Written June 14, 2026
Mia, you were born at 6:12 in the morning and you did not cry. You looked around the room as if you were checking that we had everything ready. We did not. We still don't, most days.
— Mom
A gift to someone's future
Some words are meant for a future day.
Write a letter to someone you love. Add photos, invite family and friends to write too, and choose the day it opens. Until then, nobody can read it. Not even you.
No account needed · Free for dates within a year · Text letters free up to 25 years
Opens
JUN 14
2044
2044
For Mia,
on your 18th birthday.
From Mom, Dad, Grandma + 11 others
on your 18th birthday.
From Mom, Dad, Grandma + 11 others
Who is it for?
For your child
Their 18th birthday
Parents, grandparents and old friends each write a letter. It opens the morning they turn 18.
Create a birthday capsule →For a weddingThe 10th anniversary
Every guest leaves a few words for the couple. They read them together, ten years on.
Create a wedding capsule →For a graduating classThe reunion
Everyone writes before they scatter. The capsule opens on the day you meet again.
Create a class capsule →For yourselfFive years from now
Tell the person you will be what you hope for today. A text letter like this is free.
Write to future you →What Mia sees on June 14, 2044
One email on the morning of the day. Then fourteen letters, in fourteen voices.
She chooses to open it. The letters appear one by one, each with the date it was written and any photos that came with it. This is an example, written by us.
Written August 3, 2026
I held you for the first time today. You have your grandfather's ears. Ask your mother about the plum tree.
— Grandma
+ 12 more letters and 21 photos
How it works
1 · Write
Your letter, your photos, your voice
Write as much as you want. Add up to ten photos, and a voice note up to a minute long, so they hear you too.
2 · Invite
Everyone adds theirs
Share one link. Nobody needs an account, and nobody can read another person's letter.
3 · Seal
Delivered on the day
On the morning of the opening date, each recipient gets an email. They choose whether to open it.
The group capsule
One capsule. Everyone's words.
Most future-letter services are for writing to yourself. Dear Later is built for the moments where many people have something to say to one person: a child, a couple, a class. Up to 300 letters and 300 photos in one capsule.
$15once, for a capsule that opens years from now.
With 30 friends writing, that is 50¢ each.
With 30 friends writing, that is 50¢ each.
Nobody has to install anything
A capsule only works if people actually write. Grandparents, wedding guests and classmates open your link in any browser, on any phone, and write in a minute. The person it is for gets an email on the day, whatever phone they carry in 2044.
| Dear Later | Typical app-only capsule | |
|---|---|---|
| Writers need an app or account | No. A link and a browser | Usually yes, often iPhone only |
| Can be for someone without a phone yet | Yes. Delivered by email on the day, to up to 3 addresses | Opens inside the app, for people in the group |
| Letters, photos and voice notes | Yes | Varies |
| Price shown up front | Free, $6 or $15, once | Often in-app purchases |
| Written promise if the service closes | Yes. Early delivery and a download | Rarely stated |
How we keep it safe
Who can read the letters
Before the opening day, nobody can read them through Dear Later. That includes the person who started the capsule. The organizer sees who has written, not what. Each writer can change, remove or download their own letter until the capsule is sealed.
If an email address changes
Each recipient can have up to three addresses, and the organizer can update them at any time before the day from their private link. For a child, add a parent's address as well as the child's.
Where it is kept
Letters and photos are stored encrypted at rest on our database provider's servers. When a capsule is sealed we record a fingerprint of its contents, and the organizer's page checks it each time they look. Photos are shown to a recipient only through short-lived links after they open the capsule.
If we ever close
No company can honestly promise to exist for 100 years. So we promise this instead: at least 60 days' notice, then every capsule delivered early to its recipients, and a download of your capsule available at any time before that.
Pricing
Free$0Any capsule that opens within a year, for one writer or many, with photos.And a text letter from one writer, opening up to 25 years from now. Your letter to future you, free.
Keepsake$6Once. Your letter with up to 30 photos, for a child's 18th birthday or any day more than a year away. Up to 100 years.
Gathering$15Once. A whole wedding or class writes: up to 300 letters and 300 photos, opening more than a year from now. Up to 100 years.
One payment covers the whole wait. No subscription, so nothing lapses if a card expires.