Kindredly is an anonymous penpal app that matches strangers by how they write. Instead of searching profiles, you write one letter; it lands first with strangers whose writing runs like yours, and whoever writes back becomes your penpal. It's free, on iPhone and the web, in ten languages.
I quit the job on a Tuesday. Told no one for four days. Kept getting dressed. Kept leaving the flat. Sat in the library until six.
A penpal is someone you get to know through letters. On Kindredly that's all you get: not their face, their age or their city — just what they write and the way they write it. You trade letters one at a time, as slowly or as quickly as the two of you like.
More on the idea, and where it came from: what is a penpal?
Most penpal sites match you on a list: interests, age, country. A list is easy to fill in and says very little about whether you'll enjoy each other's letters.
The way someone writes says more: long sentences or short, questions or statements, whether they trail off or land a thought. That's what Kindredly matches on, so the letters on your desk come from people who write a bit like you.
why prose beats profiles →I have never told anyone that when my father was ill I was mostly relieved, not because I wanted it to end but because the waiting had a shape at last, and I could finally see the edge of the thing instead of standing in the middle of it guessing.
You can write in English, 中文, Español, Português, Bahasa Indonesia, Français, Deutsch, Italiano, 日本語 or 한국어. A letter on your desk in a language you don't read comes with a translate key, so your penpal doesn't have to share yours — which also makes it a gentle way to practise one.
how to write when you don't share a language →Slowly matches people on shared interests and languages, and a letter takes a few hours to a few days to arrive, depending on how far apart you live. InterPals, running since 1998, is a free, ad-funded site where you search member profiles by country, city, age and language. Kindredly has no profiles to search: the match is the writing.
Side by side, with sources: Kindredly vs Slowly · Kindredly vs InterPals.
You're a number until you both choose otherwise, there are no photos before names, and letters pass a safety check on their way to strangers' desks. Report or block anyone in a tap. Kindredly is for adults, 18 and over. How we keep it safe.
Yes — Kindredly is free on iPhone and on the web: fifteen strangers' letters on your desk a day, five new letters of your own a day, and no limit on the letters inside a correspondence. First Class is an optional paid fare.
Use somewhere that keeps you anonymous. On Kindredly you're a number, not a name; there are no photos until you both trade names; letters are checked on their way to strangers' desks; and you can report or block anyone. See safety.
No. Kindredly doesn't match by location, so you don't pick a country — your penpal is whoever writes most like you, wherever they are.
No. You're a number, like No. 4207. From the fifth letter each way you can enclose a name, and it's shared only when you both have.
Yes, Kindredly is on the App Store, and the same account works on the web if you sign in with Google or email. On Android, use it in your browser.
Something true and a question. A line about your week, then something you'd like a stranger to answer. There are twelve openers in your first letter to a penpal.
Anything else? hello@kindredly.io
write your first letter. It's an anonymous penpal app that matches strangers by how they write. Free on iPhone and on the web.