Greenvelope, RSVPify, Partiful, Evite, and Luma all let a host set a limit on how many guests can confirm online, though what that limit does differs by platform. Greenvelope is a strong fit when you want a designed invitation, a named guest list, and a documented capacity setting: its Maximum capacity setting caps how many guests can respond yes to an invitation mailing. If overflow should queue on a waitlist, or individual ticket tiers need their own limits, one of the alternatives below may fit better, and this guide shows exactly where.
This page covers one decision: choosing an invitation platform when your venue, caterer, or budget holds a fixed number of people. For a broader comparison of design, pricing, and guest experience, start with our roundup of the best digital invitation platforms; for how online responses work in general, see the online RSVP guide.
At a Glance
- Separate the questions before you choose anything: how many people you may invite, how many may confirm, how many extra guests one invitation may claim, who is allowed to respond, and what happens once the event is full
- Pick Greenvelope for a designed invitation to a named list with a documented attendance cap, Partiful or Luma when overflow should queue on a waitlist, and RSVPify when the event and its individual ticket tiers need their own limits
- Check the fine print first: some capacity controls sit on paid tiers, waitlist admission is automatic on some platforms and host-approved on others, Evite’s capacity control belongs to its Invitations product rather than Event Pages, and documentation varies on how group replies count and what happens when a group requests more places than remain
- Use the worked 40-seat dinner and the pre-send checklist to verify every setting before the invitation goes out
How We Checked These Platforms
Greenvelope publishes this guide, so read the recommendation with that in mind. Every capability claim comes from each platform’s own current product, help, or pricing pages, reviewed on October 16, 2026, and linked throughout. Where a page does not cover a behavior, we say it is not described in the documentation reviewed rather than treating it as absent, and we did not run live tests at any platform’s capacity boundary.
Six Controls That Sound Alike and Are Not
Most capacity surprises happen because a host set one of these and assumed it covered the others. These six controls address different parts of registration.
- An invite limit caps how many people go on the guest list at all. Evite’s Free Invitations support up to 750 guests, and Evite Pro raises that to 2,500 guests per Invitation. On Greenvelope, the purchased guest-count tier plays this role: it covers everyone on the mailing list, reply or no reply, with each listed person counting individually, household members included.
- An attendance cap limits how many confirmed yes responses the event collects online. Greenvelope’s Maximum capacity setting does this; the other four platforms document event capacity controls of their own, profiled below.
- An additional-guest allowance controls how many extra guests one invitation may bring along. It is not the total number of seats a named household invitation covers, since each named member of a grouped household carries an attendance response of their own. Greenvelope’s Plus 1 Policy sets this allowance per individual contact, and it is not the feature used to link couples or families, a distinction our online RSVP guide works through control by control. Evite’s Limit Per Guest setting applies one allowance, up to 9 additional guests per RSVP, across the entire guest list, and its documentation states different limits cannot be set for different guests. Partiful caps how many plus-ones guests may bring, with the default set to one.
- An access restriction controls who may respond at all. Greenvelope sends to a defined guest list through personalized invitation links that identify each invited guest or household for tracking, and a public shareable link can also be enabled; sharing one does not, by itself, identify everyone who received it or show who has not responded. RSVPify can restrict registration to listed invitees when the invite list’s security is set to invite-only, with public registration remaining an option. Partiful’s Require Guest Approval prompts guests to apply for the guest list, and the host sets each one to Approved, Pending, or Remove.
- A waitlist covers two separate questions: how guests join the queue, and how they get in. On Partiful, the host enables the waitlist, guests can join it after capacity is reached, and promotion is automatic. On Luma, new registrations join the queue automatically once its waitlist is enabled, but admission needs host approval. RSVPify’s documented method is a separate, host-built waitlist event, and Greenvelope’s documentation does not describe a waitlist, so there it is the host’s own follow-up list.
- Per-ticket inventory limits individual choices rather than the whole event. RSVPify documents limited quantities on individual ticket tiers alongside its event-wide limit; finer per-option limits on RSVP choices appear only in its next-generation Enterprise documentation, so do not assume them on other plans. Luma documents per-ticket-type capacity, though its waitlist is event-wide. Per-ticket inventory is not described in the Greenvelope documentation reviewed.
