An honest comparison
A FutureMe alternative, for when you’d rather say it than write it
FutureMe has been sending letters to the future since 2002, more than twenty million of them. If you’re here, you probably used it, and maybe you liked it. Lumideo does the same thing in a different way: you don’t write the message, you record it. Your face and your voice today, sealed until the day you choose.
Want to see how it feels before reading the rest? Record sixty seconds from this browser and pick a day: a week, a month or a year from now.
Record a video for your future self Free, no app. We ask who you are only at the end, so we can send it back to you on that day.What FutureMe does well
It’s simple and it’s been around for over twenty years, which matters a lot for something that has to arrive years from now. You write a letter, pick a date, and it lands in your inbox. The basic letter is free, and if you like putting things into words, a written letter is hard to beat.
Images, videos and files are part of their Premium plan. Writing stays at the center: a video is something you attach to a letter.
What’s different with Lumideo
- The video is the message. You don’t start from a blank page. You talk to the camera for a minute about your week, and that’s it. Most people get stuck on the first line of a letter; nobody gets stuck saying how they are.
- It keeps what a letter can’t. Your voice, your face, the room behind you, the way you laughed at your own sentence. In ten years those are the things you won’t remember, because you never thought to write them down.
- It’s sealed for real. Nobody can open it early, not even you. The date is checked on our servers, not on your phone.
- It works for someone else too. From the app you can record for your partner’s next anniversary, a friend’s wedding day or your sister’s birthday next year. They don’t need the app: on the day, they get an email with a link and the video plays in their browser.
- You can start without installing anything. The browser recorder is free and takes about a minute.
Side by side
| FutureMe | Lumideo | |
|---|---|---|
| The message | A written letter, by email | A video you record |
| Free | Text letters | Video up to 60 seconds from the browser, up to 2 minutes in the app |
| Photos and video | As attachments to the letter, with Premium | Video is the whole point, on every plan |
| How far ahead | Many years, on a date you pick | Up to 2 years free, up to 20 years with Premium |
| For someone else | Yes, with an account | Yes, from the app, and they don’t need the app to watch it |
| Paid plan | Premium, price shown after you sign in | €3.49 a month or €24.99 a year |
| Around since | 2002 | 2026 |
When FutureMe is the better choice
If you love writing, stay with FutureMe. A long letter you think over for an evening is a different thing from a video, and neither replaces the other.
And if you want something to arrive thirty years from now, FutureMe lets you pick dates further out than we do: Lumideo stops at twenty years, and that’s with Premium. On the free plan it’s two.
Lumideo is for the other case: when you have something to say and you’d rather just say it.
Who’s behind Lumideo
My name is Fabrizio D’Urso. I’ve been writing software for sixteen years and I built Lumideo on my own. There’s no company hiding behind a logo: there’s one person, with a first and last name, who answers the emails.
I’m telling you because you’re about to trust an app with a video you want to watch again in ten years. You have a right to know who you’re trusting.
About me fabdurso.comWhat it costs, plainly
Recording from the browser is free: up to sixty seconds, for one week, one month or one year ahead. The app is free too, with videos up to two minutes, dates up to two years ahead and thirty capsules a month.
Premium is €3.49 a month or €24.99 a year. It takes videos to ten minutes, dates to twenty years, and capsules to seventy-five a month.
Not sure what to say? There are forty prompts in our guide to writing a letter to your future self. Pick three and say them out loud.
Record it now, from this browser Up to 60 seconds. You pick the day: in a week, a month or a year.Questions
Is Lumideo connected to FutureMe?
No. Lumideo is a separate app made by me and published by Proapptiva S.R.L.S. FutureMe is a trademark of its owners.
Can I bring my FutureMe letters over?
No, there’s no import. Letters you already scheduled on FutureMe keep arriving from FutureMe. If there’s one you’d like to hear in your own voice, you can read it out loud and record it as a new capsule.
Is it free?
Recording from the browser is free: up to sixty seconds, for one week, one month or one year ahead. The free app goes up to two minutes and two years ahead. Premium goes up to ten minutes and twenty years.
Can I open it before the date?
No. Once a capsule is sealed, nobody can open it early, not even you. The date is checked on our servers, so changing the clock on your phone doesn’t open anything.
What happens to my videos if Lumideo closes?
Videos are stored on Google Cloud Storage. If the service ever closes, everyone will be told at least 90 days in advance, with a way to download their videos.
The right day to record the first one is today. In a year you won’t remember what today was like, unless you keep it.
Record a video for your future self Or get the app: iPhone · Android