Lettie vs Slowly: two slow-letter apps, one real difference
Slowly and Lettie both deliver letters by distance. An honest comparison across purpose, how you meet your first letter, translation, profiles and matching — and who each app is right for.
Lettie vs Slowly: two slow-letter apps, one real difference
Full disclosure first: Lettie is ours. So this isn't "we're better" — it's "where do they split." Slowly has more or less defined the slow-letter genre since 2017, and we like it. If all you want is a pen pal, Slowly is still a fine choice.
What's the same
- Letters take as long as the distance. Seoul to Lisbon is about a day; to Tokyo, a few hours. Both apps treat that delay as the feature. Nobody replies instantly, so people write differently — longer, slower.
- You collect stamps. Country and seasonal stamps, stuck to letters and kept in an album, in both.
- You don't start with a face. Slowly uses avatars; Lettie uses pixel characters.
From here they diverge on five things.
1. Purpose — pen-pal friendship vs meeting someone through letters
Slowly is a pen-pal app end to end. The goal is a long correspondence with someone who shares your interests, and there is deliberately nothing built around dating.
Lettie is meeting someone through letters. Friendship is a fine outcome, but you choose who you'd like to meet (opposite, same, everyone) and get a few matching cards a day. No swiping, no scores. It's for people who disliked "photo first" dating apps and found "friends only" pen-pal apps not quite enough.
2. How you meet your first letter — matching vs Discover
In Slowly you search by interests, languages and region, get auto-matched, or write Open Letters.
Most first letters on Lettie start in Discover. Letters released to no one in particular float by as envelopes; three new ones drift close every eight hours. Open one you like, read it, reply — and it becomes a conversation for two. You pick by what someone wrote, not by their profile.
3. Translation — where you cross the language line
This is the biggest gap. On Lettie the translate button is inside the letter, covers 28 languages, and shows the original next to the translation. Free users get it. The default experience is: they write in their language, you read in yours.
Slowly doesn't put letter translation in the base experience; you go out to another tool or use a paid feature. That's a non-issue if your pen pal shares your language, and a big deal if you want to meet people regardless of language.
4. Profiles — avatar builder vs a character drawn from words
Slowly's avatars are assembled from parts. Lettie gives you sixteen pixel characters for free and, if you describe how you look in words, draws your own in the same style. There are no photos at the start at all.
5. Matching — none vs a few a day
Slowly has no dating-style matching. Lettie sends a few cards a day; if you like one, you write. It's a daily handful rather than an endless swipe, so you spend more time writing than choosing.
Side by side
| Lettie | Slowly | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Meeting someone through letters | Pen-pal friendship |
| First letter | Pick up letters strangers released | Interest matching · open letters |
| Delivery | 1–24 h by real distance | By real distance |
| Translation | In-app, one tap, 28 languages, free | External tools or paid |
| Profile | Pixel character; describe it and we draw it | Avatar builder |
| Matching | A few cards a day, choose who you meet | None |
| Stamps | Country stamps + random pixel stamps | Country & seasonal stamps |
| Price | Free; Plus subscription & gems | Free; coins |
So who should use what
- You want a long correspondence with someone who shares your hobbies → Slowly. Bigger user base, an eight-year-old community.
- You want to meet people regardless of language, chosen by what they wrote → Lettie. Translation is the default; Discover lets you read before you choose.
- You hated "photo first" dating apps → Lettie. Characters first, letters first.
- You just want to read what people around the world are thinking → Either. Lettie's Discover opens several letters a day for free.
One honest downside
Lettie is smaller than Slowly. If you need to find someone in a specific small country with a specific hobby tonight, Slowly wins. What we have is translation, Discover, and a letter that really flies across a globe. If that's what you're after, release one tonight. Someone reads it tomorrow morning.
Based on public information as of September 2026. If Slowly has changed, tell us and we'll fix it.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the biggest difference between Lettie and Slowly?
- Purpose. Slowly is built for pen-pal friendship; Lettie is a letter-based dating and pen-pal app. That is why Lettie has gender-choice matching, photo-free character profiles and turn-taking letters.
- Do letters in Lettie take time to arrive like in Slowly?
- Yes. Delivery time is computed from the real distance between the two cities: at least 30 minutes, at most 24 hours. Seoul to Tokyo is about 2–3 hours; Seoul to New York about 17–18 hours.
- Is translation in Lettie paid?
- No. A translate button inside each letter covers 28 languages for free and shows the original and the translation side by side.
- What changes if I move from Slowly to Lettie?
- Instead of only receiving match cards, you can pick up letters strangers released into the sky in the Discover tab and reply. Profiles start as one of sixteen pixel characters instead of a photo.