Evite and Luma aren’t really competitors. They’re built for completely different audiences. But both names show up when you search for event platforms, so it’s worth understanding what each one does before you commit.
Evite is for personal events: birthday parties, baby showers, holiday gatherings. Luma (lu.ma) is for professional events. Think tech meetups, conferences, and workshops with ticketing and analytics.
Comparing them is like comparing a minivan to a pickup truck. Both move people. You’d use them for very different reasons.
Quick Verdict: Evite handles casual personal parties. Luma handles professional events. They barely compete. If you want something free, ad-free, and purpose-built for the parties people actually throw — Mixily is the pick for everything in between.
Quick comparison
| Feature | Evite | Luma | Mixily |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (with ads) / Premium $17.99+ per event | Free (5% fee on paid tickets) / Plus $59/mo | Free (no ads, no fees) |
| Best for | Personal events, parties | Professional events, meetups, conferences | Social gatherings, dinner parties, repeat hosts |
| Ads | Yes (free tier) | No | No |
| Design style | Themed templates | Clean, minimal, modern | Modern, photo-based |
| Ticketing | No | Yes (Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay) | No |
| RSVP tracking | Yes/No/Maybe | Yes + check-in with QR codes | Yes + custom questions |
| Virtual events | No | Native Zoom integration | No |
| Analytics | Basic | Attendance tracking, engagement metrics | Basic |
| Integrations | Minimal | Zapier, API, Zoom, Slack, Salesforce (Plus) | None |
| Guest capacity | 2,500 (Pro) | Unlimited | 100/event (free) |
| Calendar/community | No | Calendar subscriptions, newsletters | Public event listing pages |
| Mobile app | iOS and Android | iOS and Android | Web-based |
What is Evite?
Evite has been around since 1998. It’s a digital invitation platform for personal events: pick a template, add your details, invite guests via email, track RSVPs.
The free tier includes thousands of templates, RSVP tracking, guest messaging, and reminders. The tradeoff? Guests see banner ads on your invitation page. Premium plans remove ads and cost $17.99 to $99.99 per event depending on guest count. Evite Pro runs $249.99/year for unlimited premium invitations.
Evite is simple on purpose. You’re inviting 30 people to a dinner party. It works. You don’t need analytics dashboards or Zapier integrations for that.
What is Luma?
Luma (lu.ma) launched in 2020 out of San Francisco. It raised $20 million in a Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz in 2023. If you’ve been to a tech meetup or startup event in the last few years, you’ve probably RSVPed through Luma.
The free tier is generous: unlimited events, unlimited guests, RSVP management, QR check-in, Zoom integration, event chat, and analytics. The catch? A 5% platform fee on paid ticket sales (on top of Stripe’s standard processing fees).
Luma Plus costs $59/month (annual) or $69/month (monthly) and removes the platform fee, adds Zapier and API access, increases send limits to 5,000/week, and unlocks custom branded URLs.
One thing that makes Luma different: it organizes events into “Calendars” that people subscribe to. You add a new event, subscribers get notified. It’s an event platform and a community-building tool rolled into one.
Where Evite wins
It’s dead simple
Evite is easy. Pick a template, fill in the details, send invitations. You can set up an event in a few minutes. No tutorial needed.
Luma has a learning curve. Multiple reviewers describe it as “not for first-time hosts” and “best for tech-savvy users.” The party.pro review says flatly: “Luma isn’t recommended unless you’re extremely tech-savvy.” If you just want to invite people to a birthday party, that’s a problem.
Themed templates for every occasion
Evite has thousands of designs for specific occasions: birthday themes, holiday parties, baby showers, retirement celebrations, kids’ character parties. They’re organized by occasion, so you browse, pick one, and move on.
Luma’s event pages look clean and modern, but they’re generic. No themed templates for a “Cinco de Mayo taco night” or a “princess birthday party.” If you want occasion-specific design, Evite wins here. Luma doesn’t even try.
People already know what an Evite is
Everyone knows Evite. Your guests have received them before. That familiarity means less friction when you send one out.
Luma is well-known in tech and startup circles. Outside that world? Most people haven’t heard of lu.ma. Send a Luma link to your aunt for a family reunion and you’ll get a “what is this?” text back.
No subscription required
Evite’s free tier works forever. Premium is per-event pricing. You only pay when you want to.
Luma’s free tier is also free forever, but the Plus plan at $59/month adds up fast. That only makes sense if you’re running events often enough to justify it.
Where Luma wins
Ticketing and payments
Luma handles paid events out of the box. Stripe integration with Apple Pay and Google Pay, multiple ticket types (free, paid, sliding scale, approval-required), and next-day payouts. The free tier takes a 5% platform fee on ticket sales. Plus removes that fee.
