Digital invitation pricing depends on what a service counts: individual people, delivery contacts, separate sends, or a mailing’s maximum size. Before choosing a package, list every invitation and follow-up you plan to send, then apply that provider’s definition. Compare complete quotes with the same guest list, delivery method, features, and billing term, rather than comparing headline prices alone.
An event with 80 attendees might need 50 email addresses, several household replies, and three separate mailings. Those numbers answer different questions. This guide helps you turn them into a useful buying plan without assuming that every platform sells the same thing.
Provider documentation checked October 21, 2026. Prices, packages, and conditions can change; verify your final selection at checkout. The cover is an AI-assisted editorial layout based on a real LunaInvites product photograph. The physical invitation shown is not a digital sending service.
First separate the design purchase from the sending service
Write down the deliverable you actually need. An editable artwork template, a finished image, and a hosted invitation with guest tracking are different purchases. A design that you can download does not, by itself, tell you who will deliver messages, collect replies, or maintain a guest list.
If you are still deciding between artwork tools, our editable invitation template guide covers editing limits. Here, the decision is how to budget for distribution and response management. For the broader format decision, see digital versus printed wedding invitations.
Ask yourself: “If I pay this amount, what happens after I finish the design?” A useful answer names the delivery channel, permitted audience, response tools, and period of access. If those are separate purchases, put them on separate budget lines.
Recognize the four pricing models
- Sending credits: A balance is spent according to the selected design, features, audience, or distribution option. Buying a balance and paying for one mailing are not necessarily the same amount.
- Single-event or single-mailing package: A purchase covers a defined project up to its stated size. Check whether another invitation requires another purchase.
- Annual pooled allowance: Separate mailings draw down one yearly allowance. Reaching the same person again may consume another unit.
- Annual membership with a per-mailing limit: The size of each mailing matters. An annual plan can allow repeated use while still limiting each audience.
Use these as categories for reading a quote, not labels to apply automatically to every product a provider sells. A company can offer more than one model. Save the exact plan name beside your calculation so you do not accidentally combine one plan’s allowance with another plan’s features.
“Guest” does not always mean one attendee
Paperless Pro counts direct recipients identified by a unique email address or phone number, and people responding through a shareable link. Plus-ones without contact information do not consume its annual allowance. Sending the same person three distinct Cards or Flyers counts three times. Its documentation also says unused annual sends do not roll over. See Paperless Post’s subscription explanation.
Greenvelope’s terms instead count each person entered on a mailing list, including people without an email address. A four-person family therefore occupies four places. Its annual membership is described in the FAQ as allowing mailings for distinct purposes subject to a per-mailing audience limit. See the package terms and membership FAQ.
The takeaway is simple: keep both an attendance count and a delivery-contact count. Do not delete household members from your planning list just to make a price calculator look smaller. Accurate invitations and accurate attendance records still matter.
A three-mailing example with two different totals
Consider this hypothetical celebration. The numbers are invented to explain the calculation, not taken from a customer order:
- Main invitation: 80 people represented by 50 direct delivery contacts.
- Small dinner invitation: 30 people represented by 20 contacts.
- Thank-you mailing: 80 people represented by 50 contacts.
For the Paperless Pro example, assume all three are distinct Cards or Flyers sent directly and the additional people are plus-ones without contact information. The annual usage would be 120 guest sends: 50 + 20 + 50, using the definition linked above.
For Greenvelope, those lists contain 80, 30, and 80 people. Under its annual per-mailing model, compare a package that accommodates the largest list, 80 people. Do not treat the combined 190 entries as a pooled annual allowance.
These figures do not establish which service is cheaper. They tell you which quantity to enter before obtaining comparable quotes. If you add another mailing or change from direct delivery to a shareable link, recalculate using the applicable rules.
Check the delivery channel and selected features
Price the version you would actually send. Paperless Post’s current pricing help explains that feature bundles affect Coin pricing and that shareable-link options have their own conditions. It also distinguishes link distribution from direct sending for open and bounce tracking. Review the live Card and Flyer pricing guidance with your selected design open.
Keep a separate SMS line. Greenvelope documents a starting allowance of 500 text messages for paid accounts and additional SMS packages. Its email and SMS guidance is worth checking before planning text invitations plus reminders. Do not assume an invitation membership provides unlimited text messages.
For your worksheet, write the number of contacts you expect to reach by each channel and the reminders you intend to use. A reminder to every contact and a reminder only to nonresponders are different plans. Ask how your selected service meters those actions instead of assuming the initial invitation covers every later message.
Plan for guest-list growth before paying
A list of 98 people is a fragile fit for a 100-person limit if four names remain undecided. Mark confirmed, tentative, and possible additions separately. Then compare the current package with the next suitable option and the documented upgrade process.
Evite’s package-upgrade instructions describe purchasing a larger package covering the full list rather than paying only the difference. They then direct the buyer to request a refund of the original package through support. That is a process to follow, not a promise of an automatic refund. Read Evite’s upgrade guidance before treating an initial package as easy to expand.
Also identify the paying account. If a partner or planner is handling the design, agree on who buys the package and keeps the receipt. Record any renewal date and check whether unused capacity survives the end of the billing term. A low first-project cost can be misleading if your comparison leaves out the commitment required to obtain it.
Copy this quote-comparison worksheet
Complete one copy for each service. Leave unknown items visibly unresolved rather than substituting a guess:
- Mailing plan: Each separate invitation or follow-up, its purpose, and expected sending date.
- Audience: People attending, direct delivery contacts, household groupings, and tentative additions.
- Billable unit: The provider’s definition and the calculation for this specific plan.
- Selected experience: Design, feature bundle, response questions, and tracking you need.
- Distribution: Email, platform SMS, or externally shared link; expected reminder use.
- Changes: Cost and process for increasing the list or sending another mailing.
- Commitment: Paying account, billing period, renewal date, and unused-allowance treatment.
- Comparable total: Final checkout amount, any separately required purchases, and date checked.
Only compare totals after these rows describe the same project. If one option includes a feature you will not use, mark it as optional value rather than pretending it is a necessary saving.
Keep a hybrid invitation budget in two parts
If you want a physical keepsake and online replies, keep the printed order and the third-party digital service separate. For example, LunaInvites’ green-envelope botanical clear acrylic invitation lists one clear acrylic invitation card and one green envelope. The styling props in its photograph are not listed set components. It does not include the third-party subscriptions discussed here.
For a LunaInvites physical order, the digital proof is the design-approval stage. Under the current shipping policy, U.S. shipping is free, with estimated total delivery of 7–8 days after final proof approval, including 2 days of production. This is an estimate, not a guaranteed arrival date.
The best purchase is the one whose units, features, and commitment match your actual mailing plan. Count first, obtain the complete quote second, and choose only after you understand what another guest or another send would change.