Everything you might want to know before tonight's story.
It's what we've built everything around. Every story is written to be calm and right for bedtime, then checked by a separate AI reviewer against your child's age and your avoid-list before it's sent. If a story doesn't pass, it's rewritten and checked again; if it still doesn't pass, we don't send it. Stories come to you and any caregivers you've invited, not straight to your child — unless you give a child aged 13 or over their own sign-in. And if anything in a story ever doesn't feel right, you can report it from the story itself and it comes straight to us.
No — there's no chat box, and nothing your child does writes a story in the moment. Stories are written before your child reads them, and in interactive stories your child picks between choices that were already written and checked as part of that night's tale. Their ratings and choices are saved and do shape what tomorrow's story is about — that's the point of the feedback loop — but that happens later, never as a live conversation. There is one place a child can type anything that reaches an AI: if you've given a child aged 13 or over their own sign-in, they can write a short description of how they look, so we can draw their cartoon character. It's only ever used to draw and check pictures, never to write stories; the drawing is sent to Anthropic for an automatic safety check; and each drawing costs 1 Story Star from your family's balance — you can switch off a child's star spending on their profile page.
On Dream Weaver, the story can branch. Every possible path is written and safety-checked in advance, as part of that same night's story — so choosing is just picking which ready-made path to follow next. Your child taps their choice. In the Talefern app, in hands-free read-aloud mode, they can also say it out loud, and the app matches the words to one of the options on screen. That matching is simple word-spotting done inside the app, not an AI: nothing your child says prompts a model, writes anything, or changes the story beyond selecting a path that was already there. If no clear answer comes, the story just gently carries on by itself.
No — not to a person, and not to our story AI. Voice answers are only in the Talefern app, only in hands-free read-aloud mode, and only once you've allowed the microphone; everything also works by tapping. At each choice the app listens for a short while, only to match your child's words to one of the options on screen. That matching is plain word-spotting inside the app, not an AI — nothing your child says is used to write stories, and we never record or keep any audio. The spoken words are turned into text by your phone's own speech feature, the one it uses for voice typing: on the phone itself where it can, and otherwise by Apple or Google, who make that feature. On the website, your child chooses by tapping, and the microphone is never used.
Set up a profile in about a minute — your child's first name, their age, what they love, and who they'd like in their stories. Each night a brand-new story is written just for them, starring them, and sent to you to read together at bedtime.
0 to 18. Every story is pitched to your child's age and reading level — from the gentle rhythm and repetition of a board book, through picture and chapter stories, to a calm wind-down read for teens.
We ask for as little as we can. For each child we keep a first name, a birth month and year (never the full date), and what you choose to put in their profile — things like their interests, anything to avoid, and who you'd like in their stories. If you like, you can also describe how they look, or add a photo so we can draw them as a cartoon character; we don't keep the photo, only the cartoon. We also keep their stories, and what they've read and enjoyed, so tomorrow's story fits better. We never ask for your child's surname or full date of birth, we don't show adverts, and we never sell your family's data. You can delete a child at any time, and their profile, stories and pictures go with them. To remove just their cartoon picture, email hello@talefern.com.
It depends on your plan: 7 days on the free trial and Storyteller, 30 days on Adventurer and a year on Dream Weaver. After that they're deleted. The time follows the plan you're on now, so when a plan ends or moves to a lower one, older stories are removed soon afterwards. A story you've upgraded to Dream Weaver with Story Stars is kept until a year after its date, whatever your plan. On the website, you can save a printable copy of any story without choices in it from your child's library. Stories with choices — which is most Dream Weaver stories — can't be printed for now.
Yes — there's a 7-night free trial with no card needed, so you can see the quality before you decide.
The nightly story is the heart of every plan. Paid tiers add a feedback loop that shapes tomorrow's story; higher tiers add the ability to steer the next one, interactive choose-your-path stories, illustrations and read-aloud narration, and a longer saved library. On Dream Weaver you can also re-tell a favourite as a new story, for 3 Story Stars each — Stars are bought separately.
Yes — up to 5 children. Each child gets their own profile and their own stories, all on one family plan and one bill, with a sibling discount.
Yes, and for now a person makes the change for you. If you subscribed on the website, email hello@talefern.com with what you'd like — a different plan, or adding a child to it or pausing one — and we'll make it by hand, so nothing can go wrong with your stories or your bill. If you subscribed in the iPhone or Android app, Apple or Google look after that billing; email us and we'll help you make the change. Starting a plan, and cancelling one, you can always do yourself.
Yes. If you subscribed on the web, cancel from your account page. If you subscribed inside the iPhone or Android app, Apple and Google handle that billing themselves, so you cancel it in your App Store or Google Play subscription settings — we cannot cancel it for you. Either way, access continues to the end of the period you have paid for. After that, stories are kept for 7 days, as on the free trial, so older ones are removed (apart from any you've upgraded with Story Stars). Before then, on the website, you can save a printable copy of any story without choices in it; stories with choices can't be printed for now.