Facebook Events vs Greetings Island
Short answer: price will not decide this one — both can be used without paying. Choose Facebook Events if casual, social gatherings where the whole guest list is already active on Facebook and cost matters most. Choose Greetings Island if budget hosts who want a free, unlimited-guest RSVP page and are happy to print or share a template design themselves.
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.
Facebook Events and Greetings Island are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Facebook Events and Greetings Island pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
- Side by side
- Where they actually differ
- When Facebook Events is the better choice
- When Greetings Island is the better choice
- What each one costs, in dollars
- The third option: something that feels like an invitation
- Feature by feature
- What your guests experience
- Questions
- Other comparisons
- How these figures were checked
Side by side
Free event feature inside Facebook for creating an event page, inviting friends and collecting Going, Maybe or Interested responses. Template-driven invitation and greeting card maker with free downloads, a free RSVP tool, and a premium design subscription. 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.
| Facebook Events | Greetings Island | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Everything: unlimited events, event page, guest responses and discussion, up to 500 invites per person per event. | Most templates, editing, download, sharing and unlimited-guest online RSVP with no signup; free designs carry a watermark. | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. |
| Cost for 100 guests | Free | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | No | No |
| Guests need an account | Partial | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Yes | 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, no per-recipient charge and tracking who has replied, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Unlimited guests. Greetings Island supports an uncapped guest list; Facebook Events does not.
- Custom RSVP questions. Greetings Island supports asking your own questions; Facebook Events does not.
- Guest account required. Facebook Events does this in some cases; Greetings Island does not. If letting guests reply without an account matters to you, that is a point for Greetings Island.
- Registry links. Greetings Island includes linking a gift registry outright; on Facebook Events it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
When Facebook Events is the better choice
Casual, social gatherings where the whole guest list is already active on Facebook and cost matters most.
- Completely free with no per-guest or per-event charge
- Invitees already have the app, so distribution and notifications need no setup
- Built-in event page with discussion, photos, co-hosts and privacy controls
- Non-Facebook users can be invited by email or SMS on supported events
- Attendance responses, updates and reminders are handled automatically
Where it costs you:
- Each person can send only 500 invites per event
- Facebook may reduce invite capacity if invites get poor response rates
- Responses are limited to Going, Maybe, Interested or Can't Go; no custom RSVP questions
- Email and SMS invites to non-users are not available for all events
- Guests see the event inside an ad-supported social network you do not control
When Greetings Island is the better choice
Budget hosts who want a free, unlimited-guest RSVP page and are happy to print or share a template design themselves.
- Free online RSVP tool advertised with unlimited guests and no signup
- No per-guest or per-recipient charge at any tier
- Custom RSVP questions, deadlines, guest limits and automatic reminders
- Designs can be downloaded and printed, or shared by link or QR code
- Single premium design purchase ($8.99 invitation) avoids a subscription
Where it costs you:
- Free downloads carry a watermark; removing it requires premium
- Premium designs are gated behind a subscription or single purchase
- Unlimited email invites and scheduled sending are premium features
- RSVP by text message to a phone number is a premium feature
- A single premium design purchase does not include other premium features
What each one costs, in dollars
Neither Facebook Events nor Greetings Island 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.
| Facebook Events | Greetings Island | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | Free | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | Free |
| 250 guests | Free | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | Free |
| How that is worked out | Facebook charges nothing for events; the constraint is the published 500-invite-per-person-per-event cap, not price. | Greetings Island charges by design and subscription, not by guest; its RSVP tool advertises unlimited guests, so headcount does not change the price. | Dawat has no per-guest or per-send charge, so the guest count does not change the price. |
As of September 2026: Creating a Facebook event and inviting guests costs nothing; there is no paid tier for the event feature itself. Most designs and the online RSVP tool are free; premium unlocks 10,000+ designs and removes watermarks for $26.99/year, or $8.99 for a single premium invitation and $4.49 for a single card.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Facebook Events nor Greetings Island 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 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 | Facebook Events | Greetings Island | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | No | Yes | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | No | Yes | Yes |
| Email delivery | Partial | Partial | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Partial | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | Not published | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | Partial | No |
| Guest account required | Partial | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Yes | Not published | No |
| Event website | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Registry links | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | No | Partial | Partial |
| Calendar file | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| AI wording help | Not published | Partial | Yes |
| Works inside ChatGPT / Claude | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Multilingual & right-to-left | Partial | 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
Your guest sees the event if the platform decides to show it to them. That is the whole guest experience question here, and it is not one you control.
| What your guest gets | Facebook Events | Greetings Island | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | Partial | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Yes | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | No | Not published | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Partial | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Partial | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Facebook Events or Greetings Island cheaper?
Facebook Events is free to send. Greetings Island works out to $0 free, or $26.99/year premium at both 100 and 250 guests. 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, Facebook Events or Greetings Island?
Facebook Events suits casual, social gatherings where the whole guest list is already active on Facebook and cost matters most. Greetings Island suits budget hosts who want a free, unlimited-guest RSVP page and are happy to print or share a template design themselves. 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 Facebook Events or Greetings Island?
Facebook Events requires an account from guests in some cases. Greetings Island 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 Facebook Events and Greetings Island?
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.
Are Facebook Events free?
Yes. Creating a Facebook event, inviting guests and collecting responses costs nothing, and there is no paid upgrade for the events feature. The practical limit is that each person can send up to 500 invites per event.
Is Greetings Island free?
Largely yes. Greetings Island says most features are free with no sign-up required, and its online RSVP tool is free for every invitation with unlimited guests and no credit card. Free downloads carry a watermark, and premium designs require a purchase or subscription.
How current is this comparison?
Facebook Events's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Greetings Island'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 Facebook Events
The full head-to-head, including where Facebook Events is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Greetings Island
The full head-to-head, including where Greetings Island is genuinely better.
Facebook Events alternatives
Eight products that do what Facebook Events does, ranked.
Greetings Island alternatives
Eight products that do what Greetings Island does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Facebook Events and Greetings Island'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. Facebook Events does not publish one.
Sources
- How many people you can invite to a Facebook event — checked 2026-09-16
- Invite people to your Facebook event — checked 2026-09-16
- How event invitations work for people who are off of Facebook — checked 2026-09-16
- Respond to a Facebook event — checked 2026-09-16
- Create and customize an event — checked 2026-09-16
- Greetings Island homepage — checked 2026-09-16
- Greetings Island online RSVP — checked 2026-09-16
- How much does a premium subscription cost? — checked 2026-09-16
- How much does a single design cost? — checked 2026-09-16
- About premium membership & benefits — checked 2026-09-16