Handwrytten vs IgnitePOST: price, API and plans compared
Handwrytten vs IgnitePOST: both write with real pens. How their plans compare at your volume, what the APIs offer, integrations, inserts, and which one fits.
Handwrytten and IgnitePOST both write cards with robots holding real pens, so the choice comes down to price structure, API and integrations. IgnitePOST includes postage and is cheaper at small and medium volumes on its published annual plans. Handwrytten publishes prices for high volume, has far more native integrations and offers custom handwriting fonts at a listed price. IgnitePOST's API has the cleaner developer story: a test mode, a fulfillment webhook with retries, and preview and inserts endpoints. All figures are as listed on each company's site in October 2026.
We run notecardHQ, a third service in this space, so we have stuck to the two companies' own pages and linked each fact. A short note about us is at the end.
At a glance
| Handwrytten | IgnitePOST | |
|---|---|---|
| Writing | Robots with real pens, built in-house in Tempe, Arizona | Robots with real pens; card and envelope both handwritten |
| Handwriting styles | 35, per its Shopify listing; custom fonts from $1,500 | 12+; handwriting duplication as a paid add-on |
| Price model | $3.75 pay as you go, or $449 to $2,499 a month plus $1.99 to $1.19 a card | Annual subscriptions from $109 a month, or prepaid credits at $1.75 to $4.39 a card |
| Postage | Extra, at USPS rates | Included, First Class stamp |
| International | Postage plus $0.10 a card | Not published |
| API access | Included in business plans | Unlimited API calls on every plan |
| Test mode | Yes: orders accepted but not fulfilled | Yes: a header or a non-live key, orders not persisted |
| Webhooks | A per-order webhook_url; no event list or signature documented | Fires on "fulfilled," up to 5 retries over about 6 minutes |
| Inserts and gift cards | $50 setup, $20 a month storage, $0.50 an insert; gift cards $5 to $100 | Add-ons at unpublished prices, listed through the API |
| Turnaround | 1-2 business days to produce, then 2-7 in USPS First Class | API orders default to sending 3 business days out |
Sources: Handwrytten pricing, Handwrytten FAQ, Handwrytten OpenAPI spec, Handwrytten on Shopify, IgnitePOST pricing, IgnitePOST API docs.
Price at your volume
IgnitePOST's subscriptions are sold by the year: $109 a month for 300 cards a year, $457 for 1,500 and $1,744 for 6,000, which is about $4.36, $3.66 and $3.49 a card with postage included. Monthly billing goes through sales. Its prepaid credits run from $1.75 to $4.39 a card, but it does not publish which volume earns which price.
For Handwrytten we take the cheapest of its $3.75 retail price and its monthly plans, and add $0.78 postage, the 2026 First Class figure its CEO gave in an April 2026 interview.
| Cards a month | Handwrytten | IgnitePOST | notecardHQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 (300 a year) | $4.53, pay as you go | $4.36, annual plan | $3.25 |
| 125 (1,500 a year) | $4.53, pay as you go | $3.66, annual plan | $3.25 |
| 500 (6,000 a year) | $3.57, Enterprise | $3.49, annual plan | $2.95 |
| 2,500 | $2.41, Elite | Quote; credits from $1.75 | $2.35 |
| 10,000 | $2.15, Elite | Quote; credits from $1.75 | $1.95 |
Up to 500 cards a month, IgnitePOST's published plans cost less than Handwrytten's cheapest option, mainly because postage is included. Above that, only Handwrytten publishes a number. IgnitePOST's $1.75 credit floor is lower than any Handwrytten figure in the table, so a high-volume sender should ask IgnitePOST for a quote before deciding. Handwrytten's retail bulk discounts are also unpublished, so its small-volume figure may come down after signup.
The APIs
Handwrytten has a large, mature API. Its OpenAPI spec (v3.15.0) covers cards, custom cards, fonts, signatures, address books, gift cards, inserts, QR codes and a radius-based prospecting tool that targets addresses around a point. It authenticates with an API key in the Authorization header, has official Python and npm SDKs, and has a test mode in which orders are accepted but not fulfilled and payments are authorized but not captured. Webhooks are a webhook_url field on each order; the docs list no events, signature scheme or rate limits.
IgnitePOST has a smaller, cleaner API, documented openly in its API docs. It uses an X-TOKEN header, offers a test mode through an X-TESTING: true header or a non-live key, renders a card with POST /preview before you order, and lists inserts with denominations and fees through GET /inserts. Its webhook fires when an order is fulfilled, with up to five retries over about six minutes. Messages are capped at 450 characters. No rate limits are documented.
If you are building an integration, IgnitePOST's API is the easier one to start with and is included on every plan. Handwrytten's covers more ground, including gift cards and prospecting, but sits behind a business plan, and its pricing page does not say whether retail accounts get it.
Integrations
Handwrytten lists Salesforce (on the AppExchange), HubSpot (on the Marketplace), a Shopify app, Blackbaud Raiser's Edge, CDK/Fortellis and Tekion for car dealers, Zapier, Make, Integrately, SyncSpider and a Claude connector (homepage; integrations).
IgnitePOST lists Klaviyo, a dedicated Shopify app, HubSpot, Act-On, Zapier and CSV upload (homepage).
Handwrytten has the broader set, especially for CRM, nonprofit and dealership systems. IgnitePOST leans toward ecommerce, with Klaviyo and Shopify.
Where Handwrytten is the better pick
- You need Salesforce, Blackbaud or a dealership system, or an AI connector, today.
- You want a custom font made from your handwriting at a published price ($1,500 to $2,000), or a custom signature ($250).
- You send gift cards with your notes and want the vendor to supply them.
- You send thousands of cards a month and want published plan prices rather than a quote.
- You want radius-based prospecting mail built into the API.
Where IgnitePOST is the better pick
- You send a few hundred to a few thousand cards a year and want postage included.
- You run an ecommerce store on Shopify or Klaviyo.
- You are a developer who wants a test mode, a preview endpoint and a fulfillment webhook on every plan.
- You want both the card and the envelope handwritten.
Where notecardHQ fits
notecardHQ writes every card with a real pen in New York and reads every word back with OCR before writing. One price per card mailed covers card, handwriting, envelope and postage: $3.25 in the US at up to 499 a month, $2.95 from 500, $2.35 from 2,500 and $1.95 from 10,000, with international cards $1.00 more at each tier. No monthly fee and no annual commitment. Every account gets the API, with idempotency keys so a retry never mails a second card, test keys, and an MCP server for AI agents. Against the table above we are the lowest published price at every volume shown, though IgnitePOST's credit floor may beat us at high volume. Our gaps: four handwriting styles (not dozens), no custom fonts, and no native CRM apps; integrations run through the API and our recipes.
More: IgnitePOST alternative, Handwrytten alternative, Handwrytten pricing explained, and the handwritten notes API comparison. Our tiers are on the pricing page.