InmateDB is a website and app that helps families find someone in federal prison and stay in touch by message and text. Your loved one writes from the prison's email system, and the messages reach your phone or your InmateDB inbox. Below is how it works, what it costs, and how it fits with sending real photos through InmatePics.
InmateDB and InmatePics are sister sites. InmateDB focuses on messaging people in federal prisons. InmatePics prints your photos and mails them to federal prisons, state prisons, county jails and immigration detention centers across the U.S. You can use both for the same person.
What InmateDB does
InmateDB is built around the email system federal prisons give the people they hold (families usually know it as CorrLinks). People in federal prisons can only email contacts the prison has approved. InmateDB connects that system to ordinary phones and apps.
According to InmateDB's How It Works page:
- Find your loved one. Search federal inmates by name or register number.
- They add InmateDB as a contact. Each person gets a few relay email addresses that look like normal personal emails. They add one to their approved contact list, and the prison approves it.
- Messages flow both ways. They email that address and put a phone number or an InmateDB handle in the subject line. The message arrives as a text on that phone or in an InmateDB inbox, and replies go back to them.
Beyond texting, InmateDB gives people inside tools they can use from the prison email system with simple subject-line commands. These include AI chat (ChatGPT and other assistants), news, weather, sports scores, trivia, religious texts and a private journal.
What InmateDB costs
Creating an account and searching for someone is free. Paid plans are bought for the person inside, and at the time of writing InmateDB's pricing page lists:
- Tier 1, SMS Only: $9.99 a month. Texting through a shared pool of phone numbers; replies work after your loved one texts first.
- Tier 2, SMS + AI: $14.99 a month. Adds AI chat, web search and the information apps.
- Tier 3, Full Access: $19.99 a month. Adds a personal texting number assigned to your loved one, so you can text them first.
- Tier 4, Sports Lines: $39.99 a month. Everything in Full Access plus sports lines and more AI usage.
InmateDB also offers new inmates a 3-day free trial where it's available. Prices change, so check InmateDB's own page before you buy. InmateDB isn't affiliated with the Bureau of Prisons or any government agency.
Where InmatePics fits
Messages are how you talk day to day. Photos are what people keep on the wall. InmatePics is the photo side:
- Real 4x6 photo prints, uploaded from your phone or computer.
- Addressed the facility's way, with the right name, ID number and mailing address, and split into envelopes it accepts.
- Any kind of facility, not only federal prisons: state prisons, county and city jails, and immigration detention too.
- $0.99 per print plus $4.99 per envelope, with no subscription. Ten photos in one envelope cost $14.89.
- Delivered, or your money back. If the facility returns your photos, you get a full refund or a free reprint, as our refund policy explains.
Using both for someone in federal prison
The same Register Number works on both sites. It's the 8-digit number the Bureau of Prisons gives every person in federal custody, written like 12345-678. You can find it with the BOP inmate locator by searching their name.
A simple routine:
- Set up messaging on InmateDB so your loved one can text you, and you can reply from your phone.
- Ask what they'd like to see. The kids' school photos, the dog, the new apartment, the family cookout.
- Send those photos through InmatePics. Choose their federal prison, enter the Register Number, and we print and mail them to the prison's inmate mail address.
One thing to know: since November 2024, most federal prisons photocopy incoming mail, photos included, and hand over a color copy instead of the print. Minimum-security camps generally still deliver the original prints. Before you pay, InmatePics shows which one your loved one's prison does. Our guide to sending photos to federal prison explains it in more detail.
Frequently asked questions
Is InmateDB legit?
InmateDB is a real service that works with the email system federal prisons already provide. Your loved one must add one of InmateDB's relay addresses to their contact list and the prison must approve it, the same as any other contact. It isn't run by or affiliated with the Bureau of Prisons.
Does InmateDB work for state prisons and county jails?
InmateDB's search and messaging are built for federal prisons. For state prisons, county jails and immigration detention, check InmateDB's own site for current coverage. InmatePics sends photos to all of those facility types; find your loved one's facility in our facility directory.
Why does my card statement say INMATEDB* INMATEPICS?
InmatePics takes payments through the same account as its sister site InmateDB, so an InmatePics order shows on your card statement as INMATEDB INMATEPICS*. That charge is your InmatePics photo order.
Can I send photos through InmateDB?
InmateDB's site has its own photo sending page. InmatePics specializes in photo prints for every kind of facility, and shows you each facility's mailing address, ID format and photo rules before you order, with a full refund or free reprint if the photos come back.
How do I find someone's register number?
Search the BOP inmate locator by name. Our post on how to find an inmate ID number covers state prisons, county jails and ICE detention too.
For more ideas on what to send, see 25 photo ideas to send someone in prison and what to write when you send photos. Ready to send? Start your InmatePics order.
