Invitation App Comparison
GuestlistOnline vs Punchbowl
Character invitations by text vs a guest list you can check in.
Free up to 50 guests · Free plan: no credit card · Free events: no fees
Short answer
Punchbowl is a cheap consumer invitation app, from about $4 to $8 a month, with licensed character designs (Disney, Bluey, Paw Patrol) and text-message delivery in the US and Canada. It stops at the RSVP: no check-in, no ticketing, no waitlist, no team roles, and ads are shown to your guests unless you pay for Platinum. GuestlistOnline is ad-free on every plan, free up to 50 guests, and built for the door.
Side by side
Feature comparison
An honest look at how the two platforms compare.
| Feature | GuestlistOnline | Punchbowl |
|---|---|---|
| Costs & payouts | ||
| Free plan | Free: 1 event, 50 guests, guest list, RSVP page and manual check-in, no credit card | None since 2024, a paid membership is required to create an event. There is a 7-day trial, and it asks for a card |
| What it costs | €0 free, €19.99 for one event, €29/month or €249/year on Pro | From about $4 to $8 a month on the web for personal plans, $39.99 for Business; App Store prices run higher |
| Selling tickets | Built in: no fees on free events; paid tickets 5% + €0.25 per ticket, payment processing included | Not available, Punchbowl has no ticketing and no paid RSVPs |
| Branding & communication | ||
| Ads your guests see | None, on any plan, including the free one | Ads on Plus and Premium, shown to the host and to guests; ad-free only on Platinum ($7.99) and Business ($39.99) |
| Text messages | Email invitations, reminders and templates, no SMS blasts | Text invitations built in, but only to US and Canadian numbers |
| Guest list & RSVP | ||
| Guest limits | 50 guests on the free plan, unlimited from €19.99 for that event | Hard caps per plan: 50 (Plus), 100 (Premium), 500 (Platinum), 5,000 (Business), and children and infants count towards them |
| Guest import | CSV import with names, email addresses and mapped columns, on any device | CSV import on the web only, with email and phone columns; also imports contacts from Gmail, Yahoo and Evite |
| Plus-ones | Plus-ones with names and your own wording on the registration page | Plus-ones with names, plus adult, child and infant counts and connected households |
| Waitlist & approval | Capacity limit that closes registration when full, plus guest approval | An RSVP cap only, no waitlist, no guest approval and no custom RSVP questions |
| Check-in & door | ||
| Check-in at the door | QR code per guest, scanned in the browser or the offline PWA scanner, on every paid plan | Not available, Punchbowl has no check-in, no scanning and no attendance tracking |
| Platform | ||
| Team access | 6 roles, up to 5 team members on Per Event and 50 on Pro | Co-hosts only, from Premium upwards |
| Languages | 7 languages across the dashboard and the guest pages | English only, and the designs are geo-blocked outside the US and Canada |
| Data location | Hosted in the EU, with no advertising business attached to your guest list | Hosted in the US and ad-supported through third-party ad networks with targeted advertising; the privacy policy of 21 July 2026 covers CCPA and has no GDPR section |
| API & export | REST API and webhooks on Enterprise; CSV export of guests, RSVPs, answers and check-in status | No API. A guest list download on the web once the invitation has gone out, in a format Punchbowl does not publish, and a contacts export from Premium |
| Best for | Private events, clubs, weddings, venues and anything with a door | US and Canadian family parties, kids' birthdays and showers with no door |
Facts verified on 2026-09-17. Sources are listed at the bottom of this page.
Pricing
What each one costs
GuestlistOnline
- Free €0
1 event, 50 guests, guest list, RSVP page, manual check-in
- Per Event €19.99 one-off
Unlimited guests for one event, QR check-in, templates, branding, gift fund, 5 team members
- Pro €29/month or €249/year
Unlimited events and guests, analytics, organisation settings, 50 team members, 7-day trial
- Enterprise Custom
White-label, API and webhooks, dedicated support and SLA
Free events: no fees. Paid tickets: 5% + 0.25 per ticket in the ticket currency, payment processing included.
Punchbowl
- Plus $3.99/month
50 guests per event, unlimited events, ads shown to you and your guests
- Premium $5.99/month
100 guests, co-hosts, polls and contact export, still with ads
- Platinum $7.99/month
500 guests, ad-free, custom event link
- Business $39.99/month
Up to 5,000 guests per event, ad-free, all features
Web "from" prices at punchbowl.com/upgrade on 17 September 2026. They are A/B and geo-varied, so treat them as about $4 to $8 a month for the personal plans; buying inside the iOS app costs more ($5.99 to $29.99 a month). A 7-day trial needs a card, with a 30-day refund window. Punchbowl sells no tickets, so there is nothing to compare on ticket fees.
Key differences
What sets them apart
The details that matter when choosing between the two.
Your guests see the ads too
Punchbowl is ad-supported: on Plus and Premium, advertising is shown to the host and to the guests who open the invitation, served through third-party ad networks with targeted advertising. Getting rid of it means Platinum at $7.99 a month or Business at $39.99. GuestlistOnline never puts advertising on an invitation, a registration page or an email, on any plan, and the free plan is ad-free too.
