Canva vs Minted
Short answer: Canva is the cheaper of the two. Canva costs nothing at either guest count (design only; no sending or RSVP). Minted works out to $234 (100 Classic 7x5 cards at $2.34 each) for 100 guests and ~$585 (250 Classic 7x5 cards at the published 100-qty rate) for 250. Minted earns the difference if you need large juried design library from independent artists, not generic templates.
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.
Minted and Canva 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.
Canva and Minted pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
General-purpose design platform with invitation templates, printing and website publishing; it is a design tool, not an RSVP system. Design-marketplace stationery printer selling independent-artist wedding invitations, plus free wedding websites and free online invitations. 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.
| Canva | Minted | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Priced per printed card | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Full editor, a large free template and element library, 5GB storage, sharing by link, and free downloads. | Free wedding website with online RSVP, free online invitations sent by text or email, free recipient addressing and free samples. | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. |
| Cost for 100 guests | Free (design only; no sending or RSVP) | $234 (100 Classic 7x5 cards at $2.34 each) | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free (design only; no sending or RSVP) | ~$585 (250 Classic 7x5 cards at the published 100-qty rate) | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | Yes | No |
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Not published | 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 ordering printed stationery, letting guests reply without an account and a full event website, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Per-guest fees. Minted does this; Canva does not. If no per-recipient charge matters to you, that is a point for Canva.
- RSVP tracking. Minted supports tracking who has replied; Canva does not.
- Email delivery. Minted includes sending by email outright; on Canva it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Ads shown to guests. Canva does not do this. Minted does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Registry links. Minted includes linking a gift registry outright; on Canva it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- AI wording help. Canva supports writing the wording with AI. Minted does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Works inside ChatGPT / Claude. Canva supports being driven from an AI assistant. Minted does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
When Canva is the better choice
Design-confident hosts who want full creative control over the artwork and will collect RSVPs somewhere else.
- Enormous free template library and a genuinely capable editor at $0
- Canva Print produces professionally printed invitations with paper and finish choices
- Designs can be published as a one-page website or shared as a live link
- Strong AI generation via Magic Studio, plus an official AI Connector for Claude and other assistants
- Same subscription covers every other design need, not just invitations
Where it costs you:
- No RSVP tracking, guest list or attendance dashboard of any kind
- No custom RSVP questions; responses have to be collected by a separate tool
- No invitation sending system: you share a file or link yourself
- No delivery, open or view tracking per guest
- Premium templates, elements and brand features require Pro at $15/month
When Minted is the better choice
Couples who want distinctive designer paper invitations and will use the free matching wedding website for RSVPs.
- Large juried design library from independent artists, not generic templates
- Free recipient addressing and coordinating printed envelopes included on orders
- Free wedding website with online RSVP and registry links, matching the paper design
- Free online invitations can be sent by text or email at no cost
- Free paper samples before committing to a full order
Where it costs you:
- Priced per printed card, so cost scales directly with guest count
- Postage is not included and is paid separately
- Premium formats such as letterpress cost substantially more, from $485 per 100
- Per-card price at quantities above 100 is not published on the site
- Discount programs require a paid Minted More membership
What each one costs, in dollars
Minted is one of the 7 platforms in this dataset that charge per guest or per printed card. Canva 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.
| Canva | Minted | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Priced per printed card | Free |
| 100 guests | Free (design only; no sending or RSVP) | $234 (100 Classic 7x5 cards at $2.34 each) | Free |
| 250 guests | Free (design only; no sending or RSVP) | ~$585 (250 Classic 7x5 cards at the published 100-qty rate) | Free |
| How that is worked out | Canva charges per designer, not per guest, so guest count does not affect cost; printing is ordered separately. | Based on Minted's published Classic 7x5 per-card price at quantity 100; Minted publishes no 250-qty rate. Postage is extra. | Dawat has no per-guest or per-send charge, so the guest count does not change the price. |
As of September 2026: Canva Free is $0; Canva Pro is $15 per person per month or $120 per person per year; Canva Business is $20 per person per month. Printed wedding invitations start as low as $2.34 per card in Classic 7x5 and $2.00 per card in Petite 6x4.25 at quantity 100; letterpress from $485 per 100.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Canva nor Minted 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 is free at every guest count. All 53 card designs, unlimited guests, unlimited sends, RSVP tracking and the per-guest analytics cost nothing, and no card is required to create or send. Each guest gets their own link, the envelope opens addressed to them by name, and their reply is one tap. It also covers an animated envelope opening — which neither Canva nor Minted 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 | Canva | Minted | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Partial | Partial | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | Yes | No |
| Unlimited guests | Partial | Partial | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | No | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | No | Not published | Yes |
| Email delivery | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | No | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | No | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | No | Yes |
| Printed cards | Yes | Yes | No |
| Guest account required | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Not published | No |
| Event website | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | No | Not published | Partial |
| Calendar file | No | Not published | Yes |
| AI wording help | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Works inside ChatGPT / Claude | Yes | 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
Whatever you design, the guest receives a file or a link you sent yourself. The experience is only as good as the channel you chose, and nothing about the reply is handled for you.
| What your guest gets | Canva | Minted | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | No | No | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | No | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | No | Not published | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Canva or Minted cheaper?
Canva costs nothing at either guest count (design only; no sending or RSVP). Minted works out to $234 (100 Classic 7x5 cards at $2.34 each) for 100 guests and ~$585 (250 Classic 7x5 cards at the published 100-qty rate) for 250. 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, Canva or Minted?
Canva suits design-confident hosts who want full creative control over the artwork and will collect RSVPs somewhere else. Minted suits couples who want distinctive designer paper invitations and will use the free matching wedding website for RSVPs. 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 Canva or Minted?
Canva does not require guests to have an account. Minted 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 Canva and Minted?
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.
Does Canva have RSVP tracking?
No. Canva has no built-in RSVP tracking, guest list or response dashboard. You can hyperlink a button in a design to an external RSVP form, and third-party Canva Apps such as Pinvite RSVP and Coteri Invitations add RSVP collection, but Canva itself does not record or report who is coming.
How much do Minted wedding invitations cost for 100?
Minted publishes a starting price of $2.34 per invitation for the Classic 7x5 size at quantity 100, and $2.00 per invitation for the Petite 6x4.25 size. That works out to roughly $234 or $200 for 100 cards before postage. Letterpress is far higher, starting at $485 for 100 one-colour invitations.
How current is this comparison?
Canva's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Minted'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 Canva
The full head-to-head, including where Canva is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Minted
The full head-to-head, including where Minted is genuinely better.
Canva alternatives
Eight products that do what Canva does, ranked.
Minted alternatives
Eight products that do what Minted does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Canva and Minted's own published pricing or help pages on 16 September 2026, and each source is linked below. Where a vendor publishes a rate at one quantity and not another, the published rate is multiplied out and marked as an upper bound rather than presented as a quote. 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. Canva also offers an assistant integration.
Sources
- Canva pricing (Free, Pro, Business) — checked 2026-09-16
- Canva in-app purchase prices (Apple App Store listing) — checked 2026-09-16
- Canva invitations: design, print or post online — checked 2026-09-16
- Connect AI assistants to Canva with the AI Connector — checked 2026-09-16
- Canva newsroom: Canva in Claude Design — checked 2026-09-16
- Minted: How much do wedding invitations cost — checked 2026-09-16
- Minted wedding invitations — checked 2026-09-16
- Minted free online invitations — checked 2026-09-16
- Minted wedding websites (free with online RSVP) — checked 2026-09-16
- Minted letterpress wedding invitations — checked 2026-09-16