Oct 11, 2026

Online Birthday Invitations: 6 Ways to Send One in 2026

An online birthday invitation should do three things: look like a party, collect RSVPs without anyone downloading an app, and tell you who still hasn’t answered. Most tools nail the first two.

The quick answer: for most birthdays, use CarlyEvents. It has eight birthday occasions (kids’, first, sweet sixteen, 21st, 30th, milestone, and more), collects RSVPs with plus-ones and an allergies question, and sends reminders only to the people who haven’t replied. It’s free to start. Pick Paperless Post for a milestone birthday where the invitation should feel formal, and Punchbowl if your kid has their heart set on a cartoon character.

Online birthday invitation sites compared

	Free to start	Birthday designs	RSVP extras	Good for
CarlyEvents	Yes	8 birthday occasions, from first birthday to 30th, 11 designs each, or your own HTML	Plus-ones, custom questions, waitlist, reminders to non-responders, check-in	Any birthday, especially if you’d like an AI to run it
Evite	Yes, with ads	Large free and Premium catalog	Polls, sign-ups, up to 5 scheduled reminders	Casual parties where ads are fine
Paperless Post	First 50 sends	Stationery-grade, envelopes and stamps	Questions on every bundle	30th, 40th, 50th and beyond
Punchbowl	Yes	Character designs: Disney, Bluey, PAW Patrol, Minecraft	Nudges to non-responders	Kids’ themed parties
Partiful	Yes	Playful event pages	Link RSVPs	Adult birthdays planned by text
Canva	Yes	Huge template library	Collect replies separately	A design you’ll print or post

1. CarlyEvents

CarlyEvents has eight birthday occasions with 11 designs each: adult, milestone, kids’, first birthday, sweet sixteen, 18th, 21st, and 30th. If the party has a theme, 40 more occasions cover everything from a pool party to a rooftop. Change the colors, words, and details, or upload your own HTML.

Where it pulls ahead is everything after you hit send:

Households. For a kids’ party you’re really inviting families. Group a parent and child together so one reply covers both.
Questions. Ask about allergies, whether a parent is staying, or T-shirt size for the party favors.
Plus-ones and a waitlist, so a 20-kid limit stays a 20-kid limit.
Reminders that go only to people who haven’t replied. No more “just checking in!” texts to the whole class.
Replies in plain words. A parent can reply “Josh will be there, I’ll drop him off” and it counts as a yes.
Check-in from your phone at the door, so you know every kid who arrived.

Guests never need an app or an account. You can also run the whole thing from Claude or ChatGPT over MCP: “Make a kids’ birthday invitation for Josh’s 7th on Saturday the 14th at 2pm at Riverside Park, add an allergies question, invite the families in this spreadsheet, and show me before you send.” See create event invitations with Claude.

2. Evite

The best-known option, with a big catalog of free designs. Free invitations carry ads and gift suggestions; removing them, or adding an envelope or sticker, makes the event Premium, priced by guest count ($17.99 for up to 12 guests, $36.99 for up to 30). Evite sends one reminder automatically and lets you schedule up to five. Details in Evite pricing.

3. Paperless Post

The choice for a milestone birthday where the invitation should feel like a card in the mail: envelopes, liners, stamps, and backdrops. You pay per guest in coins; at 30 guests a Premium design is $36.00. The first 50 sends on a free design are free. See Paperless Post pricing.

4. Punchbowl

Free online invitations sent by email or text, with RSVP tracking and nudges to guests who haven’t answered. Its draw is designs with the characters kids actually ask for: Disney, Bluey, PAW Patrol, Minecraft, Peppa Pig, Spider-Man, and more.

5. Partiful

Free, link-first, and built for texting. Partiful’s event pages are playful and social, which suits a 25th or 30th organized in a group chat more than a kids’ party with a parent list.

6. Canva

Canva is for designing, not sending. Its birthday templates are excellent, and you can share the design as an image or link, or print it. You’ll need something else for replies, like a Google Forms RSVP or a group text.

Birthday invitation wording that works

Say who, what, when, where, and when to reply by. Keep the cute line to one sentence.

Kids’ birthday

Josh is turning 7! Join us for pizza, cake, and a bounce house. Saturday, November 14, 2–4pm, Riverside Park pavilion. Please RSVP by November 7 and let us know about any allergies.

Adult birthday

Claire’s 40th. Dinner, drinks, and questionable dancing. Saturday, November 21, 7pm, at The Grove. RSVP by November 14. Plus-ones welcome.

Surprise party

Shh! We’re throwing Michael a surprise 50th. Friday, December 4. Arrive by 6:30pm sharp; he walks in at 7. RSVP by November 27, and please don’t mention it on social media.

Timing for birthday invitations

Send kids’ party invitations 2 to 3 weeks ahead, and set the RSVP date a week before the party so you can order food.
Send adult and milestone birthday invitations 3 to 4 weeks ahead, or 6 to 8 weeks if people are traveling. A save-the-date helps for big ones.
Send one reminder to non-responders a few days before the RSVP date. CarlyEvents can schedule it to go only to the people who haven’t answered.

Common questions

What’s the best free site for online birthday invitations? CarlyEvents if you want RSVPs, questions, and reminders handled for you, and it’s free to start. Punchbowl is the free pick for character themes.

Can I send a birthday invitation by text? Yes. Evite, Paperless Post, and Punchbowl can text invitations, and with CarlyEvents or Partiful you can share the event link in any text or group chat.

How do I track RSVPs for a kids’ party? Use a tool that groups families and asks the questions you need (allergies, is a parent staying). CarlyEvents does both and reminds the families who haven’t replied.

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.