The word "free" is working overtime in this category. Every major group event planning app either calls itself free or has a free tier listed somewhere on the pricing page. In practice, the gaps between those claims are significant: ads on every event page, one-poll limits, no-access-without-a-credit-card walls, and per-coin pricing systems that clock in at $0.48 per use. This breakdown tests each "free" claim against what you actually need to plan a real group event.
GetTogether Planner turns “we should hang” into an actual plan. It’s free: share one link for date polls, RSVPs, and AI itinerary suggestions.
TL;DR: Partiful and Luma offer the most genuinely unlimited free tiers. GetTogether Planner is the most capable free tier for coordination tools (1 event/month, up to 5 guests per event, full polling + AI). Paperless Post has no free tier at all. Punchbowl's "free" is a 7-day trial. Evite's free tier is ad-supported. Doodle's free tier allows exactly 1 group poll.
What Free Actually Means in This Category
The working definition of a functional free tier: you can plan a real event (propose a date, collect RSVPs, manage guest details) without entering payment information, seeing ads on your event page, or hitting a wall that stops you mid-planning. By that definition, most apps in this category fail the test in at least one way.
This matters because the hidden cost isn't always money. Ads on your event page signal to guests that this is a budget tool. A 1-poll limit means you restart a new poll for every question. A per-send coin system means you're mentally calculating costs on every invitation. None of these are actually free in the sense most people mean when they search for a free event planning app.
The 8 Apps, Tested
GetTogether Planner
Genuinely free for up to 1 event per month with up to 5 guests per event, with no credit card required to start. The free tier includes date polling, place polling, activity polling, RSVP tracking, and 2 AI itinerary suggestions per month. No ads on event pages. No guest download required. Those caps are fine for the occasional small get-together; anyone hosting more than once a month or a group larger than 5 will want Starter or Pro. Starter is $2.99/month (3 events, 5 AI itineraries/month, up to 15 guests per event). Pro is $6.99/month with unlimited guests, or $69.99/year — which, compared to paying monthly, saves you 2 months' worth over the year.
The free use case: a friend group planning the occasional get-together — about one a month — who needs more than just an invitation app.
Evite
Free tier exists and is functional. You get full event details, RSVP tracking, a mobile app, shareable link, and upload-your-own templates. The trade-off: ads appear on the event page. For guests, this means clicking through an Evite link and seeing advertising alongside your birthday party invitation. Premium removes the ads, but premium pricing is quoted at checkout based on guest list size rather than published upfront — so you won't know what it costs until you're already in the purchase flow.
The free use case: simple event announcements where you and your guests don't mind ads and you don't need any coordination tools beyond RSVP collection.
Partiful
Free with no stated event limit and no published guest limit. Features on the free tier include animated event pages, custom fonts and backgrounds, date polls, guest list visibility (guests can see who else RSVP'd), shared photo albums, QR check-in, and payment collection. No credit card required. No ads on event pages.
The honest asterisk: Partiful has ticket-sale features that involve some form of paid tier, but the pricing for any premium features is not publicly stated. The core feature set described above is free and has been stable.
The free use case: parties, social events, and any situation where the invite aesthetic matters and the date polling is simple.
Punchbowl
Not free. Punchbowl offers a 7-day free trial, then charges: Plus $3.99/month (50 guests), Premium $7.99/month (100 guests), Platinum $11.99/month (500 guests), Business $79.99/month (5,000 guests). Lower tiers are ad-supported. The 7-day trial is real, but the product is designed to convert you to a paid plan. If you're planning a one-off event and don't want an ongoing subscription, Punchbowl is the wrong tool. For wedding-related events, wedding coordinator tools offer more appropriate planning depth than either Punchbowl or its alternatives. See the Punchbowl alternatives guide for options that are actually free.
Doodle
Free tier exists but with a critical limitation: 1 group poll. You also get 1 booking page and 1 one-on-one link on the free tier (unlimited sign-up sheets). For a friend group trying to coordinate even a single event with multiple open questions (date AND venue, for example), the 1-poll limit ends the free experience at question one. The free tier is also ad-supported. Doodle Pro is approximately $6.95/user/month (per-user pricing, not published publicly). Genuinely free for exactly one date-polling question — no more.
