Zola vs The Knot vs Joy: which wedding website is best?

01Side by side

Figures are from Zola's and Joy's own pages; The Knot's pages refuse automated reading, so its details come from Paperlust's comparison, with pricing as of July 2026.

02Zola: the registry and website in one place

Zola says its websites are free to create and publish, with over 600 templates and optional password protection. The custom domain, from $17.99, is the only paid part of the website. Its registry handles gifts and cash funds in the same account, and it offers paid add-ons such as seating charts and guest texting.

One caution from 2022: hackers took over some Zola accounts using passwords leaked from other sites and spent registry funds. Zola said fewer than 0.1% of accounts were affected and refunded the gift card orders, according to TechCrunch. The lesson applies to every platform: use a unique password and two-factor authentication where offered.

03Joy: the most flexible for guests

Joy's FAQ says guests do not need an email address to RSVP, and creating an account is optional and comes after the RSVP. You can password-protect the whole site or specific pages, and show certain events only to selected guests. Guests can use the Joy app to RSVP and see updates. Joy's registry is free and it works alongside registries elsewhere.

04The Knot: best if you already plan with it

The Knot's website is free, and its strength is the rest of the platform: vendor listings, reviews and planning tools. Paperlust notes the experience is surrounded by vendor advertising and that its guest export includes non-guest entries. If you already use The Knot to find vendors, keeping the website there means one login.

05Which to choose

If the registry is central, choose Zola. If you have many events, a big guest list or guests who will not create accounts, choose Joy. If you plan with The Knot already, stay there. If none of the templates feel like you, build on a general builder and handle RSVPs with a form; the best wedding website builder covers that route, and Squarespace pricing and alternatives are compared elsewhere on this site.

06Switching later

You are not locked in. Guest lists can usually be exported, and if you print a custom domain rather than a platform address, you can point that domain at a different platform later without reprinting anything. That is a good reason to buy the domain before the save-the-dates go to print; custom domains for wedding websites covers the cost.

Do the switch before invitations go out, not after: once guests have RSVP'd on one platform, moving them is more trouble than any feature is worth.

07Questions to ask before you commit

Answer these on each platform's own pages before importing the guest list; switching after RSVPs start is painful.

• Will guests need an account to RSVP?
• Can I show events only to the guests invited to them?
• Can I export the guest list and RSVPs to a spreadsheet?
• What does a custom domain cost, and does it renew yearly?