Dawat vs Punchbowl
Short answer: Four plans billed monthly or annually: Plus from $2.99/mo (50 guests), Premium from $4.99/mo (100), Platinum from $5.99/mo (500), Business from $39.99/mo (5,000), all annual-billed rates after a 7-day free trial. Dawat's core product is free at every guest count. Punchbowl is the better pick if you need unlimited events on every paid plan, with no per-recipient charge.
Dawat is free at every guest count: 53 card designs, unlimited guests, unlimited sends, RSVP tracking with your own questions, and a personally addressed link for each guest. The only paid item is a Dawat Signature cinematic experience at $89 once per event.
Subscription invitation and digital greeting card service with licensed character designs and per-event guest caps by plan. This page compares it with Dawat on the three things that decide the choice between two invitation products: what it costs once the guest list is real, what your guests see when they tap the link, and what each product will not do.
Punchbowl pricing checked 2026-09-16 against its own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
| Dawat | Punchbowl | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Subscription |
| What the free tier gives you | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. | A 7-day free trial only; after the trial a paid membership is required to send. |
| Cost for 100 guests | Free | $59.88/year (Premium, billed annually) |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free | $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) |
| Charges per recipient | No | No |
| Guests need an account | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Partial |
Where Dawat is different
- What it costs to send. Four plans billed monthly or annually: Plus from $2.99/mo (50 guests), Premium from $4.99/mo (100), Platinum from $5.99/mo (500), Business from $39.99/mo (5,000), all annual-billed rates after a 7-day free trial. Dawat's core product is free, and no card is required to create or send.
- Free to send. Dawat includes sending invitations without paying in the free product. On Punchbowl it is limited or sits behind a paid tier.
- Unlimited guests. Dawat includes an uncapped guest list in the free product. On Punchbowl it is limited or sits behind a paid tier.
- Custom RSVP questions. Dawat includes asking your own questions in the free product. On Punchbowl it is limited or sits behind a paid tier.
- Per-guest personal links. Dawat includes a personally addressed link per guest. Punchbowl does not publish whether it supports this.
- Open tracking. Dawat includes seeing who opened the invitation. Punchbowl does not publish whether it supports this.
- Animated envelope. Dawat includes an animated envelope opening. Punchbowl does not publish whether it supports this.
- Ads shown to guests. Punchbowl does this in some cases. Dawat never does.
Create your invitation — free →No card required. Unlimited guests. 53 designs.
When Punchbowl is the better choice
A comparison published by one of the two products is worth nothing unless it can say this part plainly, so here it is: Frequent hosts who want licensed character designs and unlimited events for a flat annual fee rather than per-event charges.
- Unlimited events on every paid plan, with no per-recipient charge
- Licensed designs including Disney and Dr. Seuss characters
- Delivery by both text message and email with RSVP tracking
- Potluck lists and gift registries can be added to any invitation
- 7-day free trial and a published 30-day money-back guarantee
Where Dawat does not compete with it:
- Digital only: Dawat does not print or mail paper stationery
And where Punchbowl will cost you something:
- No permanent free tier; sending requires a paid membership after the trial
- Ads are shown unless you subscribe to the Platinum plan or above
- Each plan caps guests per event, from 50 on Plus to 5,000 on Business
- Co-hosts and guest polling require Premium or higher
- Custom event links require the Platinum plan
What Punchbowl costs, in dollars
As of September 2026: Four plans billed monthly or annually: Plus from $2.99/mo (50 guests), Premium from $4.99/mo (100), Platinum from $5.99/mo (500), Business from $39.99/mo (5,000), all annual-billed rates after a 7-day free trial.
18 of the 33 platforms tracked here can send an invitation without payment. Punchbowl is one of them, and Dawat is another.
| Dawat | Punchbowl | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Subscription |
| 100 guests | Free | $59.88/year (Premium, billed annually) |
| 250 guests | Free | $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) |
| How that is worked out | Dawat has no per-guest or per-send charge, so the guest count does not change the price. | Cheapest plan whose per-event guest cap covers the headcount, at Punchbowl's advertised annual rate ($4.99 and $5.99 per month) multiplied by twelve. |
Dawat is free to send. Punchbowl has no equivalent free path at a real guest count.
