--- title: "Video Birthday Cards – Free and Animated | birthday.video" description: "Make a free video birthday card: an envelope opens on an animated card with their name, your photos and a Happy Birthday tune. No account, no watermark." url: https://birthday.video/video-birthday-card --- Free · made on your device # Free video birthday cards A card that opens itself: an envelope, their name, your photos and a message, set to a Happy Birthday tune. Send it as a video or a looping GIF. Free · no sign-up · no watermark A card for Grace 41 Wishing you a lovely year With love, Ruth A video birthday card is a greeting card that moves: it opens, shows their name and your message, and plays a tune, all in a short video you send by message or email. Choose a card template, type the **Name**, **Age** and **Message**, add a photo or two, and export an **Video (MP4)** with sound or a looping **GIF**. This page opens the editor on the card templates in Square 1:1, which shows whole in any chat. Paid e-card services charge a subscription or a fee per card; here every card is free and comes as a file you keep, with no link that expires. The card is made in your browser, so your photos stay on your device, and nothing on the finished card advertises anyone. Start from one of these ## How to make a video birthday card 1. ### Pick a card Press **Make a video card** above and choose a design from the card templates in **Templates**. 2. ### Write inside it Type their **Name**, their **Age** if it belongs on the front, and your **Message**: the line you would write inside a paper card. 3. ### Add a photo and a tune Press **Add photos and clips** for a picture of the two of you, then **Add music** and pick one of the Happy Birthday tunes. 4. ### Export and send Choose **Video (MP4)** to keep the music or **GIF** for a silent card that loops, press **Export video**, then **Share** or **Download video**. ## Video card or e-card: what is the difference Most e-card sites send a link: the card lives on their servers, often behind a sign-in or a subscription, and sometimes the link stops working after a while. A video card is a file. The birthday person can keep it in their photos, post it, or forward it to the rest of the family, and it plays on any phone without opening a website. * **No account** for you or for them. * **No expiry**: the MP4 or GIF is theirs to keep. * **Your own photos** on the card, not just a stock design. * **Free**, every card, with no watermark. ## Writing the inside of the card The **Message** is the inside of the card, so write it the way you would by hand. Two short lines read better on screen than one long one. ### Lines that work on a card * “Another year of you. Lucky us.” * “Happy birthday. The kettle’s on whenever you want to talk about getting old.” * “To the person who remembers everyone else’s birthday: this one’s for you.” * “Have the loveliest day. Lunch is on me.” For whole messages by relationship, see [what to say in a birthday video message](https://birthday.video/what-to-say-in-a-birthday-video-message); for a card made of words that appear one at a time, try [animated birthday wishes](https://birthday.video/animated-birthday-wishes). ## MP4 or GIF: how to send it An **Video (MP4)** keeps the tune and plays in WhatsApp, Messages, email and on social networks. A **GIF** has no sound, but it loops by itself and drops neatly into a chat or a comment where a video would feel heavy. You can export the same card both ways. Square 1:1 is the safe choice for a card, because it shows complete in every chat. Switch **Format** to Story 9:16 if it will go in a Story, or Landscape 16:9 to email it to someone who will watch on a laptop. ## Video birthday cards: questions ### Are the video birthday cards really free? Yes. Every card template is free, with no account, no subscription and no watermark on the finished card. ### Can I email a video birthday card? Yes. Press **Download video** and attach the MP4 to an email. Most cards are small enough to attach; a long one is better sent through a chat app. ### Can the card play Happy Birthday? Yes. **Add music** includes several arrangements of the Happy Birthday tune made for the site and free to use. The tune plays in the MP4; a GIF is silent. ### Can I put a photo on the card? Yes. **Add photos and clips** puts your own photos, or a short clip, into the card’s picture scenes. ### Does the person need an app to open it? No. It is an ordinary video or GIF file, so it plays in their chat app, email or photo gallery. ### Is anything uploaded when I make the card? No. The card is made in your browser and your photos stay on your device until you send it. ## More birthday video ideas * [ Birthday video maker Start from an animated template, add their name, photos and a song. ](https://birthday.video/) * [ Animated birthday wishes Your own words appearing line by line, as a GIF or a video with a tune. ](https://birthday.video/animated-birthday-wishes) * [ Birthday video message maker Your selfie clip with their name, a caption and confetti around it. ](https://birthday.video/birthday-video-message) * [ Happy birthday GIF with a name Type any name, nickname included, and download a looping GIF. ](https://birthday.video/happy-birthday-gif-with-name) * [ Free Happy Birthday song download Instrumental arrangements of the tune, free to download or put under a video. ](https://birthday.video/happy-birthday-song) * [ Happy belated birthday GIFs and videos A late card that owns it, with their name and a sorry that sounds like you. ](https://birthday.video/happy-belated-birthday) * [ Birthday video templates Every template in the editor, by occasion, with the formats it suits. ](https://birthday.video/birthday-video-templates)