Punchbowl alternatives
Short answer: the closest free replacement for Punchbowl is Dawat — 53 card designs, unlimited guests, per-guest personal links and RSVP tracking, free at any guest count. The next closest are Partiful, Greenvelope and Evite.
Punchbowl works out to $59.88/year (Premium, billed annually) for 100 guests and $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) for 250. Below, 9 alternatives with their published prices and what each one gives up.
This page is published by Dawat, which is one of the products listed. Every price is linked to the vendor's own page and dated, so you can check the ones that matter rather than take our word for it. Punchbowl pricing was checked on 2026-09-16.
On this page
Why people look for a Punchbowl alternative
18 of the 33 platforms tracked here can send an invitation without payment. Punchbowl is one of them, and Dawat is another.
The usual trigger is the bill. 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.
The limitations people run into:
- 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
All alternatives, priced
| Alternative | Type | 100 guests | 250 guests | Charges per guest | RSVP tracking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dawat | Online invitation makers | Free | Free | No | Yes |
| Partiful | Online invitation makers | Free | Free | No | Yes |
| Greenvelope | Online invitation makers | $99 (single mailing, up to 100 guests) | $249 (single mailing, up to 250 guests) | Partial | Yes |
| Evite | Online invitation makers | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | $0 free with ads, or $99.99 Premium | Partial | Yes |
| Luma | Event and ticketing platforms | Free (RSVP event); $125 platform fee on 100 paid $25 tickets | Free (RSVP event); $312.50 platform fee on 250 paid $25 tickets | No | Yes |
| Greetings Island | Online invitation makers | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | $0 free, or $26.99/year premium | No | Yes |
| Mixily | Online invitation makers | $19 (one month of Lite) | $29 (one month of Pro) | No | Yes |
| Paperless Post | Online invitation makers | $105 (Premium feature set) | $263 (Premium feature set) | Yes | Yes |
| Hobnob | Online invitation makers | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Free by email; $59.99/year if sent by text | Yes | Yes |
Dawat — the free option
Cinematic digital invitations with per-guest personal links and built-in RSVP, free at any guest count. Everything in the core product is free: all 53 card designs, every party-page theme, unlimited guests, unlimited sends, RSVP tracking with up to five custom questions, and a per-guest funnel showing who was sent the invitation, who opened it and who answered. No card is required to create or send.
Better than Punchbowl at: free at every guest count, with no per-recipient charge and no card required, every guest gets a personally addressed link with their rsvp prefilled and open tracking shows who has actually seen the invitation, not just who replied.
Worse at: digital only: dawat does not print or mail paper stationery and no ticket sales, payments from guests or door scanning.
The paid part: Dawat Signature, a long-scroll cinematic invitation, is $89 once for that event. Nothing else costs anything, and Signature is labelled as paid before you publish.
Dawat vs Punchbowl, side by side →
Create your invitation — free →Sign in only when you publish.
The alternatives in detail
1. Partiful
Free, mobile-first event page and invitation tool built around phone-number RSVPs, text blasts and shared photo albums.
Price: Partiful states its platform is "100% free, no paywalls" with no per-event or per-guest charge; only paid ticketing carries a fee, and free tickets have no fees.
Better than Punchbowl at: genuinely free with no paid tier, per-event fee or per-recipient charge, text blasts let hosts message confirmed guests without a group chat and custom questionnaire collects arbitrary information at rsvp time.
Worse at: guests must verify a phone number by sms code to rsvp and ticketing fees apply to paid tickets and are not published as a rate.
Pick it if: Social hosts running casual gatherings for a phone-native guest list who want zero cost and fast, mobile RSVP collection.
Punchbowl vs Partiful, side by side →
2. Greenvelope
Digital-only invitation service with animated envelope opening, email and text delivery, and RSVP tracking, priced per mailing.
Price: Flat one-time fee per mailing set by guest-list size: $19 up to 20 guests, $59 up to 60, $99 up to 100, $249 up to 250. Annual memberships from $125.
