Animated Birthday Cards

An animated birthday card moves: the scene plays, the card opens, and the message waits inside. Here's how that compares with a static ecard or a paper card, and when each is the right choice.

Three kinds of birthday card, side by side

People often use "ecard" to mean any digital card, but there's a real difference between a picture that arrives by link and a card that plays out in front of the person opening it.

A paper card

Something to hold, keep on a shelf and tuck in a drawer. It needs to be bought, written, addressed and posted in time, and it can't carry a voice, a face or a gift card that arrives with it on the day unless you're there to hand it over.

A static ecard

Quick and usually inexpensive. It's a single image with a message underneath. It's fine as a reminder that you remembered, but it rarely feels like an occasion. At a glance it looks like everything else on their screen that day.

An animated birthday card

The front moves, the card opens, and the person reads your words inside. Because it's digital, it can arrive on the birthday itself wherever they live, and it can hold things a paper card can't: a video of you saying happy birthday, and a gift card they can use.

What "animated" means on our cards

Animation can mean a looping sparkle on a flat image. That's not what we make. Every Never Forgotten Birthdays card is a finished 3D scene where the movement belongs to the design.

• The Big Wheel turns slowly, with its gondolas riding round and its lights chasing.
• Princess Carousel turns like a fairground ride, its horses travelling round.
• Dragons brings a dragon to the front of the card, for a birthday with a bit of roar.
• Quite A Catch goes a step further: its front tells a short story in order, beat by beat, on a loop.
• The Happy Birthday Bear dances toward the reader at a party, with balloons floating and confetti falling.

The movement, timing and layout are set by our designers, so the card always plays the way it was meant to. If you want the fuller explanation of depth and layers, see 3D birthday ecards.

When an animated card is the better choice

• They live far away, and a paper card would arrive late or not at all.
• You've left it to the last minute. You can send an animated card the same day.
• You want it to arrive on the day. Schedule it ahead and it goes out on the date you choose.
• You'd like them to hear from you, not just read from you. Add a personal video message.
• You want to include a gift without shipping anything. Add a gift card on a card with a gift page.
• The recipient is a child. A moving scene like Dragons or Princess Carousel gives them something to watch, not just something to read.

When paper still wins

If you're handing it over in person at a party, or the person keeps every card they receive, paper is lovely. Some people send both: a paper card for the shelf and an animated card on the day itself.

Making an animated card personal

A moving card gets attention. What makes it matter is what you put inside. You can change:

• Their name and yours.
• Every word the recipient reads, from the greeting to the message. Each card comes with real, ready-to-send wording as a starting point.
• Whether it includes a video message you record or upload.
• Whether it includes a gift card, on cards that have a gift page.
• Whether the card plays music, and when it arrives.

Sound and movement, handled carefully

Cards can have their own music, and you decide whether it's on. If you add a video, the card's music pauses while your video plays and comes back afterwards, so your message is always clear. Card music and video sound are kept separate.

Opening it on any device

The recipient taps a private link and the card opens in their browser on a phone, tablet or computer. No app, no account. You choose how you'd like to send it when you finish.

Price

An animated birthday card is $4.99. A video message adds $2.99. A gift card adds a $2.99 service fee plus the gift amount, or choose the video and gift bundle at $4.99 plus the gift amount.

See every design on the birthday cards page, or read how it works.