Hobnob vs The Knot
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 The Knot if uS couples wanting a free website plus a large vendor marketplace, registry and matching printed stationery in one account.
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.
Hobnob and The Knot are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Hobnob and The Knot 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. Wedding marketplace and planner offering free wedding websites, guest list and RSVP tools, registry, and paid printed stationery. Dawat is shown as a third column for the part these two share with it: getting the invitation to people and getting an answer back. It does not print, so on the physical card it is not a substitute.
| Hobnob | The Knot | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Unlimited email invites (no credit cost), free social/link sharing, and 10 text-invite credits per month. | Wedding website with 100+ templates, RSVP collection, guest list manager, registry integration, and free digital save the dates. | 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 | Not published | 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 a full event website, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Per-guest fees. Hobnob does this; The Knot does not. If no per-recipient charge matters to you, that is a point for The Knot.
- Email delivery. Hobnob includes sending by email outright; on The Knot it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- SMS or WhatsApp. Hobnob includes sending by text or WhatsApp outright; on The Knot it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Open tracking. Hobnob supports seeing who opened the invitation. The Knot does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Printed cards. The Knot supports ordering printed stationery. Hobnob does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Guest account required. Hobnob does not do this. The Knot does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Registry links. The Knot supports linking a gift registry. 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 The Knot is the better choice
US couples wanting a free website plus a large vendor marketplace, registry and matching printed stationery in one account.
- Free website with 100+ templates that coordinate with matching printed stationery
- Free guest list manager syncs addresses and RSVPs with the website
- Free digital save the dates shareable instantly by email or text link
- Secure RSVP restricts responses to names already on the guest list
- Large US vendor marketplace and registry integrated into the same account
Where it costs you:
- Custom domain is a paid add-on at $19.99 per year
- Premium .wedding domain extensions cost $99.99 per year
- Monetised through vendor marketplace, registry and print rather than subscriptions
- Vendor pricing pages block automated retrieval, so terms are harder to verify independently
- Guest-count limits for the free website are not published
What each one costs, in dollars
Hobnob is one of the 7 platforms in this dataset that charge per guest or per printed card. The Knot 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 | The Knot | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | 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. | The Knot charges nothing for the website, RSVP or digital save the dates at any guest count; domains and printed paper are optional. | 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). Wedding website, RSVP and guest list tools are free; a custom domain is $19.99 for one year ($39.98 for two), with .wedding extensions at $99.99 per year.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Hobnob nor The Knot 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 | The Knot | 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 | Not published | Yes |
| Email delivery | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Printed cards | Not published | Yes | No |
| Guest account required | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | Not published | No |
| Event website | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Not published | Not published | Partial |
| Calendar file | Not published | 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 wedding guest is usually being asked to do three things at once: read the details, reply, and find the registry. How many taps that takes is the difference between a finished guest list and six weeks of chasing.
| What your guest gets | Hobnob | The Knot | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | Not published | 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 Hobnob or The Knot cheaper?
Hobnob does not charge by guest count. The Knot 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, Hobnob or The Knot?
Hobnob suits hosts who want text-message invites and fast mobile RSVPs for casual gatherings and can live with credit limits. The Knot suits uS couples wanting a free website plus a large vendor marketplace, registry and matching printed stationery in one account. 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 The Knot?
Hobnob does not require guests to have an account. The Knot 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 Hobnob and The Knot?
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 The Knot wedding website free?
Yes. The Knot states its wedding websites are free to use, including templates, design customisation, registry integration, RSVP collection and guest messaging. You can also customise the theknot.com address for free if you do not buy a custom domain. The Knot makes money from vendor advertising, registry and printed stationery.
How current is this comparison?
Hobnob's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and The Knot'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 Hobnob
The full head-to-head, including where Hobnob is genuinely better.
Dawat vs The Knot
The full head-to-head, including where The Knot is genuinely better.
Hobnob alternatives
Eight products that do what Hobnob does, ranked.
The Knot alternatives
Eight products that do what The Knot does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Hobnob and The Knot'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
- The Knot free wedding websites — checked 2026-09-17
- The Knot help: Are wedding websites on The Knot free to use? — checked 2026-09-17
- The Knot help: How do I purchase a custom domain for my wedding website? — checked 2026-09-17
- The Knot digital save the date cards — checked 2026-09-17
- The Knot free guest list with RSVP tracking — checked 2026-09-17