Luma vs Paperless Post
Short answer: Luma is the cheaper of the two. 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. Paperless Post works out to $105 (Premium feature set) for 100 guests and $263 (Premium feature set) for 250. Paperless Post earns the difference if you need large free design library sendable to the first 50 recipients at no cost.
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.
Luma and Paperless Post are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Luma and Paperless Post pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
Event pages and calendars with RSVP, invites, ticketing, and check-in, popular with tech meetups and community organizers. Design-led online invitation and card service that charges virtual Coins per recipient for premium designs and features. 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.
| Luma | Paperless Post | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Charged per recipient | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Unlimited events and guests, 500 invites or newsletters per week once verified, check-in, up to 3 admins. | Free-feature-set designs sent to your first 50 recipients, plus unlimited distribution by shareable link. | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. |
| Cost for 100 guests | Free (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets | $105 (Premium feature set) | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | $263 (Premium feature set) | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | Yes | No |
| Guests need an account | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | 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 tracking who has replied, asking your own questions, sending by email, a full event website and adding the event to a calendar, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Free to send. Luma includes sending invitations without paying outright; on Paperless Post it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Per-guest fees. Paperless Post does this; Luma does not. If no per-recipient charge matters to you, that is a point for Luma.
- Unlimited guests. Luma includes an uncapped guest list outright; on Paperless Post it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- SMS or WhatsApp. Luma includes sending by text or WhatsApp outright; on Paperless Post it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Open tracking. Paperless Post supports seeing who opened the invitation. Luma does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Guest account required. Luma does not do this. Paperless Post does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Ads shown to guests. Luma does not do this. Paperless Post does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Registry links. Paperless Post supports linking a gift registry. Luma does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
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
When Paperless Post is the better choice
Hosts of formal or design-sensitive events with modest guest lists who will pay per recipient for a polished, ad-free invitation.
- Large free design library sendable to the first 50 recipients at no cost
- Unlimited free distribution of free-feature-set designs via shareable link
- Custom RSVP questions: open-ended, multiple-choice, checkbox and mailing-address formats
- Delivery and open-rate tracking plus RSVP tracking on the guest list
- 25% discount published for nonprofits, charities, schools and universities
Where it costs you:
- Charges Coins per recipient, so cost scales directly with guest count
- Envelopes, liners, backgrounds, stamps and logos convert a free design to a paid send
- The free allowance covers 50 recipients, not an unlimited guest list
- An account is required to create and send
- Paid designs start at 2 Coins per recipient before any premium features
What each one costs, in dollars
Paperless Post is one of the 7 platforms in this dataset that charge per guest or per printed card. Luma 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.
| Luma | Paperless Post | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Charged per recipient | Free |
| 100 guests | Free (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets | $105 (Premium feature set) | Free |
| 250 guests | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | $263 (Premium feature set) | Free |
| How that is worked out | Free-plan 5% platform fee applied to $25 tickets; Stripe processing (about 2.9% + $0.30) is charged on top. | Guest count multiplied by the published $1.05 Premium per-guest rate; Paperless Post states the per-guest price falls at higher volumes, so treat these as upper bounds. | Dawat has no per-guest or per-send charge, so the guest count does not change the price. |
As of September 2026: 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%. Paperless Post publishes per-guest rates of $0.00 (Free), $0.50 (Basic), $1.05 (Premium) and $1.44 (All Access), charged in Coins. Paperless Pro subscriptions start at $250/year for 250 annual guests.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Luma nor Paperless Post 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 | Luma | Paperless Post | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | Yes | No |
| Unlimited guests | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Email delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | Partial | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | Partial | No |
| Guest account required | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Not published | No |
| Event website | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Not published | Partial | Partial |
| Calendar file | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI wording help | Not published | Partial | 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 | Luma | Paperless Post | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | No | Partial | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Luma or Paperless Post cheaper?
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. Paperless Post works out to $105 (Premium feature set) for 100 guests and $263 (Premium feature set) for 250. 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, Luma or Paperless Post?
Luma suits community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing. Paperless Post suits hosts of formal or design-sensitive events with modest guest lists who will pay per recipient for a polished, ad-free invitation. 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 Luma or Paperless Post?
Luma does not require guests to have an account. Paperless Post 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 Luma and Paperless Post?
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 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.
Is Paperless Post free?
Partly. Designs on the Free feature set can be sent to your first 50 recipients at no charge, and can be distributed to unlimited people via a shareable link. Adding envelopes, liners, backgrounds, stamps or logos moves the design to a paid feature set. Paid card designs start at 2 Coins per recipient.
How current is this comparison?
Luma's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Paperless Post'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 Luma
The full head-to-head, including where Luma is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Paperless Post
The full head-to-head, including where Paperless Post is genuinely better.
Luma alternatives
Eight products that do what Luma does, ranked.
Paperless Post alternatives
Eight products that do what Paperless Post does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Luma and Paperless Post'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. Luma does not publish one.
Sources
- 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
- Paperless Post pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Paperless Post features — checked 2026-09-16
- Is Paperless Post free? Can I send for free? — checked 2026-09-16
- Card and Flyer Pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- How to Add Questions for Guests and Recipients — checked 2026-09-16