Google Forms vs Riley & Grey
Short answer: Google Forms is the cheaper of the two. Google Forms is free to send. Riley & Grey works out to $299 (12-month membership) at both 100 and 250 guests. Riley & Grey earns the difference if you need custom domain is included in the membership rather than an extra charge.
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.
Google Forms and Riley & Grey are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Google Forms and Riley & Grey pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
- Side by side
- Where they actually differ
- When Google Forms is the better choice
- When Riley & Grey 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 Google survey and form builder that collects responses into Sheets, available with any Google account and bundled in Google Workspace. Premium subscription wedding website platform with designer templates, custom domain, digital invitations, RSVP modes and cash registry. 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.
| Google Forms | Riley & Grey | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Subscription | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | The whole product: unlimited forms, responses stored in Google Sheets, no ads, no branding fee. | Build a site, pick a design, draft invitations and set up a registry; publishing requires a paid membership. | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. |
| Cost for 100 guests | Free | $299 (12-month membership) | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free | $299 (12-month membership) | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | No | No |
| Guests need an account | Partial | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | 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, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Free to send. Google Forms supports sending invitations without paying; Riley & Grey does not.
- RSVP tracking. Riley & Grey includes tracking who has replied outright; on Google Forms it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Custom RSVP questions. Google Forms supports asking your own questions. Riley & Grey does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Email delivery. Riley & Grey includes sending by email outright; on Google Forms it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Guest account required. Google Forms does this in some cases; Riley & Grey does not. If letting guests reply without an account matters to you, that is a point for Riley & Grey.
- Ads shown to guests. Google Forms does not do this. Riley & Grey does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Event website. Riley & Grey supports a full event website; Google Forms does not.
- Registry links. Riley & Grey supports linking a gift registry; Google Forms does not.
When Google Forms is the better choice
Anyone who needs to collect answers at zero cost and does not care how the invitation looks.
- Completely free with no response charge, no ads and no upsell
- Unlimited custom questions with logic, sections and validation
- Responses flow straight into Google Sheets for sorting and analysis
- Familiar to almost every respondent; nothing to learn or install
Where it costs you:
- No invitation design, envelope animation or card rendering of any kind
- No guest list: it collects responses, not RSVP status per invited person
- Sign-in is forced for file upload questions, verified email collection, response editing or one-response limits
- No SMS or WhatsApp delivery and no per-guest personal links
- Bare, uniform form styling that does not read as a celebration invitation
When Riley & Grey is the better choice
Design-led couples wanting a premium, ad-free site with an included custom domain and unlimited digital invitations.
- Custom domain is included in the membership rather than an extra charge
- Unlimited digital invitation sending with no per-recipient fee
- Free to build and preview; payment only required to publish
- Simple and Advanced RSVP modes, with guest email addresses optional
- Print-ready high-resolution invitation files can be exported for outside printing
Where it costs you:
- No free publishing tier; the site stays unpublished until you pay
- $39 per month or $299 per year is materially above free competitors
- Monetary gifts carry a 2.95% transaction fee, paid by giver or couple
- Post-wedding PDF archive of the site is a separate $39 purchase
- Does not print or mail physical stationery; you export files and print elsewhere
What each one costs, in dollars
Neither Google Forms nor Riley & Grey 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.
| Google Forms | Riley & Grey | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Subscription | Free |
| 100 guests | Free | $299 (12-month membership) | Free |
| 250 guests | Free | $299 (12-month membership) | Free |
| How that is worked out | Forms is included at no cost with any Google account and Google publishes no per-response charge or response cap for it. | Membership price is flat and Riley & Grey states there is no cost to send as many invitations as you like. | Dawat has no per-guest or per-send charge, so the guest count does not change the price. |
As of September 2026: Free with a personal Google account. Bundled in Google Workspace at $7 (Starter), $14 (Standard) and $22 (Plus) per user per month, with Enterprise quoted by sales. Free to design; publishing costs $39 per month or $299 for twelve months, including a custom domain and unlimited invitation sending. Optional $39 domain reserve and $39 post-wedding PDF archive.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Google Forms nor Riley & Grey 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 is free at every guest count. All 53 card designs, unlimited guests, unlimited sends, RSVP tracking and the per-guest analytics cost nothing, and no card is required to create or send. Each guest gets their own link, the envelope opens addressed to them by name, 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 | Google Forms | Riley & Grey | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | No | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Email delivery | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | No | Not published | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | No | Partial | Yes |
| Open tracking | No | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | Not published | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | No | No |
| Guest account required | Partial | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Not published | No |
| Event website | No | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | No | Yes | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | No | Not published | Partial |
| Calendar file | No | 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
A form asks a question. An invitation makes someone want to answer it. Your guest experiences whichever one you sent, and the response rate follows.
| What your guest gets | Google Forms | Riley & Grey | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | Partial | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | No | Not published | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | No | Partial | Yes |
| Add to calendar | No | Not published | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Google Forms or Riley & Grey cheaper?
Google Forms is free to send. Riley & Grey works out to $299 (12-month membership) 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, Google Forms or Riley & Grey?
Google Forms suits anyone who needs to collect answers at zero cost and does not care how the invitation looks. Riley & Grey suits design-led couples wanting a premium, ad-free site with an included custom domain and unlimited digital invitations. 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 Google Forms or Riley & Grey?
Google Forms requires an account from guests in some cases. Riley & Grey 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 Google Forms and Riley & Grey?
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 Google Forms free?
Yes. Google Forms is free with any personal Google account, with no charge per response and no ads shown to respondents. It is also included in every Google Workspace tier, from Business Starter at $7 per user per month to Plus at $22.
How much does Riley & Grey cost?
Signing up and building a site is free; publishing costs $39 per month or $299 for a twelve-month package, which Riley & Grey describes as 36% savings. A $39 reserve option holds your domain and design, and that $39 is credited toward your future publishing cost.
How current is this comparison?
Google Forms's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Riley & Grey'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 Google Forms
The full head-to-head, including where Google Forms is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Riley & Grey
The full head-to-head, including where Riley & Grey is genuinely better.
Google Forms alternatives
Eight products that do what Google Forms does, ranked.
Riley & Grey alternatives
Eight products that do what Riley & Grey does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Google Forms and Riley & Grey'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. Google Forms does not publish one.
Sources
- Google Workspace pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Google Docs Editors Help — publish and share your form — checked 2026-09-16
- Google Docs Editors Community — why respondents are forced to log in — checked 2026-09-16
- Riley & Grey pricing and plans — checked 2026-09-16
- Riley & Grey FAQ — checked 2026-09-16
- Riley & Grey homepage — checked 2026-09-16