We make Hearth. So we have a stake in this. We tried to write the comparison anyway, because there's no comparison article on the internet that is honest about all three.
Here it is.
TL;DR
- StoryWorth is the best generic memoir tool, by a long way, if your parent likes email and types comfortably.
- Remento is the best generic memoir tool for spoken answers, with a nice video angle. Better app than StoryWorth.
- Hearth is the best tool specifically for capturing recipes and the stories behind them — and the only one with a real cookbook as the output.
If your goal is "I want a book about my mom's whole life," start with StoryWorth or Remento. If your goal is "I want my mom's cooking," start with us. We aren't going to pretend the three things are the same product.
The three at a glance
| StoryWorth | Remento | Hearth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2013 | 2022 | 2026 |
| Primary capture | Weekly email questions, typed answers | Recorded video answers via app | AI phone or video interview, voice-first |
| Output | 250+ page memoir book | Memoir book + video archive | Hardcover cookbook + audio-linked digital archive |
| Single or multi-storyteller | Single | Single | Multi-contributor by design |
| Best for | A typing parent's life story | A talking parent's life story | A cooking parent's recipes + stories |
| Annual cost | $99/yr (book included) | ~$99/yr + extras | $9/mo + $129–199 book |
| Auto-renew complaints | Yes (documented) | Some | No — billed per active project |
Where StoryWorth wins
StoryWorth has been at this since 2013. The brand is strong. The team has shipped a million books. If your goal is a wide-net biography of one person — childhood, schooling, jobs, marriage, kids — they have the question library and the printing process down.
StoryWorth is best when:
- The storyteller types comfortably and reliably (no arthritis, no eye trouble).
- The storyteller has time, every week, to sit down and write.
- You want a generalist memoir, not a focused project.
- You want the lowest possible commitment to get started.
Where StoryWorth users get frustrated (we read a lot of reviews):
- The editing interface is basic. No real spell check. No layout control.
- The annual auto-renew catches people. $60/year sneaks back even after the book is done.
- "Single-storyteller only" — siblings can't easily contribute their memories of the same story.
- Email questions are the wrong UX for non-typers. Many projects stall around month 3.
Where Remento wins
Remento is younger and benefited from the Shark Tank deal in 2025. The app is much better than StoryWorth's. The video-first approach is the right move.
Remento is best when:
- The storyteller likes recording themselves but doesn't like typing.
- You want to keep the video footage as much as the book.
- You like an app-first experience.
Where Remento users get frustrated:
- App-only is restrictive — the buyer is often a 35-50 year old who wants a real web product.
- The questions are still generic, not focused on any particular subject.
- Costs add up faster than the headline price.
- Still single-storyteller.
Where Hearth wins
We built Hearth because we wanted our grandmothers' recipes, and the generic tools weren't quite right.
Hearth is best when:
- The thing you actually care about preserving is her cooking.
- The storyteller doesn't want to type or fiddle with an app.
- You want siblings and cousins to contribute their own memories of the same recipes.
- You want a real cookbook — designed and bound like a Phaidon book — not a memoir with recipes in it.
Specifically what we do that StoryWorth and Remento don't:
- A real conversation, not a form. We call her. The AI asks the kinds of warm follow-up questions a thoughtful grandchild would ask — "you mentioned the kitchen smelled different in the fall, what was that?" Most parents talk twice as long as they would have typed.
- Multi-contributor. Lisa adds her memory of the same lemon cookies. Marco adds his. The book is layered with everyone's voice. This is the single biggest StoryWorth complaint we've heard.
- Cookbook design, not memoir design. The book is laid out like a real cookbook — story, recipe, photo, sidebar. Not a generic memoir template.
- Per-project billing. No annual lock-in. You pay $9/mo while the project is active, then nothing. The book is paid for separately when you're ready to print.
Where we lose to them:
- We are newer. We have less brand familiarity than StoryWorth, much less than Remento.
- We are not the right tool if you want a full-life biography. We are the recipe-and-story tool.
- We don't have an iOS app yet (the storyteller doesn't need one; the Keeper uses the web).
The honest recommendation
If your parent loves to cook and the part you most want to preserve is her food, use Hearth. If your parent's whole life story is what you want, use StoryWorth or Remento — Remento if she'd rather talk than type.
It is also worth saying: any of these is better than the half-finished family cookbook in your Google Drive. The worst outcome here is doing nothing. The recipes don't get less mortal while you decide.
Hearth captures the recipes and the stories behind them, then prints them as a hardcover cookbook. Start a project for $9/mo.