Storyworth vs Remento vs Storii vs StoryKeeper vs Tell Me: which one fits your family?
Below is an in-depth, side-by-side look at how the family story and memoir services work: what they cost where you live, how the questions arrive, what your parent actually has to do, what you end up with, and who each is built for. Four end in a book or an audiobook. One is built for the phone in your pocket: a question in their WhatsApp, a voice note back, and their voice kept where you'll actually reach for it in ten years' time.
It's a lot of reading. It's also honest. And I built one of them.
Tell Me is mine: I built it for my own parents, they use it, and their stories are in it. Where another service does something better, or suits your family better, I've said so. Every fact about the other four comes from their own websites and help centres, not from what rivals say about each other; every price links to where I found it and was checked on 11 September 2026; where a company's own pages disagree, the chart says so instead of picking a side; and every product, mine included, gets a "look elsewhere if" line and the same number of things it does badly. If I've got something wrong, tell me and I'll fix it.
But if you'd rather have my take, from someone who's spent a lot of time looking at all of them, I've written about why I built Tell Me differently.
Read: It's not a project. It's a habit
Four questions, and I'll tell you which two to look at
Not which one is best. There isn't one. Which two fit your parent and what you want at the end, and, just as usefully, which ones don't.
The five, in words
Ticks and crosses flatter whoever drew the table. So this one uses sentences, and every competitor cell has a source you can open. It's in sections: open the ones you care about, or all of them. Checked 11 September 2026.
- Storyworth The original weekly-question memoir, now with phone calls In full
- Remento Speak, and it writes; a book with their voice on every page In full
- Storii It phones them. Nothing to install, nothing to tap In full
- StoryKeeper £69 once, two hardbacks, their voice by QR code on each chapter In full
- Tell Me A question in their WhatsApp, a voice note back, and the next question written from what they said In full
Two at a time on a phone. Tap a name to swap it in:
| What we compared | Storyworth | Tell Me | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How the question arrives |
Email on the Basic plan; email or text on Color and Unlimited
Weekly by default; you can make it anything from daily to monthly. Source: welcome.storyworth.com |
WhatsApp, email, or the storyteller app. You pick one
A couple a week by default (Monday and Thursday); daily, every other day, or your own days if you prefer. Where this comes from |
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| Do they need a smartphone or computer? |
Not on the phone plans (Color, Unlimited): any phone, even a landline. Email answers need a device
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Yes. A phone with WhatsApp, an email address, or an iPhone for the app
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| Who sets the pace |
A weekly rhythm you can adjust; family can suggest questions
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An ordered queue you curate. Think of a question on a Tuesday night and it goes to the front
Follow-ups that reference what they said are written for you and slot in next. Where this comes from |
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| Can they just talk? |
Yes, over a phone call, on Color and Unlimited: Story Calls, Magic Interviews and Family Calls
Storyworth's help centre lists Magic Interviews under Unlimited only; its blog says Color and Unlimited. Check before you buy. They request a call and Storyworth rings back within moments; the transcript is word for word. Not on the Basic plan. Source: welcome.storyworth.com |
Yes. A voice note on WhatsApp, or a recording in the app (up to ten minutes)
Email replies are typed, with photos attached. Where this comes from |
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| Can they write instead? |
Yes. Reply to the email or type on the site. Writing is where Storyworth started
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Yes. A text on WhatsApp, a typed email reply, or typing in the app
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| Do they answer where the question arrived? Every extra tap is a place to give up. |
Yes. Reply to the email, photos attached
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Yes. Reply to the WhatsApp message or the email, or tap record in the app
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| Video |
No
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Yes, on WhatsApp or in the storyteller app
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| Works on a landline? |
Yes, on Color and Unlimited
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No
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| Is the original recording kept? |
Yes. Phone recordings are kept and transcribed word for word
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Yes. Every recording and the exact original words sit next to the story
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| Where you can hear it |
Online, as a free audiobook and a private podcast feed, and one QR code on the last page of the book
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In the archive, on the web and in the Tell Me app, and in the download you can take home
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| The AI's job |
Transcribes calls word for word. Magic Interviews asks follow-ups on the call and writes a narrative; Magic Questions suggests personalised questions
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Shapes each reply into a story and writes the follow-up questions from what they said. Nothing is trained on your family
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| Can you see what they actually said? |
Yes. Story Calls are word for word; Magic Interviews keep the recording
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Yes. The original words are shown under every story, and the recording plays
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| Follow-up questions |
Yes, on the call, with Magic Interviews
Plan availability is unclear on Storyworth's own pages. Source: welcome.storyworth.com |
Yes. Written from what they said, sent as a later question
