Zola Alternatives: 8 Wedding Websites, Free and Paid (2026)

Short answer: the closest free swap for Zola is Joy: a similar website and registry, plus an Android app. Go with The Knot if you're booking vendors there, Minted if your invitations are Minted, BrideSpark if you want every planning tool free next to the website or your guests read French or Spanish, Riley & Grey to pay for design, and Appy Couple for a guest app.

Zola alternatives at a glance

Prices checked October 2026, in US dollars unless marked. Squarespace and Appy Couple set prices by location and only showed us Canadian dollars, so those are in CA$.

Why couples switch from Zola

Zola's iPhone app is rated 4.9 from about 98,000 ratings, Zola lists over 600 templates, and its registry sits inside the website. Couples still leave, usually for one of these reasons, each taken from Zola's own pages.

One of you uses Android

"At this time, the free Zola app is only available on iOS, so sorry about that!" That's the whole answer on Zola's app page. The website works in any phone's browser, but if the partner with the Samsung is the one keeping the guest list, they're doing it without the app.

You, or your bank, are outside the US

Zola only ships within the United States, and to move cash-fund money to your bank "you must have a United States checking account with a United States address." For a couple in Toronto or Dublin, that takes out the registry, which is the thing Zola does best.

Your guests read another language

Zola doesn't translate your website. You can type your own text in Spanish or French, but fields you can't edit, "like the clickable buttons on the website", stay in English. Zola also says it's "not able to support special characters" on wedding websites. If a name has an accent or a tilde (Inès, Peña), preview it before anyone gets the link.

You'd rather not have a store at the center

"Zola is, first and foremost, a store," says Zola's FAQ on how it makes money, adding that it makes nothing on your cash funds. Set your Zola registry to Visible and it's built into the website, so guests shop without leaving the page; a registry anywhere else goes in as a link. That's fine if you're registering at Zola. If your gifts are a honeymoon fund and an Amazon list, you'd be using a store's wedding website for everything except the store.

The extras add up

Zola's seating chart is free for up to 15 guests. Past that you need the Premium version, which Zola's App Store listing sells for $14.99. The same listing has Premium SMS at $59.99 or $79.99 (texting guests is free; this is the upgrade) and a disposable camera for 150 guests at $39.99. You may never buy any of it, but a seating plan for 150 people isn't part of "free".

More marketing than you signed up for

Zola's privacy policy says its "marketing and advertising partners may send you marketing communications", and that it occasionally gives its postal mailing list (customer names and postal addresses) to other companies for marketing. There's an opt-out form in Zola's Privacy Center. Whichever site you pick, sign up with an email address you only use for the wedding.

Complaints that are out of date

Two complaints you'll still read online no longer hold. Zola lets you change the header and body fonts and the font and navigation colors, so "every Zola site looks the same" is weaker than it was. Joy's own Zola comparison, updated July 2026, still quotes a review saying you "cannot change fonts or colors" and counts 148 Zola templates.

And cash gifts don't have to cost guests 2.5%. Zola's zero-fee option routes the gift through Venmo, and contributions "via bank account, debit card, or Venmo balance are completely fee-free". The guest has to come back to Zola to log the amount, and Venmo itself charges 3% if they pay with a credit card.

When to stay on Zola

If you're both on iPhone, you live in the US and the registry is the point, stay. Moving would cost you an evening and gain you nothing.

Free alternatives to Zola

Joy: the closest like-for-like swap

Joy's free plan covers the website, registry, iPhone and Android apps, unlimited guests, online RSVPs, digital invitations and more than one editor account. Guests see only the events they're invited to and don't need an account to RSVP in a browser, and Joy's free Hotel Concierge Service can negotiate a room block for you.

On languages Joy beats Zola, up to a point. A globe icon switches Joy's menus and buttons into the guest's language (from a limited set), but your own text stays as you wrote it. Two languages means a second version of each page, shown to the right guests by tagging them.

The paid extras mirror Zola's. The seating chart is a one-time purchase per event, and texting needs Messaging Plus; the help center gives neither price. When a guest gives to a cash fund by card, the guest pays the processing fee (3.5% in Joy's example, so a $100 gift costs them $103.50), and you pay $1.70 each time you move the money to your bank. Guests need the Joy app to add photos to your gallery. More in BrideSpark vs Joy.

The Knot: if you're booking vendors there anyway

The Knot makes sense if you're already using its vendor directory and want the website and guest list in the same account. The site is free in 100+ designs. RSVPs can cover several events and ask your own questions ("Chicken or fish?"), the app runs on iPhone and Android, and you can request a hotel room block through its partner Engine. A domain is $19.99 for one year or $39.98 for two, and it doesn't renew automatically.

The weak spot is the login. There's one per wedding, so you share a password: the help center says "there isn't a way to add another email to your account", though a multi-user feature is in the works. Guests pay a 2.5% fee on card gifts to cash funds, and you can't cover it for them. And The Knot calls itself "a US-based website". Its tools work in US dollars, its app isn't offered outside the US, it warns that some guests abroad may not be able to view the site or RSVP, and the RSVP page's own wording can't be changed into another language. See BrideSpark vs The Knot.

Minted: if your invitations are Minted anyway

Minted is for couples buying its paper who want a site in the same design. The website is free, with "hundreds of artist designs". Guests find themselves by name and reply for their whole party, you can ask entrée questions, and replies export to a spreadsheet. There's a link for collecting addresses, free envelope addressing, and a custom domain for $15 a year, the cheapest stand-alone domain on this list. Sites stay out of Google unless you opt in.

Minted is a stationery company first. Creating a site gets you a $50 credit toward printed stationery, which tells you where it hopes you'll spend. We couldn't find a Minted wedding app or anything about languages, and its page doesn't give the card fee on cash funds.

BrideSpark: the whole plan and the site, free

BrideSpark (ours) suits couples who want the website tied to the rest of the planning, with no registry store attached. It's free for every couple, with no premium plan: website and RSVPs, plus guest list, budget with payment reminders, checklist, seating chart, day-of timeline, printable stationery, and a photo gallery guests add to by link or QR code. There are no ads on wedding websites. Registries and cash funds are links to whatever you already use, Zola included.

BrideSpark runs in 7 languages: English, French, Canadian French, Spanish, German, Brazilian Portuguese and Italian. Each of you plans in your own. Everything guests see (buttons, RSVP form, emails) is in the one guests' language you choose, and you can write your own text in two languages side by side. If your guests share one of those languages, this is the one we'd pick.

What you give up: there's no custom domain, so your address is bridesparkapp.com/w/your-names. There are 24 styles, against Zola's 600+ templates. We don't handle money, so a cash fund means linking PayPal, Venmo or a fund site, and their fees apply. Guests all see one language and can't switch, which suits a French-speaking family better than a mixed room. Sites are always hidden from search engines, so guests need the link, and a small "Made with BrideSpark" footer link can't be turned off. Our iPhone and Android apps are on the way (today it runs in any phone's browser), and we only launched in 2026. See the free wedding website or BrideSpark vs Zola.

Paid alternatives, and when they're worth it

We wouldn't pay for a wedding website unless the design is the point or you need something the free sites don't do: a domain in the price, a guest app, or a menu where guests pick their language.

Riley & Grey: design first, domain included

Pick Riley & Grey if design matters more to you than price. Designing is free; publishing costs $39 a month or $299 a year, which includes the custom domain, digital invitations you can export for print, and a registry with cash funds. A one-time $39 "Reserve" holds your domain and design until you publish, and counts toward the membership. Sites are hidden from search engines by default, and Advanced Mode shows each guest only the events they're invited to.

Cash gifts carry a 2.95% fee, paid by the guest or by you, and the password covers the whole site, not single pages. After the wedding, Riley & Grey will transfer the domain to you on request, and a full-resolution PDF of the site costs $39.

Squarespace: full control, do-it-yourself RSVPs

Squarespace suits a couple where one of you already builds websites for fun. You get wedding templates, full control of the layout, and a free domain for the first year on annual plans. There's no free plan, just a 14-day trial with no card needed. Basic showed as CA$21 a month, billed annually.

It's a website builder, not a wedding tool, and the RSVPs show it. They're a form that sends answers to your email, Google Drive or Mailchimp, and Squarespace's wedding guide describes no guest list to check them against, so meal counts happen in a spreadsheet. If you're keeping a Zola registry, a Zola block shows its items on the page.

Appy Couple: an app for a wedding weekend

Appy Couple is built for multi-day and destination weddings where guests will actually open an app. One package covers the website, iPhone and Android apps and matching digital invitations, with a separate RSVP for each event, entrée choices, reminders and guest photo uploads. It showed as CA$129 a year or CA$16 a month, and domains cost extra (most about US$19.99 a year).

Its pricing page shows no free plan, and an app only pays off if guests download it. For a Saturday wedding at one venue, a website does the same job. For a long weekend abroad, our guide to destination weddings covers what guests need from you, and when.

WedSites: pay once, with a language switcher

WedSites suits two-language weddings where each guest picks their own language. Designing is free, then you pay once: $39 for Basic (connect your own domain, add a password), $99 for Standard (RSVPs, custom questions, several events) or $199 for Pro, which adds a multilingual site with a language selector in the menu.

Before you pay: you still write every translation yourself, and a two-language site with RSVPs means the $199 plan. And "once" buys a set stretch of hosting: 6 months on Basic, 12 on Standard and 24 on Pro, then from $5 a month paid yearly. More in our bilingual wedding website guide.

What each one costs over a year

Say your site goes live with the save-the-dates nine months before the wedding and stays up three months after, so guests can find the photos. That's twelve months.

Leave the site up longer and the subscriptions keep billing, while WedSites' included hosting runs out. On a free site the realistic spend is a domain or nothing, and we'd only buy one for a short address on the invitation or because you might switch sites later.

What your guests pay to give you cash

Card fees on cash funds mostly land on guests.

Say 40 guests each give $200 by card. That's $8,000 in gifts, and the fees come to $200 at 2.5%, $236 at 2.95% and $280 at 3.5%. An $80 spread is too small to choose a website on. The free route matters more: on Zola or The Knot, put one line by the fund, "Venmo from your balance or bank is fee-free."

Can you keep your Zola registry and switch websites?

Yes. The registry stays where it is and only the website moves: Zola publishes how-tos for adding its registry to sites on The Knot, Squarespace, WeddingWire, Minted and custom sites, and BrideSpark lists Zola as a registry option. Do it in this order:

1. Export your guest list first. Zola says you can "download all your invited guests as a spreadsheet". Do it before you change anything, and note who has already replied if the file doesn't show it. BrideSpark's import reads names, households, meals and RSVP answers from a CSV made in Excel or Google Sheets, so nobody retypes 150 names.
2. Settle the domain before anything is printed. The address on your save-the-dates is the one guests will type for a year. If you might switch, we'd buy a domain from a registrar and forward it to whichever site you're on, so the printed address keeps working.
3. Rebuild events and meal choices before inviting anyone. Check that a family-only rehearsal dinner shows only to family.
4. Add your Zola registry link. Put any other registries next to it.
5. Close the old RSVP. Two live RSVP forms means two half-counts. If nothing printed points to the old Zola site, put a password on it (that's in Zola's privacy settings). If your save-the-dates carry the Zola address, keep it open but cut the home page down to one line with the new address.
6. Tell guests once. One short message does it:

If you're building from scratch, our list of what to put on a wedding website covers the sections guests look for.

Which Zola alternative should you pick?

If two rows fit, try the free one first. Build the home page and the RSVP, send the link to a friend, and see whether they can reply on their phone without asking you anything.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to Zola?

For most couples it's Joy: free, close to Zola in how it works, and on Android as well as iPhone. The Knot suits couples booking vendors there, Minted couples buying Minted invitations, and BrideSpark couples who want every planning tool free next to the website or whose guests read French, Spanish, German, Portuguese or Italian. Riley & Grey and Squarespace are the paid picks for design.

Is there a free alternative to Zola?

Yes. Joy, The Knot, Minted and BrideSpark all publish a wedding website with online RSVPs for free. Custom domains cost extra on Joy (about $19.99 a year), The Knot ($19.99 a year) and Minted ($15 a year), and BrideSpark doesn't offer one. Riley & Grey, Squarespace, Appy Couple and WedSites are paid.

Is Zola really free?

The website, RSVPs and registry are free. A custom domain costs from $17.99, the seating chart past 15 guests is $14.99 in the iPhone app, and Premium SMS and the disposable camera are paid extras. Guests pay 2.5% on card gifts to cash funds unless you cover it (checked October 2026).

Zola vs Joy: which is better?

Zola, if the registry is the center of your plans and you both use iPhones: its store is built into the site, with over 600 templates. Joy, if one of you uses Android or guests need menus and buttons in another language. Guests pay a card fee on cash gifts at both (2.5% at Zola unless you cover it, 3.5% in Joy's example), and both charge for texting upgrades and for the seating chart (at Zola, past 15 guests).

Does Zola work outside the US?

Only partly. Zola ships only within the United States, and moving cash gifts to your bank needs a United States checking account with a US address. So the registry and cash funds, Zola's main strengths, are built for couples in the US.

Can I use my Zola registry with another wedding website?

Yes. Zola publishes how-tos for adding its registry to wedding websites on The Knot, Squarespace, WeddingWire, Minted and custom sites, and BrideSpark lists Zola among the registries you can link.

Does Zola have an Android app?

No. Zola says its app "is only available on iOS", though its website works in an Android phone's browser. Joy and The Knot have Android apps (The Knot's isn't offered outside the US), and BrideSpark works in any phone's browser, with apps on the way.