Simply Noted Alternatives (2026): 5 Services, Priced All-In
The short list of Simply Noted alternatives in 2026, priced the way you actually pay — per card, in USD, with postage inside the number: ShipNote at $1.99 all-in on ten or more with no subscription and no minimum, Postable at $2.89 all-in but only on a 500-postcard order, and Handwrytten at $4.57 once postage is added.
For scale: Simply Noted's own credit pricing is $3.38 a card all-in at 100. The $0.89 per note in its headline is real, but it is the Unlimited plan — a flat $497 a month.
Disclosure: ShipNote is our product, and it appears in this comparison. Every price below was read off each vendor's own live pricing page on August 13, 2026 — links included so you can re-verify, because these rates move with USPS postage and promos.
The comparison at a glance (August 2026)
All-in means printing, the card, addressing and US postage. Where a vendor quotes a rate that excludes postage, we added it and said so.
Read the volume column carefully. These vendors price on different ladders, so a single "per card" number is only meaningful next to the batch size that earns it. Postable's $2.89 is its 500-card rate — below 200 cards you are buying account credit to get near it, and a 100-card Postable order lands well above the figure shown. Simply Noted's $3.38 is its smallest pack, 100 credits. Ours is the batch rate from ten cards up and does not drop further.
| Service | All-in per card (volume noted) | Plan for the headline rate | Minimum / setup |
|---|---|---|---|
| ShipNote | $1.99 at 10+ ($199 per 100) · $2.49 for one | None | None — no account |
| Simply Noted | $3.38 postcard · $3.58 folded — at 100 | $497/mo for $0.89 | 100-credit pack |
| Handwrytten | $4.57 ($3.75 + postage) | $449/mo for $1.99 | Account |
| Postable | $2.89 postcard · $4.11 in an envelope — at 500, its cheapest tier | None | Credit needed under 200 |
| Cardly | $3.20 at 50–249 · $3.60 at 1–49 | None | None — sells from 1 card |
One optional ShipNote add-on, stated here because this page argues that hidden fees matter: every card prints a small “sent via shipnote.co” mark, and removing it costs 10¢ per mailed card — $2.09 all-in instead of $1.99. Nothing else is added at checkout.
Why the advertised prices aren't the prices
Every headline number in this category is a volume-or-subscription rate, and the gap between it and what you pay for a hundred cards is the whole story.
Simply Noted advertises $0.89 a handwritten note. That is the Unlimited plan: a flat $497 per month. If you send 100 cards in a quarter, Unlimited costs you $1,491 to mail 100 cards. The pay-as-you-go route is credit packages, and the smallest is 100 credits at $2.56 a postcard plus $0.82 postage — $338, or $3.38 a card all-in. Folded note cards are $2.76 plus postage: $358 for 100. Its own quote builder shows the split, handwriting service and postage on separate lines.
One detail worth noticing in that split: Simply Noted bills $0.82 a card in postage on postcards too, which is the First-Class letter rate. A postcard mails for 65¢. On 100 cards that is about $17 of postage you are charged and USPS never asks for.
Handwrytten's cards retail at $3.75, and postage is extra. Its own pricing page lists $1.99 a card — on the $449-a-month plan. The $1.19 rate is the $2,499-a-month tier.
Cardly defaults to showing you the price without postage. Its rate card has an include postage toggle that starts off, so the number you see first is $2.42 at 50–249 and the number you pay is $3.20. The toggle is right there and the fine print is honest — but the figure that lands in your head is the smaller one.
Postable's best rates are quoted at 500 cards, and its own note says orders under 200 cards require purchasing account credit to get the lowest price.
That is the pattern: the number in the ad is a rate you unlock by committing — monthly, or in bulk, or both. For a business mailing 50 to 250 cards a few times a year, none of those commitments pay for themselves.
Where each one is the right answer
Simply Noted — if you need a real pen and a CRM trigger
Simply Noted writes with a ballpoint in a machine-driven hand, and the output genuinely reads as handwriting. It integrates with CRMs and Zapier, and if your use case is a card fires automatically every time a deal closes, forever, that is a real product and the $497 Unlimited plan can pencil out at volume.