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| Family members |
Invite family free; they can suggest questions
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Invite family free, as viewers or as editors who can manage the questions
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| Both parents, or a grandparent too |
UK
A subscription each, or Unlimited for as many storytellers as you like
US
A subscription each, or Unlimited ($199, then $99 a year) for as many storytellers as you like
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UK
The second is +£5.00/month or +£30/year; each after that +£39/year
Each storyteller gets their own questions, their own archive and their own free stories. Where this comes fromUS
The second is +$6.00/month or +$40/year; each after that +$49/year
Each storyteller gets their own questions, their own archive and their own free stories. Where this comes from |
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| Question library |
500+, editable, plus your own
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Every question is written for them, with their name, their family and their era. Around 200 to start, plus your own and the follow-ups written from what they said
Every one starts "Tell me…". Sensitive topics can be switched off per storyteller. Where this comes from |
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| A printed book |
Yes. A 6×9 inch hardcover is included: black and white on Basic, colour on Color and Unlimited
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Optional. The archive is the product and it works from the first week; a printed book is an extra you order when there are enough stories worth printing, with a QR code on each story that plays their voice
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| What you can download |
A free e-book and a free audiobook
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Everything: every story, the original words, every voice and video recording, and every photo, in one download, on any plan
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| Can you try it before paying? |
No. You buy the year up front
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Yes. The first 10 stories are free, with no card
A free story is only used when they actually reply, so a question they skip costs nothing. Where this comes from |
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| What it costs to start |
UK
From £49 for a year of questions and a book, on Storyworth's UK site. The Colour and Unlimited tiers are priced at checkout
US
Basic $59, Color $109, Unlimited $199. Each is a year of questions plus a book
Storyworth's help centre lists Color at $99; its pricing page says $109. Source: welcome.storyworth.com |
UK
10 free stories per storyteller, then £9.99/month or £69/year
A free story is only used when they actually reply. No card to start. Where this comes fromUS
10 free stories per storyteller, then $12.99/month or $89/year
A free story is only used when they actually reply. No card to start. Where this comes from |
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| Each year after |
Renew for another year of questions, or stop and keep reading. Unlimited auto-renews at $99
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UK
£9.99/month or £69/year while questions are being asked. When they stop, a free year, then Legacy at £20/year to keep reading and listening
US
$12.99/month or $89/year while questions are being asked. When they stop, a free year, then Legacy at $25/year to keep reading and listening
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| Extra copies of the book | |||||
| Changed your mind |
30-day money-back guarantee
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No money-back window: the free stories are the trial, and you can cancel any time
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| What happens to the stories |
Questions stop; three months to keep editing; then read-only for good. Books can still be ordered
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UK
Nothing is deleted. The archive stays open for a year at no charge, then Legacy at £20/year keeps it online and looked after, with every story, recording and photo still yours to download; the full plan restarts whenever you like
The full download is included on every plan, so take your copy before you stop, or on Legacy. Where this comes fromUS
Nothing is deleted. The archive stays open for a year at no charge, then Legacy at $25/year keeps it online and looked after, with every story, recording and photo still yours to download; the full plan restarts whenever you like
The full download is included on every plan, so take your copy before you stop, or on Legacy. Where this comes from |
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| Billed in | |||||
| Getting the book to you |
UK
Printed in the US and Europe, about ten working days. Storyworth warns that customs may be charged on delivery
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| Phone numbers and messaging |
UK
Story Calls work on "any phone"; Storyworth does not say whether UK numbers are supported
Ask Storyworth before buying a phone plan for a UK storyteller. Source: help.storyworth.com |
WhatsApp in every country bar six; email anywhere
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| Who's behind it |
Founded in 2013 by Nick and Krista Baum to record his father's stories. Family-owned, US
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Tell Me Stories Ltd, Scotland, 2026. One person: me, David. I built it for my own parents, who use it, and I answer the email
My parents' own stories are in it. That is the plainest reason I can give that it isn't going anywhere. Where this comes from |
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| Reviews Trustpilot, checked 11 September 2026. |
4.7 from 64,845 reviews
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Launched 2026. The first 10 stories are free, so you can judge it yourself before paying
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| Languages |
English and Spanish; stories can be written in any language
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English only
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"Check at checkout" marks a place where the company's own pages disagree with each other, or say nothing. Sources open in a new tab. How this was put together.
