Picking the Right Platform to Capture Your Parent’s Memories and Stories: Comparing Storyworth v. My Life In A Book v. Remento v. StoryTerrace

At the end of last year, I decided I wanted to gift my mom a service to create a book of her stories. She’s always had the best stories, and listening to her tell them at the kitchen table is one of my favorite pastimes. So I did some Googling and was shocked to find more than a handful of different options available.

As I began to research the differences between each offering, I was shocked to learn that each product was surprisingly different.

After weighing the options, I picked the product that felt right for my mom. As you make a similar decision for yourself here’s an overview of the key features, pros, and cons of some of the most popular services.

Plus read to the end to see what service I chose, and how it’s going!

Storyworth Review

If you’ve listened to a podcast, watched TV, or been on Instagram in December within the last five years, you've probably heard about Storyworth. I’m sure of it. This company pioneered helping families turn memories into books with their email-based platform.

How Storyworth works:

• Weekly email prompts with thought-provoking questions
• Respond to questions via email
• Compiled into a hardcover book at the end of the year

As part of my research, I spoke with a handful of friends who had purchased Storyworth for their parents over the years.

My friend Laura had a wonderful experience with Storyworth. Her dad loved getting the questions each week and really enjoyed writing his responses. He’s a retired engineering professor taking a writing class on the side, and celebrated a writing project that would result in a wonderful keepsake for his family. His become became an instant treasure in their family.

Four of my other friends had less positive experiences to report with Storyworth. Each of their parents was delighted by the gift, but ultimately felt like the weekly writing assignments became a burden — like “homework.” As a result, none of them made it to having their book printed, which disappointed everyone in the family.

My friend Alex had the worst experience with Storyworth, citing that many of his dad’s stories got lost. I quickly reviewed Storyworth’s Trustpilot page and found several examples of issues with their platform’s reliability.

Sample Storyworth questions

I actually found some of the Storyworth questions to be quite fun, but more often than not they were pretty boilerplate:

• What was your first car?
• Do you have any regrets in life?
• What was your Dad like when you were a child?
• How is life different today compared to when you were a child?

Storyworth review recap

Pros:

• A good way to structure writing an autobiography
• Questions spark unexpected memories
• Final book makes a great family keepsake (if created…many don’t)

Cons:

• Writing every week feels like homework
• No option to use photos as prompts for reflection
• Tedious editing process
• Platform reliability concerns

Best suited for: Aspiring autobiographers who love to write

Price: $99

My Life In A Book Review

My Life In A Book is similar to Storyworth, but offers a more comprehensive questionnaire approach to the capture of life stories.

How My Life In A Book works

• Extensive questionnaire covering various life aspects
• Full-cover image printing
• High-quality, professionally bound book

Whereas Storyworth’s prompts celebrate the investigation of various parts of life (often in no particular order), My Life In A Book takes a more structured approach to chronicling a life. My Life In a Book also allows users to customize their question frequency, unlike Storyworth, which only sends questions to storytellers once per week. Unlike Storyworth, My Life In a Book customers haven’t experienced platform reliability concerns.

My Life In A Book review recap

Pros:

• Final book makes a great family keepsake
• Customizable question frequency
• Full-cover image printing
• Reliable platform

Cons:

• To many (most?), writing every week feels like homework
• No option to use photos as prompts
• Tedious editing process
• No photo-based prompts

Best suited for: Aspiring autobiographers who love to write

Price: $99

Remento

Remento takes a different approach to creating a life story book. Rather than require a storyteller to type their stories, Remento records a storyteller’s answers to prompts each week and transforms those recordings into written stories that they print into a hardcover book. Plus, their hardcover books are printed with QR codes that when scanned bring up the recording used to write each chapter.

How Remento works

• Interviews storyteller once per week from any device
• Turns storyteller’s spoken answers into written stories
• Recordings shared with family instantly
• Books include QR codes that link to recordings

Honestly, I was pretty nervous about my parents navigating a recording experience independently. However, Remento’s website invites you to “preview” the recording experience, which explains that there aren’t any downloads or passwords and only take about 5 taps to complete each week. I’ll admit, it looked pretty easy, plus its been reviewed by plenty of older folks.

