Chatbooks made a name for itself with a simple promise: photo books that create themselves. Connect your Instagram or camera roll, and a small softcover book shows up at your door every month. For a while, that model worked great. But if you're reading this, something about it probably stopped working for you.

The most common complaints about Chatbooks come down to format limitations. The standard book is a 6x6-inch softcover — cute, but small. Page counts are limited. And the subscription model means you're paying monthly whether you want a new book or not. Some customers also find the book quality doesn't hold up well over time, with thin pages and lightweight covers.

There's also the source issue. Chatbooks works primarily with your camera roll and Instagram. If your best memories are on Facebook — years of posts, life updates, family milestones — Chatbooks can't touch them. That's a dealbreaker for a lot of people who've built their digital life on Facebook over the past decade.

My Social Book as a Chatbooks alternative

My Social Book shares Chatbooks' core idea — photo books that build themselves — but does it at a completely different scale. Instead of small monthly booklets, My Social Book creates full-size photo books (21 x 25 cm) with up to 450 pages. Connect your Facebook, Instagram, or Dropbox account, and the system generates a chronological book with your photos, dates, captions, likes, and locations all included.

There's no subscription. You create a book when you want one and order it. Choose hardcover or softcover. Cover one year or ten. The format is closer to a real photo album or yearbook than the pocket-sized booklets Chatbooks produces. And because My Social Book connects to Facebook, you can finally get those years of posts off the platform and into something permanent.

How the two compare

Photo sources

Chatbooks pulls from your phone's camera roll and Instagram. My Social Book connects to Facebook, Instagram, and Dropbox. The Facebook connection is a big differentiator. If you've been posting family photos, life updates, and milestones on Facebook for years, My Social Book is one of the only services that can turn all of that into a printed book automatically.

Book creation process

Both services auto-generate your book — that's the shared DNA. Chatbooks does it on a rolling basis through its subscription, creating small books from your most recent photos. My Social Book does it on-demand. You pick a date range, the system builds the book, and you preview it before ordering. The whole process takes under three minutes.

My Social Book also preserves more context. It's not just photos — you get the original dates, captions, likes, and locations from your social media posts. The result reads more like a personal journal than a photo album.

Book format and quality

This is where the two services diverge most. Chatbooks' standard product is a 6x6-inch softcover with around 60 pages. It's affordable and convenient, but it's small. My Social Book's format is 21 x 25 cm (about 8.3 x 9.8 inches) with books ranging from 25 to 450 pages. You can choose hardcover or softcover. The larger format shows off your photos better and feels more substantial on a shelf.

Pricing approach

Chatbooks uses a subscription model, typically around $10-15 per month for automatic book creation. It's predictable and affordable, but you're paying even during months when you don't have many new photos worth printing.

My Social Book has no subscription. You pay per book, starting at $33 for a 25-page softcover. Most customers get discounts of 40% or more. It's a one-time purchase when you want it, not a recurring charge. For people who want one comprehensive book rather than a stream of small ones, the per-book model usually makes more sense.

Who should switch (and who shouldn't)

Switch to My Social Book if: You want bigger, more complete books. You have years of Facebook memories you want in print. You prefer buying individual books over a subscription. You want hardcover as an option. You care about preserving captions, dates, likes, and locations alongside your photos.

Stay with Chatbooks if: You love the convenience of automatic monthly books from your camera roll. The small 6x6 format fits your shelf and your budget. You mainly take photos on your phone rather than posting on social media. You don't mind the subscription model and like the hands-off approach.

Chatbooks is great for a specific use case: small, frequent photo books from your phone. My Social Book is better for comprehensive social media books that cover longer time periods in a larger format. The two services actually complement each other if you want both.

How to switch

There's no cancellation dance or data migration. Chatbooks and My Social Book work with different sources, so you can try My Social Book without touching your Chatbooks subscription.

Step 1: Connect your social account. Visit My Social Book's creation page and connect your Facebook, Instagram, or Dropbox. The system scans your content and shows you how many pages your book will have.

Step 2: Preview your book. Flip through the auto-generated pages. Everything is organized by date. Remove any posts you don't want. Edit the cover to make it yours.

Step 3: Order your book. Pick hardcover or softcover, confirm your selection, and you're done. No subscription, no recurring charges. Just one book, ready when you are.

Feature comparison: My Social Book vs Chatbooks

Frequently asked questions

Can I cancel Chatbooks and use My Social Book instead?

Yes, but you don't have to cancel Chatbooks to try My Social Book. They pull from different sources. You can create a My Social Book from your Facebook or Instagram while keeping your Chatbooks subscription running if you want. Or cancel Chatbooks and switch entirely — that's up to you.

Does My Social Book have a subscription option?

No. My Social Book is purely on-demand. You create a book when you want one and pay for that book. There are no recurring charges, no monthly commitments. Most customers create books covering one or more years at a time rather than monthly.

How big is a My Social Book compared to a Chatbooks book?

A My Social Book is 21 x 25 cm (about 8.3 x 9.8 inches), which is significantly larger than Chatbooks' 6 x 6 inch format. My Social Book can also go up to 450 pages, while Chatbooks books are typically around 60 pages. The difference is noticeable when you hold them side by side.

Will My Social Book work with my Facebook memories from years ago?

Yes. My Social Book scans your entire Facebook history, going back to your first post. You can create a book for any date range — last year, the past five years, or your entire time on Facebook. Many customers are surprised to find they have hundreds of pages of content they'd forgotten about.

Is the book quality better than Chatbooks?

My Social Book offers a larger format with thicker pages and a choice of hardcover (glossy or matte) or softcover. The hardcover option in particular feels like a real photo album you'd display on a coffee table. Chatbooks' smaller format is lighter and more casual by design.

Want to see what your social media looks like in a full-size book? Try My Social Book now — the preview is free, and you can browse every page before deciding. It takes less than three minutes. For more photo book options, see our roundup of the best Shutterfly alternatives.