Best Christmas Cards 2024 – Forbes Vetted

Shipping: 2 to 5 business days | Personalizations: Cardstock, color, size, shape, photos, text | Addressing: Yes

Simply To Impress offers an extensive selection of card themes and—especially with its current 35% off sale—an impressive value for the price per card. It also has quick turnaround times and a lightning printing option, perfect for holiday procrastinators or busy parents. In addition to the brand’s holiday and Christmas templates, it also has a broader selection of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other religious-themed cards than other sites. Simply To Impress also offers free basic-level retouching and a free design review.

Shipping: 1 to 10 business days | Personalizations: Color, cardstock, format, shape, photos, text | Addressing: Yes

Shutterfly has a wide selection of cheery holiday card designs, along with the option to tailor practically every detail of your order with its handy card customization guide. You can also easily narrow down the choices by the brand’s most popular styles (e.g., classic, minimalist, rustic) or by the specific holiday. Upload your own design, create a custom color palette or add luxe special touches like gold foil or shimmer cardstock. Customize your envelopes to match (we love the site’s colorful liners), which come with free address printing.

Shipping: 1 to 10 business days | Personalizations: Color, cardstock, trim, photos, envelope | Addressing: Yes

Tiny Prints is for folks who want an easy-to-use interface and quality products without having to rely a whole lot on customization. While the company, which is owned by Shutterfly, certainly offers customization options, it mainly stands out for its wide variety of gorgeously designed Christmas and holiday cards—from the ornament-style format pictured above to ornate foil cards to options with whimsical touches. Reviewers also praise the company’s expedient customer service, convenient addressing and mailing options, high quality of materials and its user-friendly site. While it’s a bit tricky tweaking the design elements of the templates themselves, users who want to simply drag-and-drop their photos and rely on outstanding design to do the rest will appreciate this service.

Shipping: 5 to 12 business days | Personalizations: Shape, cardstock, photos, layout, stickers, text, background | Addressing: Yes

For those looking to customize every detail of their holiday card without spending a long time (or money) belaboring over the process, Mixbook has you covered. Its site has over a thousand holiday-themed templates to choose from (or you can choose a blank card). The site’s interface clearly lays out all the elements you can customize, including the trim, paper type and the option to upgrade to a printed envelope. There are also templates with real foil options (though note that these may take an extra day or two to ship). The brand’s high-quality paper is sourced sustainably, and the prices are reasonable considering the quality and range of designs. 

Shipping: 4 to 10 business days | Personalizations: Orientation, photo, cardstock, envelope, print style, envelope | Addressing: Yes

Artifact Uprising specializes in personalized photo gifts and modern, elegant card designs that turn beloved family photos into the star of the show. (There’s a reason why its keepsake-quality products have topped several of our roundups, including the best graduation gifts and the best gifts for husbands.) During the design process, you can filter templates by the orientation of the picture you want to use. Further design add-ons like foil stamping lend a handcrafted feel. Each card is printed on 100% recycled paper and includes your choice of envelopes in four classic colors. Plus, you can choose from a selection of holiday envelope seals with jovial phrases like “May It All Be Merry” and “Warmest Wishes.”

Shipping: 3 to 11 business days | Personalizations: Photo, text, format, cardstock, trim, designer assistance | Addressing: Yes

Paper Culture is a great source for contemporary holiday cards made exclusively with sustainable materials like 100% recycled stationery and bamboo. For every purchase, the company plants a tree in an area where reforestation is needed. To top it all off, it has an easy-to-navigate site with photo and non-photo designs, and lots of other specific categories like business holiday cards, pet-specific greetings (as seen above) and a Design It Yourself option, which allows you to upload your creation and improve upon it with color and layout changes, editing and more. The site offers free designer assistance, too.

Shipping: 4 to 8 business days | Personalizations: Color, orientation, format, type, cardstock, photo, envelope | Addressing: Yes

Minted is both a stationary company and an inclusive artist forum—that means every card design on the site is unique, thoughtful and quite different from something you’d find in a run-of-the-mill card store. Independent artists from over 100 countries are represented across the site, which sells photo and non-photo cards, plus a score of non-traditional formats like ornament cards and those inspired by famed pieces at The Met. There’s also an impressive number of included customizations, like choosing between a flat or folded card and the option to add extra foil text.

Shipping: Varies (digital file) | Personalizations: Number of illustrated people/pets (including clothing), text, background color | Addressing: No

Etsy’s array of imaginative holiday card options is just as impressive as its range of artisan-created gifts. You’ll find designs with everything from dreamy watercolor evergreen trees to rustic holiday postcards, but our pick is the custom illustrated cards where your family is hand-drawn into downloadable templates that you can print out at home or at a copy shop. It’s also the perfect solution if your kids can’t seem to sit still for a family shot. One thing to note: Many of Etsy’s card selections are handmade and take longer to create than other retailers on our list, so make sure to check each shop’s shipping policies and estimated arrival dates.

