Facebook Events vs Hobnob
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 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.
Facebook Events and Hobnob are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Facebook Events and Hobnob 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 Hobnob 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. 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.
| Facebook Events | Hobnob | 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. | 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 by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | Yes | 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 and tracking who has replied, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Per-guest fees. Hobnob does this; Facebook Events does not. If no per-recipient charge matters to you, that is a point for Facebook Events.
- Email delivery. Hobnob includes sending by email outright; on Facebook Events it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- SMS or WhatsApp. Hobnob includes sending by text or WhatsApp outright; on Facebook Events it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Open tracking. Hobnob supports seeing who opened the invitation. Facebook Events does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Guest account required. Facebook Events does this in some cases; Hobnob does not. If letting guests reply without an account matters to you, that is a point for Hobnob.
- Event website. Hobnob includes a full event website 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 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. Facebook Events 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.
| Facebook Events | Hobnob | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | Free | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| 250 guests | Free | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | 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. | 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: Creating a Facebook event and inviting guests costs nothing; there is no paid tier for the event feature itself. 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 Facebook Events 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 | Facebook Events | Hobnob | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | Yes | No |
| Unlimited guests | No | Partial | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | No | Not published | Yes |
| Email delivery | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Partial | 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 | Yes | Not published | No |
| Event website | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Partial | Not published | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | No | Not published | Partial |
| Calendar file | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| AI wording help | Not published | Not published | 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 | Hobnob | 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 Hobnob cheaper?
Facebook Events is free to send. 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, Facebook Events or Hobnob?
Facebook Events suits casual, social gatherings where the whole guest list is already active on Facebook and cost matters most. 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 Facebook Events or Hobnob?
Facebook Events 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 Facebook Events 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.
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 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?
Facebook Events'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 Facebook Events
The full head-to-head, including where Facebook Events is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Hobnob
The full head-to-head, including where Hobnob is genuinely better.
Facebook Events alternatives
Eight products that do what Facebook Events 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 Facebook Events 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. 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
- 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