Good questions,
plainly answered.

Snailpost is a slow-letter pen pal app. You match with writers around the world and exchange letters that travel at the speed of real distance — a nearby letter can land within the hour, one from another continent takes a day or two. No feed, no swiping, no typing indicators.

Yes. Snailpost is free to download and free to write with — letters are never rationed. An optional Snailpost Plus subscription unlocks extras, but the heart of the app (writing, receiving, matching, stamps) doesn’t sit behind a paywall.

Both. Snailpost is available on iPhone via the App Store and on Android via Google Play — the download link sends you to the right store for your device automatically.

Sixteen or older. Snailpost is built for adults and older teens, and accounts we believe belong to younger users are removed.

Open Discover and browse genuine profiles and introduction letters, or wait for your kindred match — an introduction based on shared interests and languages rather than photos. You can also invite a friend directly with your personal link at snailpost.app/pal/<your code>.

Delivery time follows the real-world distance between you and your pen pal. The wait is deliberate: it gives writing weight, makes replies worth anticipating, and turns each letter into a small event rather than another notification.

Yes. Every letter has a live journey — you can follow it crossing the map toward its reader, and see the moment it arrives.

No. Write three lines or three thousand words. Long letters are the point, not a premium feature.

Yes — attach photos to letters or send postcards with a picture and a few handwritten-feeling lines. They arrive stamped and postmarked like everything else.

A letter with no address. Cast a bottle out and it drifts to someone unexpected in the community — every day brings a chance to uncork one from a stranger who might become a friend.

A place to publish an open letter that anyone can read. When someone relates, they reply to you privately — the conversation that follows is one-to-one, like any other correspondence.

You earn stamps by writing: a country stamp for every nation your letters touch, plus over a hundred hand-illustrated stamps for milestones, seasons, and small everyday wins. You choose which stamp rides on each envelope.

Each day one community member is highlighted so you can discover their story — a gentle nudge toward someone you’d never have found by searching.

An optional boost that gives your profile extra visibility for a while, so kindred writers have a better chance of finding you.

No. There are no public counts of anything on Snailpost. Nobody can see how popular you are, and nothing rewards performing for a crowd.

Yes. Write in your language; they read in theirs. Letters translate on arrival when you want them to, so a language is never the reason two people don’t meet.

No. Optional writing help can suggest a topic or a nudge when the page feels blank, and translation helps letters cross languages — but the words you send are always your own. When an AI feature runs, it sees only the text it needs (your draft, or the letter being translated), never your name, email, or identity.

No. Friendship is the default and there is no swiping. A connection can become personal if both people genuinely want that, but Snailpost is not a marketplace, and consent, reporting, and blocking matter throughout.

You pick a city — that’s all. Your exact location is never collected or shown; even your chosen city is stored rounded to roughly eleven kilometres.

End it in two taps: report or block from any letter or profile. Automated screening also watches for scams and serious abuse, and child-safety reports are treated as urgent.

Both apps deliver letters by real distance, and we think Slowly is a fine app. Snailpost puts more emphasis on genuine introductions over avatars, unlimited writing, translation on arrival, and a community with no popularity metrics. We wrote an honest comparison — see “Snailpost vs Slowly” below. Read the full comparison →

Right inside the app — Settings → Delete account — which permanently removes your account, letters, and photos. There’s a step-by-step guide on the delete-account page of this site.