Luma vs SignUpGenius
Short answer: price will not decide this one — both can be used without paying. Choose Luma if community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing. Choose SignUpGenius if schools, sports teams, churches and volunteer coordinators filling time slots or item lists who can live with ads on a free 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.
Luma and SignUpGenius are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Luma and SignUpGenius 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. Sign-up sheet and volunteer scheduling tool for schools, churches, nonprofits and teams, with slots, reminders and payment collection. 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 | SignUpGenius | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | 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. | Unlimited sign-up pages, email invites and reminders, duplicate/transfer sign ups, Google Maps — with third-party ads shown. | 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 | Free (ads shown) | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | Free (ads shown) | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | No | No |
| Guests need an account | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Yes | 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, tracking who has replied and sending by email, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Unlimited guests. Luma supports an uncapped guest list. SignUpGenius does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Custom RSVP questions. Luma includes asking your own questions outright; on SignUpGenius it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- SMS or WhatsApp. Luma includes sending by text or WhatsApp outright; on SignUpGenius it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Guest account required. Luma does not do this. SignUpGenius does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Ads shown to guests. SignUpGenius does this; Luma does not. If an ad-free guest experience matters to you, that is a point for Luma.
- Event website. Luma supports a full event website; SignUpGenius does not.
- Calendar file. Luma supports adding the event to a calendar. SignUpGenius 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 SignUpGenius is the better choice
Schools, sports teams, churches and volunteer coordinators filling time slots or item lists who can live with ads on a free account.
- Free tier has no published cap on sign-up pages or participants
- Purpose-built slot logic: dates, times, quantities, wish lists, volunteer hours reports
- Email invites and automatic reminders included at no cost
- Collects payments with no monthly fee, at 5% plus $0.50 per transaction
Where it costs you:
- Free accounts show third-party ads on sign-up pages and in the emails sent
- Ad-free is licensed per sign up: 1 on Silver, 10 on Gold, unlimited on Platinum
- Custom questions are capped at 2 (Silver), 5 (Gold) and 10 (Platinum)
- No invitation design or animation; output is a sign-up sheet page
- Text invites are paid-only: 150, 500 or 1,500 per month by tier
What each one costs, in dollars
Neither Luma nor SignUpGenius 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.
| Luma | SignUpGenius | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | Free (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets | Free (ads shown) | Free |
| 250 guests | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | Free (ads shown) | 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. | Sign-up pages are unlimited and free at any participant count; the cost is ads, and removing them on one sign up starts at Silver, $11.99/month. | 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%. Free plan with unlimited ad-supported sign-up pages; Silver $11.99/month ($107.89/year), Gold $29.99/month ($269.89/year), Platinum $59.99/month ($539.89/year). Payments collected cost 5% plus $0.50 per transaction.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Luma nor SignUpGenius 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. It also covers an animated envelope opening — which neither Luma nor SignUpGenius does.
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 | Luma | SignUpGenius | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Yes | Partial | 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 | Partial | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | No | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | No | No |
| Guest account required | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Yes | No |
| Event website | Yes | No | Partial |
| Registry links | Not published | No | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Not published | Partial | Partial |
| Calendar file | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| AI wording help | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Works inside ChatGPT / Claude | Not published | No | 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 form asks a question. An invitation makes someone want to answer it. Your guest experiences whichever one you sent, and the response rate follows.
| What your guest gets | Luma | SignUpGenius | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Yes | No |
| Animated opening | No | No | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Luma or SignUpGenius 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. SignUpGenius costs nothing at either guest count (ads shown). 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, Luma or SignUpGenius?
Luma suits community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing. SignUpGenius suits schools, sports teams, churches and volunteer coordinators filling time slots or item lists who can live with ads on a free 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 Luma or SignUpGenius?
Luma does not require guests to have an account. SignUpGenius 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 SignUpGenius?
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 SignUpGenius free?
Yes. The free plan includes unlimited sign-up pages, email invites and reminders, duplicate and transfer of sign ups, and admin tools. SignUpGenius states that ads may be visible to people signing up through a free account, and that ads fund the free tier.
How current is this comparison?
Luma's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and SignUpGenius'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 SignUpGenius
The full head-to-head, including where SignUpGenius is genuinely better.
Luma alternatives
Eight products that do what Luma does, ranked.
SignUpGenius alternatives
Eight products that do what SignUpGenius does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Luma and SignUpGenius'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
- SignUpGenius printable pricing and feature sheet (PDF) — checked 2026-09-16
- SignUpGenius — about advertising — checked 2026-09-16
- Why SignUpGenius has ads and how to remove them — checked 2026-09-16
- How to choose the right SignUpGenius plan — checked 2026-09-16