How to Send Christmas Cards Online in 2026 (Free and Paid Options)

You can send a Christmas card online in about five minutes. Pick a design, write your message, add a photo or a voice note if you like, and send it as a link by email or text. It arrives the moment you press send, or at the time you schedule, and it works on any phone. You do not need stamps, an address, or a trip to the post office.

That is the short answer. The longer one is about choosing the right kind of online card, because "send a Christmas card online" covers three very different things.

The three ways to send a Christmas card online

1. An e-card from a membership site. Sites like Jacquie Lawson, Blue Mountain and American Greetings sell a yearly membership for unlimited animated cards. Good value if you send a card every week. A lot to pay if you send ten a year. We compared their prices, with dates and sources, on our e-card alternatives page.

2. A paper card ordered online and mailed for you. Hallmark's Sign & Send, Postable, Felt and Moonpig let you write online and they print and post a real card. The card is lovely, but the post sets the date. Expect several days in the US and one to two weeks abroad, and check the USPS holiday shipping dates before you order.

3. A digital letter that opens like a real envelope. This is what we built GreetSpark to do. The card arrives as a link, the envelope tears open on their phone, and your message unfolds in a handwriting style you choose, with your photo, your voice and a song.

	Membership e-card	Paper card mailed for you	GreetSpark letter
Arrives	Instantly	Several days to two weeks	Instantly, or at the time you choose
Cost for one card	A membership	About $3 to $7 plus postage	Free (3 a month) or $3.99
Your voice and photo	Photo on some cards	Photo on some cards	Both, on every letter
Works abroad	Yes	Slower and costs more	Yes, same speed everywhere
Know when it is read	Sometimes	No	Yes, you get an email when it is opened

How to send one, step by step

Choose the occasion and design. Start at our Christmas letter maker or browse the Christmas designs first. Each design is an animation, like snowfall or twinkling lights, plus an envelope color.
Write the message. Two or three sentences that only you could write beat a long generic verse. Stuck? Our guide to what to write in a Christmas card has examples for every relationship.
Pick a handwriting. There are 60 handwriting styles, so the letter reads like it came from you rather than from a website.
Add the personal part. A photo from this year, a voice note of up to 60 seconds, and a song from the 101 soundtracks. The voice note is the part people replay.
Choose when it arrives. Send it now, or schedule it up to a year ahead so it lands at 6 a.m. on Christmas morning in their time zone.
Send it by email or text, or print it as a QR code. Every letter has its own link and QR code, so you can also tuck it inside a paper card or a gift.

What "free" really means

Most free Christmas e-cards are free because they carry ads or a large logo, or because they are a trial that turns into a membership. Read the small print before you type a card number.

On GreetSpark, three letters a month are free with no card details and no trial to cancel. Free letters carry a small GreetSpark mark and include a limited number of photos and voice notes each month. If you want to send more, one letter without the mark is $3.99, a bundle of five is $12.99, and Unlimited is $6.99 a month. The full breakdown is on our pricing page.

Is it OK to send a Christmas card online?

Yes, and fewer people feel awkward about it than you might expect. In a Pew Research Center survey, 65% of Americans said they planned to send holiday cards, while 81% said their families sent them when they were children. The tradition is shrinking on paper, not disappearing. People still want to be remembered at Christmas. They have less time to write, address and post forty envelopes.

Christmas cards themselves started as a time saver. Britannica credits the first one to 1843, designed by John Callcott Horsley for Sir Henry Cole, who had too many letters to answer by hand. An online card is the same idea with a faster delivery.

The cards that land badly online are the ones that look mass-produced. A forwarded animation with "Merry Christmas from all of us" and no name reads as a chore ticked off. A short letter that names the person, mentions one thing from their year and carries your voice reads as care.

When a paper card is still the better choice

Be honest about this, because the best card is the one that suits the person.

Someone who loves to display cards. Grandparents with a mantelpiece of cards will appreciate paper. You can still add a QR code inside it so the card plays your voice.
A formal business relationship where a printed card is expected. Even then, a personal digital letter often gets more replies.
When you have time. If it is early December and they live nearby, a mailed card and a digital letter are both lovely.

Paper struggles with the late, the far away and the personal. That is where an online card wins.

Sending to a long list

If you send to the whole family, upload a spreadsheet with each person's name, email and one line just for them, and every person gets their own letter. Unlimited sends to up to 50 people at once, and Business sends up to 500. Our page on holiday letters for the whole family shows how it works.

Questions

Can I send a Christmas card online for free?
Yes. GreetSpark gives you three free letters every month with no card details. Free letters carry a small mark.

Can I schedule a Christmas card to arrive on Christmas morning?
Yes. Schedule it up to a year ahead and choose 6 a.m. in their time zone.

Do they need an app to open it?
No. It opens in any phone or computer browser, and they never create an account.

Will I know if they opened it?
Yes. You get an email when the letter is opened, and you can see how many times.