The comparison
An honest side-by-side
Both platforms preserve meaningful stories. They just start from opposite ends — someone writing their own story, or someone receiving the story of what they mean.
| Feature | Preserve | Storyworth |
|---|---|---|
| Contributors | One person is enough; invite others if you want | Memoirs: one person answering weekly prompts. Celebrations: many people each add a story |
| AI's role | AI asks the questions and helps organize; you do the telling | Compiles the subject's own written answers |
| Photos | Yes — from you, and from anyone you invite | Yes — from the subject |
| Videos | Yes — short video clips supported | Not a core feature |
| Voice notes | Yes — real voices in the story | Not a core feature |
| Collaborative memories | Available, never required — one Preserve, one or many voices | Memoirs is single-author; Celebrations gathers a group |
| Digital experience | A designed recipient experience with a beginning, middle, and end | Primarily a printed book (both Memoirs and Celebrations) |
| Printed keepsake | On the roadmap | Hardcover book included |
| Living tribute | Designed to be experienced while they're here | Memoirs arrives after a year; Celebrations is occasion-based |
| Occasion gifting | Birthdays, retirements, anniversaries, milestones | Memoirs is usually gifted for a year ahead; Celebrations is built around one occasion |
| Guided creation | A few guided questions, answered whenever you have a moment | Memoirs: weekly emailed prompts. Celebrations: an invite link for contributors |
Who it's best for
Both are good tools. They solve different jobs.
Choose Storyworth if...
- Someone wants to write their own autobiography.
- They enjoy answering weekly prompts.
- A printed book is the primary goal.
Choose Preserve if...
- You want someone to experience their impact while they're here.
- You want to make it yourself — or invite others to add their voices.
- You want photos, videos, voice notes, and stories in one place.
- You're celebrating a birthday, anniversary, retirement, or milestone.
The biggest difference
A story they tell themselves, or a Preserve made for them by someone who loves them.
Storyworth is a beautiful way to capture someone's story from their own perspective — the memories they'd choose, the way they'd tell them, in their own hand.
Preserve captures something different: their impact. The moments they'd never think to tell about themselves. What they've meant to you. One person can say that completely; when others join, it grows wider.
One is a memoir written from the inside. The other is a living tribute built from the outside in.
Keep exploring
More on living tributes and meaningful gifts
Frequently asked
Preserve vs. Storyworth: common questions
Is Preserve a Storyworth alternative?
Yes. Preserve is the alternative that's made for the person, not by them, and its finished form is a playable digital experience rather than a book. Instead of Storyworth Memoirs' year of weekly prompts, you write what you remember and add photos, videos, and voice notes — and you can invite others to add theirs if you want. One person is enough; more voices make it richer.
Can multiple people contribute?
Yes, if you want them to. A Preserve made by one person is already complete. When you invite family, friends, or colleagues, each of them adds their own stories, photos, videos, and voice notes, and Preserve weaves them into one living tribute.
Can I include videos?
Yes. Preserve accepts photos, short videos, and voice notes alongside written memories, so a grandchild's clip, a friend's toast, or a colleague's message can live inside the memoir itself.
Can I create one for someone who is alive?
Yes — that's the point. Preserve is designed as a living tribute so someone can see and feel their impact while they're here to experience it. Many families create one for a birthday, retirement, anniversary, or milestone.
Is there a printed version?
Preserve's default output is a beautifully designed digital experience that can be shared privately, given as a gift, and revisited over time. Print keepsakes are on the roadmap; Storyworth's core deliverable — for both Memoirs and Celebrations — is a hardcover book.
What's the biggest difference between Preserve and Storyworth?
Storyworth turns stories into a printed book: Memoirs from one person over a year, Celebrations from a group for an occasion. Preserve helps you capture what another person has meant to you and give it to them as a finished expression of appreciation. One person can make a complete Preserve; inviting others is optional.
Don't wait until it's too late to tell someone what they mean to you.
Help someone see the impact they've had — in your words, and in the words of anyone else you choose to invite.