Evite vs Hobnob
Short answer: price will not decide this one — both can be used without paying. Choose Evite if hosts of large casual gatherings who want a free, high-capacity invitation and can tolerate advertising beside their event details. Choose Hobnob if 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.
The decision between Evite and Hobnob is mostly a pricing decision. They overlap heavily on what they do; they differ on what they charge you to do it.
Evite and Hobnob pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
Long-running digital invitation service offering free ad-supported invitations plus paid Premium packages priced by guest count. 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 because it answers the same question at no cost, which is the relevant fact for most people reading this page.
| Evite | Hobnob | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Free designs, up to 750 guests, RSVP tracking, read receipts and shareable link, with third-party ads shown. | 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 | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| Charges per recipient | Partial | Yes | No |
| Guests need an account | No | 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, seeing who opened the invitation and letting guests reply without an account, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- SMS or WhatsApp. Hobnob includes sending by text or WhatsApp outright; on Evite it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Event website. Hobnob 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. Hobnob 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. Hobnob does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
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
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. 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.
| Evite | Hobnob | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| 250 guests | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| How that is worked out | 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. | 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 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. 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 Evite 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 | Evite | Hobnob | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | Partial | Yes | No |
| Unlimited guests | Partial | Partial | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Partial | Not published | Yes |
| Email delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Animated envelope | Partial | Not published | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | Not published | No |
| Guest account required | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | Not published | No |
| Event website | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Partial | 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
Hosts compare dashboards. Guests get one link, once, usually on a phone, often while doing something else. Everything standing between that tap and an answer costs you replies.
| What your guest gets | Evite | Hobnob | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | Partial | 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 Evite or Hobnob cheaper?
Evite works out to $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium at both 100 and 250 guests. 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, Evite or Hobnob?
Evite suits hosts of large casual gatherings who want a free, high-capacity invitation and can tolerate advertising beside their event details. 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 Evite or Hobnob?
Evite does not require guests to have an account. 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 Evite 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 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.
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?
Evite'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 Evite
The full head-to-head, including where Evite is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Hobnob
The full head-to-head, including where Hobnob is genuinely better.
Evite alternatives
Eight products that do what Evite 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 Evite 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. Evite does not publish one.
Sources
- 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
- 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