Hobnob vs Partiful
Short answer: price will not decide this one — both can be used without paying. Choose Hobnob if hosts who want text-message invites and fast mobile RSVPs for casual gatherings and can live with credit limits. Choose Partiful if social hosts running casual gatherings for a phone-native guest list who want zero cost and fast, mobile RSVP collection.
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 Hobnob and Partiful is mostly a pricing decision. They overlap heavily on what they do; they differ on what they charge you to do it.
Hobnob and Partiful pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
Mobile-first invitation app, now Zazzle Events, that sends photo or video invites by text or email and tracks RSVPs. Free, mobile-first event page and invitation tool built around phone-number RSVPs, text blasts and shared photo albums. 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.
| Hobnob | Partiful | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Unlimited email invites (no credit cost), free social/link sharing, and 10 text-invite credits per month. | Everything: event pages, RSVP tracking, custom questions, text blasts, photo albums and co-hosts, at no cost. | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. |
| Cost for 100 guests | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free | Free |
| Charges per recipient | Yes | No | No |
| Guests need an account | No | Yes | 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, tracking who has replied, sending by email, sending by text or WhatsApp and a full event website, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Per-guest fees. Hobnob does this; Partiful does not. If no per-recipient charge matters to you, that is a point for Partiful.
- Custom RSVP questions. Partiful supports asking your own questions. Hobnob does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Open tracking. Hobnob supports seeing who opened the invitation. Partiful does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Guest account required. Partiful does this; Hobnob does not. If letting guests reply without an account matters to you, that is a point for Hobnob.
- Ads shown to guests. Partiful does not do this. Hobnob does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Registry links. Partiful supports linking a gift registry. Hobnob does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Calendar file. Partiful supports adding the event to a calendar. Hobnob does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
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
When Partiful is the better choice
Social hosts running casual gatherings for a phone-native guest list who want zero cost and fast, mobile RSVP collection.
- Genuinely free with no paid tier, per-event fee or per-recipient charge
- Text blasts let hosts message confirmed guests without a group chat
- Custom questionnaire collects arbitrary information at RSVP time
- Shared photo albums, date polling, co-hosts and calendar sync included
- Registry or other links can be added to the event page
Where it costs you:
- Guests must verify a phone number by SMS code to RSVP
- Ticketing fees apply to paid tickets and are not published as a rate
- No printed or mailed card option
- No animated-envelope or formal stationery format
- Phone-number-centric flow, which not all guest lists suit
What each one costs, in dollars
Hobnob is one of the 7 platforms in this dataset that charge per guest or per printed card. Partiful 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.
| Hobnob | Partiful | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free | Free |
| 100 guests | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free | Free |
| 250 guests | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free | Free |
| How that is worked out | Email invites consume no credits at any guest count; text invites consume one credit each, and Premium's 310 credits cover 250 texts. | Partiful publishes no per-guest or per-event charge; fees apply only when selling paid tickets, and free tickets carry no fee for anyone. | Dawat has no per-guest or per-send charge, so the guest count does not change the price. |
As of September 2026: 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). Partiful states its platform is "100% free, no paywalls" with no per-event or per-guest charge; only paid ticketing carries a fee, and free tickets have no fees.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Hobnob nor Partiful 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 | Hobnob | Partiful | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | Yes | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Partial | Not published | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Email delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | Not published | No | Yes |
| Printed cards | Not published | No | No |
| Guest account required | No | Yes | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | No | No |
| Event website | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Not published | Partial | Partial |
| Calendar file | Not published | Yes | 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
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 | Hobnob | Partiful | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | Yes | 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 Hobnob or Partiful cheaper?
Hobnob does not charge by guest count. Partiful is free to send. 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, Hobnob or Partiful?
Hobnob suits hosts who want text-message invites and fast mobile RSVPs for casual gatherings and can live with credit limits. Partiful suits social hosts running casual gatherings for a phone-native guest list who want zero cost and fast, mobile RSVP collection. 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 Hobnob or Partiful?
Hobnob does not require guests to have an account. Partiful requires 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 Hobnob and Partiful?
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 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.
Is Partiful free?
Yes. Partiful's own site says the product is "100% free, no paywalls" and "100% free, always," with no paid tiers or per-event charges. The only fees are ticketing fees on paid tickets, which hosts can absorb or pass to guests; free tickets carry no fee for anyone.
How current is this comparison?
Hobnob's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Partiful'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 Hobnob
The full head-to-head, including where Hobnob is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Partiful
The full head-to-head, including where Partiful is genuinely better.
Hobnob alternatives
Eight products that do what Hobnob does, ranked.
Partiful alternatives
Eight products that do what Partiful does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Hobnob and Partiful'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. Hobnob does not publish one.
Sources
- 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
- Partiful homepage — checked 2026-09-16
- What fees does Partiful charge? — checked 2026-09-16
- How do I RSVP to an event on Partiful? — checked 2026-09-16
- Where can I add a link in my event? — checked 2026-09-16
- Partiful (Wikipedia) — checked 2026-09-16