Amovera vs Joy: a full planner or a free website and RSVPs?
Amovera is the fuller planner: for $129 once it adds a seating chart, a detailed budget and task lists that Joy lacks, with no ads. Joy is free and better for the wedding website, registry and native apps. The best setup for many couples is Amovera to plan and a free Joy site and registry for guests.
We make Amovera. How we keep this fair.
| App | Score | Price | Vendor sharing | Guest list | Online RSVP | Seating chart | Budget tracker | Multi-event | Wedding website | Registry | Vendor marketplace | Mobile app |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amovera | 8.8 | $129 once | No | Included: Import from a spreadsheet or add guests manually; household/party grouping, custom groups, adult/child/infant counts, contact details, PDF guest reports | Included: Unique RSVP link per party, optional password, per-event RSVPs, plus-ones, dietary needs, follow-up reminder emails | Included: Drag-and-drop floor plan, round/square/rectangle/sweetheart tables, auto-build, linked to RSVPs, separate plan per event, printable | Included: Categories and subcategories, planned/committed/partially paid/paid status, multiple payments per expense, due-date alerts, multi-currency (USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD and more) | Included: Unlimited events (ceremony, rehearsal dinner, brunch...) with own timeline, RSVPs and seating plan | Not available: No wedding website builder; guests get branded RSVP pages via their personal link | Not available | Not available: Deliberately none; no vendor listings or recommendations | Limited: works in mobile browser, no native app |
| Joy | 6.4 | Free + paid extras | No | Included: Households/parties, named or blank plus-ones, tags (A/B list, side, custom), Contact Collector, CSV import. | Included: RSVP per event, meal and dietary questions, custom questions, email reminders free (text reminders paid). | Not available: No seating chart tool is listed in Joy's help center or pricing page. | Limited: Joy shows a simple budget tracker (category, budgeted, actual, paid); independent comparisons call it minimal or absent, and it is not listed in Joy's help-center overview. | Included: Separate RSVPs for ceremony, reception, rehearsal and other events. | Included: Free themes, schedule, travel, Q&A and accommodations pages; custom domain about $19.99/year. | Included: Universal registry plus Joy Shop; no Joy fee on Venmo/PayPal/Cash App cash funds; card gifts carry a guest-paid Stripe fee; 20% completion discount after the wedding. | Not available | Included: iOS rated 4.8 (about 8.7K ratings); Android rated lower at 4.4 (about 12.4K reviews). |
Included IncludedPaid extra Paid extraLimited LimitedNot available Not available
Joy and Amovera overlap less than their feature lists suggest. Joy is a free guest platform: a polished wedding website, strong RSVPs, digital invites and a registry, with apps on iOS and Android. Amovera is a paid planner: guests and RSVPs, but also seating, budget, vendors and tasks, with no website or registry. Neither runs a vendor marketplace, which already puts both ahead of The Knot and Zola on vendor spam.
Amovera vs Joy head to head
| Amovera | Joy | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $129 one time, 60-day refund | Free; texting via Messaging Plus (one-time); custom domain about $19.99/yr |
| Seating chart | Drag and drop, auto-build, linked to RSVPs, one plan per event | None |
| Budget | Installments, due-date alerts, multi-currency | Basic at best |
| Tasks and checklist | Tasks with due dates, priorities, assign to partner | None |
| Vendor management | Contacts, status pipeline, quotes, linked to budget | None |
| RSVPs | Per party link, per event, plus-ones, dietary, reminder emails | Per event, meals, dietary, custom questions, plus-ones |
| Collaboration | Two accounts | Partners, parents, planner as separate admins |
| Registry and website | No | Yes, free |
| Vendor marketplace | No | No |
| Apps | Web only | Web, iOS, Android |
| Ratings | None yet (launched May 2026) | iOS 4.8 (8,711); Google Play 4.4 (12,400); Trustpilot 3.7 (791) |
Which costs less, Amovera or Joy?
Joy. The core is free, and its paid extras (texting, custom domain, premium designs) are optional. Amovera is $129 up front, with every feature included and a full refund within 60 days.
Joy’s costs tend to show up mid-task: reviewers complain about being asked to pay for texting or premium invitation designs partway through, and Joy does not publish the Messaging Plus price. On cash funds, Joy charges nothing on Venmo, PayPal or Cash App gifts, but card gifts carry a Stripe fee paid by the guest (3.5% in Joy’s own example) and a $1.70 fee each time you transfer to your bank. Amovera has no registry, so there are no gift fees to compare.
Which is better for planning?
Amovera, clearly. Joy leaves the planning to a spreadsheet; Amovera is built to replace that spreadsheet.
Joy has no seating chart or checklist, and independent comparisons call its budget minimal. Amovera’s seating planner reads from your RSVPs, supports round, square, rectangle and sweetheart tables, can auto-build a first draft and prints a separate plan for each event. Its budget tracks planned, committed, partially paid and paid items, handles several payments per expense and works in USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD and more. Tasks carry due dates and priorities and can be assigned to either partner, and vendor quotes link to budget lines. If you have ever seen the Reddit setup of “Joy for the site, Google Sheets for everything else”, Amovera is the paid version of the Sheets half. See our seating chart apps and wedding budget apps.
Which has better RSVPs?
Close. Both handle per-event RSVPs, plus-ones and dietary needs, and both export guests to CSV. Joy has more polish and more guest-facing features; Amovera ties RSVPs to seating.
