TimeStory alternative: Boromlia vs TimeStory

Choose Boromlia if

• Some of the people who read your timeline use Windows, Linux or a Chromebook.
• You want to send a link rather than a file: a read-only share link, a public page or an embed, on Advanced.
• Others should add events too: on Advanced, anyone holding the share link can, once signed in with a free account.
• You want located events on a map, and a source field with a filter for the ones still missing one.

Stay with TimeStory if

• You work alone on a Mac and want a native app that works offline.
• Your timeline runs to tens of thousands of events, or you automate it with Shortcuts.
• You prefer a single up-front purchase for the Mac app to an account on a website.

The main difference: an app on your Mac versus a page on the web

TimeStory keeps a timeline in a document on your Mac, and the iPad and iPhone app is a separate purchase. A Boromlia timeline lives in your account and opens in any modern browser. The same events can be read as a River, Cards, a Map or Spans on every plan, and as a Ribbon, a sortable Log or a printable Doc on Advanced, without making a copy for each.

TimeStory reads and writes CSV, Boromlia writes it on every plan and reads it on Advanced, so moving between them is a spreadsheet away.

Boromlia vs TimeStory, feature by feature

TimeStory details as published or reported, last checked 2026-10-24. TimeStory is a trademark of its owner, and Boromlia is not affiliated with it.

Views of one record. Boromlia: River, Cards, Map and Spans on every plan; Ribbon, Log and Doc on Advanced. Switch between them without re-entering anything. TimeStory: A graphical timeline, laid out in sections and subsections

Map of located events. Boromlia: Yes. Each event with a place is a numbered waypoint, joined by an optional route line, on a choice of four base maps. TimeStory: to be verified

Sortable table view. Boromlia: Yes, the Log style on Advanced: one row per event, with the columns you choose, sortable. TimeStory: to be verified

Ranges and single dates. Boromlia: Both, on every plan, on one shared axis, so a two-week phase and a single decision sit together. TimeStory: to be verified

Time scale. Boromlia: Seconds, minutes, hours, days, months or years, set per timeline. BC dates too. TimeStory: to be verified

Source on every event. Boromlia: Yes, a field of its own, and a filter shows the events with or without one. TimeStory: to be verified

Photographs per event. Boromlia: Up to 10 per event. Bulk upload takes up to 300 at a time and reads the date and GPS position from each file. TimeStory: Images from the photo library, on the Mac

Event description. Boromlia: Rich text, plus people, place and tags on the same event. TimeStory: to be verified

Chapters and tags. Boromlia: Chapters group events into periods; tags cut across them. TimeStory: Sections and subsections

Filters. Boromlia: Search, tag, category, period, and with or without a source, remembered per timeline. TimeStory: to be verified

Bulk import. Boromlia: CSV, TSV or TXT on Advanced, up to 1,000 rows at a time. You confirm the columns and preview every row before saving. TimeStory: CSV on the Mac, custom properties included, with re-import to update events in place

Export. Boromlia: On every plan: an A4 PDF, a CSV of every field, and the photos as a zip with an index file. TimeStory: PDF, PNG and CSV

Embed in another page. Boromlia: On Advanced, for a public or shared timeline: one iframe tag, no script, no key. It shows the live timeline. TimeStory: to be verified

Default visibility. Boromlia: Private until you share or publish it. A share link is read-only unless you allow more, and kept out of search results. TimeStory: to be verified

Working with other people. Boromlia: On Advanced, you can let anyone with the share link add events. Each signs in with a free account; no seat to buy. TimeStory: to be verified

Runs in. Boromlia: Any browser. Windows, macOS, Linux, tablets and phones, with nothing installed. TimeStory: Installed apps for macOS, and for iPad and iPhone, sold separately

Price. Boromlia: Free plan, $2.99 once per extra timeline of up to 50 events, $12 a month, or $49.99 once with nothing to renew. TimeStory: Mac app $49.99 once. iPad and iPhone: $39.99 once or $14.99 a year

Moving from TimeStory to Boromlia

• In TimeStory on the Mac, export the timeline as CSV.
• In Boromlia, create a timeline and choose Add multiple from a file (Advanced). Up to 1,000 rows go in at a time.
• Match start and end to When and Ends, the title to Name, and your sections to Chapter.
• Preview and import. Images stay behind in TimeStory, so attach them to each event afterwards.

Questions

Is there a Boromlia app for the Mac?

No native one. Safari, Chrome or Firefox on the Mac open the full editor, and so does a colleague’s PC. Your timelines sit in your account rather than in a document, so there is nothing to sync over iCloud.

Can I work on a Boromlia timeline without a connection?

No. It is a hosted web app. If offline work on one Mac matters most, TimeStory is the better fit. You can still keep an offline copy of your data from Boromlia at any time, as a PDF, a CSV or a zip of the photos.

How large can a Boromlia timeline get?

On Advanced there is no event limit, though the importer takes up to 1,000 rows per file, so a TimeStory document of twenty thousand events goes in over twenty files. The free plan is one timeline of up to 20 events.