Trove vs Famileo: Two Printed Family Newsletters Compared
Short answer
Trove sends your family one curated edition a week by email — free, unlimited recipients, no app and no account — and prints the month as **the Paper Edition**: a folded self-mailer with no envelope and a photograph already showing on the outside, carrying a cover photo and up to five more, the captions and a short written summary. It goes out on the 1st, covering the month that just ended, at $4.99 a month including one mailing address and $4 a month for each extra address. US only for now. Famileo prints something larger and posts it further: a gazette — a family newspaper carrying 20, 28 or 36 messages depending on the plan, from as many as sixty contributing relatives — sent to any country in the world with postage included, from $9.99 a month in the US. Three of its four US tiers post once a month and the top one twice; nothing weekly is sold any more, whatever the older guides say. So: Famileo if you want the newspaper, the running commentary from the whole family, or an address outside the US. Trove if you want the month's photographs on paper for about half the price, and everyone else reached free by email.
These two products share a diagnosis: family photo apps fail because grandparents will not open them. Famileo's answer has always been to print the photos and post them. Until recently ours was to email them in a format that needs no app — which meant the comparison was really print against email, and the honest advice was often to pay Famileo.
That has changed. Trove now posts the Paper Edition: a printed edition of your family's month. It is a folded self-mailer, so it arrives folded with no envelope and a photograph already showing on the outside. Trove lays it out from photos already in your Trove — a cover photo and up to five more, the captions, and a short written summary of the month — and posts it on the 1st, covering the month that just ended. $4.99 a month including one mailing address, and $4 a month for each extra address. US only for now.
Everything else in Trove stays free: the app, unlimited photos, unlimited children, unlimited contributors, and the weekly emailed edition to as many relatives as you like. The Paper Edition buys print and postage, not features. Cancel it and nothing in the app changes.
So this is now a print-against-print comparison as well as a print-against-email one. The two printed objects are not the same object, and that is the part worth thinking about.
At a glance
| Trove | Famileo | |
|---|---|---|
| What arrives, and how often | One curated edition, emailed every Sunday | A printed gazette, monthly — or twice a month on the top tier |
| What the recipient needs | An email address | A postal address; nothing else |
| Laid out, with a written summary | The gazette is laid out; the writing comes from relatives | |
| Free plan | Everything, free — unlimited photos, children and recipients | None for a home recipient (the app and joining are free; care homes cover it) |
| Printed edition posted | Paper Edition, posted monthly, $4.99/mo | The gazette — from $9.99/mo in the US, posted worldwide |
| The app itself | Free, every feature | Free to use and to join; the gazette is the paid product |
| Printed format | Folded self-mailer: cover photo and up to five more, captions, a written summary of the month | Gazette: a printed family newspaper |
| Price of print | $4.99/mo, one mailing address included | US $9.99–$18.99/mo by plan; UK £5.99–£10.99 |
| Each extra printed address | $4/mo | A second subscription (from $9.99/mo); a couple at one address share free |
| Messages from relatives in print | The captions, plus a summary of the month | 20, 28 or 36 per gazette by plan, from up to 60 contributors |
| Where it posts | US only for now | Anywhere in the world, postage included |
| Emailed edition | Weekly, free, unlimited recipients | None — print is the product |
| Archive | Searchable, by child and date | PDF of every past gazette by year, plus a photo gallery; no search |
| Milestones | First steps, words, tooth, birthdays, custom | Birthdays printed on the back cover; no milestone tracking |
| Automatic face grouping | ||
| Video | 3 minutes per clip, 60 minutes a month, served up to 1080p | Not supported — photos and text only |
| Reactions and comments | ||
| Photo book ordering | $29.99-$54.99, one-off | Yearbook: a year of gazettes bound, priced by page count in the in-app shop |
Where Famileo is genuinely better
The gazette is a bigger object. It is a family newspaper, and the point of it is the writing as much as the pictures: 20, 28 or 36 messages an issue depending on the plan, from as many as sixty relatives who can all contribute to one subscription, with a shared family kitty so they can split the cost. Upcoming birthdays for the next twelve weeks are printed on the back cover, including relatives who are not on Famileo. The Paper Edition is five photographs and a paragraph. Smaller on purpose, but genuinely smaller.
It posts anywhere. This is the correction that matters most, and we had it wrong: Famileo will send a gazette to any country in the world at the same price, with postage included, from fifteen localised storefronts. The Paper Edition is US only for now, so if your grandmother is in Canada, Ireland or Australia, Famileo is the one that can reach her on paper.
