Short answer: yes. Storyworth is built around a written book, and answers can also be recorded by phone and downloaded. Remento starts from speaking and links each recording from its book. For the voice and the family photos together in one place your family can visit, The Memory Palace puts recordings next to the photos in rooms you walk through.
Last updated: 2 November 2026. Every fact about another service was checked on that date on its own website or help pages, and for HereAfter AI in the Internet Archive; the sources are at the bottom.
This page answers one narrower question than our overview of Storyworth and its alternatives: which options keep the voice of the person telling, and the photos that go with the stories. Prices change by country and season, so they are not here; see each service's own site.
At a glance
| Option | How stories come in | Voice | Photos | Not the best choice when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storyworth | A weekly question by email or text; reply by email, by phone or on the website | Phone answers are recorded and transcribed; the recording can be played and downloaded on the website | Can be added to stories | You want the voice next to the photos rather than inside a written book, or the storyteller would rather talk than write |
| Remento | A weekly prompt by email or text, answered by speaking, without an app | Kept; a QR code per chapter plays it, recordings can be downloaded | Part of the book | You start from a box of photos rather than from questions |
| HereAfter AI | Recorded life stories by voice | Was the core of the service | Part of the service | Not available: shutdown announced in June 2026, site 404 since September 2026 |
| Ancestry | You upload photos, stories, audio and documents to a person in your tree | As an audio file you recorded elsewhere | Yes, attached to people, files up to 15 MB | You do not want to build a family tree, or want questions sent to a relative |
| MyHeritage | A family tree site with photo tools | Not described in the pages we checked | Strong: colourise, repair and enhance old photos | You mainly want someone's spoken stories |
| Google Photos | A photo and video library; shared albums where anyone with the link can view and add | Only inside a video | Yes, every photo backed up | You want questions, stories or a voice next to each photo |
| The Memory Palace | A weekly question by email, answered by pressing a button and talking, without an account; or you record and write yourself | Kept next to the photos in your palace | Yes, in rooms you walk through | You want a printed book at the end of the year, a backup of every phone photo, or historical records |
Storyworth: written first
Storyworth sends your relative a weekly question by email or text. They reply by email, record by phone or write on the website, and photos can be added. After a year the stories are printed as a hardcover book. That works very well for people who like to write, and for a family that wants a book on the shelf. Phone answers are recorded and transcribed, and you can play and download each recording on the website. The book itself stays a written book.
Remento: spoken first
Remento sends a weekly prompt by email or text. Your relative answers by speaking, with no app or login. Each recording becomes a written chapter you can edit, the chapters are bound into a hardcover book, and every chapter has a QR code that plays back the original recording. Remento also explains how to download the recordings. If your relative would rather talk than write, this is the closest fit.
HereAfter AI: no longer available
HereAfter AI let people record their life stories by voice. From 28 June 2026, the Internet Archive shows a notice on hereafter.ai that HereAfter was shutting down, asking account holders who wanted their recordings to email support, without a closing date. The site has returned 404 since September 2026, and still did on 2 November 2026. If you had recordings there, contact the company. It is also a reminder to keep your own copy of every recording, wherever you keep it; our memory app graveyard shows how other services ended.
Ancestry and MyHeritage: the family tree first
On Ancestry you attach photos, stories, audio and documents to a person in your tree, with files up to 15 MB, and they follow the privacy settings of your tree. You record the audio yourself, elsewhere. MyHeritage is a family tree site with strong tools for old photos: colourising, repairing and enhancing them. Both are excellent when the tree and the records are the point. Neither sends your parent a question each week.
Google Photos: the photos first
Google Photos backs up every photo and video, keeps them private until you share, and lets you share albums where anyone with the link can view and add. It is the right place for all your photos. A voice only comes along inside a video, and there is no place for the story behind each picture.
The Memory Palace, honestly
The Memory Palace is your own 3D memory palace: photos, videos, voice recordings and written stories hang together in rooms you walk through. You can invite a parent or grandparent to receive one question a week by email; after they say yes, they answer by pressing a button and talking, without an account or an app, and the recording arrives in your palace, next to the photos it belongs with.
- Private by default; you invite family and friends into a room or a wing, to look or also to add.
- A full ZIP export on every plan, including the free plan with 1 GB, with a page that opens offline.
- Browser, iPhone, iPad and Android, in five languages; made by a small team in Leuven, Belgium.
What it lacks: no printed book at the end of the year, no backup of every phone photo, no historical records search, and no end-to-end encryption (encrypted in transit and at rest). It is also newer and smaller than Storyworth or Ancestry.
How to choose
- A book on the shelf, and your relative likes to write: Storyworth.
- A book, and your relative would rather talk than write: Remento.
- The family tree and records: Ancestry or MyHeritage.
- The voice and the photos together, in one private place the family visits and adds to: The Memory Palace.
Not sure what to ask? Try a few questions first with our free family interview or our 20 questions for your parents, without an account. When you want a place for the answers, you can start your own palace for free.
Read on: Storyworth: how it works and its alternatives, Storyworth and Remento side by side, the memory app graveyard and export index, and all guides on choosing an app.
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
- Storyworth Help, getting a backup: help.storyworth.com/en_US/privacy/getting-a-backup
- 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
- hereafter.ai homepage, shutdown notice (Internet Archive, 28 June 2026; same text on 1 and 21 July): web.archive.org/web/20260628181831/https://www.hereafter.ai
- hereafter.ai, first snapshot returning 404 (Internet Archive, 2 September 2026): web.archive.org/web/20260902034319/https://www.hereafter.ai
- Ancestry Support, uploading media: photos, stories, audio and documents (attached to a person in your tree; files up to 15 MB; files follow the tree's privacy settings): help.ancestry.com/hc/en-us/articles/53933347909651-Uploading-Media-Photos-Stories-Audio-and-Documents
- MyHeritage Education, photo features (colourise, repair, enhance): education.myheritage.com/article/myheritage-photo-features
- MyHeritage Help, is MyHeritage free: myheritage.com/help/en/articles/12852341-is-myheritage-free
- Google Photos Help, back up photos and videos (private and viewable only by you unless shared): support.google.com/photos/answer/6193313
- Google Photos Help, share albums (anyone with the link can view and add): support.google.com/photos/answer/6131416
- Google Account Help, how to download your Google data (Google Takeout): support.google.com/accounts/answer/3024190