Evite has no ticketing at all. If your event charges admission, Evite can’t help.
Check-in with QR codes
Luma has a built-in QR code scanner for guest check-in. Guests can also be looked up by name or email. And you can assign a check-in manager role so event staff can handle arrivals without accessing your full account.
Evite doesn’t have check-in. You’re tracking attendance with a clipboard or a spreadsheet.
Virtual and hybrid events
Luma plugs directly into Zoom. Create a virtual event and it auto-generates a Zoom meeting link, embeds it in the event page, and tracks attendance through the actual Zoom session (not just registration).
Evite was built for in-person events. No virtual event support at all.
Analytics and community building
Luma tracks attendance, engagement metrics, and subscriber data. You can export guest lists, segment your community, and send email newsletters to calendar subscribers between events.
The Calendar subscription model is what really sets Luma apart. People follow your Calendar and get notified when you post new events. One-time attendees turn into a recurring audience over time.
Evite tracks RSVPs and that’s about it. No analytics, no community tools.
Integrations
Luma Plus connects to Zapier (1,000+ app integrations), has a direct API, Slack integration, and connections to Salesforce and HubSpot. If you need event data flowing into your CRM or marketing tools, Luma can do that.
Evite has minimal integrations. What you see is basically what you get.
No ads, ever
Luma doesn’t show ads on any tier. Evite’s free tier puts banner ads on your invitation page. If you’re running a professional event, ads next to your event details look bad. Full stop.
Unlimited guests
Luma has no guest capacity limit on any tier. Evite caps at 2,500 on the Pro plan. If you’re running a 3,000-person conference, Evite literally can’t handle it.
So which one should you pick?
Honestly, the answer is usually obvious once you know what kind of event you’re running.
Hosting a personal event? Birthday, dinner party, holiday gathering, baby shower? Go with Evite. You want a themed invitation and a way to track RSVPs. That’s it. Evite does that.
Running professional events, tech meetups, conferences, or workshops? Go with Luma. You need ticketing, check-in, Zoom integration, or community-building tools. Your audience already knows the platform.
But here’s the thing. A lot of events don’t fit neatly into either bucket. Maybe you’re hosting a book club, a monthly dinner series, or a neighborhood gathering. You want something modern without Evite’s ads, but you don’t need Luma’s complexity.
For everything in the middle: Mixily
That’s where Mixily comes in. It sits between Evite’s simplicity and Luma’s power tools.
Free. Ad-free. No platform fees, no subscription. Your event page looks clean and modern, and you don’t need to watch a YouTube tutorial to figure it out.
Guests RSVP without creating an account. The free plan includes custom RSVP questions, date polling, scheduled invitations, automatic reminders, co-hosting, and password protection. You get 100 guests per event and 700 emails per week.
Where Mixily really stands out is repeat hosting. Your contact lists persist across events. A dashboard tracks who’s attended what. Public listing pages show your upcoming events. If you host a monthly game night or a quarterly dinner, Mixily remembers your guests so you don’t start from scratch every time.
Create your free event on Mixily →
| Feature | Evite (Free) | Luma (Free) | Mixily (Free) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ads | Yes | No | No |
| Ticketing | No | Yes (5% fee) | No |
| Check-in | No | QR codes | No |
| Virtual events | No | Zoom integration | No |
| Custom RSVP questions | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Date polling | No | No | Yes |
| Analytics | Basic | Yes | Basic |
| Contact management | Basic | Calendar subscribers | Full dashboard |
| Integrations | None | Zapier, API (Plus) | None |
| Account required to RSVP | Prompted | No | No |
| Design | Themed templates | Clean, minimal | Modern, photo-based |
Mixily was acquired by The 2-Hour Cocktail Party author Nick Gray in January 2026. It’s built for people who host real-world gatherings and don’t want to deal with ads or fees.
Other platforms worth a look
If neither Evite nor Luma fits, a few others might.
Paperless Post is the premium option for formal invitations. Designer-quality stationery with a Coin-based pricing system. Great for weddings and upscale events.
Partiful is free and text-based, popular with younger crowds. Animated designs, social features, payment collection.
Punchbowl is the pick for kids’ parties with licensed character themes (Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon). Subscription required.
The bottom line
Evite and Luma are built for different jobs. Evite handles personal party invitations. Luma handles professional event management. Once you know what kind of event you’re running, the choice is pretty clear.
And if your event falls somewhere in the middle? Give Mixily a try. No ads, no fees, no learning curve.
Create your free event on Mixily. Questions? Email us.
