Plantain vs StoryTerrace vs LifeBook Memoirs vs Remento: How to Choose the Right Memoir Service

You've decided to preserve a life story. Maybe your father's, maybe your grandmother's, maybe your own.

The decision itself is the hard part, the moment you realise that if you don't do this now, the stories will disappear with the people who carry them.

But once you've made that decision, a second one follows quickly: who do you trust to help?

The memoir and family history space has grown considerably in recent years. There are now AI-powered apps, freelance ghostwriter networks, structured memoir services, and bespoke book design studios, each offering something vastly different. The challenge is understanding which approach matches what you're looking for.

Here's a look at four well-known options, what each does well, and who each one is best suited for.

Remento: The App-Based Approach

Remento is a family storytelling platform built around a simple idea: send your loved one a weekly question via email or text, let them record their answer on any device, and let the technology do the rest.

Their proprietary Speech-to-Story system uses AI to transform spoken recordings into written narratives. Over time, the stories accumulate and can be compiled into a printed keepsake book – hardcover, 8x10 inches, with QR codes linking back to the original audio and video.

What Remento does well:

• Removes the barrier of writing entirely (your storyteller just talks)

• Weekly prompts keep the process going without requiring large time commitments

• No apps to download; everything works through email links

• Very affordable: $99/year subscription, additional books from $69

• The QR codes linking to original recordings add genuine emotional value

Where it has limits:

• There's no professional interviewer guiding the conversation… you're relying on prompts and self-directed recordings

• The AI transcription polishes the text, but it won't produce the kind of narrative a skilled writer would craft

• Design is standardised: you choose a cover colour and title, but the interior layout follows a fixed format

• You lose editing access once your subscription ends

Best for: Families who want an easy, low-cost way to capture stories casually over time. Particularly good as a gift for a parent or grandparent who wouldn't sit for formal interviews but might enjoy answering a question on their phone each week.

StoryTerrace: The Ghostwriter Network

StoryTerrace operates as a large-scale memoir writing service with a network of over 600 freelance writers worldwide. Founded in London and now with offices in Los Angeles, the company has produced over 3,500 books and won backing on BBC's Dragons' Den.

Their process pairs you with a ghostwriter based on your location, goals, and story topics. The writer conducts interviews (in person or remotely), produces a manuscript, and the StoryTerrace team handles editing, design, and printing. They also offer a faster SWIFT package that uses AI-assisted drafting to speed up the timeline.

What StoryTerrace does well:

• A large writer network means they can find someone near you, wherever you are

• The end-to-end process is managed for you (interviews, writing, editing, design, printing)

• Multiple package tiers make it accessible at different budgets

• They can help with Amazon self-publishing if you want to distribute more widely

• Established track record with strong Trustpilot ratings

Where it has limits:

• Design tends to follow in-house standardised templates rather than being built from your story

• The focus is primarily on text. If your family's history involves rich visual archives (old photographs, documents, ephemera, artwork) these may not be integrated with the same care as in a bespoke project

• There's less emphasis on the physical production (materials, binding, paper choice) as a storytelling element in its own right

Best for: People who want a professionally written memoir at a moderate price point with a managed process. Good for individuals focused primarily on getting the story written well, without needing a heavily designed or archivally rich final product.

LifeBook Memoirs: The Structured Premium Service

LifeBook Memoirs is a London-based private memoir service founded in 2011. They've completed over 10,000 books for clients in 43 countries.

The LifeBook process assigns you a personal project manager, a trained interviewer who visits regularly (typically weekly or fortnightly), a ghostwriter, an editor, and a proofreader. Interviews are recorded and passed to the writer, with regular review copies sent to the author for approval. The finished book arrives hand-bound in leather or linen, presented in a custom gift box.

What LifeBook does well:

• A deeply structured, multi-person team dedicated to each project

• Face-to-face interviews with a trained interviewer who builds a relationship over time

• High production values: leather covers, linen options, elegant gift box presentation

• Strong quality control: the editorial chain (project manager → interviewer → writer → editor → proofreader) catches errors and inconsistencies

Where it has limits:

• The focus is primarily on the written memoir – the interview-to-text pipeline is their strength

• Visual archive integration (weaving old photographs, documents, and ephemera into the design as narrative elements) receives less emphasis than the writing itself

• The design, while elegant, tends toward a consistent house style rather than a visual language drawn from each individual story

• The interviewer and writer are separate people, which may mean some nuance is lost in translation between the spoken story and the written page

Best for: Clients who value a highly structured ghostwriting process and want a beautifully bound memoir with strong editorial oversight. Particularly well-suited if the priority is the quality of the written narrative and the experience of being interviewed by a trained professional over many sessions.

Plantain: The Bespoke Life Story Studio

Plantain is an award-winning studio that works at the intersection of storytelling, design, and archival craft. Plantain has producedover 200 projects across 28 countries.

Plantain's process is fundamentally different from the services above. There are no templates, no house styles, and no standardised format. We spend months immersed in a family's (or company's) archives, conducting oral histories, curating photographs and ephemera, organically developing a narrative and visual language.

Co-founder Felicia Chang has spoken atTEDx on the philosophy behind the studio's work, and delivered a talk at Harvard on the neuroscience and psychology of how inherited memories shape identity.

What Plantain does well:

• Every book is designed from scratch – the voice, the visual language, the typography, and colour palette are drawn from the story itself and the storyteller(s) personality.

• Deep archival integration: old photographs, letters, recipes, newspaper clippings, artwork, and ephemera are woven into the design as narrative elements, not just inserted as illustrations

• The studio handles the full process: oral histories, contextual research, writing, editing, design, high-end printing, and production

• Physical production is treated as part of the storytelling: cover materials, paper weight, binding, even packaging are chosen to reflect the subject

• A track record with institutional and high-profile clients that speaks to the calibre of the work

• The content created during a project can berepurposed for events, websites, and corporate communications

Where it has limits:

• The timeline is longer – months of immersion not weeks of turnaround. This is a considered, unhurried process

• The price reflects the bespoke nature of the work. This is a premium service for clients who see the book as a significant investment in their legacy

• Plantain is a small studio, not a large network, which means each project receives deep personal attention, but capacity is limited

Best for: Families and companies who want a one-of-a-kind heirloom where the design, narrative, and physical materials are inseparable from the story. Clients who have rich archives to draw from, who value craftsmanship and patience, and who see the book as something that will live on shelves and in hands for generations. If you care as much about how the book looks and feels as you do about how it reads, we are the people to talk to.

So, How Do You Choose?

The right service depends on what you're trying to create, how involved you want to be, and what the finished product means to you.

• If you want something quick, affordable, and self-directed (and the goal is to capture stories before they're lost, without a major production) Remento is a thoughtful starting point.

• If you want a professionally written memoir with a managed process and moderate budget (and the writing is largely what matters most to you) StoryTerrace and LifeBook Memoirs offer a solid, proven service.

• If you want a book that is itself a work of art – where the design, materials, and visual storytelling are as important as the words – and you're willing to invest the time and resources for a truly bespoke result —Plantain is where to start.

Browse Plantain's portfolio to see the range of what's possible. Or get in touch to start a conversation about your story.