Choosing the Right Digitizing Company: The Digitize Center vs. Legacybox vs. iMemories
Update, September 2026: this comparison was researched in July 2023, and the prices and specifications below are as of that date unless noted. The Digitize Center’s current sale prices are about the same ($29.99 for 2 items up to $544.99 for 40 items). Legacybox and iMemories may have changed their prices and policies since then, so check their websites before deciding.
Digitizing your memories can feel like a big project. Deciding which memories to digitize, and who to trust with them, can be overwhelming. This guide compares the three best-known mail-in digitizing companies.
Most people weigh three things when choosing a company: price, quality, and reputation. All three companies follow the same mail-in model: they send you a box, you fill it with your memories, and you send it back.
Pricing
For many people, price is the deciding factor. Digitizing isn’t cheap, but it can be affordable if you stick to the essentials and avoid fees you didn’t expect.
The good news: in 2023 the three companies charged similar prices. The bad news: some of that pricing was complicated, so here it is as simply as possible.
The Digitize Center pricing
The Digitize Center has the most straightforward pricing: you pay by the number of items you send. The price doesn’t include your output choice (cloud, thumb drive, or DVDs), which is priced separately.
| Kit size | Price |
|---|---|
| 2 items | $29.99 |
| 10 items | $139.99 |
| 20 items | $279.99 |
| 40 items | $549.99 |
Legacybox pricing
Legacybox also charges by the number of items, and its prices don’t include the output choice either. Legacybox runs frequent sales, but the discount varied from day to day, which made the actual price hard to pin down.
| Box size | Price |
|---|---|
| 2 items | $30.00 |
| 10 items | $140.00 |
| 20 items | $280.00 |
| 40 items | $550.00 |
In 2023, choosing Legacybox’s cloud output also enrolled you in its backup service, billed monthly based on how many items you sent. We don’t like paying a monthly fee just to access your own memories.
iMemories pricing
iMemories priced differently. In 2023 it charged for the box up front and billed you for digitizing after it received your items, so you didn’t know the full cost until everything was sent in.
It also charged by size for some media. For example, it charged by the length of a film reel, while The Digitize Center and Legacybox counted each reel as one item regardless of size.
| Items | Price |
|---|---|
| 2 items | $29.98 + $14.99 for the box |
| 10 items | $149.90 + $14.99 for the box |
| 20 items | $299.80 + $14.99 for the box |
| 40 items | $599.60 + $14.99 for the box |
In 2023, iMemories also charged $14.99 per 50 feet of film and $0.49 per photo, plus the box and output. It offered free digital access, but through its app, which required a monthly fee after a set period.
Pricing winner (2023): a tie between The Digitize Center and Legacybox
The Digitize Center and Legacybox had nearly identical, competitive pricing. iMemories’ bill-after-you-send model was harder to predict.
Quality
Quality details weren’t easy to find. None of the companies advertised them clearly, so we gathered what we could from each website.
The Digitize Center quality
| Media type | Quality |
|---|---|
| Video tapes | Source quality with image enhancement |
| Film reels | 1080p to 4K, depending on the film |
| Photos | 300–600 DPI (restoration optional) |
| Negatives | 3000 DPI (restoration optional) |
| Slides | 3000 DPI (restoration optional) |
| Audio | High-bitrate MP3 with enhancement |
These are excellent numbers. The photo, negative, and slide resolutions are more than enough for high-quality digital images.
Legacybox quality
| Media type | Quality |
|---|---|
| Video tapes | Not published |
| Film reels | Not published |
| Photos | 300 DPI |
| Negatives | 2400 DPI |
| Slides | 2400 DPI |
| Audio | High-bitrate WAV |
We couldn’t find Legacybox’s video quality on its website. Its photo scanning resolution was excellent, and its negative and slide resolution was good.
iMemories quality
In 2023, we couldn’t find quality specifications for any media type on the iMemories website, including photo scanning resolution. We prefer companies that publish these numbers, so iMemories isn’t included in the quality verdict.
Quality winner (2023): The Digitize Center
Based on the published specifications, The Digitize Center had the edge in video, audio, and photo quality.
Reputation
All three companies have been around for years and report digitizing over a million memories each. Legacybox is the oldest of the three and is known for making the process easy to follow. iMemories is known for its app for viewing memories on a phone or tablet. The Digitize Center is known for high-quality digitizing and easy viewing and sharing.
All three have thousands of customer reviews. Companies control what appears on their own websites, so we recommend reading reviews on independent sites such as Google, Trustpilot, and the Better Business Bureau as well:
- The Digitize Center: verified reviews on its website
- Legacybox: Trustpilot reviews
- iMemories: Trustpilot reviews
Reputation winner: you decide
Read the reviews and decide whose reputation you trust most.
Final thoughts
If you’re planning a digitization project, any of these three established companies is a reasonable choice. Smaller companies may not have kept up with newer digitizing technology, which makes a real difference in quality. We recommend The Digitize Center, but compare it with Legacybox and iMemories and choose what’s right for you.
Happy digitizing, and enjoy those memories!