It is the wrong buy for an episodic batch. You are paying for an always-on pipeline you use four times a year.
Handwrytten — pen and ink, priced accordingly
Same category as Simply Noted, higher sticker. Retail $3.75 a card before postage. Worth it if a handwritten note in an envelope is specifically the artifact you need. We priced it in detail in Handwrytten alternatives.
Cardly — real pen, priced per card, and honest about volume
Cardly sells from a single card with no plan and no credit pack, on a straight volume ladder: $3.60 all-in at 1–49 and $3.20 at 50–249, tax included. That is the cleanest small-batch pricing of anyone here except us, and if you want a pen-written card without committing to anything, it is the one to look at.
One catch worth knowing before you compare it to anything else: its pricing page defaults to the price without postage — $2.42 a card at 50–249 — with postage described only as "varies based on the recipient's location". There is an include postage toggle, and flipping it adds about 78¢ a card. The $3.20 above is the toggle-on number.
Postable — good at 500, awkward below 200
Postable's per-card economics are reasonable at volume, and the product is pleasant. The friction is at the bottom: the quoted rates are 500-card rates, and under 200 cards you are buying account credit to reach them. We compared it directly in Postable alternatives.
ShipNote — a batch from a list, with nothing to sign up for
$1.99 a card all-in on ten or more, $2.49 for a single card, First-Class postage included. No subscription, no credit packs, no minimum, and no account — an order is reached afterwards by a private link.
You bring a list: a CRM export, an order history, or a spreadsheet. Upload it or paste it, and every name and mailing address is read out and checked against USPS records. There is no column-mapping step and no integration to install, which is the practical reason a hundred cards takes about fifteen minutes rather than an onboarding call. We wrote up the CRM-export walkthrough step by step.
What ShipNote isn't
We print. We do not write with a pen. If your client would notice the difference between real ink and a printed message — and for some relationships and some price points they will — Simply Noted or Handwrytten is the correct purchase and we would rather you make it.
We also mail postcards, not sealed envelopes. That is cheaper on purpose: 65¢ postcard postage against 82¢ for a letter, and no envelope for the recipient to decide whether to open. It is a different object, not a cheaper version of the same one.
The short version
If you want a pen-written note in an envelope on a recurring trigger, Simply Noted is a good product at $3.38 a card all-in, or $497 a month if you send enough to justify it.
If you want to mail a batch of real thank-you cards to a client list without signing up for anything, ShipNote is $1.99 a card all-in with no subscription and no minimum.
Simply Noted alternatives FAQ
How much does Simply Noted actually cost per card?
On its credit packages, 100 handwritten postcard credits are $2.56 per card plus 82 cents postage — $3.38 a card all-in, $338 for 100. Folded note cards are $2.76 plus postage, or $3.58 all-in. The $0.89 rate in Simply Noted's headline is its Unlimited plan, which is a flat $497 per month.
What is the cheapest alternative to Simply Noted?
ShipNote, at $1.99 a card all-in on ten or more with First-Class postage included, no subscription and no minimum. Postable is next at $2.89 a postcard, but that is its 500-card rate. Handwrytten and Simply Noted both land above $3.30 all-in at a hundred cards.
Is there a handwritten card service with no subscription?
Simply Noted and Postable both sell without a mandatory monthly plan, but each gates its real pricing behind credit packages or volume tiers — Simply Noted's credits start at 100, and Postable's best rates need account credit under 200 cards. ShipNote has no subscription, no credit packs and no minimum.
Does ShipNote handwrite cards with a real pen?
No. ShipNote prints a personalized message on a designed postcard. If a pen-and-ink note in an envelope is the specific thing you need, Simply Noted and Handwrytten do that and ShipNote does not.
Can I send cards to a client list without connecting my CRM?
Yes. Export the list as a CSV or Excel file and upload or paste it — there is no integration to install and no login to your system. Most of the services here are built around CRM connections instead.
Ready to mail your thank-yous?
First batch ships next business day. From $1.99 per card. No subscription.
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