Punchbowl vs Riley & Grey
Short answer: Punchbowl is the cheaper of the two. Punchbowl works out to $59.88/year (Premium, billed annually) for 100 guests and $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) for 250. Riley & Grey works out to $299 (12-month membership) at both 100 and 250 guests. Riley & Grey earns the difference if you need custom domain is included in the membership rather than an extra charge.
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.
Punchbowl and Riley & Grey are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
Punchbowl and Riley & Grey pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
- Side by side
- Where they actually differ
- When Punchbowl is the better choice
- When Riley & Grey is the better choice
- What each one costs, in dollars
- The third option: something that feels like an invitation
- Feature by feature
- What your guests experience
- Questions
- Other comparisons
- How these figures were checked
Side by side
Subscription invitation and digital greeting card service with licensed character designs and per-event guest caps by plan. Premium subscription wedding website platform with designer templates, custom domain, digital invitations, RSVP modes and cash registry. Dawat is shown as a third column because it answers the same question at no cost, which is the relevant fact for most people reading this page.
| Punchbowl | Riley & Grey | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | Subscription | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | A 7-day free trial only; after the trial a paid membership is required to send. | Build a site, pick a design, draft invitations and set up a registry; publishing requires a paid membership. | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. |
| Cost for 100 guests | $59.88/year (Premium, billed annually) | $299 (12-month membership) | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) | $299 (12-month membership) | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | No | No |
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | 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, tracking who has replied, sending by email, letting guests reply without an account and linking a gift registry, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Event website. Riley & Grey supports a full event website. Punchbowl does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
- Calendar file. Punchbowl supports adding the event to a calendar. Riley & Grey does not publish whether it does, so treat it as unavailable until you have confirmed it.
When Punchbowl is the better choice
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 it costs you:
- 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
When Riley & Grey is the better choice
Design-led couples wanting a premium, ad-free site with an included custom domain and unlimited digital invitations.
- Custom domain is included in the membership rather than an extra charge
- Unlimited digital invitation sending with no per-recipient fee
- Free to build and preview; payment only required to publish
- Simple and Advanced RSVP modes, with guest email addresses optional
- Print-ready high-resolution invitation files can be exported for outside printing
Where it costs you:
- No free publishing tier; the site stays unpublished until you pay
- $39 per month or $299 per year is materially above free competitors
- Monetary gifts carry a 2.95% transaction fee, paid by giver or couple
- Post-wedding PDF archive of the site is a separate $39 purchase
- Does not print or mail physical stationery; you export files and print elsewhere
What each one costs, in dollars
Neither Punchbowl nor Riley & Grey 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.
| Punchbowl | Riley & Grey | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | Subscription | Free |
| 100 guests | $59.88/year (Premium, billed annually) | $299 (12-month membership) | Free |
| 250 guests | $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) | $299 (12-month membership) | Free |
| How that is worked out | 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. | Membership price is flat and Riley & Grey states there is no cost to send as many invitations as you like. | Dawat has no per-guest or per-send charge, so the guest count does not change the price. |
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. Free to design; publishing costs $39 per month or $299 for twelve months, including a custom domain and unlimited invitation sending. Optional $39 domain reserve and $39 post-wedding PDF archive.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Punchbowl nor Riley & Grey 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 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 | Punchbowl | Riley & Grey | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Partial | No | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Partial | Not published | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Partial | Not published | Yes |
| Email delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Partial | Not published | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Partial | Yes |
| Open tracking | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | No | No |
| Guest account required | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | Not published | No |
| Event website | Not published | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Partial | 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
A wedding guest is usually being asked to do three things at once: read the details, reply, and find the registry. How many taps that takes is the difference between a finished guest list and six weeks of chasing.
| What your guest gets | Punchbowl | Riley & Grey | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | No | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Not published | Partial | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is Punchbowl or Riley & Grey cheaper?
Punchbowl works out to $59.88/year (Premium, billed annually) for 100 guests and $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) for 250. Riley & Grey works out to $299 (12-month membership) at both 100 and 250 guests. 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, Punchbowl or Riley & Grey?
Punchbowl suits frequent hosts who want licensed character designs and unlimited events for a flat annual fee rather than per-event charges. Riley & Grey suits design-led couples wanting a premium, ad-free site with an included custom domain and unlimited digital invitations. 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 Punchbowl or Riley & Grey?
Punchbowl does not require guests to have an account. Riley & Grey does not require guests to have an account. Anything that makes a guest sign up before replying costs you responses, particularly from older relatives.
Is there a free alternative to Punchbowl and Riley & Grey?
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 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 Riley & Grey cost?
Signing up and building a site is free; publishing costs $39 per month or $299 for a twelve-month package, which Riley & Grey describes as 36% savings. A $39 reserve option holds your domain and design, and that $39 is credited toward your future publishing cost.
How current is this comparison?
Punchbowl's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Riley & Grey'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 Punchbowl
The full head-to-head, including where Punchbowl is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Riley & Grey
The full head-to-head, including where Riley & Grey is genuinely better.
Punchbowl alternatives
Eight products that do what Punchbowl does, ranked.
Riley & Grey alternatives
Eight products that do what Riley & Grey does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Punchbowl and Riley & Grey'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
- Riley & Grey pricing and plans — checked 2026-09-16
- Riley & Grey FAQ — checked 2026-09-16
- Riley & Grey homepage — checked 2026-09-16