Six years of "is there a UK version of Storyworth?" threads, boiled down
Before writing this I read the Reddit and Mumsnet threads going back to 2020. Almost nobody argues about features. They worry about four things.
Will they actually keep going?
By a distance the most common complaint about the weekly-question model, in six years of forum threads: "he never did it", "she did ten or twelve and stopped". Nobody had a bad word for the idea. Plenty had one for the follow-through.
Storii's answer is to ring them, so the call happens to them, and Storyworth's higher tiers can ring them too. Tell Me's is to put the question in the chat they already open every day, answered with the voice note they already know how to send, and never to chase a skipped one: if it doesn't stick, it has cost nothing.
In the chart: AnsweringWill it read like stories, or like a questionnaire?
The second most common disappointment: "a bound question and answer", "more like notes than stories". People pay for a memoir and get a form. AI can fix that, and it can also overdo it: one ghostwriting firm has recent one-star reviews for delivering "an AI generated summary".
All five keep the original within reach, so the question is how far the rewrite strays: Storii and Tell Me show the exact words beside it, Storyworth prints written answers as written, and Remento and StoryKeeper keep the recording with the story so you can check. Tell Me also writes the next question from what they said, so the archive reads as one conversation rather than 52 unrelated answers.
In the chart: What the AI doesWill it feel like homework?
"Setting weekly homework" is how one Mumsnet reply described the model. A gift that arrives as a task is a gift that gets put in a drawer.
Storyworth is the most project-like of the five, a year to fill and a book to finish, which suits a parent who likes projects; Remento and StoryKeeper are lighter, because speaking is quicker than writing; Storii asks nothing but that they answer the phone. Tell Me treats every question as an invitation: skip one and the next simply arrives, with no completion bar, no streak and no year to finish.
In the chart: Getting the questionWhat will it really cost, in pounds?
Dollar billing, shipping "calculated at checkout", and customs on the doorstep are the practical complaints UK buyers raise.
StoryKeeper and Tell Me bill UK families in pounds with nothing to clear through customs; Storyworth's UK site bills in pounds but warns that the book may attract customs on delivery; Remento and Storii bill in dollars, Remento with UK duties paid up front and Storii with no price on its pricing page at all. Every figure is in the chart's Money rows, in each company's own currency.
In the chart: MoneyThe line that comes up most, though, isn't about any product. It's "I wish I'd just sat down and talked to her." Every one of these is a way of having that conversation more often than you otherwise would. None of them is a substitute for it.
Are you making a memoir, or keeping a relationship?
Strip the features away and the five open with different sentences.
Storyworth says: here's a question.
Remento says: tell us your answer.
Storii says: we'll call you.
StoryKeeper says: here's your book.
Tell Me says: tell me a story.
Those aren't small differences, because the shape of the thing changes how people behave. Give someone a memoir to fill and they behave like an author, and authors get blocked. Give them a prompt to record and they behave like an interviewee. Schedule a call and they take part in a service. But when your daughter's name comes up on the phone with "Dad, tell me about your first day at work", he's just talking to his daughter.
