Letterbox

Letterbox vs FutureMe

Letterbox vs FutureMe.
Future you, plus everyone else.

FutureMe sends letters to your future self via email. Letterbox does that \u2014 and letters to your mom, your kid, your ex, and the letters you\u2019d want delivered only after you\u2019re gone.

FutureMe is a single-purpose tool: email future you. Letterbox is a full letter vault with a time-capsule mode built in.

Try Letterbox free

FutureMe is one of the oldest and most beloved time-capsule tools on the internet. You write a letter to future you, pick a date, and FutureMe emails it to you on that date. It’s simple and it works.

Letterbox does the same thing, plus everything FutureMe doesn’t. You can write to future you — and to your mom, your kid, your partner, your ex, your grandchild. You can lock a letter behind a secret question only the recipient would know. You can schedule it, seal it as “Open When,” or mark it “After I’m Gone” so trusted contacts deliver it if something happens to you.

If you only want to email future you, FutureMe is great. If you want the full category, Letterbox is the one product that covers it.

Feature by feature

Letterbox vs FutureMe.

FeatureLetterboxFutureMe
Letters to your future self
Letters to other people
Scheduled delivery (pick a date)
Private URL for each recipient
Secret-question lock
“Open When…” sealed envelopes
After I'm Gone delivery
Dead Man's Switch
Trusted contacts
Photos in letters
Anonymous mode

FutureMe public letters are anonymous only

Voice letters
Public letters wallOpt-in (beta)
Email as delivery
Letter lives at a persistent URL

FutureMe is just an email, no page

Family / shared letterbox
PricingFree forever. Pro $99 one-time. Max $199 one-time.Free (donation-based).

What each one is actually good at.

Letterbox is better for:

  • Letters to yourself AND to other people
  • Private URL per recipient (their own letterbox)
  • Secret-question locks
  • “Open When…” sealed envelopes
  • After I'm Gone / posthumous delivery
  • Dead Man's Switch with trusted contacts
  • Unlimited letters + photos
  • Anonymous mode with timed reveal
  • One-time payment, no subscription
  • Public opt-in wall for anonymous sharing

FutureMe is better for:

  • Simple, single-purpose tool
  • Been around since 2002, trusted
  • Public letters wall (opt-in) for anonymous sharing
  • Free with optional donation
  • Email is the delivery mechanism (no login needed)

Use FutureMe if:

You only want to send letters to yourself, you want the simplest possible interface, and you trust an email to arrive ten years from now.

Use Letterbox if:

You want to write letters to other people too \u2014 your mom, kid, partner, ex. You want more than just scheduled-email delivery: secret-question locks, private pages, posthumous delivery, photos, anonymous mode. You\u2019d rather pay once than rely on a free service staying alive for decades.

Letterbox vs FutureMe — FAQ.

Will FutureMe still be around in ten years to deliver my letter?+
FutureMe has been operating since 2002, so it's a reasonable bet. But there's no guarantee. One of the reasons some people pick Letterbox is that their letters live at a permanent URL they can always access — not just in an email queue.
Can I write to other people with FutureMe?+
No. FutureMe is specifically built for future-self letters. If you want to write a letter to someone else scheduled for a future date, you need a different tool. Letterbox is one of those.
What happens to my FutureMe letters if I change email addresses?+
They'll be sent to the email you entered when you wrote them. If that email is dead, the letter is gone. Letterbox stores the letter at a URL tied to your account — email changes don't break anything.
Can I write anonymous public letters on Letterbox like FutureMe does?+
Yes — we have a public letters wall in beta (opt-in only). If you love the FutureMe public letters experience, you can use Letterbox similarly and keep the option of private letters too.
Is it worth paying for Letterbox if FutureMe is free?+
Depends what you need. If you only write a handful of future-me letters and don't care about other people — stick with FutureMe. If you want to write to your mom, your kid, your future self, and have posthumous delivery options, Letterbox's one-time payment gets you a lot more for the same decade.

Keep writing

Keep exploring

Letters to your future self

Time-capsule letters with scheduled delivery.

Unsent letter to yourself

Past you, present you, future you.

Letterbox vs Slowly

Pen-pal app comparison.

Letterbox vs Email

Why a letter isn't a better email.

“Open When…” letters

Sealed envelopes for specific moments.

After I'm gone

Letters delivered only if something happens.

Try Letterbox free.

One recipient, unlimited letters, forever free. Upgrade only if you need more.

Claim your letterbox

Free forever. No credit card.