Eventbrite vs Shutterfly
Short answer: Eventbrite is the cheaper of the two. 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. Shutterfly works out to $135 (100 wedding invitations at the $1.35 starting per-card price) for 100 guests and ~$338 (250 wedding invitations at the $1.35 starting per-card price) for 250. Shutterfly earns the difference if you need free recipient address printing and a saved online address book.
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.
Shutterfly and Eventbrite 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.
Eventbrite and Shutterfly 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. Consumer photo-printing company whose stationery arm prints personalised invitations, with free address printing and a mail-for-me service. 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 | Shutterfly | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Fee per ticket or registration | Priced per printed card | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Publish unlimited free events at no cost; no service fees on free tickets. | None for sending. Free extras on paid orders: address printing, an online address book, and design tools. | 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 | $135 (100 wedding invitations at the $1.35 starting per-card price) | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free (free event); ~$860 for 250 paid $25 tickets | ~$338 (250 wedding invitations at the $1.35 starting per-card price) | 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
There is very little the two have in common, which is usually a sign you are comparing the wrong two products.
- Free to send. Eventbrite supports sending invitations without paying; Shutterfly does not.
- Unlimited guests. Eventbrite includes an uncapped guest list outright; on Shutterfly it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- RSVP tracking. Eventbrite supports tracking who has replied; Shutterfly does not.
- Custom RSVP questions. Eventbrite supports asking your own questions; Shutterfly does not.
- Email delivery. Eventbrite supports sending by email; Shutterfly does not.
- Printed cards. Shutterfly supports ordering printed stationery; Eventbrite does not.
- Guest account required. Eventbrite does this in some cases; Shutterfly does not. If letting guests reply without an account matters to you, that is a point for Shutterfly.
- Event website. Eventbrite supports a full event website. Shutterfly 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 Shutterfly is the better choice
Hosts who want photo-led printed invitations and value having Shutterfly address, stamp and mail the whole batch.
- Free recipient address printing and a saved online address book
- Mail For Me service stamps, seals and mails invitations directly to guests
- Wide format range including flat, gate fold, tri-fold, foil and glitter
- Hundreds of wedding designs with custom colour palettes on selected styles
- Strong photo personalisation, reflecting the core photo-printing product
Where it costs you:
- Priced per printed card, so cost scales directly with guest count
- Postage is not included even when using the mail-for-me service
- No native digital invitation or online RSVP product documented
- RSVP is handled by printed reply cards, sold as a separate enclosure
- Upgrades such as foil push per-card prices toward the $6.51 upper end
What each one costs, in dollars
Shutterfly 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 | Shutterfly | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Fee per ticket or registration | Priced per printed card | Free |
| 100 guests | Free (free event); ~$344 for 100 paid $25 tickets | $135 (100 wedding invitations at the $1.35 starting per-card price) | Free |
| 250 guests | Free (free event); ~$860 for 250 paid $25 tickets | ~$338 (250 wedding invitations at the $1.35 starting per-card price) | 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. | Based on Shutterfly's published starting per-card price for its wedding invitation line; upgrades and postage are extra. | 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. Printed wedding invitations start at $1.35 per card and run to about $6.51 per card depending on format, paper and finishes such as foil.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Eventbrite nor Shutterfly 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 Eventbrite nor Shutterfly 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 | Eventbrite | Shutterfly | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | No | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | Partial | Yes | No |
| Unlimited guests | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | No | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Yes | No | Yes |
| Email delivery | Yes | No | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Not published | No | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | No | Yes |
| Open tracking | Not published | No | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | No | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | Yes | No |
| Guest account required | Partial | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | Not published | No |
| Event website | Yes | Not published | Partial |
| Registry links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Not published | No | Partial |
| Calendar file | Yes | No | 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 | Shutterfly | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | Partial | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | No | No | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Not published | No | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Yes | No | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Eventbrite or Shutterfly 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. Shutterfly works out to $135 (100 wedding invitations at the $1.35 starting per-card price) for 100 guests and ~$338 (250 wedding invitations at the $1.35 starting per-card price) 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, Eventbrite or Shutterfly?
Eventbrite suits organizers selling paid tickets to a public or semi-public audience who want discovery, checkout, and check-in in one place. Shutterfly suits hosts who want photo-led printed invitations and value having Shutterfly address, stamp and mail the whole batch. 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 Shutterfly?
Eventbrite requires an account from guests in some cases. Shutterfly 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 Shutterfly?
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.
How much are Shutterfly wedding invitations?
Shutterfly lists wedding invitations starting at $1.35 per card, with prices running up to about $6.51 per card for larger formats and finishes such as foil. At the starting rate that is roughly $135 for 100 cards and $338 for 250, before postage.
How current is this comparison?
Eventbrite's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Shutterfly'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 Shutterfly
The full head-to-head, including where Shutterfly is genuinely better.
Eventbrite alternatives
Eight products that do what Eventbrite does, ranked.
Shutterfly alternatives
Eight products that do what Shutterfly does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Eventbrite and Shutterfly'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. 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
- Shutterfly wedding invitations — checked 2026-09-16
- Shutterfly party RSVP cards — checked 2026-09-16
- Shutterfly wedding RSVP cards — checked 2026-09-16
- Shutterfly wedding cards and stationery — checked 2026-09-16