Capacity Controls Side by Side
Documented capacity controls by platform, from official product and help pages reviewed October 16, 2026. No capacity-boundary testing was performed.
| Platform |
Event-wide attendance cap |
Documented behavior when full |
Waitlist entry and admission |
Plan and product notes |
| Greenvelope |
Maximum capacity setting on any invitation mailing; caps yes responses |
The same setting is documented for stopping new RSVPs. How a household or additional-guest reply counts toward the cap is not documented |
No waitlist described; hosts follow up manually from the tracking dashboard |
RSVP features come with invitation mailings; save the dates, announcements, and cards do not accept RSVPs |
| RSVPify |
Event Capacity Limit, plus limits on individual ticket tiers |
The event closes for new registrations once the limit is reached |
Documented method is a separate, host-built waitlist event |
On personal plans, capacity limits are listed with Platinum; events selling tickets get Professional features with no subscription, with per-ticket and processing fees |
| Partiful |
Maximum capacity under Event Settings; the cap governs guest RSVPs |
With the waitlist off, no one can RSVP after the cap is reached; with it on, guests can join the waitlist |
Host enables the waitlist; promotion is automatic, ordered by each guest’s first RSVP time, with a text to the guest. Hosts can manually override waitlist capacity and mark someone as going. Non-ticketed RSVP events, not paid tickets |
Core event planning tools at no cost; optional premium invitation designs and ticket-purchase fees exist |
| Evite |
Set an event capacity field under RSVP options on Evite Invitations |
Once the RSVP count meets the number, further guests see a guest-list-full message |
Not described in the documentation reviewed |
The capacity control belongs to Evite Invitations; Event Pages list no maximum event capacity. Free Invitations hold up to 750 guests, Evite Pro 2,500 |
| Luma |
Event capacity with an Over-Capacity Waitlist toggle; only approved guests count toward the limit |
Closes registration at capacity, or routes new registrations to a host-approved waitlist when Over-Capacity Waitlist is enabled |
Entry is automatic; admission requires host approval, and a cancellation does not automatically promote anyone |
Waitlists cover paid tickets, authorized on joining and charged on approval, except crypto-priced tickets; the waitlist is event-wide, not per ticket type |
Greenvelope: A Designed Invitation With a Documented Attendance Cap
Greenvelope treats a capacity-limited event as three separate numbers, each set deliberately. The attendance cap is the Maximum capacity setting, a toggle under Details, then RSVP Page, then Basic RSVP Info on any invitation mailing, which caps how many guests can respond yes. The additional-guest allowance is the Plus 1 Policy, which sets how many extra guests each individual contact may bring, editable one contact at a time or in bulk, with the option to collect or require that guest’s information. The purchased guest-count tier is the third, a purchase limit rather than an attendance control: it covers everyone on the mailing list whether or not they reply.
Grouping a couple or family is a separate control again, and the one most often mistaken for an allowance. Household members are listed by name under one primary contact, their own email addresses and phone numbers optional, and the person completing the shared reply records a separate attendance response for each named member. The Plus 1 Policy documentation says plainly that it is not the feature used to link couples or family members. Our online RSVP guide works through both controls with a full household example.
The limitation worth knowing before you commit. The capacity instructions describe what the setting does, and the Closing RSVPs article directs hosts to that same Maximum capacity setting when an event can take no more guests. Three questions are left open: whether the cap counts individual people or responding contacts, what happens when a household or additional-guest reply asks for more places than remain, and whether a cancellation reopens a place. We did not test the boundary, and we are not inferring it. If your room is genuinely tight and much of your list is grouped into households or carries additional-guest allowances, confirm that counting basis with Greenvelope before you rely on the number, and watch the tracking dashboard as the count climbs.
Personalized invitation links identify each invited guest or household, so the host can see who has not answered, send or schedule RSVP reminder emails to them, and work from an expected headcount based on RSVPs. Open registration through a public shareable link is documented too, as are ticket sales and donations on business accounts. A waitlist and per-ticket inventory are not, so consider Partiful for automatic waitlist promotion on non-ticketed RSVP events, Luma for waitlisting with host-approved admission, or RSVPify for event-wide and ticket-tier limits.
Single mailings start at $19 for a guest list of up to 20 people, with pricing based on list size and no subscription required; the pricing guide covers the tiers.
RSVPify: Event and Ticket-Tier Limits, Gated by Plan
RSVPify documents an Event Capacity Limit that closes the event to new registrations once reached, plus limited quantities on individual ticket tiers, and can restrict registration to listed invitees when the invite list’s security is set to invite-only; public registration remains an option. Finer-grained controls, such as guest limits on individual RSVP options, appear in RSVPify’s next-generation Enterprise documentation, so do not count on them outside that product. Its documented waitlist setup uses a separate waitlist event the host builds and points guests to after closing the main event; automatic promotion from it is not described in the documentation reviewed.
