Greetings Island vs Luma
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 Luma if community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing.
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.
Greetings Island and Luma are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Greetings Island and Luma pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
Template-driven invitation and greeting card maker with free downloads, a free RSVP tool, and a premium design subscription. Event pages and calendars with RSVP, invites, ticketing, and check-in, popular with tech meetups and community organizers. 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.
| Greetings Island | Luma | 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 events and guests, 500 invites or newsletters per week once verified, check-in, up to 3 admins. | 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 (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | No | No |
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | No | 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, no per-recipient charge, an uncapped guest list, tracking who has replied and asking your own questions, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Email delivery. Luma includes sending by email outright; on Greetings Island it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- SMS or WhatsApp. Luma includes sending by text or WhatsApp outright; on Greetings Island it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Ads shown to guests. Luma does not do this. Greetings Island does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Event website. Luma 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. Luma does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Calendar file. Luma supports adding the event to a calendar. Greetings Island 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 Luma is the better choice
Community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing.
- Free plan covers unlimited events and unlimited guests per event
- Guests do not need a Luma account or sign-in to register
- Invites go out by email plus SMS, WhatsApp, and push
- CSV or paste-in guest import with automatic de-duplication
- Luma Plus removes the platform fee entirely on paid events
Where it costs you:
- Free plan takes a 5% platform fee on paid events
- Free plan capped at 500 invites or newsletters per week
- Private events are unlisted links, not a locked per-guest invitation
- Stripe processing fees apply on top of the platform fee
- Free plan limited to three calendar admins
What each one costs, in dollars
Neither Greetings Island nor Luma 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.
| Greetings Island | Luma | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | Free (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets | Free |
| 250 guests | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | 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. | Free-plan 5% platform fee applied to $25 tickets; Stripe processing (about 2.9% + $0.30) is charged on top. | 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 forever plan with unlimited events and guests and a 5% platform fee on paid events; Luma Plus is $59/month billed annually and drops the platform fee to 0%.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Greetings Island nor Luma 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 | Greetings Island | Luma | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Yes | Yes | 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 | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | Not published | No | Yes |
| Printed cards | Partial | No | No |
| Guest account required | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | No | No |
| Event website | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Partial | Not published | Partial |
| Calendar file | Not published | Yes | 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
Ticketing platforms are built around a stranger buying entry. A guest you already know is a different person with a different tolerance, and an account-creation screen is where that difference shows up.
| What your guest gets | Greetings Island | Luma | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | No | No |
| Animated opening | Not published | No | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Greetings Island or Luma cheaper?
Greetings Island works out to $0 free, or $26.99/year premium at both 100 and 250 guests. Luma works out to Free (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets for 100 guests and Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets for 250. 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, Greetings Island or Luma?
Greetings Island suits budget hosts who want a free, unlimited-guest RSVP page and are happy to print or share a template design themselves. Luma suits community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing. 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 Luma?
Greetings Island does not require guests to have an account. Luma 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 Luma?
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 Luma free?
Yes. Luma publishes a 'Free, forever' plan with unlimited events and unlimited guests per event. Free events cost nothing. Paid events on the free plan carry a 5% platform fee, and Stripe processing fees apply separately.
How current is this comparison?
Greetings Island's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Luma'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 Luma
The full head-to-head, including where Luma is genuinely better.
Greetings Island alternatives
Eight products that do what Greetings Island does, ranked.
Luma alternatives
Eight products that do what Luma does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Greetings Island and Luma'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
- Luma pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Luma Plus overview — checked 2026-09-16
- Event registration process — checked 2026-09-16
- Setting your event visibility — checked 2026-09-16
- Inviting and adding guests to your event — checked 2026-09-16