Short answer: give them attention to their own story. Storyworth and Remento sell a year of weekly questions that ends in a printed book. A photo book or an afternoon of recording costs mostly time. Or set up a palace of their photos and stories in The Memory Palace and invite them in, free to start.
Last updated: 2 November 2026. Every fact about Storyworth and Remento was checked on their own websites on that date; the sources are at the bottom.
What "I want nothing" usually means
Most parents who say they want nothing mean they want no more things: no more clutter, no more gadgets, nothing that needs dusting. What they rarely refuse is attention. Someone sitting down with the old photo box and asking who is in that picture. Someone who wants to hear, again, how they met. The gifts below all start from that.
Five ideas compared
| Idea | What they get | What it asks of them | Not the best choice when |
|---|---|---|---|
| A year of Storyworth | A weekly question by email or text for a year, then a hardcover book of their answers | Replying by email, writing on the website or recording by phone; photos can be added | They dislike writing and you want their voice kept as sound, not only as text |
| A year of Remento | A weekly prompt by email or text, answered by speaking; written chapters and a hardcover book with a QR code per chapter that plays the recording | Talking, without an app or login | You want photos and stories from the whole family in one place to keep adding to after the book |
| A printed photo book | Their best photos, chosen and in order, on paper | Nothing; you do the work | Nobody knows the names, dates or stories behind the photos yet |
| An afternoon of recording | Your time, and a recording of their stories in their own voice | An afternoon with you and the photo box | You live far apart and cannot be there in person |
| A palace of their stories in The Memory Palace | Their photos, voice recordings and stories in rooms they can walk through, private, with the family invited | Looking, and if they like, answering one question a week by talking | They want a printed book on the shelf, or they would rather not have anything online |
Storyworth and Remento: a year of questions and a book
Storyworth sends your parent a question every week by email or text. They answer by replying to the email, writing on the website or recording their voice by phone, and they can add photos. After a year the stories are printed in a hardcover book, and Storyworth sells it as a gift. Remento works by voice: a weekly prompt by email or text, answered by speaking, with no app or login. Each recording becomes a written chapter you can edit, the chapters become a hardcover book, and every chapter has a QR code that plays back the original recording. Remento is also sold as a gift. Both are good, finished gifts with a clear end: the book.
A photo book or an afternoon together
A printed photo book is still one of the most loved gifts for parents, as long as you know what is on the photos. If you do not, the better gift may come first: an afternoon at their kitchen table with the photo box and a phone that records. Ask who is in the picture, where it was, and what happened just after. Twenty good questions are on our printable question list. If old prints are fragile, scan them on the spot with a phone; Google's PhotoScan app is free and removes glare.
A palace of their own stories
The Memory Palace is your own 3D memory palace: photos, videos, voice recordings and written stories hang in rooms you walk through, with wings and a hall. As a gift for parents it works like this:
- You set it up. Start on the free plan with 1 GB and make a few rooms: the house they grew up in, their wedding, the years with small children.
- You hang their photos and the stories you already know. A photo with a short caption is enough to begin; a voice recording from your afternoon together fits right next to it.
- You invite them in. The palace is private by default. You invite your parents, and later brothers, sisters or grandchildren, into a room or a wing, each person to view only or also to add.
- They answer when they like. You can invite a parent to the weekly question: once they say yes, they get one question a week by email and answer by pressing a button and talking, without an account or an app. Their answer arrives in the palace.
The Memory Palace, honestly
There is no gift card and no gift purchase: you set up the palace yourself and invite them. There is no printed book promise here either; if a book on the shelf is the point, Storyworth or Remento is the better choice. The palace is online, encrypted in transit and at rest but not end-to-end encrypted, and we are a small team in Leuven, Belgium, newer and smaller than the big names. In return, nobody is locked in: you can download the whole palace as one ZIP on every plan, including the free one, with a page that opens offline. It works in the browser and on iPhone, iPad and Android, in five languages.
If this sounds like the right gift, start a palace for your parents, or begin with the free family interview: answer one question and two gentle follow-up questions appear, no account needed.
Read on: Storyworth: how it works and five alternatives, 10 questions to ask your grandparents, how to record the life story of your parents or grandparents, and all guides on family stories.
Sources
- Storyworth, how it works (weekly questions by email or text; reply by email, record by phone or write on the website; a hardcover book after a year): welcome.storyworth.com
- Storyworth Help, audio recording: help.storyworth.com/audio-recording
- Remento, website (weekly prompt by email or text, answered by speaking without an app; written chapters; hardcover book with a QR code per chapter that plays the recording): remento.co
- Remento Help, how to download and protect your family memories: help.remento.co/en/articles/8865649-how-to-download-and-protect-your-family-memories
- Google Photos Help, scan photos with PhotoScan: support.google.com/photos/answer/7177983?hl=en