At a glance
| Feature | Chapter One | Qeepsake |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A private journal you write in | Text-message prompts that become a photo book |
| How you add a memory | Type or record a voice note in the app | Reply to a text message, or use the app |
| Printed books | Coming soon | Yes, and it is the main product |
| Price, monthly | $5.99 | $4.99 Essential, $9.99 Premium |
| Price, yearly | $49 | $47.88 Essential, $95.88 Premium |
| One-off lifetime option | $119 | None |
| Free trial | Yes | 7 days |
| Monthly photo cap on paid plans | None | 50 Essential, 100 Premium |
| Entry cap on paid plans | None | 200 Essential, 500 Premium spontaneous entries |
| Multiple journals | Yes | 2 Essential, unlimited Premium |
| Family contributors | Coming soon | Premium only |
| Platforms | iPhone, iOS 26.2 or later | iPhone, Android, text message |
| App Store rating | 5.0 from 13 ratings | 4.9 from 14,633 ratings |
| Who makes it | One parent, independent | Tinybeans USA Ltd |
What happened to Qeepsake
Qeepsake was bought by Tinybeans. The deal was announced on 3 November 2025 and completed on 14 November 2025: Tinybeans Group Limited, an Australian listed company, acquired the assets of Qeepsake Inc. for US$2.7 million, paid entirely in Tinybeans shares. Qeepsake still works, is still sold, and still sends the text-message prompts it is known for. Tracy Cho, who ran Qeepsake, now runs it inside Tinybeans as General Manager. If you subscribe to Qeepsake today, nothing has been taken away from you.
The two biggest names in parent memory-keeping are now one company. Tinybeans ran its own family photo-sharing app long before the deal. Together they serve around 90,000 paying families and more than a million free accounts. If you were weighing Qeepsake against Tinybeans, you are now weighing two products with one roadmap behind them.
The price was low, and that is worth knowing rather than reading into. US$2.7 million, in shares rather than cash, for a business with roughly 50,000 paying subscribers. It suggests the sale was not made from a position of strength. It does not suggest the app is going anywhere, and nobody outside the company knows what comes next.
What nobody can tell you yet. Whether prices change, whether the two apps get folded together, whether Qeepsake still carries its own name in five years. Any page claiming to know that is guessing. What is true is that a subscription you are counting on for twenty years now depends on decisions made by a different company than the one you signed up with. That risk is not unique to Qeepsake. It applies to Chapter One too, and it is the reason we sell a one-off lifetime option and let you keep everything you have already written if you stop paying.
Is Qeepsake still in business?
Yes. Qeepsake is still sold and still works. Since November 2025 it has been owned by Tinybeans Group Limited rather than by Qeepsake Inc., and it is run inside Tinybeans by Tracy Cho, who led it before the deal.
Who owns Qeepsake now?
Tinybeans Group Limited, an Australian listed company that also runs the Tinybeans family photo-sharing app. It acquired Qeepsake’s assets for US$2.7 million in shares, completing on 14 November 2025.
Sources: the acquisition was announced by press release on 3 November 2025 and confirmed completed on 14 November 2025. See the press release and the deal record. Checked 18 August 2026.
Where Qeepsake is the better choice
You want a printed book at the end. This is Qeepsake’s whole reason to exist and they are good at it. Chapter One does not print anything. If holding a hardcover at the end of the year is the point for you, stop reading and go to Qeepsake.
You want the journaling to happen without opening an app. Qeepsake texts you a question and you reply. That is a genuinely lower-friction habit than remembering to open something, and for a lot of parents it is the difference between journaling and meaning to.
You want your partner or family writing too. Qeepsake Premium lets contributors add to the same journal. Chapter One does not do this yet, and it is coming rather than absent. If you need it this month, Qeepsake is the better buy today.
You are not on a recent iPhone. Qeepsake works on Android and on iOS 15.1 and up. Chapter One needs iOS 26.2, which rules out a lot of phones.
You want the safety of a proven product. Qeepsake has been going for years, has nearly 15,000 ratings, and is owned by Tinybeans. Chapter One launched in July 2026 and has 13 ratings. That is a real difference and you should weigh it.
Where Chapter One is different
It is a journal, not a book project. Qeepsake is organised around the photo book you order. Chapter One is organised around the writing itself. Nothing is building toward a purchase, and nothing goes stale if you never order anything.
No caps once you pay. Qeepsake caps monthly photo uploads at 50 on Essential and 100 on Premium, and caps spontaneous entries at 200 and 500. Chapter One does not meter what you add. For a parent who takes a lot of photos, this is the difference that shows up first.
One price, and a way to stop paying forever. Chapter One is $49 a year, roughly what Qeepsake’s entry tier costs and about half its Premium tier. There is also a $119 one-off. An app that claims it will hold your child’s childhood for twenty years should offer a way to stop renting it, so it does.
Writing is free forever. You can keep a complete written journal on Chapter One without paying anything. Photos and voice recording are what the subscription is for.
You can talk instead of typing. Record a voice memory and it gets transcribed. Useful at 3am when typing is beyond you.
Which one should you pick
Pick Qeepsake if you want a printed book, if you want prompts arriving by text without opening an app, or if you want your partner writing in the same journal.
Pick Chapter One if you want the writing to be the point rather than the book, if you add a lot of photos and dislike monthly caps, if you would rather pay once than forever, or if you want something built by a parent who reads every email.
Both of us are trying to solve the same real problem, which is that you will not remember this and you think you will.
About this comparison
Written by Stepan, who makes Chapter One, so read it with that in mind. Every Qeepsake figure here came from their own pricing page and App Store listing on 11 August 2026. Prices change. The Tinybeans acquisition was checked against primary sources on 18 August 2026. Check https://www.qeepsake.com/pages/pricing before deciding. If anything here is out of date or wrong, email dear@chapteronejournal.app and it gets fixed.