ChoiceStory is in alpha development. Get early access →
Stornaway alternative

An interactive video tool you own outright.

Stornaway is the most popular interactive video platform around, and for hosted, trackable video on the web it is excellent. If you would rather build interactive video without a subscription and hand people a file they simply open, ChoiceStory Studio is built for you.

Credit where it is due

Stornaway set the bar.

The world's most popular Interactive Video platform
Stornaway, in its own words. stornaway.io

We are genuinely fans. Stornaway brought branching, choosable video to brands, broadcasters and classrooms, wrapped it in a polished player with real analytics, and made all of it work right in the browser. A few of the things it gets right:

  • The most popular interactive video platform, used by brands, broadcasters and educators
  • No code: branch your film by dragging and linking clips
  • Runs in any browser, with a hosted player your audience watches instantly, no install
  • Built-in analytics, embedding and easy publishing to web and social
  • A free tier to learn the craft, plus academic and enterprise plans

If you need a hosted player with analytics and easy embedding on the web, Stornaway is a genuinely great home and we will happily point you to it. ChoiceStory is here for a different need: owning your interactive video outright.

What we heard

One thing kept coming up: creators want to own what they make.

Listening to filmmakers and video creators, a pattern showed up. People loved making interactive video, but they were wary of paying every month to keep it online, or of a platform holding the only copy. When Eko closed its doors in 2024, a wave of interactive films simply went dark. The work was good. The hosting was gone.

That worry shaped our roadmap. In ChoiceStory, your story exports to a standalone file. It plays offline, with no account and no monthly bill, and the copy is yours to keep, hand out, or sell. We built toward ownership, the place a hosted platform, by its nature, cannot go.

Our approach

Build it, export it, keep it.

You own the output.

One click builds a standalone Windows file. Your audience opens it and plays. The copy is yours to keep, hand out, or sell.

No subscription, no publishing fee.

The free tier is real. Going commercial will be a one-time purchase, not a monthly bill, and there is no separate charge to let people watch.

Video and visual stories in one.

Mix film, stills and images on the same canvas. It fits FMV and picture-led branching stories alike, not just video.

Offline-first.

No cloud to depend on. The finished story plays without an internet connection and without an account.

Side by side

Two tools, two distribution models.

An honest look. On several of these, Stornaway is the stronger pick, and we say so plainly.

Feature Stornaway ChoiceStory Studio
Price Free trial, then a subscription. Publishing comes with the paid plans, and player branding is removed on the top tier Free tier; a lifetime Pro arrives with beta. No monthly fee, no charge to publish
How you build Drag and link video clips, no code Visual nodes, drag and drop
Media Video-first, with image and button overlays Video, images and sound managed in the editor
Where it runs In any browser; viewers need no install Windows today; viewers open a standalone file
Distribution Hosted streaming with analytics and easy embedding A standalone offline file you hand out or sell
Best for Hosted, trackable interactive video for web and social Offline, ownable interactive video and visual stories

Honest trade-off: Stornaway wins on hosted distribution, viewer analytics, instant in-browser playback and reaching people across any device on the web. ChoiceStory today exports a single Windows file. Building for the web, for phones on the App Store and Google Play, and for macOS and Linux, each chosen at export time, are directions on our roadmap. They are intentions, not promises yet, and the studio itself will keep running on Windows.

Choose Stornaway if

You want a hosted player with analytics, easy embedding on the web and social, and viewers who watch instantly in a browser with nothing to install.

Choose ChoiceStory if

You want to build interactive video without a subscription, keep your work offline, and hand someone a standalone file they own and can play any time.

Own your interactive video.

Get on the early access list for the first testing wave, or follow the build as it happens.

Stornaway, Eko and all other product names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. ChoiceStory Studio is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Stornaway or any of these companies. All comparisons are based on publicly available information as of June 2026.