Remento’s website also emphasizes the importance of making the exploration of family history and stories a full-family experience. Unlike other services that focus specifically on creating a book, Remento prioritizes involving the entire family in the process, celebrating the journey as much as the destination. Anyone in your family can watch recordings as they’re made, send reactions, and pick new prompts.

Finally, Remento is the only platform for creating photo-based prompts, meaning a storyteller can share stories about a specific photo (v. adding a picture to a story after the fact). According to Remento’s reviews, many storytellers and their families are excited by the prospect of adding memories to collections of old photos. With a real focus on photos, Remento prints all of its books in full color- an option that other platforms charge extra for.

Remento recap

Pros:

• No writing or editing is required
• Scan the book’s QR code to view the recording used to write each chapter
• Invite family members to pick what they want to learn about
• Photo-based prompts enable the creation of a “narrated photo album”

Cons:

• Not well-suited for people who prefer to write exclusively
• Some storytellers might find family involvement to be distracting

Best suited for: Storytellers motivated by ease of use, and families that value recordings of their storyteller

Price: $99

StoryTerrace

StoryTerrace offers a premium, hands-off approach to capturing life stories by pairing individuals with professional writers.

How StoryTerrace works:

• Professional writer assigned to interview and write your life story
• Multiple package options for different book lengths
• High-quality, professionally designed and printed books
• Option for professional photography sessions

The process starts with comprehensive interviews, where the writer listens to a storyteller’s anecdotes, milestones, and reflections. These conversations aim to capture both the factual and emotional aspects of the storyteller’s memory. The writer then compiles these narratives into a well-written book, typically bound in a hardcover format.

StoryTerrace’s approach focuses on personalization and detail. The writer documents various life experiences, from childhood adventures and family traditions to professional milestones and pivotal life events. The resulting biography is intended to be a comprehensive and engaging account of their life, offering something that can be passed down for generations.

StoryTerrace recap

Pros:

• Minimal time and effort required from the subject
• Results in a professionally written and designed book
• Ideal for those who struggle with writing or self-expression
• Offers a fresh, objective perspective on one’s life story

Cons:

• Highest price point of the options discussed
• Less personal involvement in the writing process
• May not capture the unique “voice” of the individual as authentically as self-written accounts

Best suited for: Families that can afford outsourcing

Price: $2,700-$9,050

My decision: Remento

After much consideration and reading of reviews, I purchased Remento for my mom for a few reasons.

First, I was worried she’d blow off any product that required writing. The way Remento would let her speak her mind without having to type was a game-changer.

Second, I love the idea of sending my mom photos to share the stories behind. We’ve got lots of photos from her childhood, but I also wanted her to record some of the stories of my childhood. Ever since my girls were born, I’ve been so curious to learn about my mom’s experience as a new mother.

Third, I think the fact that Remento books blend the digital and physical world is brilliant. I pray it’s not for many years, but one day I know I’ll be so thankful to have all of my mom’s stories recorded as well as written down. What a blessing this will be for my daughter to share with their families.

Finally, I was excited about the idea of my girls being able to join in and pick some questions for their grandmother. We don’t see each other nearly enough, so I was optimistic that using Remento might help them see her in a different light by teaching them something new each week (v. pretending they’d ever sit down to read a hardcover book).

Final thoughts

Whether you choose the consistent prompts of Storyworth, the comprehensive approach of My Life In A Book, Remento’s no-write memoir, or the professional touch of StoryTerrace, you’re taking an important step in preserving your family’s unique story. Remember, the platform you choose is just a tool. The real magic lies in the stories you uncover, the laughter you share, and the connections you strengthen along the way.

So, which platform speaks to you? Are you ready to start your family’s memory-capturing adventure? I’d love to hear about your experiences, questions, or any other platforms you’ve tried in the comments below.

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UPDATE: It’s been 7 months since I gifted my mom Remento and she is a STORYTELLING MACHINE! She hasn’t missed a week, and in some weeks is recording stories beyond the ones we’ve prompted her with. To my delight, my girls love hearing the new stories come in each week. They’ve never felt so connected to their grandmother, who they told me last week they think is a superhero. I couldn’t be happier with my purchase and the way it’s brought our family together. I truly never thought family history would become a favorite conversation around the dinner table. 10/10 would recommend!