Plan requirements depend on the event type. On non-ticketed personal plans, the no-cost plan covers up to 100 guests with basic RSVP features, capacity limits are listed with the Platinum plan, and custom additional-guest counts beyond a single unnamed plus-one sit on business plans. Events selling tickets receive Professional features with no subscription, including custom additional-guest allowances, with a per-ticket fee plus payment-processing fees. The tradeoff to weigh is that the richest controls arrive through a paid plan, a ticketed event, or the Enterprise product.
Partiful: A Host-Enabled Automatic Waitlist at No Cost
Partiful lets a host set a maximum capacity under Event Settings and enable an automatic waitlist. The two work together but are separate choices: with the waitlist turned off, no one can RSVP after the cap is reached. When the host enables it, guests can join the waitlist after capacity is reached, and Partiful promotes them in an order set by each guest’s first RSVP time, notifying them by text. The cap governs guest RSVPs, while hosts can manually override waitlist capacity and mark someone as going. That workflow covers non-ticketed RSVP events: Partiful’s own ticketing comparison lists waitlists on paid tickets as unavailable.
Hosts can cap how many plus-ones guests may bring, with the default set to one. Events are private by default, and Require Guest Approval asks guests to apply for the guest list, with the host setting each applicant to Approved, Pending, or Remove. Its core event planning tools are available at no cost, with optional premium invitation designs and a fee on ticket purchases. The fit question is presentation: Partiful’s social, party-forward style is an editorial preference call for a formal dinner or client event, built around shared links rather than a formally addressed card.
Evite: A Capacity Field on Evite Invitations
Evite documents a straightforward control, with one product distinction that decides whether you have it at all: the Set an event capacity field belongs to Evite Invitations, reached through My Invitations, then Manage Event, then RSVP Options, while Evite’s Event Pages product lists no maximum event capacity in its RSVP settings. Hosts who need the cap should build an Invitation. Once the RSVP count meets the number, additional guests who try to RSVP see a message that the guest list is full, and the host can raise or remove the limit at any time.
Evite states it places no set limit on how many guests can RSVP apart from the capacity the host sets. On guest-list size, its documentation is specific about which product it is describing: Free Invitations support up to 750 guests, and Evite Pro raises that to 2,500 per Invitation. Two limitations to check: the Limit Per Guest setting allows up to 9 additional guests per RSVP, applied across the entire guest list with no way to set different limits for different guests, and no waitlist is described in the documentation reviewed, so overflow is the host’s own follow-up.
Luma: Event-Wide Capacity With an Approval-Based Waitlist
Luma approaches the problem from the events-and-registration side. Hosts set an event capacity, which on its own closes registration when the event is full; with the Over-Capacity Waitlist enabled, new registrations instead join the queue automatically. Only approved guests count toward the limit, and admission from the waitlist requires host approval, so a cancellation does not automatically promote anyone. The waitlist covers paid tickets as well: guests authorize payment when they join and are charged only if approved, with crypto-priced tickets excluded.
Ticket-type capacity is a separate number that marks a ticket sold out, and the waitlist is event-wide rather than per ticket type, so a single sold-out tier does not get its own queue while other tiers remain available. When group registration is enabled, Luma’s capacity documentation states that each ticket in the registration counts toward event capacity. The tradeoff is presentation: Luma reads as a registration page rather than an invitation, which suits meetups and community events more than an occasion where a designed card addressed to a guest carries the moment.
A 40-Seat Dinner With 60 Invitees, Worked Through
Here is a purely hypothetical setup to make the controls concrete: a dinner in a room with 40 available guest seats and 60 invitees, counting named partners and household members. Sending one mailing to all 60 invitees only works as a reservation-style evening, where the wording tells every invitee up front that seating is limited to 40 and places go to the first confirmed replies. When each personal invitation should imply a reserved place, stagger instead: invite a list at or under 40 and send further invitations as declines come in.
Either way, the three Greenvelope numbers come apart cleanly. The guest-count tier must cover all 60 names, because every person on the mailing list counts toward the tier whether or not they reply. The Maximum capacity setting is 40, the available guest seats. And the additional-guest allowance is deliberate: zero plus-ones, with partners added as named household members instead, so every expected attendee is identifiable by name and the person completing a shared household RSVP records a separate attendance response for each named guest. Entering known guests by name rather than as unnamed extras also keeps your own count unambiguous.
