Celebration should be free
Saying “happy birthday,” “we’ll miss you,” or “thank you” as a group shouldn’t cost anyone a cent. That belief is the entire reason this site exists.
The story
It started with a paywall
A teammate was leaving our remote company, and I offered to put together a group card so everyone could sign it. Simple, kind, human. Then I went looking for a tool to do it.
Every option wanted money. One capped the number of people who could sign unless I upgraded. Another locked the nice designs behind a “premium” tier. A third wanted a subscription — for a birthday card. I sat there thinking: when did wishing someone well become a line item?
I’d spent years watching the small, warm rituals of a workplace — the send-offs, the congratulations, the get-well notes — get quietly turned into upsells. Appreciation had become a product. And the people who most need a free option — students, volunteers, teachers, nonprofits, anyone chipping in from their own pocket — were the ones getting nickel-and-dimed.
So that weekend I built the first version of Free for All eCards. One rule, non-negotiable: it would be actually free. Not free-until-you-hit-a-limit. Not free-with-ads. Not free-if-you-give-us-your-data. Free. Everyone can sign, every design is available, forever.
The promise
What “free” actually means here
No paywalls
Unlimited signers, every theme, every feature — available to everyone from the first card. There is no locked “pro” version.
No ads, no data selling
Your card and the people on it are not the product. There are no ads, no trackers sold to third parties, no email lists rented out.
Funded by donations
The bills are covered by optional donations from people who love the service — never by charging the person just trying to say “happy birthday.”
That’s the whole model. If it ever stops being genuinely free, it stops being Free for All eCards.
Who’s behind it
One person, one promise
Miles Bennett
Founder, sole developer & support desk
Hi — I’m Miles. I’m a software engineer with about a dozen years building web products, mostly on the kind of frontend and backend that powers apps you use without thinking about them. Free for All eCards is a solo project: I write the code, answer the emails, pay the server bills, and read every feature request myself.
I built it because I got tired of watching small human moments get monetized, and I keep it free because that was the entire point. There’s no team, no investors, no growth targets — just one developer who thinks a farewell card shouldn’t need a credit card.
When I’m not shipping code, I’m usually out on a trail with my dog, losing to my friends at board games, tinkering with synths, or hunting down the best cup of coffee in town. I answer support emails between all of the above.
Made by a real person.
Free for everyone else.
No sign-up wall, no trial, no “upgrade to send.” Start a card, share the link, and let everyone sign it — on the house.