Luma
Free tier is the most unlimited in the category: unlimited events, unlimited guests, 500 invites per week, no platform fee on free events (5% on paid/ticketed events). No credit card required. No ads. Luma Plus is $59/month billed annually, adding 0% fees, 5,000 invites/week, custom URL, and calendar admins. The honest limitation for friend groups is not cost — it's fit. Luma is designed for tech meetups, professional events, and community gatherings. Using it for a casual friend gathering creates a slight register mismatch, and there are no group decision-making tools (no date polling, no place polling).
The free use case: unlimited events at zero cost if the professional aesthetic fits and you don't need coordination polls.
Eventbrite
Free for organizers on free (no-ticket-fee) events. If your event is ticketed (paid entry), fees are 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket plus 2.9% payment processing. Eventbrite Pro is $15/month for higher email volumes. For a private friend group gathering with no ticket sales, Eventbrite's free tier works technically — you can create a free event and collect RSVPs. The mismatch is that Eventbrite is a public marketplace. Your friend group birthday party will appear in Eventbrite's public event listings unless you set it to private, and the tool is optimized for ticket sales and public discovery, not friend-group coordination.
RSVPify
Free for up to 100 guests per event. Upgraded tiers exist but pricing is not published publicly. The free tier includes custom RSVP forms, sub-event management, dietary preference collection, and basic guest management. No credit card required for the free tier. No ads stated. The limitation for most friend groups is complexity — RSVPify is built for weddings and corporate events, and the interface reflects that. For a casual dinner with 12 friends, the setup overhead is disproportionate. For those events, simply creating an RSVP page through a lighter tool gets you to the same result in minutes.
The Comparison Table
| App | Is It Actually Free? | Hidden Limits | Ads on Free Tier | Credit Card Required | Best Free Use Case | When You'll Hit the Wall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GetTogether Planner | Yes | 1 event/mo, 2 AI/mo, 5 guests/event | No | No | Coordination-heavy friend events | >1 event per month or >5 guests |
| Evite | Yes (with trade-offs) | No coordination tools | Yes | No | Simple invite + RSVP | When you need polling or ad-free pages |
| Partiful | Yes | No stated limits | No | No | Parties, social events | Possibly with ticket-sale features (unlisted) |
| Punchbowl | No (7-day trial) | 50 guests (Plus), ad-supported | Yes (lower tiers) | Yes (post-trial) | Kids' birthday invites | Day 8 |
| Doodle | Barely | 1 group poll | Yes | No | Single date-scheduling question | Second question |
| Luma | Yes | 500 invites/week | No | No | Unlimited professional events | 5% fee on paid events |
| Eventbrite | Yes (free events) | Ticket fees on paid events | No | No | Public ticketed events | First paid ticket |
| RSVPify | Yes (≤100 guests) | Guest cap, complex setup | Not stated | No | Wedding/corporate RSVP | >100 guests or complex tiers |
Note: Paperless Post is excluded from this table because it has no free tier whatsoever — it runs on a coin-based payment system starting at $12 for 25 coins.
The Honest Winner by Use Case
No single app "wins" free across every use case. The right free tool depends on what you need:
Best free tier for coordination tools: GetTogether Planner (date polls, place polls, activity polls, AI itineraries, all free for 1 event/month with up to 5 guests per event, no credit card)
Best free tier for unlimited volume: Luma (unlimited events, unlimited guests, no fees on free events)
Best free tier for party aesthetics: Partiful (no stated limits, beautiful design, no ads)
Technically free but practically limited: Doodle (1 poll), Evite (ads), RSVPify (complexity)
Not actually free: Punchbowl (trial only), Paperless Post (pay per send)
What Free Means for AI Features
One more distinction worth flagging: AI itinerary generation is a paid feature in every app that offers it, except GetTogether Planner. Two AI itinerary suggestions per month are included on the free tier. If you want additional AI credits, the AI Plan Pack is $1.99 one-time for 10 credits. No other app in this comparison offers AI planning tools at any price, let alone free.
For a broader look at how all these apps stack up across more than just price, see the best group event planning apps for 2026 full comparison. For a direct breakdown of what's different about Evite's free tier versus alternatives, see free Evite alternatives.