Luma vs Splash
Short answer: pick Luma for community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing. Pick Splash for corporate field-marketing and demand-generation teams running recurring, on-brand event programmes at scale.
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 Luma and Splash is mostly a pricing decision. They overlap heavily on what they do; they differ on what they charge you to do it.
Luma and Splash 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. Event marketing platform for branded event pages, registration, email reminders, on-site check-in, and badge management. 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 | Splash | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Subscription | 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. | None published. Every tier is quote-only, and paid support is a separate add-on. | 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 | Unknown | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | Unknown | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | No | 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 no per-recipient charge, an uncapped guest list, tracking who has replied, asking your own questions and sending by email, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Free to send. Luma supports sending invitations without paying; Splash does not.
- SMS or WhatsApp. Luma supports sending by text or WhatsApp. Splash does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Guest account required. Luma does not do this. Splash does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Ads shown to guests. Luma does not do this. Splash does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Calendar file. Luma supports adding the event to a calendar. Splash 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 Splash is the better choice
Corporate field-marketing and demand-generation teams running recurring, on-brand event programmes at scale.
- Unlimited events and unlimited registrations on every plan, with no per-attendee fee
- Deep CRM and marketing-automation integrations keep event data in the business systems
- Event ROI and email performance dashboards built for reporting to a marketing team
- Ticketed events supported through a Stripe partnership
- Governance features for large teams: custom roles, approvals, event visibility groups
Where it costs you:
- Publishes no price at any tier; Pro and Enterprise are both quote-only
- Built for event marketing programmes, not for a single private celebration
- Phone support is a paid add-on on top of the plan
- API access requires a consulting engagement
- No free tier is published, so there is no way to try it at a real guest count
What each one costs, in dollars
Neither Luma nor Splash 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 | Splash | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Subscription | Free |
| 100 guests | Free (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets | Unknown | Free |
| 250 guests | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | Unknown | 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. | Splash publishes no dollar figure at any tier, so a per-guest cost cannot be derived; the page directs you to a demo instead. | 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%. Splash publishes two tiers, Pro and Enterprise, and no prices for either; both are sold through sales with a demo. Its pricing page promises unlimited events and unlimited registrations with no hidden fees.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Luma nor Splash 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 Splash 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 | Splash | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | No | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Email delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Yes | Not published | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | No | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | No | 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 | Not published | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Not published | Not published | Partial |
| Calendar file | Yes | 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
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 | Splash | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Not published | 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 Splash 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. Splash does not publish a price you can check before you commit: splash publishes two tiers, Pro and Enterprise, and no prices for either; both are sold through sales with a demo. Its pricing page promises unlimited events and unlimited registrations with no hidden fees. 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 Splash?
Luma suits community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing. Splash suits corporate field-marketing and demand-generation teams running recurring, on-brand event programmes at scale. 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 Splash?
Luma does not require guests to have an account. Splash 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 Splash?
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.
How much does Splash (splashthat.com) cost?
Splash does not publish list prices. Software directories list both its Pro and Enterprise tiers as 'Contact Vendor for Pricing', and procurement data shows annual contracts negotiated individually rather than a published rate card.
How current is this comparison?
Luma's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Splash'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 Luma
The full head-to-head, including where Luma is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Splash
The full head-to-head, including where Splash is genuinely better.
Luma alternatives
Eight products that do what Luma does, ranked.
Splash alternatives
Eight products that do what Splash does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Luma and Splash's own published pricing or help pages on 16 September 2026, and each source is linked below. Splash publishes no checkable price, so this page says so rather than estimating one. 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
- Splash pricing — checked 2026-09-17
- Cvent acquires Splash — checked 2026-09-17