Facebook Events vs Smilebox
Short answer: Facebook Events is the cheaper of the two. Facebook Events is free to send. Smilebox works out to $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year at both 100 and 250 guests. Smilebox earns the difference if you need built-in rsvp tracking: see who replied, send reminders and follow-ups.
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 Smilebox are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Facebook Events and Smilebox 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 Smilebox 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. Long-running template-based maker for invitations, slideshows and greeting cards, with email invitations and built-in RSVP tracking. Dawat is shown as a third column for the part these two share with it: getting the invitation to people and getting an answer back. It does not print, so on the physical card it is not a substitute.
| Facebook Events | Smilebox | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Subscription | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Everything: unlimited events, event page, guest responses and discussion, up to 500 invites per person per event. | Free invitation maker with free templates; Smilebox does not publish exactly which features are gated. | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. |
| Cost for 100 guests | Free | $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free | $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | No | No |
| Guests need an account | Partial | Not published | 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 no per-recipient charge and tracking who has replied, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Free to send. Facebook Events includes sending invitations without paying outright; on Smilebox it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Email delivery. Smilebox includes sending by email outright; on Facebook Events it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Printed cards. Smilebox supports ordering printed stationery; Facebook Events does not.
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 Smilebox is the better choice
Hosts who want a low-cost, all-purpose card and slideshow maker with basic RSVP tracking and a print option.
- Built-in RSVP tracking: see who replied, send reminders and follow-ups
- Both digital and printed output: print at home or use professional printing
- Invitations can carry music and photos, with unlimited storage for creations
- Guest email addresses are stored in the account and kept private
- Covers invitations, slideshows, collages and cards in a single subscription
Where it costs you:
- No public pricing page comparing the Basic, Premium, Pro and Business plans
- Which features are free versus paid is not documented on Smilebox's own pages
- Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled before the renewal date
- Terms of use state fees are payable in advance and are not refundable
- Desktop 'Club Smilebox' and the paid web version are billed separately
What each one costs, in dollars
Neither Facebook Events nor Smilebox 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 | Smilebox | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Subscription | Free |
| 100 guests | Free | $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year | Free |
| 250 guests | Free | $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year | 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. | Pricing is a flat subscription rather than per recipient, so the number does not change with guest count. | 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. Smilebox's own subscription feed lists $6.99/month or $47.88/year, each with a 7-day trial; Smilebox does not publish a per-tier pricing page.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Facebook Events nor Smilebox 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 | Smilebox | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | No | Not published | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | No | Not published | Yes |
| Email delivery | Partial | Yes | 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 | Partial | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | Yes | No |
| Guest account required | Partial | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Yes | Not published | No |
| Event website | Partial | Not published | 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 | Smilebox | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | Partial | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Yes | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | No | Partial | 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 Smilebox cheaper?
Facebook Events is free to send. Smilebox works out to $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year 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 Smilebox?
Facebook Events suits casual, social gatherings where the whole guest list is already active on Facebook and cost matters most. Smilebox suits hosts who want a low-cost, all-purpose card and slideshow maker with basic RSVP tracking and a print option. 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 Smilebox?
Facebook Events requires an account from guests in some cases. Smilebox does not publish whether guests need 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 Smilebox?
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 Smilebox free?
Smilebox advertises a free invitation maker with free templates, but it is a subscription product. Smilebox's own subscription feed lists $6.99/month or $47.88/year with a 7-day trial. Smilebox does not publish a page stating which features are limited on the free tier.
How current is this comparison?
Facebook Events's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Smilebox's on 2026-09-17. 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 Smilebox
The full head-to-head, including where Smilebox is genuinely better.
Facebook Events alternatives
Eight products that do what Facebook Events does, ranked.
Smilebox alternatives
Eight products that do what Smilebox does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Facebook Events and Smilebox'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
- Smilebox invitation maker (RSVP, printing, sharing) — checked 2026-09-17
- Smilebox email invitations (delivery, reminders, guest emails) — checked 2026-09-17
- Smilebox subscription feed (prices and trial length) — checked 2026-09-17
- Smilebox terms of service (plan names, ownership) — checked 2026-09-17
- Smilebox terms of use (Club Smilebox vs web subscription, trials) — checked 2026-09-17