Basic Invite vs Evite
Short answer: Evite is the cheaper of the two. Evite works out to $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium at both 100 and 250 guests. Basic Invite works out to $72 (100 cards at the published 72-cent starting rate) for 100 guests and $180 (250 cards at the published 72-cent starting rate) for 250. Basic Invite earns the difference if you need among the lowest advertised per-card rates, from 72 cents for wedding invitations.
If neither answer fits, Dawat does the same job free at any guest count: 53 card designs, unlimited guests, per-guest personal links and RSVP tracking, with no per-recipient charge.
Basic Invite and Evite are not really competitors: one puts a card in someone's hand, the other puts a link in their phone. The question is which medium your event needs, and whether you need a live guest list.
Basic Invite and Evite pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
Online stationery printer offering customisable invitations with extensive colour control, plus a free wedding website with RSVP management. Long-running digital invitation service offering free ad-supported invitations plus paid Premium packages priced by guest count. Dawat is shown as a third column for the part these two share with it: getting the invitation to people and getting an answer back. It does not print, so on the physical card it is not a substitute.
| Basic Invite | Evite | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Priced per printed card | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Free wedding website that collects mailing addresses and manages RSVPs, plus 150+ free custom colours on designs. | Free designs, up to 750 guests, RSVP tracking, read receipts and shareable link, with third-party ads shown. | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. |
| Cost for 100 guests | $72 (100 cards at the published 72-cent starting rate) | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | $180 (250 cards at the published 72-cent starting rate) | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Free |
| Charges per recipient | Yes | Partial | No |
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | Partial | No |
"Not published" means no vendor documentation could be found either way, not that the feature is missing. How this grid is built →
Where they actually differ
Both give you tracking who has replied and letting guests reply without an account, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Free to send. Evite supports sending invitations without paying; Basic Invite does not.
- Email delivery. Evite supports sending by email. Basic Invite does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Open tracking. Evite supports seeing who opened the invitation. Basic Invite does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Printed cards. Basic Invite supports ordering printed stationery; Evite does not.
- Event website. Basic Invite includes a full event website outright; on Evite it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Registry links. Evite supports linking a gift registry. Basic Invite does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Calendar file. Evite supports adding the event to a calendar. Basic Invite does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
When Basic Invite is the better choice
Budget-conscious hosts who want printed invitations matched to exact wedding colours, with a free website for online RSVPs.
- Among the lowest advertised per-card rates, from 72 cents for wedding invitations
- 150+ free custom colours, with colour control on nearly every design element
- Custom printed sample of your actual design available before ordering
- Free wedding website collects mailing addresses and manages RSVPs online
- Over 1,000 wedding designs customisable instantly in the browser
Where it costs you:
- Priced per printed card, so cost rises directly with guest count
- Postage is not included and is paid separately
- Advertised 72-cent rate is a starting price; upgrades and finishes cost more
- Envelope and enclosure-card options such as RSVP cards are priced separately
- Quantity price breaks are not published as a public table
When Evite is the better choice
Hosts of large casual gatherings who want a free, high-capacity invitation and can tolerate advertising beside their event details.
- Free tier sends to up to 750 guests with no per-recipient charge
- Read receipts and shareable links are available on the free tier
- Delivery by email, text message or shareable link
- Gift registry and website links can be added to the invitation
- Evite Pro covers unlimited invitations up to 2,500 guests for $249.99/year
Where it costs you:
- Free invitations display third-party ads to guests
- Removing ads requires a paid Premium package
- Premium packages are single-event; each new event is charged again
- Animated effects, envelopes and exclusive designs are Premium-only
- No printed or hard-copy option; Evite is digital only
What each one costs, in dollars
Basic Invite is one of the 7 platforms in this dataset that charge per guest or per printed card. Evite is not.
Published prices, converted into what you would actually pay for a real guest list. Credits, coins and per-card pricing are translated into dollars because that is the number you are deciding with.
| Basic Invite | Evite | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Priced per printed card | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | $72 (100 cards at the published 72-cent starting rate) | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Free |
| 250 guests | $180 (250 cards at the published 72-cent starting rate) | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Free |
| How that is worked out | Based on Basic Invite's advertised starting rate for its wedding invitation line; envelopes, upgrades and postage are extra. | Premium is banded by guest count; both 100 and 250 guests fall in the $99.99 Diamond band (up to 750 guests), charged per event. | Dawat has no per-guest or per-send charge, so the guest count does not change the price. |
As of September 2026: Printed wedding invitations advertised as low as 72 cents per card, with save-the-dates as low as 45 cents per card; custom printed samples available per design. Free invitations carry ads and support up to 750 guests; Premium packages are $17.99 (12 guests), $36.99 (30), $68.99 (75) and $99.99 (750) per event. Evite Pro is $249.99/year.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Basic Invite nor Evite is trying to make the moment of opening feel like anything. They collect the answer. For a birthday drinks thread that is exactly right; for a wedding, a nikkah or a milestone, the invitation is part of the event.
