Partiful App Review: Tips, Tricks & Settings You MUST Know

Last updated: April 18, 2025

The text arrived at 10 p.m.: “Rooftop gathering this Saturday—bring friends!”

Clicking the Partiful link, I was immediately struck by how different this felt from the clunky Evites I’d grown accustomed to. No email required, no account to create—just a sleek interface that made RSVPing almost effortless.

That was my first encounter with Partiful, the platform that’s rapidly becoming the go-to choice for event planning among younger generations. 

If you’re looking to download the Partiful app, you can find it here. But as someone who’s hosted hundreds of events using various platforms, I thought I’d share what I’ve learned about maximizing this increasingly popular tool.

Having tested every feature and setting, I’ve discovered which aspects of Partiful truly make a difference when planning your next birthday, casual hangout, or themed gathering.

TLDR: Key Takeaways 

• Partiful is a text-message-based event platform that’s simpler than traditional Evites.
• It’s completely free (as of 2025) with no premium version.
• The platform excels for casual events but has limitations for formal gatherings, as it was designed for more informal social vibes.
• Recent updates include a dedicated mobile app for more streamlined planning.
• It shines with its ability to send text blasts, track who’s coming, and create aesthetically pleasing invites.
• While Partiful lacks some advanced features of paid platforms, its simplicity and “cool factor” have made it Gen Z’s go-to choice.

Why you should trust me: Hi! I’m Nick Gray. I’ve hosted hundreds of parties, and I’ve used almost a dozen different event platforms. I’ve even written a whole page of my tips and tricks for other RSVP platforms.

What is Partiful and Why Has It Taken Over?

The Partiful platform is a web-based service that primarily interacts with your guests via text message.

Launched in 2020 by founders Shreya Murthy and Joy Tao (just before the pandemic temporarily shut down in-person gatherings), Partiful has emerged as a refreshing alternative to traditional invitation platforms.

Their approach resonated immediately with younger users who found themselves tired of Facebook events and email-based invitations.

Partiful Founders

Shreya Murthy and Joy Tao are the founders of Partiful. They started the company in 2020. Shreya is currently CEO, and Joy is CTO.

• Shreya Murthy: Twitter, LinkedIn
• Joy Tao: Twitter, LinkedIn

The Core Features That Make Partiful Special

I’m being dead honest when I say this: Partiful is perhaps the easiest possible platform to register for events on. They make it extremely easy for someone to RSVP to your party.

Streamlined Text-Based Invitations

Partiful’s genius lies in its simplicity. By using text messages as the primary communication channel, they’ve eliminated the friction of account creation and email management.

Guests receive a link, enter their phone number, and can instantly see event details and RSVP—all without downloading anything.

Social Visibility That Builds Excitement

When you RSVP to a Partiful event, you can immediately see who else is attending.

This transparency creates a social snowball effect—seeing friends on the guest list often convinces undecided people to join. The comment section and reaction options further build anticipation as the event approaches.

Real-Time Communication Made Simple

The “Text Blast” feature solves one of hosting’s biggest headaches: updating everyone at once.

Whether you need to share a door code, announce a delay, or remind people to bring something, you can instantly message everyone who’s confirmed—no unwieldy group chats required.

Visually Engaging Design Options

From animated backgrounds to custom fonts, Partiful offers surprisingly robust customization without overwhelming users with options.

The aesthetics feel modern and playful—a deliberate departure from the corporate feel of older platforms.

Flexible Planning Tools

Need to find the perfect date? Partiful’s polling feature lets guests vote on potential dates before you finalize.

Need dietary information? Custom questions collect key information upfront. These thoughtful touches make the platform useful beyond just gathering RSVPs.

Simplified Money Collection

For events requiring contributions, integrated payment links (Venmo, Cash App, PayPal) remove the awkwardness of asking for money after the fact or tracking who’s paid.

How to Use Partiful

Here’s how you can successfully set up your first Partiful event.

Setting Up Your First Partiful Event: A Step-by-Step Guide

Creating your first Partiful event takes just minutes, whether on their website or mobile app:

1. Access the platform through partiful.com or download their app from your device’s app store.
2. Sign up for an account and you will be asked to type in your phone number. (This is what you will be using as a log-in as well when updating your event.)
3. Hit “Create invite” on the homepage (Big Red Button).
4. Create your event title (this is your chance to set the tone—be creative!). 
5. Add essential details: Date and time (or set up a poll to find what works)
   • Location (physical address or virtual meeting link)
   • Brief description that sets expectations
   • Eye-catching image (upload your own or use their templates) 
6. Customize your look with their background options, fonts, and animation effects.
7. Set attendance parameters:
   • Maximum guests if space is limited
   • Plus-one permissions 
   • Whether you want to approve each RSVP 
8. Add any custom questions for information you need from guests. 
9. Share your invite by copying the link or using direct share options for text, WhatsApp, or other platforms.

