Basic Invite vs SignUpGenius
Short answer: SignUpGenius is the cheaper of the two. SignUpGenius costs nothing at either guest count (ads shown). 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 SignUpGenius 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 SignUpGenius pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
- Side by side
- Where they actually differ
- When Basic Invite is the better choice
- When SignUpGenius is the better choice
- What each one costs, in dollars
- The third option: something that feels like an invitation
- Feature by feature
- What your guests experience
- Questions
- Other comparisons
- How these figures were checked
Side by side
Online stationery printer offering customisable invitations with extensive colour control, plus a free wedding website with RSVP management. Sign-up sheet and volunteer scheduling tool for schools, churches, nonprofits and teams, with slots, reminders and payment collection. 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 | SignUpGenius | 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. | Unlimited sign-up pages, email invites and reminders, duplicate/transfer sign ups, Google Maps — 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) | Free (ads shown) | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | $180 (250 cards at the published 72-cent starting rate) | Free (ads shown) | Free |
| Charges per recipient | Yes | No | No |
| Guests need an account | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | Yes | 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, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Free to send. SignUpGenius supports sending invitations without paying; Basic Invite does not.
- Per-guest fees. Basic Invite does this; SignUpGenius does not. If no per-recipient charge matters to you, that is a point for SignUpGenius.
- Email delivery. SignUpGenius supports sending by email. 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; SignUpGenius does not.
- Guest account required. Basic Invite does not do this. SignUpGenius does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Event website. Basic Invite supports a full event website; SignUpGenius does not.
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 SignUpGenius is the better choice
Schools, sports teams, churches and volunteer coordinators filling time slots or item lists who can live with ads on a free account.
- Free tier has no published cap on sign-up pages or participants
- Purpose-built slot logic: dates, times, quantities, wish lists, volunteer hours reports
- Email invites and automatic reminders included at no cost
- Collects payments with no monthly fee, at 5% plus $0.50 per transaction
Where it costs you:
- Free accounts show third-party ads on sign-up pages and in the emails sent
- Ad-free is licensed per sign up: 1 on Silver, 10 on Gold, unlimited on Platinum
- Custom questions are capped at 2 (Silver), 5 (Gold) and 10 (Platinum)
- No invitation design or animation; output is a sign-up sheet page
- Text invites are paid-only: 150, 500 or 1,500 per month by tier
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. SignUpGenius 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 | SignUpGenius | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Priced per printed card | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | $72 (100 cards at the published 72-cent starting rate) | Free (ads shown) | Free |
| 250 guests | $180 (250 cards at the published 72-cent starting rate) | Free (ads shown) | 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. | Sign-up pages are unlimited and free at any participant count; the cost is ads, and removing them on one sign up starts at Silver, $11.99/month. | 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 plan with unlimited ad-supported sign-up pages; Silver $11.99/month ($107.89/year), Gold $29.99/month ($269.89/year), Platinum $59.99/month ($539.89/year). Payments collected cost 5% plus $0.50 per transaction.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Basic Invite nor SignUpGenius 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. It also covers an animated envelope opening — which neither Basic Invite nor SignUpGenius does.
The practical difference shows up the week before the event. Instead of counting replies across a group chat, you open one page and see who was sent it, who opened it, and who answered.
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 | SignUpGenius | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | No | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | Yes | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Partial | Not published | 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 | Partial | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | No | Yes |
| Printed cards | Yes | No | No |
| Guest account required | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | Yes | No |
| Event website | Yes | No | Partial |
| Registry links | Not published | No | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Not published | Partial | Partial |
| Calendar file | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| AI wording help | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Works inside ChatGPT / Claude | Not published | No | 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 form asks a question. An invitation makes someone want to answer it. Your guest experiences whichever one you sent, and the response rate follows.
| What your guest gets | Basic Invite | SignUpGenius | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | Yes | No |
| Animated opening | No | No | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Basic Invite or SignUpGenius 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. SignUpGenius costs nothing at either guest count (ads shown). 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 SignUpGenius?
Basic Invite suits budget-conscious hosts who want printed invitations matched to exact wedding colours, with a free website for online RSVPs. SignUpGenius suits schools, sports teams, churches and volunteer coordinators filling time slots or item lists who can live with ads on a free account. 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 SignUpGenius?
Basic Invite does not require guests to have an account. SignUpGenius does not publish whether guests need 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 SignUpGenius?
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 SignUpGenius free?
Yes. The free plan includes unlimited sign-up pages, email invites and reminders, duplicate and transfer of sign ups, and admin tools. SignUpGenius states that ads may be visible to people signing up through a free account, and that ads fund the free tier.
How current is this comparison?
Basic Invite's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and SignUpGenius'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 SignUpGenius
The full head-to-head, including where SignUpGenius is genuinely better.
Basic Invite alternatives
Eight products that do what Basic Invite does, ranked.
SignUpGenius alternatives
Eight products that do what SignUpGenius does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Basic Invite and SignUpGenius'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
- SignUpGenius printable pricing and feature sheet (PDF) — checked 2026-09-16
- SignUpGenius — about advertising — checked 2026-09-16
- Why SignUpGenius has ads and how to remove them — checked 2026-09-16
- How to choose the right SignUpGenius plan — checked 2026-09-16