If you’re researching automated birthday card services, you’ve probably narrowed it down to a couple of names. Two of the most-searched options are Delivered Cards and Postable.
They look similar on the surface — both mail real, physical cards to your recipients so you don’t have to. But once you look closely, they’re built for two different jobs, and the right answer depends on what you’re actually trying to do.
This guide is an honest, side-by-side comparison. We’ll cover pricing, features, automation, and use cases — and we’ll be specific about which service is better for whom.
Quick Answer
- If you’re sending birthday cards to your friends, family, parents, or anyone in your personal life — and you want to set it up once and never think about it again — Delivered Cards is the better choice. Flat $5/year per friend, true year-after-year automation, no re-scheduling required.
- If you run a business and need to send cards across many occasions (birthdays, holidays, thank-yous, weddings) to a large list — Postable is the more flexible platform. More card designs, more occasion types, volume discounts at scale.
The rest of this article digs into the specifics.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Delivered Cards | Postable | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Personal birthday cards to friends & family | Multi-occasion cards, often for business use |
| Pricing | $5/year per friend, all-inclusive | ~$3.99–$5.99+ per card depending on design; volume discounts at higher quantities |
| Postage included? | Yes, in the $5 | Yes, mailed for you |
| Card designs | 6 curated designs | Hundreds of designs from independent artists |
| Personal message | Yes — you write your own, printed inside | Yes — you write your own |
| Handwriting fonts | Standard printed text | Multiple “smart handwriting” fonts available |
| Photo cards | No | Yes, on many designs |
| Occasions supported | Birthdays only | Birthdays, holidays, weddings, thank-yous, etc. |
| Automation model | Set up once per friend, mails every year automatically — forever | Schedule cards in advance, typically a year at a time |
| Recurring across years | Yes, by default | Generally requires re-scheduling each year |
| Address book | Built in | Free, with address-collection link feature |
| Run by | Husband-and-wife team in Virginia | Established company, larger team |
| Customer support | Email a real person | Account reps available, especially for business clients |
Pricing: A Realistic Look
Pricing is where the use case matters most. Let’s run a few realistic scenarios.
Scenario 1: You want to send birthday cards to 10 friends and family members, every year
With Delivered Cards:
- $5 × 10 = $50/year, all-inclusive
- Set it up once. It runs every year automatically. You’re done.
With Postable:
- Roughly $4–$6 per card depending on design = $40–$60/year
- You’d use their automated birthday card scheduling tool, but you’d typically need to re-schedule the next year’s cards each year.
For personal birthday-card use, the prices are roughly comparable. The difference is operational: Delivered Cards is genuinely set-and-forget across years. With Postable, you’re touching the system at least annually to keep things going.
Scenario 2: You run a business and want to send birthday cards to 500 customers
With Delivered Cards:
- $5 × 500 = $2,500/year
- The service isn’t really built for this volume, and Delivered Cards isn’t optimized for business use cases.
With Postable:
- Volume pricing kicks in at higher quantities, with significant discounts.
- They have dedicated business features, account reps, and the workflow is built for large lists.
For high-volume business sending, Postable wins clearly. That’s what it’s designed for.
Scenario 3: You want to send cards for every occasion — birthdays, holidays, thank-yous, weddings — to your friends
With Delivered Cards:
- Birthdays only. You’d need a different solution for other occasions.
With Postable:
- Hundreds of designs across every occasion. You can send a one-off thank-you card or a wedding card with the same account.
For multi-occasion sending, Postable is the more flexible tool.
Where Delivered Cards Wins
For the specific use case of personal birthday cards to people you love, year after year, Delivered Cards has real advantages:
1. True multi-year automation. This is the biggest functional difference. With Delivered Cards, you add a friend once — their name, birthday, address, your message, your card choice — and the system mails a card every year for as long as you keep the subscription. You don’t go back in to re-schedule next year’s cards. They just keep happening.
2. Predictable, all-inclusive pricing. $5 per friend, per year. That’s it. No upcharges for envelopes, paper, addressing, photo uploads, or anything else. You always know exactly what you’re paying.
3. Built for the personal use case. Delivered Cards is purpose-built for sending birthday cards to your friends and family. The interface is simple, the feature set is focused, and there’s nothing to navigate around. Postable is a more general platform, which is great for some use cases but adds complexity for someone who just wants one job done.