Shipping: 2 to 6 business days | Personalizations: Photo, text, format, card back | Addressing: Yes

Postable’s easy-to-use holiday card builder guides you through the process of picking your style of card. You can pick from dozens of original templates including hand-painted prints or customizable photo cards. We love the company’s fun, one-of-a-kind designs, like this cutout-inspired “Festive And Bounce Holiday” template or the Netflix-esque design pictured above. When it comes to the note inside your card, Postable uses its patented handwriting fonts to transform your message into a script that looks real. You can also add augmented reality by way of a QR code on the back of your card: Your loved ones can scan the code to have an AR dance party with Posty, the dancing gingerbread man. As a (huge) bonus, the company offers free addressing and mailing. 

Shipping: 3 to 13 business days | Personalizations: Cardstock, photo, text, trim, background | Addressing: No

If your photos are the priority and you’re not picky about customizing every single detail of your card, you’ll be more than satisfied with Nations Photo Lab. It offers high-quality, acid-free cards at some of the lowest prices per card we’ve seen—starting at a little over a dollar each. While there aren’t as many holiday-themed templates offered as other retailers on this list, you’ll still be able to customize things like the paper type, text and font, background and add-ons, such as a glossy UV coating for an extra fee. Plus, envelopes that come in four styles are included in the price.

Shipping: 3 to 8 business days | Personalizations: Photos, trim, foil, text, graphics, back | Addressing: Yes

For shoppers who value the design and the ability to add their own photos more than the quality of the paper or the vibrancy of the print, Vistaprint offers a great value—especially considering that it offers over 2,000 customizable holiday templates. Your order comes with free plain envelopes (printed or colored) and you can opt for the addressing service for an extra fee. And if you find yourself jonesing for more customization options, the brand offers changeable details like your choice of trim, paper stock or foil for an additional cost.

Shipping: 1 to 7 business days | Personalizations: None | Addressing: No

For the traditionalists, a beautiful set of boxed cards from Rifle Paper Co. is a great way to go. The Florida-based stationary company is known for its high-end craftsmanship and attention to detail, as seen in its use of vibrant color and hand-painted florals. While the selection isn’t as vast as other card companies, each design feels special, thanks to flourishes like embossing, foil stamping and die-cut shapes. The themes range from traditional holiday offerings featuring gingerbread houses and nativity scenes to more quirky illustrations like a skiing Santa or a holiday flamingo. You can order a single card or boxed sets of eight or 16 (on Amazon).

Shipping: 3 to 6 business days | Personalizations: None | Addressing: No

If you’d rather the convenience cards with thoughtful notes already pre-written, Barnes & Noble has a good selection to offer online. Best-selling designs include the Holiday Reindeer collection, a Nutcracker-inspired set and the traditional Festive Village Christmas set. Some of the designs include metallic foil accents, and many come with keepsake-quality boxes. Plus, the retailer is currently offering a “buy one, get one for 50% off” deal on select holiday boxed sets.

Shipping: 1 to 5 business days | Personalizations: Gift message | Addressing: No

Rushing to find the right card last-minute—without it looking last-minute? Many of Amazon Handmade’s holiday greeting cards—including several handcrafted by small business owners—are available for either overnight or expedited shipping. Some picks popular among Amazon shoppers include funny designs like this Stevie Wonder-inspired one, a Festivus For The Rest Of Us parody card and a boxed set of 20 Christmas postcards. Just note that many of the Handmade greeting cards tend to be more expensive since they’re handcrafted with quality materials and unique designs—but you have the option of sending only one as opposed to having to buy in batches.

Shipping: Same-day pickup for select designs, 3 to 10 business days if shipped | Personalizations: Number of photos, trim, color, text | Addressing option: Yes

If you’ve been too consumed with holiday prep to shop for Christmas cards, fear not: Walgreens is here to save you. The pharmacy and convenience store chain lives up to its name by offering over 1,000 customizable holiday photo card designs with same-day pickup at thousands of locations. On many templates, you can select from glossy photo paper, standard or premium card stock or a magnet card. One thing to note: If you’re hoping to add more elaborate details like embossed foil or custom foil text, it takes longer to create (about 5 to 10 business days), but you can still select the free ship-to-store option or get it sent directly to you.

Shipping: 1 to 6 business days | Personalizations: Layout, photo, text, font | Addressing: Yes

Lovepop’s holiday assortment of intricate three-dimensional pop-up designs bring elaborate themes to life; they range from a Harry Potter Christmas scene at Hogwarts to Disney cards featuring Elsa from Frozen. And if you have trouble choosing, there’s an assorted 12-pack (for just $49) that includes a variety of festive messages for everyone on your list. For the single cards, you can either handwrite your message in the insert or have Lovepop customize your card with a photo or message of your choice. You can also add an e-gift card to your design, which can be redeemed at Lovepop’s partner retailers like Best Buy, Athleta and Barnes & Noble.

Shipping time: 3 to 4 business days | Personalizations: No | Addressing: Yes

Sweeter Cards is a woman-owned, St. Louis-based greeting card company and chocolatier; each of its cards includes a delicious Fair Trade Certified chocolate bar. Plus, each card is made with recyclable packaging and printed with vegetable-based inks, featuring cheery holiday illustrations and clever messages like “Treat Yo Elf” and “Peace, Love and Chocolate.” The sweet treat inside is a handmade sea salt caramel dark chocolate bar, crafted with soft vanilla caramel, cane sugar, fresh whipping cream, butter and Madagascar vanilla and topped with Mediterranean sea salt. Another plus? Each order ships within 3 to 4 business days for a low flat rate.