Remento alternatives for recording family stories

Your grandfather tells the story of the flood of 1953 better than any book could. The pause before the part about the boat, the laugh at the end. Remento was made for exactly this: the storyteller talks, and Remento turns it into a written story and later a book with QR codes that play his voice. It is a good product. But maybe he tells it in Dutch, or you want his voice next to the photos of that winter, or a yearly subscription is not what you had in mind. Here are the alternatives. Prices checked September 2026 on the makers' own websites.

We make The Memory Palace, one of the options below. We describe the others as fairly as we can, and say where they are the better choice.

The short answer

For spoken stories turned into a book in English or Spanish, Remento is still the most complete option. If your parent enjoys writing, Storyworth. For one free, well guided conversation, the StoryCorps App. For free storage of stories and audio next to your family tree, FamilySearch Memories. For voices, photos, stories and the family tree together, in Dutch, French or German too, The Memory Palace.

Remento and the alternatives at a glance

Option	Voice or video	Printed book	Languages	Price (September 2026)
Remento	Audio or video, up to 30 minutes per recording	Yes, with QR codes	Speech-to-story in English and Spanish	$99 the first year, then $99 a year or $12 a month
Storyworth	Phone recording on Color and Unlimited; no video found	Yes	Interface in English and Spanish; write in any language	$69, $99 or $199 a year
StoryCorps App	Audio conversation	No	Not checked	Free
FamilySearch Memories	You upload audio recordings	No	Not checked	Free
The Memory Palace	You add voice recordings and videos	No	English, Dutch, French, German, Spanish	Free (1 GB), Keeper €49 a year, Guardian €79 a year

Prices and features change. Check them with the provider before you buy.

First, what Remento does well

Remento sends a weekly prompt by email or text. The storyteller records the answer in the browser, with no app to install and no login, as audio only or with video, up to 30 minutes per recording. Its speech-to-story feature turns each recording into an editable written story, and the stories become a hardcover book with QR codes that play the original recordings. Family members can suggest and vote on prompts, and there is room for unlimited collaborators.

The first purchase costs $99 for a year, one storyteller and one hardcover book. After that it renews at $99 a year or $12 a month. An extra storyteller costs $99. If you stop paying, the account becomes view-only: nothing is deleted and downloads keep working.

Where it pinches: speech-to-story works in English and Spanish only, the interface is in English, and photos only exist as prompts or attached to stories. It is not a home for the whole photo collection.

1. Storyworth: for the parent who likes to write

Storyworth sends one question a week for a year. The storyteller writes the answer, or on the Color ($99) and Unlimited ($199) plans answers by phone, with the recording turned into text. After a year the stories become a hardcover book. The cheapest plan, Basic, costs $69 a year. When the subscription ends you keep access to your stories, and you can download them as PDFs. We found no video recording.

Better than Remento when: your parent enjoys writing, or you want the cheapest route to a printed book. Storyworth lets you write in any language, although the questions and interface are in English or Spanish.

2. The StoryCorps App: one conversation, free

The StoryCorps App is free for iPhone and Android. It helps you prepare questions and record a conversation on your phone, including over a phone call with someone far away. You can keep the recording on your own device, or upload it to the StoryCorps Online Archive and the Library of Congress, where you choose between Public, StoryCorps Community and Private.

There are no weekly prompts, no written story and no book.

Better than Remento when: you want one good recording now, at no cost, and a written version is not the point.

3. FamilySearch Memories: free, next to the family tree

FamilySearch Memories is free with a FamilySearch account. You can save photos, stories, documents and audio recordings, tag them by topic and share them with family. If you record your grandfather on your phone, the audio can live there next to his place in the family tree.

Nobody sends prompts, and nothing turns speech into text for you.

Better than Remento when: your family already works on its tree at FamilySearch and you want the voices there too, for free.

4. The Memory Palace: voices, photos and the tree in one place

The Memory Palace, which we make, keeps a family's photos, videos, voice recordings, family tree and written stories together as wings and rooms of a 3D palace that relatives can walk through. Your grandfather's story of the flood can hang in a room with the photos of that winter and a few lines of text you wrote beside it.

• Price: a free plan with unlimited wings, rooms and memories and 1 GB of storage. Keeper €49 a year (25 GB). Guardian €79 a year (100 GB, with legacy access for heirs).
• Languages: English, Dutch, French, German and Spanish.
• Privacy: private until you invite someone to a room or wing. Data is stored in the EU (Frankfurt).
• Later: on Guardian you choose who takes over which rooms, and when: on a date, or after a silence of 3 to 36 months that you set.
• Leaving: a full ZIP export on every plan, including free.
• Where it is not the best choice: it sends no weekly prompts, does not turn speech into a written story and does not print a book. If you want exactly that in English, Remento does it better.

Better than Remento when: the storyteller speaks Dutch, French or German, or you want the recordings next to the photos and the family tree rather than in a book.

How to choose

1. Listen to the storyteller. Talkers suit Remento, the StoryCorps App or a simple phone recording. Writers suit Storyworth.
2. Check the language first. Automatic transcription in the wrong language gives you a story nobody can read.
3. Decide on the result. A book on the shelf, or a place the family keeps visiting and adding to.
4. Keep your own copies. Whatever you choose, download the audio files now and then. A voice is the one thing you cannot record again.

For a full side by side of the paid services, read The Memory Palace vs Storyworth, Remento and Forever and the best apps for family memory preservation in 2026. If the stories lead you into the family tree, our free GEDCOM viewer shows what is in a tree file without it leaving your computer. Want to try the palace? Get the app, the link opens the right store.