Paperless Post's pay-per-event sending uses Coins per recipient, while Greenvelope prices each mailing by the number of people on the guest list, so the two totals behave differently as a list grows. Greenvelope single mailings start at $19 for a guest list of up to 20 people, with pricing based on list size and no subscription required. Those are two of the four ways digital invitation platforms price their services, and the differences are easy to miss until checkout. Some charge a flat one-time fee for your mailing. Some are free to start but show advertising to your guests. Some sell coins or credits that you spend on each card and each customization. Some require a monthly or annual subscription before you can send anything at all. This guide explains how each model works, what a real event costs under each one, and what to check before you choose. The short version: for a single mailing to a known guest list, a flat price per mailing is usually the easier total to predict, because it is set before you open a design.
The Four Pricing Models at a Glance
| Model | How you pay | What to watch for |
|---|
| Flat one-time fee | One price per mailing, set by a guest-count tier; the Greenvelope model | Check which designs and tools each tier includes |
| Free with ads | Nothing up front; the platform earns revenue from advertising and upgrades | Ads appear on the invitation your guests open |
| Coins or credits | You buy a bundle, then spend coins on each card and each design add-on | Check included sending allowances, recipient counts and paid choices |
| Subscription | A monthly or annual membership unlocks sending | Renewals continue after your event unless you cancel |
Flat One-Time Pricing by Guest Count
Under flat pricing, you pay once for a mailing, and the price is set by a guest-count tier rather than by each individual guest. Everyone in the tier costs the same total, so a list of 87 guests and a list of 100 guests fall in the same tier and pay the same price. There is no meter running on individual recipients, no add-on charge for using a nicer design, and nothing to renew after the event. Newer entrant Lemonvite uses a flat model too, at $5 per event with artwork generated from a description; our Greenvelope vs. Lemonvite comparison covers how the two flat approaches differ on design sourcing, delivery, and RSVP depth. For another newer platform, our comparison of Greenvelope and Fotify sets its pricing beside a Greenvelope mailing.
Greenvelope works this way. Single mailings start at $19 for a guest list of up to 20 people, with pricing based on list size and no subscription required. As of September 2026, a 100-guest mailing is $99 and a 250-guest mailing is $249, with tiers in between. Every person on the list counts toward the tier, household members included. The mailing price includes envelope, liner, stamp and color customization. Invitation mailings include RSVP tracking with custom questions. Sending is available by email or text message in supported countries. Paid accounts start with 500 text messages; additional text messages and optional custom design services cost extra. The mailing fee is set by the guest-count tier. Hosts who send several times a year can add an optional annual membership starting at $60 per year for mailings of up to 20 people each. The complete tier table lives in our guide to how much Greenvelope costs.
Free-with-Ads Pricing
Ad-supported platforms charge nothing up front because the invitation itself carries advertising: third-party ads appear around the card and along the RSVP flow, and upgrade prompts sit inside the sending experience. Evite is the best-known example, and for a casual backyard gathering its no-cost tier does the basics well. The costs are indirect. Removing the ads means moving to a paid tier, premium designs are priced separately, and part of what your guests see is chosen by an advertiser rather than by you. Where a no-cost tier shows ads to your recipients, an ad-free platform such as Greenvelope charges a flat one-time price per mailing instead, so the trade is explicit: your money or your guests’ attention.
The model is also less permanent than it looks. Several platforms that started free-with-ads have since moved away from it; Punchbowl, for example, now runs on a membership subscription with a trial for new customers rather than an ongoing no-cost tier. And not every no-cost platform is ad-supported: Partiful charges nothing for standard events and earns fees on ticketed ones instead, so the trade there is feature depth rather than advertising; our Greenvelope vs. Partiful comparison covers what each model includes for a host. Our guide to ad-free digital invitations covers exactly what guests see under each approach.
Paperless Post Coins vs Flat Pricing
Greenvelope bases single-mailing pricing on the people on the guest list, while Paperless Post's pay-per-event sending counts recipient email addresses and phone numbers. Neither model is automatically cheaper. Compare the same guest list, the features you want and any optional extras before deciding.
Under Paperless Post's feature-set model, which it says is rolling out progressively and may not be available to all customers, each Card or Flyer sits in a feature set (Free, Basic, Premium or All-Access), and the Coin cost per recipient follows the set. Its free sending rules let an eligible design with no paid elements reach the first 50 direct recipients at no charge, then charge 1 Coin per additional direct recipient. For a paid design, check the pricing model available to your account and use Paperless Post's pricing calculator for your design, features and recipient count. Paperless Post counts each recipient email address or phone number, while Greenvelope counts every person on the guest list, household members included, so compare the same list on both.
On Greenvelope, a 100-guest mailing is $99, with envelope, liner, stamp and color customization included; additional text messages and optional custom design services cost extra. For hosts who send several events a year, Paperless Post also offers Paperless Pro, an annual subscription priced by guest count instead of Coins, and Greenvelope offers annual memberships; our guide to Paperless Post alternatives for recurring business events prices a 12-event program on both. For named, side-by-side platform breakdowns, see our Greenvelope vs Paperless Post comparison.
