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Honest comparison · