Best Online Invitations for Kids' Birthday Parties

What parents need from a class invitation

• It reaches every family by text or in the class group chat, since you may not have every parent's email.
• It collects RSVPs in one place, so you can give the venue a number.
• Parents can reply without creating an account.
• You know how the service charges before you add 20 to 30 guests, siblings included.

Evite for a class party: free designs, paid upgrades

Evite covers the basics a class invitation needs, and it can cost nothing.

• By text: Evite sends invitations by text, email or shareable link. Its built-in text sending covers US and Canada numbers only, and you can send the shareable link by text yourself.
• RSVPs and accounts: replies are tracked in real time, and guests do not need an Evite account to RSVP from the link.
• What a class-sized list costs: nothing on a design labeled Free, unless you add a Premium upgrade. Premium is priced per event by guest list size, with packages for up to 12, 30, 75 and 750 guests, so siblings can move a class into a larger package.
• Choose it if a free design covers what you need.

Punchbowl for a class party: characters and a membership

Punchbowl highlights kids' character invitations.

• By text: Punchbowl invitations are sent by email or text message.
• RSVPs and accounts: RSVPs are tracked in real time, and guests can view and respond without creating a Punchbowl account.
• What a class-sized list costs: a membership after a free trial, according to Punchbowl's help center. Check that the plan's guest limit covers everyone you add, because each person on the guest list counts.
• Choose it if your child wants a favorite character on the invitation.

Partiful for a class party: a free page, one link

Partiful fits the group-chat habit: one link for the whole class.

• By text: you share one Partiful link by text, WhatsApp or email, and can invite an unlimited number of guests that way.
• RSVPs and accounts: guests do not need the app. To RSVP, guests enter a name and phone number and confirm a texted code.
• What a class-sized list costs: nothing for the core platform, according to Partiful's help center. Premium invite designs are an optional paid extra.
• Choose it if cost matters most and the party is casual.

Paperless Post for a class party: stationery-style cards

Paperless Post brings a stationery look to a class invitation, and a class-sized list fits within its free direct sends.

• By text: direct sending by text works for US and Canada numbers, and a shareable link can go into any messaging app.
• RSVPs: direct sends track RSVPs, deliveries and whether the invitation was opened.
• What a class-sized list costs: nothing on a free design, which can be sent directly to up to 50 recipients at no cost, and shared by link at no cost. Paid designs are priced in Coins for each recipient.
• Choose it if you want a stationery-style card.

Canva for a class party: design it, share it or print it

Canva is the option here if you want paper invitations in backpacks as well as a link.

• By text: Canva gives you a public view link or a downloaded file, which you paste into a text or group chat yourself.
• RSVPs: we did not find built-in RSVP tracking described on Canva's invitation pages. Canva's FAQ suggests including contact information so that guests can reply to you.
• What a class-sized list costs: Canva has a free plan, and a paid subscription for premium content and tools. Printed invitations are ordered through Canva Print.
• Choose it if you want full control of the design, or printed cards to hand out at school.

Blast for a class party: an animated video with music

Blast, the publisher of this guide, makes the invitation an animated video with music.

• By text: you pick a theme, add the party details and share the invite as a link by text, WhatsApp or email.
• RSVPs and accounts: parents RSVP from the invite with their name and phone number, with no account to create and no app to install.
• What a class-sized list costs: nothing. Blast is free to create and send, with unlimited guests, so siblings change nothing.
• Choose it if you want the invitation to be a video with music. If one of the other "Choose it if" lines fits you better, pick that service and not Blast. Blast does not print cards, and it is not a general design tool.

How to choose an invitation for a kids' birthday

• If it has to be free, look at an Evite free design or Partiful.
• If your child wants a favorite character, look at Punchbowl.
• If you want to hand out printed cards as well, look at Canva.
• If you want an animated video invitation with music, look at Blast.