Eventbrite vs Hobnob
Short answer: pick Eventbrite for organizers selling paid tickets to a public or semi-public audience who want discovery, checkout, and check-in in one place. Pick Hobnob for hosts who want text-message invites and fast mobile rsvps for casual gatherings and can live with credit limits.
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.
Eventbrite and Hobnob are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Eventbrite and Hobnob pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
Public ticketing marketplace with event pages, paid ticket sales, check-in tools, and a consumer discovery app. Mobile-first invitation app, now Zazzle Events, that sends photo or video invites by text or email and tracks RSVPs. Dawat is shown as a third column for the guest-list half of the job. It does not sell tickets or take payment from guests, so for a paid public event it is not a substitute.
| Eventbrite | Hobnob | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Fee per ticket or registration | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Publish unlimited free events at no cost; no service fees on free tickets. | Unlimited email invites (no credit cost), free social/link sharing, and 10 text-invite credits per month. | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. |
| Cost for 100 guests | Free (free event); ~$344 for 100 paid $25 tickets | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free (free event); ~$860 for 250 paid $25 tickets | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| Charges per recipient | Partial | Yes | No |
| Guests need an account | Partial | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | 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 sending invitations without paying, tracking who has replied, sending by email and a full event website, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Unlimited guests. Eventbrite includes an uncapped guest list outright; on Hobnob it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Custom RSVP questions. Eventbrite supports asking your own questions. Hobnob does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- SMS or WhatsApp. Hobnob supports sending by text or WhatsApp. Eventbrite does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Open tracking. Hobnob supports seeing who opened the invitation. Eventbrite does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Guest account required. Eventbrite does this in some cases; Hobnob does not. If letting guests reply without an account matters to you, that is a point for Hobnob.
- Calendar file. Eventbrite supports adding the event to a calendar. Hobnob does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
When Eventbrite is the better choice
Organizers selling paid tickets to a public or semi-public audience who want discovery, checkout, and check-in in one place.
- Free events are genuinely free to publish at any size
- Public marketplace and search listings can bring in unknown attendees
- Mature paid ticketing: payouts, check-in, scanning, refunds
- Custom order-form questions for attendees or ticket buyers
- Buyers need only a name and email to complete a basic order
Where it costs you:
- Every paid ticket carries a 3.7% + $1.79 service fee
- Service fee scales with ticket price, so expensive tickets cost more
- Private events are gated by link or password, not per-guest invitations
- Advanced marketing sits behind the $69/month US Premium subscription
- Pages and emails carry Eventbrite branding and marketplace promotion
When Hobnob is the better choice
Hosts who want text-message invites and fast mobile RSVPs for casual gatherings and can live with credit limits.
- Email invites cost no credits, so email-only sends are free at any guest count
- Sends real SMS invitations; guests reply by text with no app download
- Delivery and viewed-status tracking plus automated RSVP reminders on paid plans
- Paid plans include event ticketing and payment collection, polls and sign-up lists
- Annual pricing is low: $19.99 or $59.99 a year rather than per event
Where it costs you:
- Text invites are metered per recipient as credits, not unlimited
- Free members get only 10 text-invite credits per month
- Premium's 310 credits per year cap how many texts you can send annually
- Premium designs, reminders and ticketing require a paid membership
- Primarily a phone app; there is no full desktop invitation editor documented
What each one costs, in dollars
Hobnob is one of the 7 platforms in this dataset that charge per guest or per printed card. Eventbrite 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.
| Eventbrite | Hobnob | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Fee per ticket or registration | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | Free (free event); ~$344 for 100 paid $25 tickets | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| 250 guests | Free (free event); ~$860 for 250 paid $25 tickets | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| How that is worked out | Applied Eventbrite's published 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket and 2.9% processing to a $25 ticket price. | Email invites consume no credits at any guest count; text invites consume one credit each, and Premium's 310 credits cover 250 texts. | Dawat has no per-guest or per-send charge, so the guest count does not change the price. |
As of September 2026: Free events cost nothing; paid tickets carry a 3.7% + $1.79 service fee per ticket plus 2.9% payment processing per order. Eventbrite Premium is $69/month or $708/year in the US. Free members get 10 text-invite credits a month and unlimited email invites; Essentials is $19.99/year (70 credits) and Premium $59.99/year (310 credits).
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Eventbrite nor Hobnob 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 | Eventbrite | Hobnob | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | Partial | Yes | No |
| Unlimited guests | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Email delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Not published | Yes | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | Not published | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | Not published | No |
| Guest account required | Partial | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | Not published | No |
| Event website | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Not published | Not published | Partial |
| Calendar file | Yes | Not published | 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
Ticketing platforms are built around a stranger buying entry. A guest you already know is a different person with a different tolerance, and an account-creation screen is where that difference shows up.
| What your guest gets | Eventbrite | Hobnob | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | Partial | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | No | Not published | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Eventbrite or Hobnob cheaper?
Eventbrite works out to Free (free event); ~$344 for 100 paid $25 tickets for 100 guests and Free (free event); ~$860 for 250 paid $25 tickets for 250. Hobnob does not charge by guest count. 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, Eventbrite or Hobnob?
Eventbrite suits organizers selling paid tickets to a public or semi-public audience who want discovery, checkout, and check-in in one place. Hobnob suits hosts who want text-message invites and fast mobile RSVPs for casual gatherings and can live with credit limits. 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 Eventbrite or Hobnob?
Eventbrite requires an account from guests in some cases. Hobnob 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 Eventbrite and Hobnob?
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.
Is Eventbrite free to use?
Yes for free events. Eventbrite states you can publish unlimited free events at no cost, and there are no fees for free tickets. Paid tickets are charged a 3.7% + $1.79 service fee per ticket plus 2.9% payment processing per order.
Is Hobnob free?
Partly. Hobnob's help centre states that email invites do not cost a credit to send and that sharing an event link on social media is free. Free members also receive 10 text-invite credits a month. Text invites beyond that, premium designs and RSVP reminders require a paid membership.
How current is this comparison?
Eventbrite's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Hobnob'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 Eventbrite
The full head-to-head, including where Eventbrite is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Hobnob
The full head-to-head, including where Hobnob is genuinely better.
Eventbrite alternatives
Eight products that do what Eventbrite does, ranked.
Hobnob alternatives
Eight products that do what Hobnob does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Eventbrite and Hobnob'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. Eventbrite does not publish one.
Sources
- Eventbrite organizer pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Eventbrite pricing and plans (Help Center) — checked 2026-09-16
- Checkout on Eventbrite (Help Center) — checked 2026-09-16
- Manage your event privacy settings — checked 2026-09-16
- Create custom questions for attendees — checked 2026-09-16
- Hobnob memberships: Essentials vs Premium — checked 2026-09-16
- How can I send invites for free? (credit rules) — checked 2026-09-16
- Zazzle Events product page — checked 2026-09-16
- Hobnob homepage — checked 2026-09-16