Subscription and Membership Pricing
Subscription platforms charge a recurring membership before you can send. The model suits year-round senders: e-card services such as Jacquie Lawson ($36 per year) and American Greetings (from $29.99 per year, both as published on their own sites in August 2026) are built around ongoing membership, and Punchbowl now sells memberships in tiers, with ads still shown to guests except on its top Platinum and Business plans, per its own help center. Event management software takes a related shape: RSVPify pairs a no-cost tier with paid plans sized to the event, and our Greenvelope vs. RSVPify comparison covers where that pricing approach fits against a flat one-time mailing. The watch-out is the direction of the commitment: the subscription continues after your event unless you cancel, so a single celebration can quietly become an annual charge.
An optional membership is a different thing from a required one. Greenvelope offers an annual membership from $60 per year for hosts who send often, but no purchase requires it; a single mailing is a one-time flat price, and there is nothing to cancel afterward. For year-round business senders, our guide to the best Paperless Post alternatives for recurring business events compares annual costs on five platforms using one 12-event program.
Per-Recipient Pricing, and Why a Tier Is Not a Per-Guest Rate
Some platforms bill per recipient, but sending allowances, feature choices and prepaid currency bundles affect the amount payable. Count recipient email addresses or phone numbers separately from the people they represent.
Greenvelope uses guest-count tiers: lists of 87 and 100 people have the same mailing fee within the up-to-100 tier. Every person on the list counts, household members included. Dividing the fee by the list size gives an average cost per person, not a separately billed per-person rate.
What the Same Event Costs Under Each Model
These mailing examples are illustrative. Greenvelope figures below are as published in September 2026. Paperless Post's free sending rules were reviewed on October 30, 2026, and its feature-set pricing documentation was checked on November 2, 2026.
A 20-guest birthday dinner. Flat: $19 one time on Greenvelope for a guest list of up to 20 people. Free with ads: $0, with third-party ads on the invitation your guests open and a paid tier to remove them. Coins: on Paperless Post, an eligible free design with no paid elements sends to the first 50 direct recipients at no charge; a paid design costs Coins per recipient, so price it in the platform's calculator. Subscription: check the annual membership price, guest allowance and renewal terms for the plan you would use.
A 100-person invitation mailing, assuming one direct recipient email address or phone number per person. Flat: Greenvelope charges $99 for a guest list of up to 100 people. Coins: on Paperless Post, an eligible design with no paid elements reaches the first 50 direct recipients at no charge, then costs 1 Coin per additional direct recipient; use its calculator for paid designs and features. For ad-supported plans and subscriptions, check recipient limits, included features and renewal terms before comparing totals.
Compare the payable total for your actual mailing, including paid design elements, messaging allowances, optional services and renewal terms.
What to Check Before You Choose
- The total at your exact guest count, quoted before you start designing rather than discovered at checkout
- Which designs, customization options and RSVP tools the price includes; Greenvelope includes envelope, liner, stamp and color customization, plus RSVP tracking with custom questions on invitation mailings
- Whether guests see advertising anywhere on the invitation or in the RSVP flow
- Whether anything renews after the event, and how cancellation works
- What happens when the guest list grows: a new tier, more coins, or nothing at all
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Greenvelope a monthly subscription?
Greenvelope single mailings start at $19 for a guest list of up to 20 people, with pricing based on list size and no subscription required. An optional annual membership, from $60 per year for mailings of up to 20 people each, exists for hosts who send several times a year, but no purchase requires it and single mailings never renew.
What are coins or credits on digital invitation platforms?
Coins and credits are a prepaid currency some platforms sell in bundles, then charge per card and per customization when you send. The total cost of an event depends on the design chosen and the guest count, so it is settled at checkout rather than up front. Greenvelope does not use coins or credits; each mailing is one flat price set by its guest-count tier.
Coins or flat pricing: which is cheaper for one event?
Neither model is automatically cheaper: Greenvelope counts people on the guest list, while Paperless Post's pay-per-event sending counts recipient email addresses and phone numbers. A Greenvelope mailing for up to 100 people is $99; additional text messages and optional custom design services cost extra. For Paperless Post, check free sending eligibility and use its calculator for your design, features and recipient count under the pricing model available to your account.
Are free digital invitations really free?
Free tiers cost no money, but the platform earns its revenue somewhere, usually through third-party ads shown to your guests and paid upgrades to remove them. Whether that trade suits the occasion is your call. Greenvelope takes the opposite approach: a flat one-time price per mailing, with no advertising shown to guests on any plan.
Do digital invitation platforms charge per guest?
Greenvelope charges by guest-count tier, so adding a person changes the mailing fee only when the list moves into a higher tier. Some other platforms bill per recipient, but sending allowances and prepaid currency bundles can affect the amount payable.
How much does Greenvelope cost?
Greenvelope single mailings start at $19 for a guest list of up to 20 people, with pricing based on list size and no subscription required; as of September 2026 a 100-guest mailing is $99 and a 250-guest mailing is $249. Envelope, liner, stamp and color customization are included, with RSVP tracking on invitation mailings and text delivery in supported countries. Paid accounts start with 500 text messages; additional text messages and optional custom design services cost extra. For frequent senders, an optional annual membership starts at $60 per year for mailings of up to 20 people each.
What should I check before choosing a digital invitation platform?
For Greenvelope and other platforms, check the total for your guest list, the included designs and tools, guest advertising, optional charges and renewal terms. Greenvelope offers single-mailing pricing with no subscription required, optional annual memberships and an ad-free experience for hosts and guests.
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