StoryWorth vs YourStory: An Honest Comparison
I get asked about StoryWorth quite a lot. Usually by people who’ve seen it online, liked the idea, and then started wondering whether there’s something similar in the UK.
There is. It’s us. And I’m obviously biased, so let me be upfront about that from the start.
I run YourStory with my Brother David. We’re a small family business based in the UK. StoryWorth is an established American company that’s been doing this for over ten years. They’re bigger than us… have more reviews and have been at it longer.
But we do things quite differently. And if you’re trying to decide between the two, I’d rather give you an honest comparison than a sales pitch.
How they work
StoryWorth is a subscription. You pay $99 (roughly £80) for a year. Each week, your parent receives an email with a question to answer. After a year, the answers are compiled into a hardback book. You can choose from over 500 prompts or write your own.
YourStory is a one-time purchase for £149. Your parent gets access to 232 guided questions straight away, plus the ability to write their own custom questions. We also offer the ‘Perfect Path’ which nearly everyone chooses, giving 10 of our most popular questions to start with and then adding more later. This works well to avoid overwhelm and they work through them at whatever pace suits them. We also send weekly email prompts to keep things moving, but the frequency is fully adjustable and they can always just log in and answer whenever they like. When they’re ready, we print the book.
The biggest structural difference is time pressure. With StoryWorth, there’s a year on the clock. With us, there isn’t. Some of our customers finish in a few weeks. Others take six months. One customer told me her Mum treats it as her Sunday afternoon routine. A cup of tea, a biscuit, and a couple of questions. That’s what it should feel like.
The book itself
This is where things get interesting.
StoryWorth’s book is 6×9 inches (152×229mm). That’s about the size of a standard paperback novel you’d pick up in a bookshop.
Our book is 189×246mm. Nearly A4. That’s 33% more page area. When you’re holding both, the difference is immediately obvious. One is a book. The other is a book. The kind you leave on the coffee table and pick up again and again.
Your parent is going to spend weeks or months putting real thought into this. The finished object should feel worthy of that effort.
The questions
StoryWorth has a bigger library (500+ prompts to our 232). But more isn’t always better. What matters is whether the questions feel right for the person answering them.
StoryWorth’s questions are written for an American audience. That means American spelling, American cultural references, American phrasing. “Mom” instead of “Mum.” “Grade school” instead of “primary school.” “Favorite” instead of “favourite.”
Ours are written in British English, because that’s what we speak. They’re phrased the way a British family would actually talk. It sounds like a small thing, but when your Mum is sitting down to answer a question about her childhood, the language matters. It should feel like a conversation with her own family, not a form from a different country.
We also offer the “Perfect Path”… a starter set of our 10 most popular questions to get things going. It’s a gentle way in, especially for parents who look at 232 questions and think “where do I even start?” And to be honest, this is where most of our storytellers start their books from.
AI and your parent’s words
Neither of us uses AI to rewrite the storyteller’s answers, which I think is important. Some newer companies do this… they take spoken answers and use AI to “polish” them into cleaner prose. The result might read more smoothly, but it doesn’t sound like your parent any more.
With both StoryWorth and YourStory, the words in the book are the words your parent wrote. That’s as it should be.
Personal service
This is where we’re genuinely different.
StoryWorth is a big operation. But when things go wrong… and some reviews mention lost stories, rigid editing tools, and slow customer support… you’re dealing with a support desk.
With us, you’re dealing with me. If you email hello@yourstory.co.uk, I’m the person who replies. If your parent gets stuck, I help them. Before a book goes to print, your parent can ask me to look through it personally to catch anything that doesn’t look right. I’m looking for formatting issues, photos that haven’t come through properly, a sentence that wasn’t finished.
I know that doesn’t scale the way StoryWorth does. But right now, it’s what we offer, and people tell us it makes a real difference.
Price
StoryWorth is $99 per year (roughly £80), with the book included. Extra copies start at $39 for black and white, $79 for colour.
YourStory is £149, one-time, with a full-colour hardback included. Extra copies are £50 each. No subscription, no renewal, no surprise charges.
We’re more expensive upfront. But there’s no annual renewal to worry about, no risk of being charged again if your parent takes longer than expected, and you get a bigger, full-colour book as standard.
Where each one is based
StoryWorth is American. Based in the US, with US support, US shipping, and US-English questions.
YourStory is British. Based in the UK, run by a Sister and Brother from the UK, with British English questions and personal support from someone in the UK. We’re the only life story book company in this space that’s genuinely British.
Storyworth vs YourStory: which should you choose?
Choose StoryWorth if: you want a well-established platform with a huge library of prompts, you’re comfortable with the subscription model and the year-long timeline, and the American English doesn’t bother you.
Choose YourStory if: you want a bigger book, you want British English questions, you’d rather pay once with no deadline, and you value buying from a British family-run brand. Plus you like being able to talk to a real person who’ll actually check the book before it’s printed.
Honestly? Both are good products. The important thing is that you do it. Whichever one you choose, your family will be glad you did.
If you’d like to take a look at how we do things, everything’s at yourstory.co.uk. And if you’ve got questions, email me. I’m always happy to help.
Alyson