The entire process is remarkably quick compared to other invitation platforms, which is part of what’s made Partiful so successful. There’s very little learning curve—the interface guides you intuitively through each step.

Tips: Getting the Most From Partiful

After using Partiful for various events, I’ve discovered several strategies that significantly improve both the host and guest experience.

The Guest Bio Workaround

For networking events, introducing guests to each other beforehand can be valuable.

Since Partiful’s text blasts have character limits, try this workaround: create guest bios as image screenshots and attach them to your text blast. This simple hack has dramatically improved connections at my events.

One workaround that I found while helping Sydney with his picnic party was to create the guest bio as screenshots and then attach the guest bios as images within Partiful.

If you’re using Partiful and you want to send guest bios, you can type them up in Google Docs or your Notes app and then make screenshots. Make sure you take the screenshots on your phone and crop them a little bit so that the images are formatted for easy phone viewing.

Strategic Reminder Timing 

Using detailed party reminder messages is a key component of my 2-Hour Cocktail Party formula.

I’ve found that sending three reminder messages with lots of information helps to drastically improve attendance at my parties. However, on Partiful, you’re a bit limited with the text character input, and that makes doing guest bios impossible.

The perfect reminder schedule: 

• Seven days before: General excitement-building message (“Looking forward to seeing everyone!”) 
• Two days before: Logistics and expectations (“Casual dress code, parking available on side streets.”) 
• Day-of: Final details and any last-minute changes (“Door code is 3456, I’ll have drinks ready by Seven.”)

Maximizing the Social Feed

The activity feed isn’t just for RSVPs—encourage guests to use the comments section for introductions or questions.

As host, actively respond to create a welcoming environment, especially for first-time attendees who might not know others.

Pre and Post-Event Engagement

Don’t let the platform’s usefulness end when the party starts.

Use the photo-sharing feature to create a shared album during and after the event, then send a final text blast directing guests to the photos and thanking them for coming.

Partiful Settings You Shouldn’t Overlook

Privacy Options 

• Guest list visibility: Choose whether attendees can see others who’ve RSVP’d.
• RSVP approval: For selective events, enable manual confirmation of each guest. 
• Guest list management: Set limits on plus-ones and additional invites.

Notification Controls

• RSVP alerts: Get notified when someone confirms or declines. 
• Message settings: Decide if guests can reply to your text blasts. 
• Reminder frequency: Customize or disable automatic reminders if you prefer to send your own.

Collaborative Hosting

For events with multiple organizers, add co-hosts who can: 

• Make updates to event details.
• Send text blasts to guests. 
• Approve or manage RSVPs.

Partiful for Various Event Types

While the platform began with a focus on casual hangouts, Partiful’s evolution has made it suitable for almost all gatherings where digital invitations make sense.

Casual Social Gatherings

From spontaneous game nights to weekend barbecues, the platform shines for low-pressure social events where simplicity matters more than formality.

Milestone Celebrations

Birthday parties, anniversaries, and graduations benefit from the platform’s festive templates and easy photo sharing.

Themed Events

Costume parties, movie nights, and seasonal celebrations are enhanced by the customizable visuals that set expectations.

Semi-Formal Occasions

Surprisingly, Partiful now works well for engagement parties, baby showers, and even smaller weddings with their expanded template options.

Group Activities

Book clubs, fitness meetups, and recurring gatherings benefit from the ability to duplicate previous events with minor adjustments.

Partiful Invitation Examples and Templates

While Partiful offers its own built-in templates, many users enhance their invitations with custom designs. Here are some popular approaches.

Partiful Native Templates

Partiful offers themed templates for various occasions, including: 

• Birthday celebrations with festive animations
• Seasonal gatherings with appropriate aesthetics 
• Graduation parties with academic motifs

Creating Custom Designs with Canva

Many Partiful power users create their invitation graphics in Canva first, then upload them to Partiful.

This approach allows for greater customization while still leveraging Partiful’s RSVP and communication features.

Popular Canva-to-Partiful approaches include:

• Using Canva’s invitation templates but customizing colors and fonts to match your event theme
• Creating collages of photos for reunion or anniversary events
• Designing minimalist, typography-focused graphics for modern gatherings 
• Making animated GIFs that capture attention in text messages

The most successful Partiful invitations often use humor or inside jokes in both the event title and graphic, creating an immediate connection with potential attendees. The platform’s text-based delivery makes eye-catching visuals particularly important for driving RSVPs.

How to Share Your Event

As you review the entered details, you will also be given options to add the event to your calendar.

There is also an easy menu to share the event in various ways so your guests can RSVP. This includes:

• Copy link
• WhatsApp
• Facebook
• Email

Pros and Cons: The Honest Assessment

After extensive use across different event types, here’s my candid evaluation.

Pros

• Frictionless Experience: The fastest path from invitation to RSVP of any platform I’ve tested.
• Mobile Optimization: Perfectly designed for how people actually use their phones. 
• Social Integration: Guests can add Instagram and Twitter handles to connect before/after events.
• Clean Interface: No ads, no upsells, no distractions from your event details. 
• Real-Time Updates: Text blast feature solves communication challenges other platforms ignore.