The guest experience compared
Hosts compare dashboards. Guests get one link, once, usually on a phone, often while doing something else. Everything standing between that tap and an answer costs you replies.
| Feature | Dawat | Punchbowl |
|---|---|---|
| Guest account required | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Partial |
| Animated envelope | Yes | Not published |
| Per-guest personal links | Yes | Not published |
| Open tracking | Yes | Not published |
| Calendar file | Yes | Yes |
| Multilingual & right-to-left | Yes | Not published |
On Dawat, the link is addressed to the person holding it. The envelope opens with their name on it, their RSVP is already prefilled, and answering is one tap. Punchbowl does not publish whether it addresses each guest individually.
What happens as the list grows
Guest count is not the axis here — Punchbowl does not bill per recipient. The thing that changes as the list grows is administration: chasing replies, keeping a headcount honest, and knowing who never opened the thing. Dawat gives every guest their own link, so the dashboard shows sent, opened and answered per person instead of a pile of replies you have to reconcile.
Switching, or running both
Most people pick one. If you are mid-way through a guest list on Punchbowl, the sensible split is to leave the people who have already replied where they are and send Dawat invitations to the ones who have not.
If you are moving across, the fastest route is Dawat's import: paste the link to your existing invitation and Dawat reads the wording, date, venue and colour mood off the page and rebuilds it as a prefilled draft you can edit. Guest lists come in from your phone's contacts, a .vcf file, or pasted text.
What does not come across: Punchbowl's designs, and any replies already collected there. Export your RSVPs before you switch, and send the Dawat invitation only to the people who have not answered.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Dawat | Punchbowl |
|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Partial |
| Per-guest fees | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Yes | Partial |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Yes | Partial |
| Email delivery | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Partial | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Yes | Not published |
| Open tracking | Yes | Not published |
| Animated envelope | Yes | Not published |
| Printed cards | No | No |
| Guest account required | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | No | Partial |
| Event website | Partial | Not published |
| Registry links | Yes | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Partial | Partial |
| Calendar file | Yes | Yes |
| AI wording help | Yes | Not published |
| Works inside ChatGPT / Claude | Yes | Not published |
| Multilingual & right-to-left | Yes | Not published |
"Not published" means no vendor documentation could be found either way, not that the feature is missing. How this grid is built →
Questions
Is Punchbowl free?
Not permanently. Punchbowl's help centre says new customers can send invitations free during a trial period and cancel any time; after the 7-day trial a paid membership is required. Returning customers are offered a special membership rate when they sign in.
How much does Punchbowl cost per year?
At the advertised annual rates: Plus from $2.99/month (about $35.88/year, 50 guests per event), Premium from $4.99/month (about $59.88, 100 guests), Platinum from $5.99/month (about $71.88, 500 guests) and Business from $39.99/month (about $479.88, 5,000 guests). Monthly billing costs roughly double.
Does Punchbowl show ads?
Yes, on all plans except Platinum and above. Punchbowl's upgrade page lists an "Advertising free" experience as a Platinum feature and states that to remove advertising for you and your guests you must choose a Platinum membership plan.
Do Punchbowl guests need an account to RSVP?
No. Punchbowl's help centre states: "No, your guests are not required to create a Punchbowl account in order to RSVP." Guests can view their invitation and respond without signing up.
Is Dawat free?
Yes. All 53 card designs and every party-page theme, unlimited guests, unlimited sends, RSVP tracking, custom questions and the per-guest analytics cost nothing, and no card is required. The only paid item is a Dawat Signature cinematic experience at $89 once for that event, and it is labelled as paid before you publish.
Does Dawat have designs as good as Punchbowl?
Dawat's 53 designs are animated card experiences with an envelope opening, plus 8 long-scroll Signature experiences. Whether that beats Punchbowl depends on whether you want a designed occasion or a quick notice.
Can I send printed invitations from Dawat?
No. Dawat is digital only. Punchbowl does not print either.
Create your invitation — free →Takes about ten minutes. Sign in only when you publish.
Other comparisons
Punchbowl alternatives
Eight products that do what Punchbowl does, ranked and priced.
Online invitation makers
Every product in Punchbowl's category, side by side.
Punchbowl against the rest:
Dawat against the rest:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Punchbowl'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. Punchbowl does not publish one.
Sources
- Punchbowl upgrade and plans — checked 2026-09-16
- Is Punchbowl Free? — checked 2026-09-16
- Will My Guests Need to Create An Account to RSVP? — checked 2026-09-16
- Can I Add A Gift Registry to My Invitation? — checked 2026-09-16
- How Can I Add A Potluck List to My Invitation? — checked 2026-09-16