Timing works backward from the venue or caterer’s final-count deadline: set the RSVP deadline far enough ahead of it to follow up, and send or schedule RSVP reminder emails to guests who have not replied. As yes responses approach 40, the host’s job shifts to tracking. If someone cancels, record the cancellation on the tracking page, check the live count, and confirm how the platform handles reopened availability before offering the place, since other invitees may still be able to respond while you wait for an answer; record the replacement guest’s attendance once they confirm.
The Pre-Send Capacity Checklist
- Set the attendance cap to the available guest places, not the invite count, and choose a plan or mailing tier that covers everyone on the list.
- Set additional-guest allowances deliberately, per contact where the platform supports it, and add known partners and family as named guests instead of unnamed extras.
- Ask your platform how a household or additional-guest reply counts toward the cap if the documentation does not say and your margin is thin.
- Decide the overflow plan before the first yes arrives: where a waitlist is documented, check whether admission is automatic or needs your approval; where none is described, keep a manual follow-up list.
- Send yourself a test invitation to confirm the guest experience; a test shows the flow you built, not what happens at the capacity boundary.
- Work backward from your caterer’s or venue’s final-count date to set the RSVP deadline, and send or schedule RSVP reminder emails to guests who have not replied.
- Recheck the cap after any guest-list change, because adding invitees never adds seats to the room.
If a designed invitation with a named guest list and a documented attendance cap is the combination you need, browse Greenvelope’s designs and set the Maximum capacity on your mailing before it goes out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which online invitation platforms let you limit how many guests can RSVP?
Greenvelope, RSVPify, Partiful, Evite, and Luma each document an event capacity control. On Greenvelope, the Maximum capacity setting on an invitation mailing caps how many guests can respond yes. RSVPify closes registrations at its Event Capacity Limit, Partiful blocks RSVPs at its cap or lets guests join a waitlist the host enables, Evite cuts off responses at the event capacity field on Evite Invitations, and Luma closes registration at capacity or routes new registrations to a host-approved waitlist when its Over-Capacity Waitlist is enabled. On Partiful the cap governs guest RSVPs, and hosts can manually override waitlist capacity to mark someone as going.
Does Greenvelope have a maximum capacity setting for RSVPs?
Yes. On any Greenvelope invitation mailing, the Maximum capacity toggle sits under Details, then RSVP Page, then Basic RSVP Info. It caps how many guests can respond yes, and the closing guide points hosts to that same setting when an event can take no more guests. RSVP features come with invitation mailings, so save the dates, announcements, and cards do not accept RSVPs.
What is the difference between a guest list limit and an RSVP capacity limit?
A guest list limit caps how many people you can invite, like the 750-guest allowance on an Evite Free Invitation or Greenvelope’s purchased guest-count tier, which covers everyone on the mailing list whether or not they reply. An RSVP capacity limit caps how many of those invitees can confirm. A capacity-limited event needs both numbers set on purpose, because each one limits a different thing.
Do plus-ones count against an RSVP capacity limit?
Keep the planning rule separate from product behavior. The planning rule: count every guest confirmed attending, including companions recorded in RSVPs, in your working total, and remember that an unused additional-guest allowance is not a confirmed attendee. On enforcement, the documentation varies: Evite stops new RSVPs once the total headcount reaches the number you set, and Luma counts each ticket toward event capacity when group registration is enabled, while Greenvelope does not document how a household or additional-guest reply is counted. The documentation reviewed does not explain what happens when a group requests more places than remain, so confirm that before relying on a tight number. On Greenvelope, a named household member is also a different thing from a plus-one: a grouped household shares one invitation link and each named member gets their own attendance response, while an allowance covers an extra guest whose name may still be unknown.
Which platforms offer waitlists, and how are guests admitted?
Waitlists differ on entry and on admission. On Partiful, the host enables the waitlist for a non-ticketed RSVP event, guests can join it after capacity is reached, and promotion is automatic, ordered by each guest’s first RSVP time, with a text notification. On Luma, entry is automatic once the Over-Capacity Waitlist is on, but admission requires host approval, and a cancellation does not automatically promote anyone. RSVPify documents a separate waitlist event the host builds and manages. Greenvelope and Evite describe no waitlist in the documentation reviewed, so overflow there is a follow-up list the host runs personally.
Does an RSVP capacity limit stop extra people from showing up?
No. A capacity setting limits the yes responses an event collects online, which keeps the plan and the headcount in check, but it does not physically prevent anyone from arriving. For events where the door matters, pair the cap with a named guest list, clear wording about who the invitation covers, and a point person who has the final list on the day.
Related Resources
Explore more guides in the Greenvelope resource hub, including the broader platform roundup and the RSVP mechanics guides referenced above: