SignUpGenius vs Zola
Short answer: price will not decide this one — both can be used without paying. Choose SignUpGenius if schools, sports teams, churches and volunteer coordinators filling time slots or item lists who can live with ads on a free account. Choose Zola if uS couples who want a free website, registry and RSVP tracking in one place and will buy printed paper.
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.
SignUpGenius and Zola are built for different jobs, so the comparison is less about features and more about which job you are actually doing.
SignUpGenius and Zola pricing checked 2026-09-16 against their own published pages. Sources · Method
On this page
Side by side
Sign-up sheet and volunteer scheduling tool for schools, churches, nonprofits and teams, with slots, reminders and payment collection. Wedding planning suite with free websites, RSVP and guest list tools, a universal registry, and paid printed stationery. 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.
| SignUpGenius | Zola | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| What the free tier gives you | Unlimited sign-up pages, email invites and reminders, duplicate/transfer sign ups, Google Maps — with third-party ads shown. | Wedding website, RSVP collection, guest list manager, registry, password protection, and digital save the dates. | Everything except Signature: all card designs, party pages, unlimited guests, sends, RSVP tracking and analytics. |
| Cost for 100 guests | Free (ads shown) | Free | Free |
| Cost for 250 guests | Free (ads shown) | Free | Free |
| Charges per recipient | No | No | No |
| Guests need an account | Not published | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Yes | 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 sending invitations without paying, no per-recipient charge and tracking who has replied, so those are not the thing to decide on.
- Custom RSVP questions. Zola includes asking your own questions outright; on SignUpGenius it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Email delivery. SignUpGenius includes sending by email outright; on Zola it is limited or tied to a paid tier.
- Printed cards. Zola supports ordering printed stationery; SignUpGenius does not.
- Event website. Zola supports a full event website; SignUpGenius does not.
- Registry links. Zola supports linking a gift registry; SignUpGenius does not.
When SignUpGenius is the better choice
Schools, sports teams, churches and volunteer coordinators filling time slots or item lists who can live with ads on a free account.
- Free tier has no published cap on sign-up pages or participants
- Purpose-built slot logic: dates, times, quantities, wish lists, volunteer hours reports
- Email invites and automatic reminders included at no cost
- Collects payments with no monthly fee, at 5% plus $0.50 per transaction
Where it costs you:
- Free accounts show third-party ads on sign-up pages and in the emails sent
- Ad-free is licensed per sign up: 1 on Silver, 10 on Gold, unlimited on Platinum
- Custom questions are capped at 2 (Silver), 5 (Gold) and 10 (Platinum)
- No invitation design or animation; output is a sign-up sheet page
- Text invites are paid-only: 150, 500 or 1,500 per month by tier
When Zola is the better choice
US couples who want a free website, registry and RSVP tracking in one place and will buy printed paper.
- Website, RSVP tracking and guest list manager are free with no guest-count charge
- Custom RSVP questions including meal choice and song requests on the free tier
- Universal registry and cash funds integrate directly into the website
- Printed stationery from $0.99 per save the date with free envelope addressing
- Free digital save the dates shareable by email, text or DM
Where it costs you:
- Does not offer digital invitations; only digital save the dates
- Digital save the dates are shared as a link or image, not sent by Zola
- Custom domain is a paid add-on starting at $17.99
- Business model depends on registry and print revenue from your guests
- Published guest-count limits for the free website are not stated
What each one costs, in dollars
Neither SignUpGenius nor Zola 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.
| SignUpGenius | Zola | Dawat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free tier, paid upgrades | Free |
| 100 guests | Free (ads shown) | Free | Free |
| 250 guests | Free (ads shown) | Free | Free |
| How that is worked out | Sign-up pages are unlimited and free at any participant count; the cost is ads, and removing them on one sign up starts at Silver, $11.99/month. | Website, RSVP and digital save the dates are free at any guest count; only a custom URL or printed paper adds cost. | Dawat has no per-guest or per-send charge, so the guest count does not change the price. |
As of September 2026: Free plan with unlimited ad-supported sign-up pages; Silver $11.99/month ($107.89/year), Gold $29.99/month ($269.89/year), Platinum $59.99/month ($539.89/year). Payments collected cost 5% plus $0.50 per transaction. Website, RSVP, guest list and registry are free; a custom URL starts at $17.99, printed save the dates from $0.99 each and invitations from $1.79 each.
The third option: something that feels like an invitation
Neither SignUpGenius nor Zola 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 | SignUpGenius | Zola | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to send | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-guest fees | No | No | No |
| Unlimited guests | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| RSVP tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom RSVP questions | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Email delivery | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| SMS or WhatsApp | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Per-guest personal links | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Open tracking | Partial | Not published | Yes |
| Animated envelope | No | Not published | Yes |
| Printed cards | No | Yes | No |
| Guest account required | Not published | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Yes | Not published | No |
| Event website | No | Yes | Partial |
| Registry links | No | Yes | Yes |
| Meal choice or seating | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Calendar file | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| AI wording help | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Works inside ChatGPT / Claude | No | 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 form asks a question. An invitation makes someone want to answer it. Your guest experiences whichever one you sent, and the response rate follows.
| What your guest gets | SignUpGenius | Zola | Dawat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests need an account | Not published | Not published | No |
| Ads shown to guests | Yes | Not published | No |
| Animated opening | No | Not published | Yes |
| Personally addressed link | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Add to calendar | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Right-to-left and multilingual | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Questions
Is SignUpGenius or Zola cheaper?
SignUpGenius costs nothing at either guest count (ads shown). Zola does not charge by guest count. 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, SignUpGenius or Zola?
SignUpGenius suits schools, sports teams, churches and volunteer coordinators filling time slots or item lists who can live with ads on a free account. Zola suits uS couples who want a free website, registry and RSVP tracking in one place and will buy printed paper. 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 SignUpGenius or Zola?
SignUpGenius does not publish whether guests need an account. Zola 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 SignUpGenius and Zola?
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 SignUpGenius free?
Yes. The free plan includes unlimited sign-up pages, email invites and reminders, duplicate and transfer of sign ups, and admin tools. SignUpGenius states that ads may be visible to people signing up through a free account, and that ads fund the free tier.
Is Zola's wedding website free?
Yes. Zola states its wedding websites are free to create and publish, with no fee for RSVP collection, the guest list manager, registry or password protection. The only website-related upsell is a custom URL, which starts at $17.99. Zola earns revenue from registry purchases and printed stationery.
How current is this comparison?
SignUpGenius's published pricing was checked on 2026-09-16 and Zola'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 SignUpGenius
The full head-to-head, including where SignUpGenius is genuinely better.
Dawat vs Zola
The full head-to-head, including where Zola is genuinely better.
SignUpGenius alternatives
Eight products that do what SignUpGenius does, ranked.
Zola alternatives
Eight products that do what Zola does, ranked.
More head-to-heads:
How these figures were checked
Every figure above was read from SignUpGenius and Zola'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. SignUpGenius has none.
Sources
- SignUpGenius printable pricing and feature sheet (PDF) — checked 2026-09-16
- SignUpGenius — about advertising — checked 2026-09-16
- Why SignUpGenius has ads and how to remove them — checked 2026-09-16
- How to choose the right SignUpGenius plan — checked 2026-09-16
- Zola wedding websites (pricing and custom URL) — checked 2026-09-16
- Zola wedding paper (per-card prices) — checked 2026-09-16
- Zola help: Does Zola offer digital invitations? — checked 2026-09-16
- Zola help: Can I send digital save the dates through Zola? — checked 2026-09-16
- Zola help: How do I edit or add questions to RSVPs? — checked 2026-09-16