Evite vs Luma
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 Luma if community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing.
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.
Evite and Luma are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Evite and Luma 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. Event pages and calendars with RSVP, invites, ticketing, and check-in, popular with tech meetups and community organizers. 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.
| Evite | Luma | 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 events and guests, 500 invites or newsletters per week once verified, check-in, up to 3 admins. | 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 (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | Free |
| Charges per recipient | Partial | No | No |
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | No | 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, letting guests reply without an account and adding the event to a calendar, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Per-guest fees. Evite does this in some cases; Luma does not. If no per-recipient charge matters to you, that is a point for Luma.
- Unlimited guests. Luma includes an uncapped guest list outright; on Evite it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Custom RSVP questions. Luma includes asking your own questions outright; on Evite it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- SMS or WhatsApp. Luma includes sending by text or WhatsApp outright; on Evite it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Open tracking. Evite supports seeing who opened the invitation. Luma does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Ads shown to guests. Evite does this in some cases; Luma does not. If an ad-free guest experience matters to you, that is a point for Luma.
- Event website. Luma 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. Luma 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 Luma is the better choice
Community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing.
- Free plan covers unlimited events and unlimited guests per event
- Guests do not need a Luma account or sign-in to register
- Invites go out by email plus SMS, WhatsApp, and push
- CSV or paste-in guest import with automatic de-duplication
- Luma Plus removes the platform fee entirely on paid events
Where it costs you:
- Free plan takes a 5% platform fee on paid events
- Free plan capped at 500 invites or newsletters per week
- Private events are unlisted links, not a locked per-guest invitation
- Stripe processing fees apply on top of the platform fee
- Free plan limited to three calendar admins
What each one costs, in dollars
Neither Evite nor Luma bills by guest count, which puts them among the 26 platforms in this dataset that do 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 | Luma | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Free (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets | Free |
| 250 guests | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | 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. | Free-plan 5% platform fee applied to $25 tickets; Stripe processing (about 2.9% + $0.30) is charged on top. | 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 forever plan with unlimited events and guests and a 5% platform fee on paid events; Luma Plus is $59/month billed annually and drops the platform fee to 0%.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Evite nor Luma 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 | Luma | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | Partial | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Email delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | Partial | No | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | No | No |
| Guest account required | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | No | No |
| Event website | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Partial | Not published | Partial |
| Calendar file | Yes | Yes | 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 | Evite | Luma | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | No | No |
| Animated opening | Partial | No | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Evite or Luma cheaper?
Evite works out to $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium at both 100 and 250 guests. Luma works out to Free (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets for 100 guests and Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets for 250. Neither charges by guest count, so the difference does not grow with the list. Both were checked on 2026-09-16.
Which is better for a wedding, Evite or Luma?
Evite suits hosts of large casual gatherings who want a free, high-capacity invitation and can tolerate advertising beside their event details. Luma suits community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing. 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 Luma?
Evite does not require guests to have an account. Luma 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 Luma?
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 Luma free?
Yes. Luma publishes a 'Free, forever' plan with unlimited events and unlimited guests per event. Free events cost nothing. Paid events on the free plan carry a 5% platform fee, and Stripe processing fees apply separately.
How current is this comparison?
Evite's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Luma'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 Luma
The full head-to-head, including where Luma is genuinely better.
Evite alternatives
Eight products that do what Evite does, ranked.
Luma alternatives
Eight products that do what Luma does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Evite and Luma'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
- Luma pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Luma Plus overview — checked 2026-09-16
- Event registration process — checked 2026-09-16
- Setting your event visibility — checked 2026-09-16
- Inviting and adding guests to your event — checked 2026-09-16