Oct 11, 2026

Evite Alternatives: 6 Free and Paid Options for 2026

People leave Evite for three reasons: the ads on free invitations, the price steps once you upgrade ($17.99 for 12 guests, $36.99 for 30), or a guest list that needs more care than Evite gives it. Each alternative below fixes one of those better than the rest.

The quick answer: CarlyEvents is the best all-round Evite alternative. It’s free to start, guests answer from a link with no app, and the guest list runs itself: plus-ones, custom questions, a waitlist, reminders only to people who haven’t replied, and check-in at the door. You can also run it from Claude or ChatGPT. For stationery-grade design, use Paperless Post. For a free, casual party link, Partiful.

Evite alternatives compared

	Free to start	Best for	Guest list tools	Where you run it
CarlyEvents	Yes	Any event you want to run itself	Plus-ones, questions, waitlist, households and tags, check-in	Website, or Claude and ChatGPT over MCP
Paperless Post	First 50 sends	Weddings, galas, milestone birthdays	Questions on every bundle; tags and check-in in the top bundle	Website and app
Partiful	Yes	Casual parties shared by text	Link-based RSVPs	Website and app
Punchbowl	Yes	Kids’ parties with character designs	RSVP tracking and nudges	Website and app
Luma	Yes	Community, tech, and ticketed events	Registration, approvals, ticketing	Website and app
Google Forms	Yes	A bare-bones RSVP form	Whatever questions you add	Google Workspace

1. CarlyEvents

CarlyEvents is the closest thing to “Evite without the catches,” and then it goes further on the guest list.

The invitation. 48 occasions with 11 designs each: birthdays and kids’ birthdays, weddings and bridal showers, cocktail and dinner parties, opening nights, product launches, run clubs. Change the colors, words, and details, or upload your own HTML. Guests get a link and never need an app.

The guest list. Import a spreadsheet, then group people into households and tag them. Collect RSVPs with plus-ones and custom questions (“any allergies?”, “which session?”), and turn on a waitlist when the event fills. Send invitations, reminders, and updates from one place, and see delivery and opens next to every name. On the day, check people in from your phone. Guests can reply to the invitation in plain words (“we’ll be there, plus our two kids”) and it’s recorded like a click.

Run it from Claude or ChatGPT. Every one of those actions also works over MCP, so you can connect CarlyEvents to Claude or ChatGPT and talk to it:

“Make Saturday’s run club public, add a pace question, and remind only the people who haven’t replied.”

Creating an event and adding guests never emails anyone by itself. Sending is a separate step, and each new event comes with a link that opens it in your own account so you see exactly what guests will get. Setup takes one command; see create event invitations with Claude.

Best for: anyone who wants Evite’s ease without ads, and anyone who hosts the same kind of event more than once.

2. Paperless Post

The pick when the invitation is part of the occasion. Envelopes with liners and stamps, backdrops, and rich pages for weddings (wedding party, travel, accommodations). You pay per guest in coins, by feature bundle: at 30 guests, $19.20 on Basic, $36.00 on Premium, $50.40 on All Access. Guest tags and check-in are in All Access. Full numbers in Paperless Post pricing.

Best for: weddings and formal events. Watch out for: the free tier only covers your first 50 sends.

3. Partiful

Free and built for texting a link to friends. The invitation is a playful event page, and it’s become the default for casual parties among people who plan in group chats. It’s thinner on guest-list management than the tools above. More in our Partiful alternative guide.

Best for: house parties and casual get-togethers.

4. Punchbowl

Free online invitations with RSVP tracking and reminders to guests who haven’t answered, sent by email or text. Its draw is character designs kids recognize: Disney, Bluey, PAW Patrol, Minecraft, Peppa Pig, and more.

Best for: kids’ birthday parties.

5. Luma

An event page and registration tool more than an invitation. The free plan allows unlimited events and guests, up to 500 invites or newsletters a week, and a 5% platform fee on paid tickets. Luma Plus is $59 a month billed annually and removes the platform fee.

Best for: meetups, community events, and anything ticketed.

6. Google Forms

Free, and good enough when all you need is “are you coming, and how many?” There’s no design, no reminders, and no capacity cap without add-ons, but every reply lands in a spreadsheet. Our Google Forms RSVP guide walks through the setup and the workarounds.

Best for: a quick work lunch or a club sign-up.

How to choose

You want no ads on the invitation: CarlyEvents.
The invitation has to look beautiful: Paperless Post.
It’s a kids’ party with a theme: Punchbowl.
You’re selling tickets: Luma.
You host the same event over and over, or you’d like an AI to manage the list: CarlyEvents. Duplicate last time’s event, keep the guest list, and let it chase the replies.

If you’re moving from Evite, CarlyEvents takes a spreadsheet import, so export your Evite guest list and bring it straight over.

Common questions

What is the best free alternative to Evite? CarlyEvents, which is free to start and includes the full guest list (plus-ones, questions, waitlist, reminders, check-in). Partiful if you just want a fun link to text around.

Is there an Evite alternative without ads? Yes. A CarlyEvents invitation is just your invitation, with no ads or gift suggestions around it, and guests never pay or need an account.

Which Evite alternative is best for weddings? Paperless Post, for the design. If the guest list is the harder part (households, meal choices, plus-ones), CarlyEvents handles that on every event.

Can I move my guest list off Evite? Evite lets you download your guest list. CarlyEvents imports spreadsheets and contact files.

Make the invitation in minutes

Pick an occasion, change the words and colors, and send. Guests answer from a link with no app, and the guest list, reminders, and check-in run from one place.

Get started

See the prompt

Read https://carlyevents.com/llms.txt and connect to CarlyEvents at https://carlyevents.com/mcp, signing up yourself if you need to. Then help me plan my event and set up the invitation. Don't send anything until I say so.