Better than Punchbowl at: flat per-mailing price, not per-recipient credits, so cost is known up front, custom rsvp questions, meal preferences and dietary notes included at every paid tier and email, sms and whatsapp delivery, with open and delivery tracking.
Worse at: price is tiered by guest count, so larger lists cost more per mailing and digital only; greenvelope does not print or mail paper invitations.
Pick it if: Hosts of a single sizeable event who want polished digital invitations and detailed RSVP data for one predictable flat fee.
Punchbowl vs Greenvelope, side by side →
3. Evite
Long-running digital invitation service offering free ad-supported invitations plus paid Premium packages priced by guest count.
Price: Free invitations carry ads and support up to 750 guests; Premium packages are $17.99 (12 guests), $36.99 (30), $68.99 (75) and $99.99 (750) per event. Evite Pro is $249.99/year.
Better than Punchbowl at: free tier sends to up to 750 guests with no per-recipient charge, read receipts and shareable links are available on the free tier and delivery by email, text message or shareable link.
Worse at: free invitations display third-party ads to guests and removing ads requires a paid premium package.
Pick it if: Hosts of large casual gatherings who want a free, high-capacity invitation and can tolerate advertising beside their event details.
Punchbowl vs Evite, side by side →
4. Luma
Event pages and calendars with RSVP, invites, ticketing, and check-in, popular with tech meetups and community organizers.
Price: 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%.
Better than Punchbowl at: free plan covers unlimited events and unlimited guests per event, guests do not need a luma account or sign-in to register and invites go out by email plus sms, whatsapp, and push.
Worse at: free plan takes a 5% platform fee on paid events and free plan capped at 500 invites or newsletters per week.
Pick it if: Community, meetup, and startup organizers who want a fast, free event page with invites and light ticketing.
Punchbowl vs Luma, side by side →
5. Greetings Island
Template-driven invitation and greeting card maker with free downloads, a free RSVP tool, and a premium design subscription.
Price: Most designs and the online RSVP tool are free; premium unlocks 10,000+ designs and removes watermarks for $26.99/year, or $8.99 for a single premium invitation and $4.49 for a single card.
Better than Punchbowl at: free online rsvp tool advertised with unlimited guests and no signup, no per-guest or per-recipient charge at any tier and custom rsvp questions, deadlines, guest limits and automatic reminders.
Worse at: free downloads carry a watermark; removing it requires premium and premium designs are gated behind a subscription or single purchase.
Pick it if: Budget hosts who want a free, unlimited-guest RSVP page and are happy to print or share a template design themselves.
Punchbowl vs Greetings Island, side by side →
6. Mixily
Web-based event invitation and RSVP tool with ad-free event pages, custom RSVP questions and automatic reminders.
Price: Free plan covers 50 invites and 40 RSVPs per event; Lite $19/month (100/100), Pro $29/month (250/250), Plus $79/month (1,500/1,500).
Better than Punchbowl at: no ads on event pages on any plan, including the free plan, guests rsvp with name and email; no guest account or app download and custom rsvp questions for meal choice, dietary needs or song requests.
Worse at: free plan is capped at 50 invites and 40 rsvps per event and free plan allows only 2 active events and 200 emails per week.
Pick it if: Hosts who want ad-free, no-account RSVP collection with custom questions and will pay a single month's subscription.
Punchbowl vs Mixily, side by side →
7. Paperless Post
Design-led online invitation and card service that charges virtual Coins per recipient for premium designs and features.
Price: 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.
Better than Punchbowl at: large free design library sendable to the first 50 recipients at no cost, unlimited free distribution of free-feature-set designs via shareable link and custom rsvp questions: open-ended, multiple-choice, checkbox and mailing-address formats.
Worse at: charges coins per recipient, so cost scales directly with guest count and envelopes, liners, backgrounds, stamps and logos convert a free design to a paid send.
Pick it if: Hosts of formal or design-sensitive events with modest guest lists who will pay per recipient for a polished, ad-free invitation.
