Paper Plane Post vs. Postcard.bot
Paper Plane Post is the best way to send one postcard that looks like it came from you. Pick a photo, write a note, add an address and pay $7. There’s no account to make, no balance to top up and no bot to talk to, so the card is on its way a few minutes after you think of it.
Postcard.bot is a mailing tool with a low starting price: $1.99 for a US card, a prepaid balance that lowers it further, and CSV import, scheduling and an API for people who send in volume. That suits mailings and developers. For a single card that’s simply your photo and your words, printed well, Paper Plane Post is the simpler choice.
| Paper Plane Post | Postcard.bot | |
|---|---|---|
| To get started | Open the site and pick a photo | Open the site, or message its Telegram bot |
| How you pay | Once, for the card you’re sending | Per card, or from a prepaid balance |
| One postcard | $7, postage included | $1.99 in the US, postage included |
| Sent abroad | Same price to 195 countries | $2.99, to 200+ countries |
| Lowest advertised price | $7; there is no lower tier | $0.69, after $10,000 in lifetime top-ups |
| Front of the card | Your photo, edge to edge, or an illustration made from it | Your photo, a stock photo or an AI-generated image |
| Your note | Typed, printed in a handwriting-style typeface | Typed, in a choice of handwriting-style fonts |
| Card | 4 × 6 in, 255–325 gsm, gloss front | 4 × 6 in, 350 gsm, gloss front |
| Delivery | Arrives in 1–2 weeks in the US, plus up to 1 week if abroad | US 5–7 business days; Europe 7–14; elsewhere 14–21 |
| Works with AI assistants | Yes, through an MCP server | Yes, through an MCP server and a REST API |
| Bulk sending | No, one card at a time | Yes, CSV import and mail merge up to 5,000 a batch, with scheduling |
Easier: nothing to top up
Paper Plane Post is one page with three steps: photo, note and address, review and pay. You never make an account, choose a tier or watch a balance. You see both sides of the card exactly as they’ll print, pay $7, and you’re done.
Postcard.bot also lets you check out as a guest, and its $1.99 is a real pay-as-you-go price. The lower prices on its pricing page come from a prepaid balance with tiers set by how much you’ve put in over time: $1.49 after your first top-up, $0.99 after $50, and the advertised $0.69 after $10,000. The balance doesn’t expire, but it’s money you hand over before you’ve decided who to write to.
Faster: from photo to mailbox in a few minutes of your time
Because there’s nothing to set up, sending a card takes about as long as writing the note. It works in the browser you already have open, on a phone or a computer. The card is printed and handed to USPS within 2 business days and arrives in 1–2 weeks in the US, plus up to 1 week if abroad.
Both services have an MCP server, so an AI assistant can start a card on either. With Paper Plane Post the assistant sends your photo, note and address and hands you a link to check the card and pay, and nothing is charged or mailed until you do.
Tasteful: your photo, not a stock photo
A Paper Plane Post card is your photo printed edge to edge on heavy gloss stock, with your note and the address on the back. There are no stock photos, generated images, stickers or captions to pick from, so the front of the card is always something you saw yourself. If you want something more made, you can print an illustrated version of your own photo instead.
Postcard.bot takes your own photo too, alongside a stock photo library and AI-generated images, which helps when you don’t have a picture to hand. Its stock is a little heavier, 350 gsm to our 255–325, and both have a gloss front.
Timeless: a card worth keeping
A photo postcard with a few lines on the back in a handwriting-style typeface is the same object people have kept on fridges and in shoeboxes for a hundred years. It doesn’t date the way a stock image does, and it reads as personal because nothing on it is borrowed.
When Postcard.bot is the better pick
Choose Postcard.bot if you’re sending to a list: it imports a CSV, merges names into the note, schedules sends and takes up to 5,000 cards in a batch. Choose it too if you’d rather send from Telegram, want a stock or generated image on the front, or are building something on an API. Its per-card price is lower at every tier, and it prints in the UK as well as the US.
Questions
What’s the easiest way to send a postcard online?
Paper Plane Post. Pick a photo, write a note, add an address and pay $7; there’s no app, account, balance or subscription. The card is printed and mailed for you and arrives in 1–2 weeks in the US, plus up to 1 week if abroad.
Is there a Postcard.bot alternative without a prepaid balance?
Yes. Paper Plane Post charges $7 for one postcard at checkout, postage included to any of 195 countries, with no balance, tiers or account. Postcard.bot can also be used pay as you go at $1.99 a card.
Is Paper Plane Post cheaper than Postcard.bot?
No. A Postcard.bot card is $1.99 in the US and $2.99 abroad, and a Paper Plane Post card is $7 everywhere. The difference buys a card that is only ever your own photo, a review of both sides before you pay, and nothing to top up.
Does Postcard.bot really cost 69 cents a postcard?
Only after $10,000 in lifetime top-ups to a prepaid balance. Pay as you go, a US card is $1.99, and it drops to $1.49 after your first top-up and $0.99 after $50.
Can I send a postcard without Telegram or an app?
Yes. Paper Plane Post runs in any web browser on a phone or a computer, with no account. Postcard.bot also has a website alongside its Telegram bot.
Can an AI assistant send a postcard for me?
Yes, with either service; both have an MCP server. An assistant connected to Paper Plane Post starts the card from your photo, note and address, then gives you a link to review it and pay. The assistant never handles payment.
Other services’ prices and features were checked in October 2026 against Postcard.bot’s pricing page, how it works page, delivery page, developer page. They change; check the service’s own site before you order.