Cons

• Design Boundaries: While customizable, templates have a distinct aesthetic that might not suit all events. 
• Message Constraints: Character limits can restrict detailed information sharing.
• Feedback Management: Hosts must actively check for responses to text blasts rather than receiving direct replies. 
• Aesthetic Preferences: The playful, youthful design might not appeal to all demographics.
• Mobile Dependency: Relies entirely on text messaging, which could be limiting for guests without reliable service.
• Entirely text message-based, which makes Guest Bios and detailed reminder messages hard to do. I did mention a workaround in the tips above.

Partiful Alternatives

Here’s a list of competitors and how Partiful stacks up against them.

Evite

Evite pioneered digital invitations but now feels dated next to Partiful. While Evite offers more traditional templates, its email-based approach feels increasingly obsolete as younger users check email less frequently.

Partiful’s text-based system yields faster responses, though Evite still maintains advantages for older demographics more comfortable with email.

Read the comparison I wrote for Evite vs Paperless Post here.

Paperless Post

Paperless Post excels with elegant, sophisticated designs and animations that feel appropriate for formal occasions. However, its pricing model (charging for premium designs and features) creates friction that Partiful avoids entirely.

If aesthetics are your primary concern for a high-end event, Paperless Post might edge out Partiful, but for everything else, Partiful’s free model and social features win.

Facebook Events

Once dominant, Facebook Events has declined as younger users migrate away from the platform. While Facebook Events benefits from integration with existing friend networks, Partiful offers a fresh start without social media baggage.

Facebook still works better for public events seeking wide discovery, but for private gatherings, Partiful provides a more focused experience.

Luma

Luma targets professional event planners with robust ticketing and registration features. If you’re organizing a conference or paid workshop, Luma offers tools Partiful doesn’t.

However, for social gatherings, Luma’s complexity feels unnecessary compared to Partiful’s streamlined approach.

If you’re interested in diving deeper into alternative platforms, check here to see what they offer.

Feature article in The New York Times (2022)

Here’s what The New York Times had to say about Partiful in September 2022:

Partiful is far from the first digital invitation method, but it is vying to become the most relevant to young people.

The service, which is free to use, is gaining popularity among people in their 20s who live in big cities and who say it is more streamlined than group texts or Instagram stories, more casual than Paperless Post, and less embarrassing than Facebook, which has lost its grip on people under 30.

CONTINUE READING ON THE NYT SITE

Partiful FAQ

Q: Does Partiful have an app?

A: As of June 2024, Partiful has an iOS app now. You can download it here, which makes it easier for hosts to create events on their phone, anytime, anywhere.

Q: How does Partiful make money?

A: Partiful does not make money yet. Partiful is venture-backed with $20 million in funding, allowing them to prioritize user growth before monetization. They’ve indicated future plans for party-related products and services rather than charging for core features.

I do believe there’s a possibility that in the future they might end up offering a premium version, an ad-supported model, or be acquired by a larger company like Eventbrite, Ticketmaster, Snapchat, or one of these other potential acquirers.

Q: Is Partiful free?

A: Yes! As of 2025, Partiful is still completely free to use. There is no premium version.

Q: What exactly are “boops” in Partiful?

A: “Boops” are Partiful’s playful term for reactions to RSVPs. Similar to social media likes or emoji reactions, they let guests express excitement when someone joins the guest list.

Q: Can Partiful handle large events?

A: While there’s no technical limit, Partiful works best for gatherings under 300 people. For very large events with complex ticketing needs, platforms specializing in large-scale event management might offer more appropriate tools.

Q: How do I modify or cancel my Partiful event?

A: From your account, select the event, then use the “Edit” option to change details or cancel. All guests will automatically receive notification of any significant changes.

Q: Can guests see my other Partiful events?

A: No, guests only see the specific event they were invited to, preserving your privacy across different social circles.

Conclusion

After testing Partiful across dozens of different gatherings, I’ve found it exceptionally well-suited for the way people actually socialize today.

The platform’s text-based approach aligns perfectly with modern communication preferences, and its social features create momentum that often translates to better attendance.

Is it perfect? No platform is. Some events still benefit from the formality of traditional invitations or the advanced features of specialized event platforms.

But for the vast majority of social gatherings—from casual meetups to milestone celebrations—Partiful offers the ideal balance of simplicity and functionality.

If you want a fun, easy-to-set-up RSVP page that focuses on text message communication, Partiful is great for you.

It is a free platform that is extremely easy to use.

For other options on platforms, read my list of suggested party RSVP platforms. I still recommend Mixily (another free platform) for people using my book The 2-Hour Cocktail Party, but I think I’m going to give Partiful another try soon!

Have you tried Partiful for your events? Do you have additional Partiful tips and tricks?

I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below or via email! Send me an email and I’ll add your notes to this page.