Dawat tracks replies the same way both of these do, and costs nothing to do it. All 53 card designs, unlimited guests and unlimited sends are free, with no card required. What the other two do not do is address each guest personally: the envelope opens with that guest's name on it and their reply is one tap.
The honest caveats: Dawat is digital only, so it will not print and mail stationery, and it does not sell tickets. The optional Dawat Signature experiences are $89 once per event, and they are labelled as paid before you publish — nothing else is.
Create your invitation — free →No card required. Unlimited guests. 53 designs.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Basic Invite | Evite | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | No | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | Yes | Partial | No |
| Unlimited guests | Partial | Partial | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Not published | Partial | Yes |
| Email delivery | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Not published | Partial | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | Partial | Yes |
| Printed cards | Yes | No | No |
| Guest account required | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | Partial | No |
| Event website | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Registry links | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Not published | Partial | Partial |
| Calendar file | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| AI wording help | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Works inside ChatGPT / Claude | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Multilingual & right-to-left | Not published | Not published | Yes |
"Not published" means no vendor documentation could be found either way, not that the feature is missing. How this grid is built →
What your guests experience
A printed card is a wonderful thing to receive and a terrible thing to reply to. Whatever the envelope looks like, the reply has to happen somewhere, and that somewhere is what this section is about.
| What your guest gets | Basic Invite | Evite | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | Partial | No |
| Animated opening | No | Partial | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Basic Invite or Evite cheaper?
Basic Invite works out to $72 (100 cards at the published 72-cent starting rate) for 100 guests and $180 (250 cards at the published 72-cent starting rate) for 250. Evite works out to $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium at both 100 and 250 guests. Because at least one of them bills per recipient, the gap widens as the guest list grows: what looks like a few dollars at 20 guests is a real decision at 250. Both were checked on 2026-09-16.
Which is better for a wedding, Basic Invite or Evite?
Basic Invite suits budget-conscious hosts who want printed invitations matched to exact wedding colours, with a free website for online RSVPs. Evite suits hosts of large casual gatherings who want a free, high-capacity invitation and can tolerate advertising beside their event details. For a wedding specifically, the questions that matter are whether the invitation feels like an occasion, whether you can collect meal choices, and whether the price moves with the guest list.
Do guests need an account to reply on Basic Invite or Evite?
Basic Invite does not require guests to have an account. Evite does not require guests to have an account. Anything that makes a guest sign up before replying costs you responses, particularly from older relatives.
Is there a free alternative to Basic Invite and Evite?
Yes. Dawat is free at every guest count: all 53 card designs, unlimited guests, unlimited sends, RSVP tracking with your own questions, and a personally addressed link for each guest. There is no per-recipient charge and no card required to send. The only paid item is a Dawat Signature cinematic experience at $89 once per event.
How much are Basic Invite wedding invitations?
Basic Invite advertises wedding invitations as low as 72 cents per card, and save-the-dates as low as 45 cents per card. At that starting rate 100 invitations is about $72 and 250 is about $180, before envelopes, upgrades and postage.
Is Evite free?
Yes. Evite publishes free designs that cost nothing to send, and free invitations support up to 750 guests. The trade-off is that free invitations display third-party ads to your guests. Removing ads, or adding envelopes, stickers, backgrounds or animated effects, converts the invitation to a paid Premium send.
How current is this comparison?
Basic Invite's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Evite's on 2026-09-16. Every figure on this page links to the vendor page it came from, so you can verify it yourself rather than trusting a comparison written by one of the competitors.
Other comparisons
Every comparison below is built from the same checked pricing data.
Dawat vs Basic Invite
The full head-to-head, including where Basic Invite is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Evite
The full head-to-head, including where Evite is genuinely better.
Basic Invite alternatives
Eight products that do what Basic Invite does, ranked.
Evite alternatives
Eight products that do what Evite does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Basic Invite and Evite's own published pricing or help pages on 16 September 2026, and each source is linked below. Coins, credits and per-card rates are converted into dollars at a real guest count, because that is the number you are deciding with. Full methodology and the open dataset →
Reading this through an AI assistant? Dawat runs an MCP server, so ChatGPT or Claude can choose the design, write the wording, add your guest list, publish the invitation and send it without you leaving the conversation. Basic Invite does not publish one.
Sources
- Basic Invite wedding invitations — checked 2026-09-16
- Basic Invite save the dates — checked 2026-09-16
- Basic Invite custom sample — checked 2026-09-16
- Basic Invite affordable wedding invitations — checked 2026-09-16
- Evite Premium Pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Evite Premium vs. Free — checked 2026-09-16
- Evite Invitation Pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Evite Guest List Limit — checked 2026-09-16
- Evite Pro — checked 2026-09-16