Joy vs Luma
Short answer: price will not decide this one — both can be used without paying. Choose Joy if couples who want a free, well-designed website, app and RSVP system with unlimited guests and optional paid stationery. 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.
Joy and Luma are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Joy and Luma pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
Free wedding website, app, registry and RSVP platform with optional paid domains, SMS messaging and premium digital or printed cards. 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.
| Joy | Luma | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Website, planning dashboard, registry, mobile app, unlimited guests, online RSVP, and hundreds of free digital invite designs. | 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 | Free | Free (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | Free |
| Charges per recipient | Partial | 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, an uncapped guest list, tracking who has replied, sending by email and letting guests reply without an account, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Per-guest fees. Joy does this in some cases; Luma does not. If no per-recipient charge matters to you, that is a point for Luma.
- Custom RSVP questions. Luma supports asking your own questions. Joy does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- SMS or WhatsApp. Luma includes sending by text or WhatsApp outright; on Joy it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Printed cards. Joy supports ordering printed stationery; Luma does not.
- Ads shown to guests. Luma does not do this. Joy does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Registry links. Joy 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. Joy does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
When Joy is the better choice
Couples who want a free, well-designed website, app and RSVP system with unlimited guests and optional paid stationery.
- Genuinely free core: website, registry, RSVP, mobile app and unlimited guests
- Hundreds of free digital invitation and save the date designs sent by email
- Guests do not need an account; signup is offered only after RSVP
- Multi-language support including English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese
- Paper invitations from $1.39 each with free recipient and return address printing
Where it costs you:
- Premium digital cards carry a 50-card minimum order and are sold in fixed bundles
- SMS delivery of premium cards is a paid add-on, US and Canada numbers only
- Messaging Plus, which unlocks text blasts and RSVP reminders, is a separate purchase
- Prices for Messaging Plus and premium digital cards are not published on help pages
- Custom domain costs extra, quoted at roughly $19.99 per year
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 Joy 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.
| Joy | Luma | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | Free | Free (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets | Free |
| 250 guests | Free | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | Free |
| How that is worked out | Free basic digital cards and RSVP carry no per-guest fee; premium cards and SMS bundles are priced only at checkout. | 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: Joy states the core product is $0/month with unlimited guests; paid extras are a custom domain (about $19.99/year), Messaging Plus SMS, premium digital cards (50-card minimum) and paper from $1.39 each. 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 Joy 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 | Joy | Luma | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | Partial | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Email delivery | Yes | 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 | Yes | No | No |
| Guest account required | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Not published | No | No |
| Event website | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Not published | Not published | 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 | Partial | 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 | Joy | 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 | Partial | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Joy or Luma cheaper?
Joy does not charge by guest count. 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, Joy or Luma?
Joy suits couples who want a free, well-designed website, app and RSVP system with unlimited guests and optional paid stationery. 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 Joy or Luma?
Joy 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 Joy 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 Joy (withjoy.com) really free?
Yes for the core product. Joy's pricing page states 'Joy is free to use. $0/mo', covering the planning dashboard, wedding website, registry, mobile app, unlimited guests, online RSVP and hundreds of free digital invites. Joy earns revenue from registry purchases and optional upgrades such as domains, SMS and premium stationery.
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?
Joy'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 Joy
The full head-to-head, including where Joy is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Luma
The full head-to-head, including where Luma is genuinely better.
Joy alternatives
Eight products that do what Joy 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 Joy 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. Joy does not publish one.
Sources
- Joy pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Joy FAQ — checked 2026-09-16
- Joy help: Designing and sending Premium Digital Cards — checked 2026-09-16
- Joy help: Send text messages with Messaging Plus — checked 2026-09-16
- Joy help: General FAQs, custom domains — 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