It stops at the RSVP
Punchbowl has no check-in of any kind: no QR code per guest, no scanner, no attendance list, no ticketing, no waitlist and no guest approval. When the party starts you are back to a printed list. GuestlistOnline issues a QR code to every guest and scans it in the browser or in a PWA scanner you install on any phone without an app store, it caches the list, works with no signal at all and syncs when the connection returns.
Where Punchbowl wins: designs and price
Nothing here matches the design library. Disney, Marvel, Bluey, LEGO and Harry Potter invitations, delivered by text, for roughly $4 to $8 a month with unlimited events and a 30-day refund window. Around them sit the family extras: connected households, potluck lists, polls, adult and child counts, co-hosts, and an iOS app rated 4.9 stars by about 110,000 people alongside the Android one. For a kids' birthday that is a genuinely good product.
Two countries, or everywhere
Punchbowl is built for the US and Canada: text invitations reach US and Canadian numbers only, the designs are geo-blocked elsewhere, prices are in dollars, the interface is English and guest data sits in the US under a privacy policy with no GDPR section. GuestlistOnline runs in 7 languages, is hosted in the EU, and takes payments through your own Stripe account including iDEAL.
Fair is fair
When Punchbowl is the better choice
For a kids' birthday or a family party in the US or Canada, Punchbowl's designs are the reason to pick it.
- You want Disney, Marvel or Bluey invitations delivered by text
- The whole guest list is under 100 and nobody needs to scan anything
- A potluck list, polls and household RSVPs cover your needs
- A few dollars a month is fine and the event stays in the app after you cancel
Migration
Switching from Punchbowl
On the web, Punchbowl lets you download the guest list once the invitation has been sent, and members from Premium upwards can export their contacts. Punchbowl does not publish the file format, so open the file and check the columns before you import it and map them.
- Guest names, email addresses and phone numbers
- RSVP status, where the download includes it
- Party size, once you map the adult and child counts onto plus-ones
- The Punchbowl design, including any licensed character invitation
- Potluck lists, polls, announcements and connected households
- The Punchbowl membership itself, cancel that separately to stop the renewal
Common questions
Frequently asked questions about GuestlistOnline vs Punchbowl.
Is Punchbowl free?
No. Punchbowl dropped its free tier in 2024, and creating an event now needs a paid membership. There is a 7-day trial, but it asks for a card up front and renews into a paid plan, with a 30-day refund window if you change your mind. Web prices on 17 September 2026 start at about $3.99 a month for Plus and run to $7.99 for Platinum, with Business at $39.99; buying inside the iOS app costs more. GuestlistOnline has a real free plan: one event, up to 50 guests, guest list, registration page and manual check-in, with no credit card.
Can Punchbowl check guests in at the door?
No. Punchbowl is an invitation and RSVP app and has no check-in feature at all, no QR code per guest, no scanner app, no attendance tracking and no ticketing. Once the RSVPs are in, the door is a list on paper. GuestlistOnline gives every guest a QR code and check-in runs either in the browser or in a PWA scanner installed on any phone without an app store. That scanner caches the guest list, keeps scanning with no signal, and syncs the arrivals when the connection comes back.
Why do my guests see ads on Punchbowl?
Because the cheaper plans are ad-supported. On Plus and Premium, advertising appears both to you and to the guests who open your invitation, and Punchbowl works with third-party ad networks that serve targeted advertising. Ad-free is a paid upgrade: Platinum at about $7.99 a month, or Business at $39.99. GuestlistOnline shows no advertising anywhere, not on the registration page, not in emails, not on the free plan, because it makes its money from plans and ticket fees rather than from your guest list.
Can I use Punchbowl outside the US and Canada?
It is not built for it. Text invitations only go to US and Canadian numbers, Punchbowl geo-blocks its designs outside those two countries, prices are in US dollars, the interface is English only, and guest data is stored in the US under a privacy policy (effective 21 July 2026) that addresses CCPA and has no GDPR section. GuestlistOnline is hosted in the EU, runs in 7 languages across the dashboard and the guest pages, and charges in euros, dollars or pounds.
How do I move my Punchbowl guest list?
Download the guest list from the Punchbowl website after the invitation has gone out, the download is web only and the format is not documented, so check the columns first, and from Premium upwards you can also export your contacts. Import that file into GuestlistOnline and map names, email addresses, phone numbers and RSVP status. What does not come with you is Punchbowl's side of the product: the designs, potluck lists, polls and household connections are features rather than data.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- punchbowl.com Punchbowl membership pricing
- help.punchbowl.com Punchbowl Help Centre, guest limits, imports, ads, co-hosts, SMS, languages and export
- punchbowl.com Punchbowl privacy policy (21 July 2026)
- apps.apple.com Punchbowl on the App Store (in-app prices and ratings)
Spotted something out of date? Email go@guestlistonline.com and we will correct it.
Your next event, sorted.
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