Punchbowl vs Paperless Post, side by side →
8. Hobnob
Mobile-first invitation app, now Zazzle Events, that sends photo or video invites by text or email and tracks RSVPs.
Price: Free members get 10 text-invite credits a month and unlimited email invites; Essentials is $19.99/year (70 credits) and Premium $59.99/year (310 credits).
Better than Punchbowl at: email invites cost no credits, so email-only sends are free at any guest count, sends real sms invitations; guests reply by text with no app download and delivery and viewed-status tracking plus automated rsvp reminders on paid plans.
Worse at: text invites are metered per recipient as credits, not unlimited and free members get only 10 text-invite credits per month.
Pick it if: Hosts who want text-message invites and fast mobile RSVPs for casual gatherings and can live with credit limits.
Punchbowl vs Hobnob, side by side →
What to check before you switch
- Price at your actual guest count, not the headline. Multiply the per-recipient rate by the real number of people on your list.
- Whether guests need an account. Every sign-up screen between the link and the reply costs you responses, mostly from the relatives you most want there.
- Whether you can ask your own questions. Meal choice, plus-ones, which nights they are coming — if the product cannot ask, you will be asking by text.
- Whether you can see who opened it. Chasing the people who never opened it is a different job from chasing the people who did and have not decided.
- What happens to replies you already have. Export from Punchbowl before you move, and invite only the people who have not answered.
Questions
What is the best free alternative to Punchbowl?
Dawat. It 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 per guest — with no per-recipient charge and no card required. Partiful, Evite, Luma, Greetings Island, Mixily and Hobnob are also free to use, with the trade-offs listed above. This page is published by Dawat, so weigh that and check the sources at the bottom.
Why do people switch away from Punchbowl?
Most often because of a specific limitation rather than price. The recurring complaints are: 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 and custom event links require the platinum plan.
Is Punchbowl still worth using?
For the right event, yes — and it is worth saying so on a page like this. 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. The alternatives above matter when your situation is different, not because Punchbowl is bad.
How much does Punchbowl cost for 100 guests?
Punchbowl works out to $59.88/year (Premium, billed annually) for 100 guests and $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) for 250. 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. Checked against Punchbowl's own published pricing on 2026-09-16.
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.
More comparisons
Dawat vs Punchbowl
The full head-to-head, including where Punchbowl wins.
Online invitation makers
Everything in Punchbowl's category, compared.
Head-to-heads with Punchbowl:
Other alternatives guides:
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
- Partiful homepage — checked 2026-09-16
- What fees does Partiful charge? — checked 2026-09-16
- How do I RSVP to an event on Partiful? — checked 2026-09-16
- Where can I add a link in my event? — checked 2026-09-16
- Partiful (Wikipedia) — checked 2026-09-16
- Greenvelope pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Greenvelope: How much does Greenvelope cost — checked 2026-09-16
- Greenvelope homepage (features) — checked 2026-09-16
- Greenvelope vs Paperless Post (vendor comparison) — checked 2026-09-16
- Evite Premium Pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Evite Premium vs. Free — checked 2026-09-16
- Evite Invitation Pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Evite Guest List Limit — checked 2026-09-16
- Evite Pro — 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
- Greetings Island homepage — checked 2026-09-16
- Greetings Island online RSVP — checked 2026-09-16
- How much does a premium subscription cost? — checked 2026-09-16
- How much does a single design cost? — checked 2026-09-16
- About premium membership & benefits — checked 2026-09-16
- Mixily plans and pricing — checked 2026-09-16
- Mixily vs Evite (ads policy, free-tier limits, guest accounts) — checked 2026-09-16
- How to create an event on Mixily (delivery, reminders, co-hosts, calendar sync) — checked 2026-09-16
- Mixily homepage — 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
- Hobnob memberships: Essentials vs Premium — checked 2026-09-16
- How can I send invites for free? (credit rules) — checked 2026-09-16
- Zazzle Events product page — checked 2026-09-16
- Hobnob homepage — checked 2026-09-16