4. Run by a small team you can actually talk to. Delivered Cards is a husband-and-wife operation based in Virginia. When you email support, you’re talking to one of the two people who built and run the service. That kind of accountability is rare.
5. Lower commitment curve. You can add one friend for $5/year and try it out. No account credit to buy upfront, no minimum order, no business pitch.
Where Postable Wins
We want to be fair here. Postable is a well-built service with real advantages for the right user:
1. Card variety. Hundreds of designs from independent artists, including photo cards and many occasion types. If aesthetic variety matters to you, Postable has more options.
2. Handwriting fonts. Postable has invested heavily in fonts that mimic real handwriting, including multiple styles. If you want your card to feel handwritten, that’s a genuine differentiator.
3. Multi-occasion sending. Birthdays, holidays, weddings, thank-yous, baby announcements — all from one platform with one address book.
4. Business and volume features. If you’re sending cards as a business — customer retention, employee appreciation, client gifts — Postable is built for that. Volume pricing, account reps, business-specific tools.
5. Free address book. Even without buying cards, you can use Postable as an address book and collect addresses from contacts via a shareable link. It’s a useful standalone tool.
Which Should You Choose?
Here’s a simple decision framework:
Choose Delivered Cards if:
- You want to send birthday cards to friends and family every year
- You value true set-and-forget automation across multiple years
- You want one flat, predictable price per recipient
- You prefer supporting a small, owner-operated business
- You only need 6 quality designs to choose from and would rather not deal with infinite options
Choose Postable if:
- You need cards for many occasions, not just birthdays
- You’re a business sending cards to customers, clients, or employees
- You want hundreds of designs and handwriting font options
- You’re sending photo cards
- You’re comfortable re-scheduling your birthday list each year
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Delivered Cards a Postable alternative?
Yes, for the specific use case of recurring personal birthday cards. The two services overlap — both mail real, physical cards on your behalf — but they’re optimized for different workflows. Delivered Cards is built around recurring annual birthdays for personal use. Postable is a broader multi-occasion platform with stronger business features.
Which is cheaper, Delivered Cards or Postable?
For a typical personal user sending 5–20 birthday cards a year, the cost is roughly comparable. Delivered Cards is $5 per friend per year, all-inclusive. Postable’s per-card pricing usually lands in a similar per-card range, though it varies by design and volume.
The bigger cost difference is in time. With Delivered Cards, you set it up once and it runs forever. With Postable, you typically re-engage with the system each year.
Does Postable have true year-after-year automation?
Postable’s automated birthday card tool lets you schedule a year of cards in advance, which is genuinely useful. However, the system is typically scheduled one year at a time rather than running indefinitely on autopilot. Delivered Cards, by contrast, mails cards every year automatically without further input until you cancel.
Are the cards real, physical cards on both services?
Yes. Both Delivered Cards and Postable mail real, physical cards via USPS. Neither sends eCards or digital notifications.
Can I write my own message on both services?
Yes. Both services let you write your own personal message inside the card. Postable additionally offers handwriting-style fonts to make printed text look more handwritten. Delivered Cards uses clean printed text.
Which has more card designs?
Postable has significantly more designs — hundreds, across many occasions and styles. Delivered Cards offers 6 curated designs focused specifically on birthdays.
Is Postable better for businesses?
Yes. Postable’s volume pricing, account reps, branded card options, and business-focused features make it the better choice for B2B sending at scale. Delivered Cards is built for personal use.
Is Delivered Cards better for individuals?
For the specific use case of recurring personal birthday cards to friends and family, yes. The simpler feature set, predictable $5/year-per-friend pricing, true multi-year automation, and small-business support model are all calibrated to that user.
Can I use both?
Of course. Some people use Delivered Cards for their recurring personal birthday list and a more general-purpose service for one-off cards across other occasions. They’re not mutually exclusive.
The Bottom Line
Postable and Delivered Cards both make it easy to send real, physical cards without going to the post office. They’re both legitimate, well-run services. The choice comes down to what you’re trying to accomplish.
If you want a broad, flexible platform for sending many kinds of cards — especially for business use, Postable is the right tool.
If you want a focused, set-it-and-forget-it service for sending personal birthday cards to friends and family, year after year, at a predictable flat price, Delivered Cards is purpose-built for that job.
You can sign up at deliveredcards.com and add your first friend in about 30 seconds.