A book has chapters. A life doesn't. It has the neighbour who used to shout, the first sight of the sea, the car bought with the first pay packet, the holiday where everything went wrong, the night he met your mum, the thing his own father told him that he never forgot. Some of those deserve a chapter. Most deserve three minutes and a laugh, and those three minutes are the ones you'll want most when he's not around to tell them again.
If a hardback is the point, buy the hardback: three of the five make a good one. But think about where you'll be in ten years when you miss her. Not at the bookshelf, and not in the loft. You'll be on your phone at two in the morning, looking for her voice. Tell Me is built for that moment, and for having the conversation more often between now and then.
One at a time, properly
What each one is, what it does well, where it falls short, what it costs where you are, and who it's for. The same questions for all five, mine last.
Or take one of them against Tell Me on its own page: Storyworth vs Tell Me, Remento vs Tell Me, Storii vs Tell Me, StoryKeeper vs Tell Me .
Storyworth sends your parent a question a week by email (or text, on the higher plans), collects the answers for a year, and prints them as a hardcover book. It started in 2013 as a writing product and is still family-owned. Since 2024 it has added three ways to talk instead: Story Calls, where they request a call-back and dictate; Magic Interviews, where an interviewer asks follow-ups on the call and the conversation is shaped into a narrative; and Family Calls, where a relative joins in.
What it does well
- Thirteen years and a million books: the layouts, the printing and the support are mature, and there are more than sixty thousand Trustpilot reviews to read.
- The lowest way in: a year and a book from £49 on its UK site, billed in pounds.
- The most ways to answer of the five: reply to the email, type on the site, or, on Color and Unlimited, talk on any phone including a landline.
- A free audiobook and a private podcast feed of the recordings, and a 500-question library you can edit.
Where it falls short
- It is a project. A question a week, a year to fill, a book to finish. Forum threads are full of parents who did ten questions and stopped.
- The voice features cost more, and Storyworth's own pages disagree about which plan includes Magic Interviews.
- One QR code on the last page, not one per story. And UK books may attract customs on delivery.
- Reviewers' recurring niggles: adding photos, and control over the layout.
What it costs where you are
UK From £49 for a year and a black-and-white book; colour and the phone features cost more, priced at checkout. Extra books £29 to £79.
US Basic $59, Color $109 (with phone recording), Unlimited $199 then $99 a year for any number of storytellers. Extra books $39 to $99.
Checked 11 September 2026.
Choose Storyworth if you want a structured year and a proper book at the end, your parent is happy with email or would like to be phoned, and you'd rather buy from the company that has been doing this longest.
Look elsewhere if a weekly assignment is exactly the thing your parent will quietly ignore, or you want to hear their voice on every page rather than on the last one.
See Storyworth's pricing Their UK site Storyworth vs Tell Me, in full
Remento sends a weekly prompt by email or text. Your parent taps the link and talks, audio or video, up to half an hour. Remento's Speech-to-Story turns the recording into written prose, and at the end of the year it prints an 8×10 colour hardcover with a QR code on every story that plays the original recording. Founded in Los Angeles in 2020; it took investment from Mark Cuban on Shark Tank in 2025.
What it does well
- Their voice on every page. Scan any story in the book and hear them tell it. The codes keep working whether or not you keep paying.
- No writing, no app, no password: the link opens a recording page in any browser.
- Video as well as audio, and the whole family can add prompts, react, and vote on what gets asked next, for free.
- The biggest book of the five, full colour, and ships to the UK with all duties included.
Where it falls short
- Billed in US dollars only, and its text messages only reach US numbers. UK parents get email.
- No phone-call option. If they can't tap a link on a screen, Remento can't reach them.
- The download is audio and video only: Remento says "photos and written stories are not included".
- Reviewers complain about the volume of reminder emails and texts, AI-only support, and transcription errors.
What it costs where you are
UK $99 for a year and a book, plus $15 shipping to the UK (duties included). Then $99 a year or $12 a month to keep recording; a new book is extra.
US $99 for a year and a book, free US shipping. Then $99 a year or $12 a month to keep recording; a new book is extra.
Checked 11 September 2026.
