Compare Projector: Family Memory Apps, Digitizing Services, and Media Servers (2026)

The short answer

Most family memory products do one of three jobs. Memory book services like Storyworth and Remento capture new stories from a parent or grandparent. Digitizing services like iMemories and Legacybox convert old tapes, film, and photos into digital files. Media servers like Plex and Emby stream a library you host on your own hardware. Projector does a fourth job: it takes the videos and photos your family already has, digitized or shot on a phone, and streams them on every family TV like a private streaming service, with nothing to install and unlimited family sharing.

Which kind of tool do you need?

You want a parent’s life story told in their own words. Use a memory book or story archive service: Storyworth, Remento, or Memory Murals.

Your memories are stuck on VHS, camcorder tapes, film, or prints. Use a digitizing service: iMemories or Legacybox. Then bring the files into Projector to watch them.

You run a home server for your movie collection. Plex or Emby will stream it. For family videos you want relatives to watch without technical help, use Projector.

You want your family to actually watch the videos and photos you already have, together, on the TV. That is what Projector is built for.

Projector and alternatives at a glance

Try Projector free: start with 15 videos or 5GB on the free plan.

Memory books and story archives

These services help one person, usually a parent or grandparent, tell their story. They are a strong gift when the memories you want to save have never been written or recorded. They do not stream the videos your family already has.

Projector vs Storyworth

Storyworth emails a storyteller one question a week for a year and prints the answers as a hardcover book. Plans start at $59. Choose Storyworth for a written life story, and Projector to watch the family footage you already have.

Projector vs Remento

Remento records a storyteller speaking, turns each recording into a written story, and prints a book with QR codes that play the original voice. It costs $99 for the first year. Choose Remento to record new stories, and Projector to stream the recorded history your family already owns.

Digitizing services

Digitizing services turn tapes, film reels, slides, and prints into digital files. They are the first step, not the last. Once your files come back, Projector is where your family watches them, alongside every video shot on a phone since.

Projector vs iMemories

iMemories digitizes videotapes, film, and photos by mail and charges per item, from $14.99 per tape. Its cloud plan is optional if you download your files. Send the tapes to iMemories, then upload the files to Projector.

Projector vs Legacybox

Legacybox sends prepaid kits sized by item count and digitizes everything by hand with barcode tracking. Its Family Membership costs $79.99/year, the same as Projector’s annual plan, but Projector holds every family video, not only the ones Legacybox converted.

Media servers

Media servers stream a library stored on your own computer or network drive. They suit people who enjoy running their own hardware. For family memories, the trade-off is that every relative has to connect to your server, and someone has to keep it running.

How Projector is different

• Built for the TV. Native apps on Roku, Apple TV, Google TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung, and LG, plus phone, tablet, and web.
• Works with what you already have. Upload or sync videos and photos from phones, cloud accounts, hard drives, and digitized tapes.
• Organized for families. Projector arranges your library by the people, places, and events in it.
• Unlimited family sharing. Grandparents, kids, and cousins watch as guests at no extra cost.
• Private and ad-free. Your library is never posted publicly or used for advertising.
• Nothing to run. No server, no hardware, no remote-access setup.
• Built to be passed down. Name a successor to take over the account.

Projector pricing

• Free: 15 videos or 5GB of storage.
• Premium Monthly: $7.99/month. Unlimited streaming, storage, uploads, family sharing, and TV app installs.
• Premium Annual: $79.99/year, with a 14-day free trial.
• Premium Lifetime: $799.99, paid once.
• Gift: Give Projector to a parent or grandparent at projectorstream.com/gift.