A twice-monthly option. Famileo's top US tier ($18.99 a month) posts a gazette twice a month. The Paper Edition is monthly, and only monthly. Note that nothing weekly is sold any more, in any market — older guides, and Famileo's own stale FAQ copy, still mention a weekly plan that is not purchasable.
A bound Yearbook. A full year of gazettes compiled automatically into one book — A5 or A4, paperback or hardback, monthly dividers — ordered from the in-app shop and priced by page count.
Free for care-home families. If your relative lives in a partner care home, the home pays and the whole service is free to you.
It has been doing this for years. Famileo is an established, offline-first product with the logistics already solved. Ours is new.
Where Trove is different
Price. $4.99 a month, with one mailing address included, against from $9.99 a month in the US. Extra addresses are $4 a month each on top of a subscription, where a second Famileo recipient means a second full subscription with its own family code. For one grandparent, that is roughly half; for two at different addresses, less than half.
What arrives is photographs. The Paper Edition is not a newspaper and does not try to be. It is the month's best pictures printed large, with their captions and a short written summary — chosen and laid out by Trove from what is already in the app, so there is nothing to assemble before the 1st. Famileo's gazette depends on relatives writing messages; if nobody writes, the page is thin.
Everyone else is free, and gets an edition too. The weekly emailed edition goes to as many relatives as you like at no cost, so print is something you buy for the one or two people who need paper rather than for the whole family. Famileo has no digital edition at all. The app is free too — unlimited photos, children and contributors, a searchable archive, milestones, automatic face grouping, reactions and comments, and video, which Famileo does not accept in any form.
Nothing is gated. There is no premium tier, no trial and no upgrade prompt. The Paper Edition is a print-and-postage subscription, paid by card in the app through Stripe, cancellable any time.
Email recipients and mailing addresses are different lists
The emailed edition is free with unlimited recipients. Printed delivery is $4.99 a month for the first address and $4 a month for each one after that, because every one of those is paper and postage. Most families post to one or two relatives and email the rest.
The short version
- Pick Trove ifyou want the month's photographs on paper at $4.99 a month, one address included, and everyone else reached free by email.
- Pick Famileo ifyou want the gazette — relatives' messages as well as pictures — or a twice-monthly printed cadence, or an address outside the US.
- Paper for one, email for the restthe usual arrangement: the Paper Edition for the relative with no screen, the free weekly edition for everyone who has one.
How much does Famileo cost?+
In the US: $9.99 a month for a monthly gazette of up to 20 messages, $11.99 for 28, $13.99 for 36, and $18.99 for two gazettes a month. UK tiers run £5.99 to £10.99 a month. Postage is included to any country in the world. There is no free tier for a home recipient, because the product is the printing and postage — though the app and joining are free, and partner care homes cover the whole cost for residents' families.
Does Famileo post outside the US and UK?+
Yes — anywhere in the world, at the same price, with postage included. It runs fifteen localised storefronts across the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and most of Western Europe, in English, French, Dutch, Spanish and German. If you have read otherwise, including in an earlier version of this page, that was wrong.
Does Famileo still have a weekly plan?+
No. Nothing weekly is purchasable in any market today. Three of the four US tiers post once a month and the top one twice a month; the UK tops out at twice-monthly too. A "Weekly" plan still appears in some of Famileo's own FAQ copy and in third-party guides, but it cannot be bought.
How much does Trove's Paper Edition cost?+
$4.99 a month, which includes one mailing address. Each additional address is $4 a month and is only available on top of a subscription. It is paid by card in the app through Stripe and can be cancelled any time. US only for now.
Is there a free alternative to Famileo?+
For digital delivery, yes — Trove emails a curated weekly edition free, with unlimited recipients and no app required on their end. Print is never free, because paper and postage cost money, but the Paper Edition is $4.99 a month including one address, which is less than Famileo's US starting price.
Does subscribing to the Paper Edition unlock anything in the Trove app?+
No. Every feature in Trove is free and stays free. The Paper Edition pays for printing and posting a physical edition, nothing else, and cancelling it changes nothing inside the app.
Can Famileo and Trove be used together?+
Yes. Some families want the gazette for its messages and still use Trove free for the app and the weekly email. If what you want is photographs in the post to a US address, though, the Paper Edition covers that on its own at $4.99 a month.
The month, printed and posted
Trove is free, with a weekly emailed edition to unlimited relatives. The Paper Edition posts your family's month for $4.99, one mailing address included. US only for now.
Try Trove — FreePricing and features were checked on September 21, 2026. Competitors change their plans — if you spot something out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
