Google Forms vs Splash
Short answer: pick Google Forms for anyone who needs to collect answers at zero cost and does not care how the invitation looks. Pick Splash for corporate field-marketing and demand-generation teams running recurring, on-brand event programmes at scale.
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 Splash are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Google Forms and Splash pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
Free Google survey and form builder that collects responses into Sheets, available with any Google account and bundled in Google Workspace. Event marketing platform for branded event pages, registration, email reminders, on-site check-in, and badge management. 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.
| Google Forms | Splash | 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. | None published. Every tier is quote-only, and paid support is a separate add-on. | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. |
| Cost for 100 guests | Free | Unknown | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free | Unknown | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | No | No |
| Guests need an account | Partial | Not published | 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 and asking your own questions, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Free to send. Google Forms supports sending invitations without paying; Splash does not.
- Unlimited guests. Splash supports an uncapped guest list. Google Forms does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- RSVP tracking. Splash includes tracking who has replied outright; on Google Forms it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Email delivery. Splash includes sending by email outright; on Google Forms it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Ads shown to guests. Google Forms does not do this. Splash does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Event website. Splash supports a full event website; 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 Splash is the better choice
Corporate field-marketing and demand-generation teams running recurring, on-brand event programmes at scale.
- Unlimited events and unlimited registrations on every plan, with no per-attendee fee
- Deep CRM and marketing-automation integrations keep event data in the business systems
- Event ROI and email performance dashboards built for reporting to a marketing team
- Ticketed events supported through a Stripe partnership
- Governance features for large teams: custom roles, approvals, event visibility groups
Where it costs you:
- Publishes no price at any tier; Pro and Enterprise are both quote-only
- Built for event marketing programmes, not for a single private celebration
- Phone support is a paid add-on on top of the plan
- API access requires a consulting engagement
- No free tier is published, so there is no way to try it at a real guest count
What each one costs, in dollars
Neither Google Forms nor Splash 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 | Splash | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Subscription | Free |
| 100 guests | Free | Unknown | Free |
| 250 guests | Free | Unknown | 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. | Splash publishes no dollar figure at any tier, so a per-guest cost cannot be derived; the page directs you to a demo instead. | 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. Splash publishes two tiers, Pro and Enterprise, and no prices for either; both are sold through sales with a demo. Its pricing page promises unlimited events and unlimited registrations with no hidden fees.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Google Forms nor Splash 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. It also covers an animated envelope opening — which neither Google Forms nor Splash does.
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 | Splash | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | No | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Email delivery | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | No | Not published | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | No | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | No | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | No | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | No | No |
| Guest account required | Partial | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Not published | No |
| Event website | No | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | No | Not published | 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 | Splash | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | Partial | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | No | No | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | No | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | No | Not published | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Google Forms or Splash cheaper?
Google Forms is free to send. Splash does not publish a price you can check before you commit: splash publishes two tiers, Pro and Enterprise, and no prices for either; both are sold through sales with a demo. Its pricing page promises unlimited events and unlimited registrations with no hidden fees. 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 Splash?
Google Forms suits anyone who needs to collect answers at zero cost and does not care how the invitation looks. Splash suits corporate field-marketing and demand-generation teams running recurring, on-brand event programmes at scale. 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 Splash?
Google Forms requires an account from guests in some cases. Splash 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 Google Forms and Splash?
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 Splash (splashthat.com) cost?
Splash does not publish list prices. Software directories list both its Pro and Enterprise tiers as 'Contact Vendor for Pricing', and procurement data shows annual contracts negotiated individually rather than a published rate card.
How current is this comparison?
Google Forms's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Splash'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 Google Forms
The full head-to-head, including where Google Forms is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Splash
The full head-to-head, including where Splash is genuinely better.
Google Forms alternatives
Eight products that do what Google Forms does, ranked.
Splash alternatives
Eight products that do what Splash does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Google Forms and Splash's own published pricing or help pages on 16 September 2026, and each source is linked below. Splash publishes no checkable price, so this page says so rather than estimating one. 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
- Splash pricing — checked 2026-09-17
- Cvent acquires Splash — checked 2026-09-17