Best AI story apps for kids: six story makers side by side

The short answer

• Bedtime stories, on any device: InkStak. It started as a bedtime story app and runs in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer: add it to the home screen, with nothing to download from an app store. Oscar Stories is an app to download, in 10 languages.
• Unlimited bedtime stories: InkStak Creator, starring characters that keep their look, with narration, chapter books as your child grows, and 5 stories a month free to try it first. Bedtimestory.ai also offers unlimited stories, with 5 pictures each.
• A picture on every page: InkStak draws one for every scene of a picture book, you choose how many, from 3 to 30, and you turn the pages like a book. Bedtimestory.ai gives every story 5, and a story shared on its site is one scrolling page.
• Big days and big feelings: InkStak. You write the plot, a first day at school, a new baby, a visit to the doctor, and choose who is in it. Storytailor adds off-screen activities and plans for care teams.
• Listening, at home or on the go: InkStak reads every story aloud on Creator and Publisher, offline too, and Publisher downloads the narration as MP3s for other devices, such as a Yoto player. StoryBee can read in a parent’s cloned voice.
• A child learning to read: InkStak. Kid Reads stories use only the sound patterns taught up to the phonics lesson you pick.
• Chapter books and choose-your-own-adventure: InkStak, for ages 5 to 12. StoryBee writes stories of several chapters too.
• A book to publish on Amazon: InkStak, with the KDP interior, wraparound cover and a setup sheet. Story.com also makes KDP files.
• Lessons that teach reading: a reading program such as Reading Eggs. That is a different job from a story maker.

Where each one fits

InkStak: from bedtime stories to reading on their own

InkStak started as a bedtime story app: a new illustrated story in about a minute, starring your family’s characters, who keep their look in every picture and every story. It runs on any phone, tablet or computer. It grew to follow a young reader all the way to reading on their own: rhyming picture books at 2, stories about the big days and feelings in your child’s life, phonics-matched early readers, and illustrated chapter books at 12. It reads stories aloud, and on Publisher you can download the narration as MP3s. It prints to Word, PDF and Amazon KDP. It writes in English, French and Spanish, offers no activities or care-team strategies, and is not a phonics curriculum: it gives children stories to enjoy and practice on. How it grows with your child.

Storytailor

Storytailor is an AI story maker for families, educators and care teams, for children aged 10 and under. It has narration and read-along with every story, Wonder Words (tap a word to hear it and what it means), two off-screen activities with eligible child stories, and characters that can share a child’s appearance, abilities and family. InkStak vs Storytailor.

StoryBee

StoryBee is an AI story maker for families and classrooms, with illustrated, narrated stories for ages 3 to 12. It has 4 or more art styles, voice cloning so a parent’s voice reads the stories (on its two higher monthly plans), bedtime playlists, and printed books through its print-on-demand service. Making stories needs a paid plan. InkStak vs StoryBee.

Oscar Stories

Oscar Stories is a mobile app for iOS and Android that writes personalized, illustrated bedtime stories, in 10 languages. It offers stories set in classic tales such as Alice in Wonderland and The Jungle Book, life lessons such as honesty, kindness and courage, and family and friends in the story. The first stories are free, then it charges per story. InkStak vs Oscar Stories.

Bedtimestory.ai

Bedtimestory.ai is an AI bedtime story maker: unlimited personalized stories starring your child, with 5 illustrations in each. Its pricing page promises consistent character art across every adventure and lists pop-up books with each plan. InkStak vs Bedtimestory.ai.

Story.com

Story.com is an AI creative platform with four tools: short movies, a video editor, storyboards and Storybook Publisher, a children’s book maker. It offers Storybook Publisher, which keeps characters, setting and palette consistent across a book and exports a PDF or print-ready files for Amazon KDP, with a fully managed publishing service as an option. You pay as you go. InkStak vs Story.com.

Reading programs: a different job

Reading Eggs teaches reading through structured lessons and has a library of over 4,000 leveled e-books, among them decodable readers and early chapter books, with read-aloud audio on the easier ones: Reading Eggs Junior for ages 2 to 4, Reading Eggs for ages 3 to 7, Fast Phonics for ages 5 to 10 and Reading Eggspress for ages 7 to 13. A story maker does not replace lessons; many families use one of each, the program for teaching and a story maker for practice and pleasure. InkStak’s Kid Reads stories follow the UFLI Foundations order, so they can be matched to the lesson a child is on. See InkStak vs Reading Eggs.

A fair test you can run tonight

Pick one character and make three stories with whichever app you are trying: a read-aloud picture book for your child’s age, an early-reader story at their reading level, and the first chapter of a chapter book. Check four things:

• Does the character look the same on page 6, and in the next story, not just on the cover?
• Did the words fit what your child can read, or only their age?
• Did anything appear that you would not read aloud?
• Could you print it, or keep it if you stopped paying?

With InkStak the free plan covers the first two (5 stories a month, free forever, no credit card); the chapter book needs Creator. You can also read real InkStak books free first.