Are you eager to capture and document your family history or write your memoir? We’ve compiled a list of resources to help you find the best tools to preserve the memories and stories of your loved ones.
Free Services
- FamilySearch: A free genealogy service that helps users trace their family lineage, create family trees, and access a vast collection of historical records.
Affordable Options
- StoryCorps App: A free app for capturing and sharing meaningful conversations, with the option to upload interviews to the StoryCorps Archive at the Library of Congress.
- Chatbooks: Offers affordable photo books that can be automatically generated from social media accounts or photo galleries, ideal for capturing everyday moments.
- PastBook: Specializes in converting digital pictures into printed photo albums, offering a simple way to create high-quality physical albums from social media and cloud storage.
- Mixbook: Provides a range of customizable photo books, calendars, and cards with various templates and complete creative control, often with reasonable pricing.
Mid-Range Options
- Storyworth: Sends weekly questions to loved ones and compiles their responses into a beautifully bound book, providing a physical keepsake of cherished memories.
- Legacybox: Digitizes physical media like photos, films, and tapes, converting them into digital formats such as DVDs, thumb drives, or digital downloads.
Premium Options
- Remento: Uses AI to transform recordings into written stories, printed into a hardcover book with QR codes linking to the original recordings, making family history a collaborative experience.
- LifeArk: A digital family time capsule that stores text, photos, audio, and video, simulating the feel of actual rooms and allowing items to be designated as heirlooms.
- Storii: Designed for care providers and senior care communities, this platform records, preserves, and shares life stories, engaging residents in reminiscence therapy and connecting families.
- Artkive: Focuses on preserving children’s artwork by professionally photographing, compiling, and printing them into custom books, ensuring children’s creativity is documented and cherished.
Customized and High-End Services
- No Story Lost: Offers personalized interviews conducted by professional historians, transcribed and combined with photos and documents into a custom-designed, archival-quality book, creating a family heirloom.
By ordering these resources based on their general price range, you can choose the best option that fits your budget and needs for preserving family memories and stories.