there are yearly, quarterly and monthly layouts, and some plain notes pages.

If you’re open to a standard A6 size, there is of course the Hobonichi Techo. I reviewed the 2014 Hobonichi Techo when they first launched the English language version in the US. They’ve since become wildly popular and branched out into loads of options, but my favorite is still the classic version with the black cover.

As for brands I haven’t reviewed, here are a few that look promising:

Wykehams is a relatively new British brand that I’d never come across until now. Their “Executive Journal” planners have a traditional style, and the 2026 diaries come in various sizes and page layouts including an A6 daily diary, which is surprisingly affordable at $22.00, marked down from $24. The price even includes free shipping from within the US. This may have the closest format to the old Marquette diary, even if it’s a bit chunkier.

The Laconic Pocket Log Diary is a little smaller than a Moleskine, measuring 3.5 x 4.7″. The layout (undated) may not be free-form enough for some users, but others may enjoy having some structure. The other potential drawback is that there are only enough pages for 6 months, so you’d have to buy two a year. There’s a detailed review at The Pen Addict. Jet Pens sells it (as did Yoseka, but they’re out of stock). It’s also listed on Amazon but not currently available there.

The Prism 365 Days Daily Planner is a Korean diary available from Mochithings. It comes in various colors and at 5.94 x 3.86 x 1.06in. it’s close in size to the Leuchtturm daily planner. I had not heard of this brand before, but I found a review on YouTube that seems to have some concerns about the quality of their bindings.

There are some other options if you are open to a larger size like 5×7″. To me that’s not really “pocket” size any more, but if you have big pockets, check these out:

The At-A-Glance Standard Diary is a classic. The smallest version is about 5 x 8″, unfortunately. Weirdly, they are crazy expensive if you buy them directly from At-A-Glance’s website ($71.27!) but heavily discounted from a lower price on Amazon (currently $27.60, 54% off the $60.39 list price).

The “pocket” size Full Focus Planner comes in a 4.5 x 7 inch size so it’s a little more pocket friendly than the Standard Diary. The grey linen cover looks attractive. The pages here have a format that is designed to work with the Full Focus system of productivity and goal achievement which aims to “help high achievers live their best lives,” via selling them planners and corporate coaching. It all seems a bit intense but the planner looks nice. However, it stays slim by only having enough undated daily pages for 3 months, so you’ll be spending over $100 to cover a full year. Other sizes are also available.

Well, I’ve given it my best shot! I hope one of these options will fit the bill. I’d love to hear from other readers who are using pocket size daily planners too!

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