Choose Remento if hearing their voice matters more than anything, they are comfortable tapping a link, and you'd like video and a large colour book.
Look elsewhere if your parent needs to be phoned, you want to be billed in pounds, or you want the written stories in a form you can take away.
Storii telephones your parent. You set up to three calls a week; it rings, reads out a question from a library of over a thousand, and records the answer when they press 1. Each call is transcribed within minutes and an AI rewrite is posted next to it on a web profile the family can read. There is no app to install and no internet needed at their end. Founded in 2014 by a Scot, Cameron Graham; the company now sits in Edinburgh and California, alongside a care-home product called StoriiCare.
What it does well
- The only one of the five that needs nothing from the storyteller but a telephone. Landlines work.
- The call happens to them. For the parent who will never open an email, that is the difference between some stories and none.
- Every call is stored; download the lot as an audiobook or a PDF any time, and the archive stays readable free for life if you stop paying.
- Seven languages, and unlimited family members.
Where it falls short
- On the day I checked, Storii's pricing page showed "$-" for every plan. The last figures it published were $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, in a blog post from November 2024.
- No printed book, only what you print yourself from the PDF.
- No Trustpilot reviews at all, and the family app was last updated in 2023. It looks like a good mechanism inside a business that is mostly doing something else.
- One number per account, refunds only before the activation code is used, and the UK call-in number is a mobile, charged at their own tariff.
What it costs where you are
UK Not shown on its pricing page. Last published: $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, billed in dollars. The gift box is £49.99 on sale, £89.99 otherwise.
US Not shown on its pricing page. Last published: $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. The gift box is $59.99 on sale, $119.99 otherwise.
Checked 11 September 2026.
Choose Storii if your parent has a landline and no interest in anything else, and you want them phoned on a schedule.
Look elsewhere if you want a book, you want to know the price before you sign up, or you'd rather buy from a company whose consumer product is plainly its main concern.
StoryKeeper is the one people recommend when someone asks for "a UK Storyworth". A question arrives each week; your parent records voice or video online, writes, dictates, or, they say, records by phone. StoryKeeper transcribes it, tidies the text with AI, edits and lays out a full-colour hardcover, and puts a QR code on each chapter that plays the original. £69 includes the first two copies and UK delivery, with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
What it does well
- The best value book of the five: two hardbacks, up to 500 pages, free UK delivery, no customs, for £69.
- Their voice is kept and linked from each chapter, and the recordings can be downloaded any time.
- Billed in pounds, edited by people, and more than a thousand Trustpilot reviews at 4.8.
- Sixty days to change your mind.
Where it falls short
- The phone option is a sentence on the website with no detail on how it works, and the second plan they mention (12 months versus no time limit) isn't priced.
- Answering means signing in to a website, not replying where the question arrived.
- Nobody writes follow-up questions from what your parent said; it's a library and your own additions.
- Reviewers mention lost written work, photo formatting, and slow replies to update requests.
What it costs where you are
UK £69 including two copies of the book and delivery. Extra copies £49. A second storyteller isn't priced on the site.
US Priced per country at checkout; £69 on the UK site. The US-site price and delivery terms were not verified.
Checked 11 September 2026.
Choose StoryKeeper if you're in the UK, you want a printed book with their voice in it, and you'd rather pay once than subscribe.
Look elsewhere if your parent won't sign in to a website to answer, or you want the questions to follow the conversation rather than a library.
Tell Me sends your parent a question every few days on WhatsApp (or by email, or in a small app of its own). They answer with a voice note or a text in the same chat, whenever they like. Each reply is shaped into a story with the recording and their exact words kept underneath, and the next question is written from what they said. The stories go into a searchable archive the family can be invited into, and everything can be downloaded, on any plan. A printed book is an optional extra rather than the point, on purpose: Tell Me is built for the phone you will reach for when you miss them, not the shelf, and the book is what you order at the end if you want one. I built it for my own parents. They use it, their stories are in it, and I have more reason than anyone to keep it running.
What it does well
- The only one of the five where the next question is written from what they said last time. Mention the pub and the next question asks about the pub. Think of one yourself and it goes to the front of the queue.
