Punchbowl vs Smilebox
Short answer: Smilebox is the cheaper of the two. Smilebox works out to $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year at both 100 and 250 guests. Punchbowl works out to $59.88/year (Premium, billed annually) for 100 guests and $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) for 250. Punchbowl earns the difference if you need unlimited events on every paid plan, with no per-recipient 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 Smilebox sit in the same category and cover the same basics, so the decision comes down to a handful of specifics that only matter once the guest list gets real.
Punchbowl and Smilebox pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
Subscription invitation and digital greeting card service with licensed character designs and per-event guest caps by plan. Long-running template-based maker for invitations, slideshows and greeting cards, with email invitations and built-in RSVP tracking. Dawat is shown as a third column for the part these two share with it: getting the invitation to people and getting an answer back. It does not print, so on the physical card it is not a substitute.
| Punchbowl | Smilebox | 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. | Free invitation maker with free templates; Smilebox does not publish exactly which features are gated. | 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) | $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) | $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | No | No |
| Guests need an account | No | Not published | 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 and sending by email, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Printed cards. Smilebox supports ordering printed stationery; Punchbowl does not.
- Guest account required. Punchbowl does not do this. Smilebox does not publish whether it does, so it is worth checking before you send.
- Registry links. Punchbowl supports linking a gift registry. Smilebox 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. Smilebox 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 Smilebox is the better choice
Hosts who want a low-cost, all-purpose card and slideshow maker with basic RSVP tracking and a print option.
- Built-in RSVP tracking: see who replied, send reminders and follow-ups
- Both digital and printed output: print at home or use professional printing
- Invitations can carry music and photos, with unlimited storage for creations
- Guest email addresses are stored in the account and kept private
- Covers invitations, slideshows, collages and cards in a single subscription
Where it costs you:
- No public pricing page comparing the Basic, Premium, Pro and Business plans
- Which features are free versus paid is not documented on Smilebox's own pages
- Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled before the renewal date
- Terms of use state fees are payable in advance and are not refundable
- Desktop 'Club Smilebox' and the paid web version are billed separately
What each one costs, in dollars
Neither Punchbowl nor Smilebox 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 | Smilebox | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | Subscription | Free |
| 100 guests | $59.88/year (Premium, billed annually) | $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year | Free |
| 250 guests | $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) | $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year | 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. | Pricing is a flat subscription rather than per recipient, so the number does not change with guest count. | 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. Smilebox's own subscription feed lists $6.99/month or $47.88/year, each with a 7-day trial; Smilebox does not publish a per-tier pricing page.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither Punchbowl nor Smilebox 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 | Smilebox | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Partial | Partial | 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 | Partial | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | Not published | Partial | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | Yes | No |
| Guest account required | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | Not published | No |
| Event website | Not published | Not published | Partial |
| Registry links | Yes | Not published | 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
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.
| What your guest gets | Punchbowl | Smilebox | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | No | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Partial | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | Not published | Partial | 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 Punchbowl or Smilebox cheaper?
Punchbowl works out to $59.88/year (Premium, billed annually) for 100 guests and $71.88/year (Platinum, billed annually) for 250. Smilebox works out to $6.99 (one month) or $47.88/year 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 Smilebox?
Punchbowl suits frequent hosts who want licensed character designs and unlimited events for a flat annual fee rather than per-event charges. Smilebox suits hosts who want a low-cost, all-purpose card and slideshow maker with basic RSVP tracking and a print option. 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 Smilebox?
Punchbowl does not require guests to have an account. Smilebox 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 Punchbowl and Smilebox?
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.
Is Smilebox free?
Smilebox advertises a free invitation maker with free templates, but it is a subscription product. Smilebox's own subscription feed lists $6.99/month or $47.88/year with a 7-day trial. Smilebox does not publish a page stating which features are limited on the free tier.
How current is this comparison?
Punchbowl's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Smilebox'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 Punchbowl
The full head-to-head, including where Punchbowl is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Smilebox
The full head-to-head, including where Smilebox is genuinely better.
Punchbowl alternatives
Eight products that do what Punchbowl does, ranked.
Smilebox alternatives
Eight products that do what Smilebox does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from Punchbowl and Smilebox'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
- Smilebox invitation maker (RSVP, printing, sharing) — checked 2026-09-17
- Smilebox email invitations (delivery, reminders, guest emails) — checked 2026-09-17
- Smilebox subscription feed (prices and trial length) — checked 2026-09-17
- Smilebox terms of service (plan names, ownership) — checked 2026-09-17
- Smilebox terms of use (Club Smilebox vs web subscription, trials) — checked 2026-09-17