Couples often call Joy’s RSVP flow the best they tried, with custom questions, A/B list tags and a Contact Collector link. Some 2025 and 2026 Reddit threads call it buggy, and one couple could not email only the guests who said yes to one event. Amovera sends each party its own link, with an optional password and reminder emails, and every reply updates the seating plan for that event. For the 37% of couples hosting more than one event, both work well. More in our RSVP apps and multi-event planners guides.
Which is better for planning with family?
Joy. It lets partners, parents and a planner each have an admin login. Amovera includes two accounts, you and your partner, and does not document extra seats, so a parent or planner would have to share one.
Which is more private?
Amovera, though the gap is smaller than with The Knot or Zola. Neither sells vendor leads.
Joy has no marketplace, so vendors do not get your details. Its privacy policy does say it “sells” some identifiers and internet activity under California law and shares them with ad networks, including Meta, Google and Criteo, with an opt-out. Amovera has no ads in the app and its policy says it does not sell personal information to data brokers or share guest lists and budgets with advertisers. Its marketing website does use Google Analytics and Meta Pixel to advertise Amovera itself.
Where does Joy win?
Joy wins on price, the wedding website, the registry, native apps and family access. It is free, its designs are well liked, and it runs on iOS and Android. It also has years of reviews, while Amovera launched in May 2026, runs only in the browser and has no independent reviews or ratings yet.
Pick Amovera if… / pick Joy if…
Pick Amovera if:
- You need seating, a real budget and a task list, and do not want to build them in a spreadsheet.
- Your wedding spans several events or currencies.
- You want no ads and are happy to pay $129 once for it.
Pick Joy if:
- You mainly need a free website, RSVPs and a registry.
- Parents or a planner need their own logins.
- You want a native phone app.
The honest stack: use a free Joy website and registry for guests, and plan everything else in Amovera. You keep Joy’s fee-free Venmo, PayPal and Cash App gifts and its polished site, and get the seating and budget tools Joy is missing. Read the Amovera review, the Joy review, or see Joy alternatives.
The two apps at a glance
Amovera
Best for: Couples who want one calm, ad-free place for guests, RSVPs, seating and budget, especially for multi-event or multi-currency weddings, and would rather pay once than be marketed to.
Amovera is the pick if privacy and a fixed price matter more to you than a free tier: $129 once buys guest list, per-event RSVPs, drag-and-drop seating, a detailed budget tracker and partner collaboration with no ads or vendor spam. It is new and web-only, has no registry and no independent reviews yet, so lean on the 60-day refund to decide.
- Price
- $129 once
- Platforms
- Web
- Rating
- No app store ratings yet
What we like
- One payment of $129 covers every feature for good, with a 60-day no-questions refund, so there are no upsells to budget for.
- No vendor marketplace and no lead-sharing: signing up does not put your email or phone number in front of caterers and photographers.
- Strong multi-event support: each event (ceremony, rehearsal dinner, brunch) gets its own RSVPs, timeline and seating plan.
Watch out for
- No native iOS or Android app; on your phone it runs in the browser only.
- No gift registry, so you will need a separate registry service.
- No free tier: you pay $129 upfront and rely on the 60-day refund to try it.
Read the full Amovera reviewTry Amovera
We make Amovera. How we keep this fair.
Joy
Best for: Couples who mainly want a free wedding website with strong RSVPs and a cash fund without Joy fees, planning together with a partner or family.
Joy is the best free choice if your priorities are the wedding website, RSVPs and a cash fund: guest tools are excellent and Joy charges no fees on Venmo/PayPal/Cash App gifts. It isn't a full planner. There's no seating chart or checklist, the budget tool is thin, and texting and premium designs cost extra.
- Price
- Free + paid extras
- Platforms
- Web, iOS, Android
- Rating
- 4.4 on Google Play (12,400 ratings)
What we like
- Website, guest list, RSVPs, digital invites and registry are free, with unlimited guests.
- RSVP tools are among the best in the category: households, plus-ones, per-event RSVPs, meal and custom questions.
- Joy charges no fee on cash funds paid via Venmo, PayPal or Cash App (the platforms may charge for instant transfers).
Watch out for
- No seating chart and no planning checklist, so you'll need another tool for those.
- Budget tracking is basic at best.
- Card contributions to cash funds add a Stripe fee for guests (3.5% in Joy's own example) and $1.70 per bank transfer for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Amovera better than Joy?
As a planner, yes: Amovera has a seating chart, a budget with installments and multiple currencies, and a task list, and Joy has none of these beyond a basic budget. Joy is free and has a wedding website, registry and iOS and Android apps, which Amovera does not. Both handle per-event RSVPs well.
Is Joy free?
Joy's website, guest list, RSVPs, digital invites and registry are free. Texting guests requires Messaging Plus, a one-time purchase with no published price, and a custom domain costs about $19.99 a year. Amovera costs $129 once with a 60-day refund.
Does Joy have a seating chart or budget tracker?
Joy has no seating chart and no planning checklist, and its budget tool is basic at best. Amovera includes a drag-and-drop seating chart linked to RSVPs and a budget that tracks deposits, installments, due dates and several currencies.
Can I use Amovera and Joy together?
Yes, and it is a sensible setup. Use Joy for the public wedding website and registry, and Amovera for the guest list, RSVPs, seating, budget and tasks. Both let you export guests to CSV, so moving lists between them is manageable.
Which is more private, Amovera or Joy?
Neither runs a vendor marketplace. Amovera has no ads in the app and says it does not sell personal information to data brokers. Joy's privacy policy says it sells some identifiers and browsing data under California law and shares them with ad networks, with an opt-out.