SLOWLY

Write letters and make friends

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Write letters and make friends

8 followers

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Messaging apps

SLOWLY is created for those who yearn for meaningful conversations, lacking in the era of instant messaging. It connects people around the world at a slower but better pace – one letter at a time.

The Best SLOWLY Alternatives

The best SLOWLY alternatives are LetterMe, Lettre.app, hey postcard - digital postcards, Lost Post, and Postmodern..

LetterMe

5.0 ·

Choose LetterMe if...

✓you want slow messaging with existing friends
✓you miss thoughtful long-distance check-ins
✓you prefer no pen-pal discovery features

See details ↓

Lettre.app

4.9 ·

Choose Lettre.app if...

✓you want handwritten letters on iPad
✓you love crafting charming stationery-style messages
✓you want more emotional weight than texting

See details ↓

hey postcard - digital postcards

Choose hey postcard - digital postcards if...

✓you prefer postcard-style notes over long letters
✓you want next-morning delivery every time
✓you want low-noise check-ins with close friends

See details ↓

Lost Post

Choose Lost Post if...

✓you want daily prompts to spark writing
✓you prefer anonymous postcard exchanges
✓you want social connection without social media

See details ↓

Postmodern.

Choose Postmodern. if...

✓you want anonymous one-to-one chats
✓you prefer ephemeral conversations with no history
✓you prioritize privacy over deep correspondence

See details ↓

What to Consider

SLOWLY is best known for bringing pen-pal culture to the digital age with delayed “travel time” delivery and a discovery-first community that turns messaging into something more intentional. The alternatives landscape branches in a few clear directions: apps like LetterMe keep the slow-delivery feel but focus on messaging people you already know, while Lettre.app leans into a handcrafted, handwritten experience (often iPad + Apple Pencil) for a more tactile, stationery-like ritual. Others simplify the format into scheduled digital postcards (hey postcard), shift to prompt-led anonymous exchanges (Lost Post), or go the opposite way with ephemeral, anonymous 1:1 chat designed for privacy (Postmodern.).

In evaluating options, we looked at how each product handles intentionality (delivery delays vs scheduled drops), who it’s built for (friends/family vs strangers), and the writing experience (long-form text vs handwriting vs postcard prompts). We also weighed practical considerations like platform availability, onboarding reliability, and how privacy/safety trade-offs affect the kind of connections each app enables.

LetterMe

The magic of letter-sending, right from your phone.

5.0 · 1 review

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LetterMe takes the “slow messaging” idea and points it at the people you already care about, instead of building a pen-pal discovery experience. If SLOWLY’s best feature is the anticipation of a letter arriving, LetterMe keeps that feeling while making it easier to use as a deliberate alternative to instant texting with friends and family.

The core appeal is intentionality: the delivery-time mechanic creates a natural pause that nudges longer, more thoughtful writing. That delay also removes the pressure to respond immediately, which can make long-distance relationships feel lighter and more sustainable than real-time chat.

LetterMe is a strong fit when the goal is reconnection rather than exploration. It supports ongoing, personal correspondence across time zones without needing matching, profiles, or a community layer that can distract from the conversation itself.

Best for

Best for people who want slower, more thoughtful messaging with existing friends or family across distances.

Standout features

✓Location-based message travel time
✓Designed for friends and family messaging
✓Encourages long-form, thoughtful writing
✓Reduces pressure for instant replies

Lettre.app

Slow post in the age of instant messaging

4.9 · 7 reviews

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Handwriting is the point with Lettre.app, making it feel closer to crafting a real letter than sending a message. Compared with SLOWLY’s text-first experience, Lettre.app leans into the ritual of stationery, pen strokes, and a more personal artifact that recipients can open and re-read.

It’s especially compelling for iPad users, where Apple Pencil turns digital notes into expressive, handwritten letters. That tactile creation process can add emotional weight that’s hard to replicate with typed text, particularly for couples, close friends, or family living far apart.

Lettre.app also signals an experience-first direction, with a charming interface designed around “making” rather than simply “sending.” The trade-off is that it can be more device-dependent and more sensitive to onboarding friction than a simpler text-only approach, but the payoff is a more intimate, crafted exchange.

Best for

Ideal for iPad users who want to send handwritten, stationery-like letters to people they already know.

Standout features

✓Handwritten letter creation
✓iPad and Apple Pencil friendly
✓Charming stationery-style UI
✓Supports meaningful long-distance exchanges

hey postcard - digital postcards

delivered tomorrow morning at a random time between 8 -10 AM

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hey postcard reframes slow communication as a lightweight daily ritual: send a postcard today, have it delivered tomorrow morning. Instead of SLOWLY’s distance-based travel time and pen-pal dynamics, it offers a predictable cadence that’s easier to build into routines.

The postcard format is naturally constrained, which can be an advantage for people who want to stay in touch without committing to long, letter-length updates. That constraint also makes it feel more like a small gift or morning surprise than another thread in a chat app.

For close relationships, the next-morning window creates anticipation without turning communication into a long wait. It’s a good alternative when the goal is consistency and simplicity over discovery and extended correspondence.

Best for

Best for people who want simple, scheduled postcard-style check-ins with close friends or partners.

Standout features

✓Digital postcard format
✓Next-morning delivery window
✓Lightweight, low-commitment messages
✓Routine-friendly slow communication

Lost Post

The whole world is asked and answers a single question

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Lost Post centers the experience on a daily question, turning correspondence into a prompt-led exchange rather than an open-ended letter thread. Where SLOWLY encourages building ongoing pen-pal relationships, Lost Post focuses on bite-sized reflection and receiving a stranger’s perspective.

The anonymous postcard approach reduces social pressure and identity baggage, making it easier to participate casually. Prompts also eliminate the “what should I write?” problem, which helps people show up consistently even when they don’t have much time.

Collecting stamps and participating in a shared global ritual gives the product a playful, lightweight progression system. It’s an appealing alternative for people who want connection and creativity without committing to long, personal conversations without the baggage of modern social media.

Best for

Ideal for people who want low-commitment, prompt-driven anonymous exchanges with a global feel.

Standout features

✓Daily question prompts
✓Anonymous postcard exchange
✓Stamp collection mechanic
✓Low-pressure social connection

Postmodern.

Anonymous, short, ephemeral conversations with others

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Postmodern is built around anonymity and ephemerality, prioritizing privacy over long-form correspondence. That’s a fundamentally different promise than SLOWLY’s persistent letter history and relationship-building, and it’s useful for people who want connection without leaving a trail.

The text-only format is a deliberate safety choice: it can hide personal attributes more easily than voice or video, reducing unwanted attention. By keeping interactions lightweight and temporary, it also lowers the stakes for starting a conversation.

The main trade-off is depth—ephemeral chats can feel less intimate than a slow letter exchange. But for users who value discretion, simplicity, and low commitment, Postmodern’s constraints are exactly what make it the better alternative.