- It lives where they already are. The question arrives in the WhatsApp chat they open every day and they answer it right there, with a voice note. No link, no sign-in, no app to learn.
- Everything is yours to take. Every story, every original word, every recording and photo, in one download, on every plan. Remento won't export the written stories at all.
- The only one you can try before paying. The first 10 stories are free, no card, and a skipped question never costs a story. Each question is written with their name, their family and their era.
Where it falls short
- It can't phone a landline. WhatsApp or email needs a device they use.
- The storyteller app is iPhone only; Android storytellers use WhatsApp or email.
- It is a subscription while the questions are running, not a one-off, and a year after they stop a small yearly Legacy fee is what keeps the archive online.
- English only. If your parent would answer more happily in another language, Storii and Storyworth can do that and Tell Me can't.
What it costs where you are
UK 10 free stories per storyteller, then £9.99/month or £69/year. A second storyteller adds £30/year. Legacy, for reading and listening once the questions stop, £20/year after a free year.
US 10 free stories per storyteller, then $12.99/month or $89/year. A second storyteller adds $40/year. Legacy, for reading and listening once the questions stop, $25/year after a free year.
Checked 11 September 2026.
Choose Tell Me if your parent is on WhatsApp, you want the little stories as much as the big ones, and you'd rather have a conversation that carries on than a project that ends.
Look elsewhere if you want a hardback on the shelf, or your parent needs to be phoned rather than messaged.
The rest of the field
Seven more that come up when people search. One line each, with the price they publish.
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Meminto Stories
Germany
App or web, a question a week, speech-to-text, phone interviews and QR codes, with a "Simple View" for older users. Pay once: $99, $149 or $397 with printed books. Data stored in the EU.
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Life-Story.ai
France
An AI interviewer called Lisa asks questions by email or WhatsApp and writes the book. $49 digital, $99 with a printed book, $199 for five books and up to ten family members.
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Memoirji
Unclear
Free, runs entirely inside WhatsApp, turns voice notes into a PDF memoir. No book. It publishes a great deal of "best alternatives" content, so read its claims as marketing.
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Kindred Tales
US
$99 once for a year of prompts, an AI interviewer called Ali, and a hardcover. UK shipping not published.
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StoryTerrace
UK
A human ghostwriter interviews your parent and writes the book. From £2,600. Trustpilot 4.2 from 583 reviews, with recent one-star reviews complaining of AI-generated summaries.
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LifeBook Memoirs
UK
Bespoke ghostwritten heirloom memoirs with face-to-face interviews. From £12,000.
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Simirity
UK
A private, ongoing family journal app for many contributors. Free, or $6 to $9 a month. A different job: sharing as you go, not a memoir.
Dropped from this list because I couldn't confirm they're still trading, or they don't serve the UK: No Story Lost (site down), Autobiographer (US iPhones only).
Short answers
Is Storyworth available in the UK?
Does Remento work in the UK?
Which one works on a landline?
Which one keeps the original voice recording?
Is there a UK version of Storyworth?
Can I get a printed book from Tell Me?
How many questions do you get in a year?
What happens to the stories if I stop paying?
Is this page biased?
Start with one question.
Every storyteller starts with 10 free stories. No card. Pick a question, send it, and see what comes back. If the first voice note doesn't make you sit down, you've spent nothing. If it does, you'll know what the rest are for.
Every fact about Storyworth, Remento, Storii and StoryKeeper was taken from that company's own website, pricing page or help centre on 11 September 2026. Storyworth and Remento each publish articles about the other, and several smaller rivals publish "best alternatives" lists; none of those was used as a source for anything. Review scores are Trustpilot's on the same day. Forum quotes are paraphrased and unattributed.
Where a company's own pages disagreed with each other, the chart marks the cell rather than choosing. Where a figure isn't published, it says so. Tell Me's prices are pulled from the same place the rest of this site gets them, so they can't drift.
Prices change. If you find one that has, email me, and I'll check it and update the date above.
David
Tell Me Stories Ltd