Change the words, swap the photos and pick a colour theme: the preview updates as you go. Open a group below and the preview jumps to that page.
Write {name}, {sender} or {age} in any text and it is replaced by their name, your name and their age.
Change the words, swap the photos and pick a colour theme: the preview updates as you go. Open a group below and the preview jumps to that page.
Write {name}, {sender} or {age} in any text and it is replaced by their name, your name and their age.
A virtual birthday gift is a birthday party that arrives as a link. You don’t wrap it, post it, or ask anyone for their address — you build it in the browser, pay once, and send the link over iMessage, WhatsApp or email. When they tap it, up to nine scenes play in order on their phone: a gift box held up by balloons, number cards that roll up to their age, a cake with candles, presents that open on tap, a film roll of your photos, a short reel, a letter, fireworks and a finale.
Because it travels as a link, a virtual birthday gift also works for the birthdays that usually fall through the cracks: the friend in another time zone, the cousin whose address you never saved, the colleague whose birthday you remembered at nine at night. Nothing ships, nothing gets lost in the post, and nobody has to sign up to open it.
Sending a virtual birthday gift takes one sitting and no design skills. Here is the whole process, start to finish.
Prefer something they can download and post themselves? Make a video card instead.
The order matters — each scene hands over to the next one, and the person opening it never has to guess what to do. There are nine; the fireworks scene is optional, so you can switch it off and send eight.
Three balloons hold up a gift box. It talks back a little more with every tap, and the tag on it carries their name. On the third tap the lid pops and the balloons float away.
Their age rolls up on number cards under a string of bunting, while balloons drift up the screen and pop when they are tapped.
A 3D cake with their age on the candles. They light the candles, blow them out by holding a button or blowing at the microphone, then swipe down to cut the cake. Want a cake of its own? Make a virtual birthday cake with their name on it.
Up to five boxes, each holding a message you wrote, plus one more box for a voice message if you record one. They tap each box to open it.
Up to six of your photos on a 35mm film strip. They pull the leader to unroll it and tap a photo to read the message on its back.
Your photos become a short vertical video, with a caption, a like count and comments that you write.
A wax-sealed envelope. When they break the seal, your letter writes itself line by line, with a photo taped to the corner. This is the long scene, so take your time with it.
A dark sky of its own. The fireworks start by themselves, or they light the fuse by hand. Every fireworks style is included. Want one on its own? Try a fireworks show.
Your last words, and a small star in the corner that hides one more secret line.
A digital birthday gift is not trying to replace a present. It is for the times a present cannot get there, or when the thing you want to give is not a thing at all.
| Kind of gift | Arrives | Costs | They need |
|---|---|---|---|
| This virtual birthday gift | Instantly, in any chat app | $1.49, once | A tap on the link |
| A paper card | In days, by post | A card plus a stamp | A postal address |
| A digital gift box | Instantly, in any chat app | Free to make; fireworks are an optional upgrade | A tap on the link |
| A real present | In days, by courier | The price plus shipping | An address and a delivery window |
If you want one page rather than a party, a virtual birthday card is the lighter option. If you want the box-and-ribbon version without the scenes, a digital gift box is that.
The people who get the most out of it are usually the ones furthest away. A sister on another continent. A group chat that wants to send one gift together. A team lead who has twelve people to remember and no budget for twelve parcels.
It also covers the awkward dates: the birthday you found out about this morning, the one that falls on a Sunday when nothing can be delivered, the one where the honest message is easier to type into a letter than to say out loud.
And it works for the birthdays that are not really about presents at all — the ones where somebody just needs to be seen on the day. If you would rather build a longer story that starts on their phone’s lock screen, try a birthday website with its own link.
A virtual birthday gift costs $1.49, paid once. There is no subscription and no automatic renewal: you pay when you create the gift, and the link is what you get. Every fireworks style is included.
To create one you sign in with a Google account — that is how the gift and its link stay tied to you. The person receiving it pays nothing and needs no account and no app. They tap the link and the party plays; the only thing they might type is a 6-digit code, if you chose to protect the gift with one.
$1.49, paid once. No subscription, no automatic renewal — you pay when you create the gift, and the link is what you get.
Yes. You sign in with a Google account, which keeps the gift and its link tied to you. You can build and preview every scene before you sign in or pay.
No. They tap the link and the party starts — no account, no app, no payment, nothing to download. The only exception is a private 6-digit code, if you choose to add one.
You get one link, plus a QR code you can print. Send the link over iMessage, WhatsApp, SMS or email; they open it on their phone and the scenes play in order.
About six minutes. Most of that goes into choosing photos and writing the letter; the rest is quick, because every scene already comes with friendly wording you can change or leave alone.
Yes. Up to six photos go on the film roll and into the reel, one more sits beside the letter, and you write the lines on the gift tag, in the presents, in the letter and in the finale. You can also leave a voice message in one of the presents.
A card is one page. A virtual birthday gift is a party of up to nine scenes — a gift box, age cards, a cake, presents, a film roll, a short reel, a letter, fireworks and a finale. If you only want one page, a virtual birthday card is the lighter option.
This gift is English only. A few other gifts have Spanish versions, such as the love letter at /es/love-letter.
Yes. Nothing has to ship: make it, pay, send the link, and it arrives as soon as they tap it.
It opens in any modern browser, but it is built for a phone, where tapping, holding and the fireworks feel natural. Send it to their phone if you can.