Greetings Island vs Hobnob
Short answer: price will not decide this one — both can be used without paying. 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. 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.
The decision between Greetings Island and Hobnob is mostly a pricing decision. They overlap heavily on what they do; they differ on what they charge you to do it.
Greetings Island 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 Greetings Island 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
Template-driven invitation and greeting card maker with free downloads, a free RSVP tool, and a premium design subscription. 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.
| Greetings Island | Hobnob | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Most templates, editing, download, sharing and unlimited-guest online RSVP with no signup; free designs carry a watermark. | 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 | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | Yes | No |
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | 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, tracking who has replied and letting guests reply without an account, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Per-guest fees. Hobnob does this; Greetings Island does not. If no per-recipient charge matters to you, that is a point for Greetings Island.
- Unlimited guests. Greetings Island includes an uncapped guest list outright; on Hobnob it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Custom RSVP questions. Greetings Island supports asking your own questions. Hobnob does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Email delivery. Hobnob includes sending by email outright; on Greetings Island it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- SMS or WhatsApp. Hobnob includes sending by text or WhatsApp outright; on Greetings Island it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Open tracking. Hobnob supports seeing who opened the invitation. Greetings Island does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Event website. Hobnob includes a full event website outright; on Greetings Island it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Registry links. Greetings Island supports linking a gift registry. Hobnob does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
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
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. Greetings Island 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.
| Greetings Island | Hobnob | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| 250 guests | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free |
| How that is worked out | Greetings Island charges by design and subscription, not by guest; its RSVP tool advertises unlimited guests, so headcount does not change the 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: 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. 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 Greetings Island 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 | Greetings Island | Hobnob | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | Yes | No |
| Unlimited guests | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Email delivery | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Animated envelope | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Printed cards | Partial | Not published | No |
| Guest account required | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | Not published | No |
| Event website | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Partial | Not published | Partial |
| Calendar file | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| AI wording help | Partial | 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
Hosts compare dashboards. Guests get one link, once, usually on a phone, often while doing something else. Everything standing between that tap and an answer costs you replies.
| What your guest gets | Greetings Island | Hobnob | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Greetings Island or Hobnob cheaper?
Greetings Island works out to $0 free, or $26.99/year premium at both 100 and 250 guests. 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, Greetings Island or Hobnob?
Greetings Island suits budget hosts who want a free, unlimited-guest RSVP page and are happy to print or share a template design themselves. 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 Greetings Island or Hobnob?
Greetings Island does not require guests to have an account. 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 Greetings Island 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.
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.
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?
Greetings Island'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 Greetings Island
The full head-to-head, including where Greetings Island is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Hobnob
The full head-to-head, including where Hobnob is genuinely better.
Greetings Island alternatives
Eight products that do what Greetings Island 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 Greetings Island 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. Greetings Island does not publish one.
Sources
- 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
- 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