Tellingly, Storyworth and Remento compared
Checked November 4, 2026
All three help a family keep a parent's or grandparent's stories. They work in different ways. This page explains the differences so you can pick the one that fits your family.
We read Storyworth's and Remento's own websites on the date above. Their features and prices can change, so check their sites before you decide. If something here is out of date, email support@tellingly.com and we will fix it.
The short version
- Storyworth and Remento send a question each week by text or email. At the end of the year, the answers become a printed book.
- Tellingly keeps their voice. Every story stays in the app, in their own voice, with their photos, for the whole family to hear. A biographer writes their life story, quoting their own words, and it keeps growing. The family can ask the stories a question. And a story can be saved for later: a birthday years from now, or after they are gone.
Side by side
| Storyworth | Remento | Tellingly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How questions arrive | Once a week, by text or email | Once a week, by text or email | One a day, in the app. Skip any day; nothing is lost. |
| Asking your own questions | Yes. Write your own, or pick from their list. | Yes. Write your own, and family can suggest and vote. | Yes. Anyone in the family can ask, any time. Their question shows first on the storyteller's screen, and they hear when it is answered. |
| How they answer | Write, reply by email, or tell it on a phone call | Talk, from a link | Talk, in the app |
| More than one storyteller | One storyteller per subscription. Buy one for each person. | One storyteller per book. Buy one for each person. | Many storytellers in one family. Everyone else listens free. |
| Photos | Add photos to written stories | Use a photo as a question, or add one to a story | Add a photo to a story, or tell a story about a photo. Photos sit beside their stories in the biography. |
| Hearing their voice | Stories told on the phone are recorded | Every story is recorded. Play it from a QR code in the book, or download it. | Every story is recorded. Tap any word to hear it from there, and tap any quote in the biography to hear them say it. |
| What you end up with | A hardcover book | A hardcover book, with a QR code on each chapter that plays the recording | Every story in their own voice, with their photos, for the whole family to hear any time. A biography that quotes them and grows with each new story. You can send the biography's words to anyone by text or email. |
| Saving a story for later | Not something either site describes | Yes. Choose who hears each story, and when: now, on a date you pick, or after you are gone. | |
When Storyworth or Remento may suit you better
If your storyteller has no smartphone at all.
What Tellingly adds
- Their voice, not just their words. Every story stays in their own voice, with their photos. Every word you hear, they really said.
- Stories saved for later. A story can wait for a date they pick, like a grandchild's 18th birthday or a wedding day years from now, or until after they are gone. Until then, nobody else can hear it. They can keep recording these for as long as they like.
- A biographer. It reads every story, sees which parts of their life need more detail, and asks about what they left out. When there is enough, it writes the story of their life, quoting their own words.
- It keeps growing. Each new edition of the biography adds the new stories. There is no end date.
- Ask the stories a question. Ask something like "What was Grandpa's first job?" and get an answer drawn only from your family's recordings, with the stories it came from.
- A family tree of stories. Tap anyone on the tree, even someone who died long ago, and hear every story about them.
- The whole family in one place. Many storytellers, questions from anyone, and listening is free.
Every feature is listed on What Tellingly does.
Storyworth and Remento are trademarks of their owners. Tellingly is not connected to either company. Details about them come from their own websites and help pages, read on November 4, 2026.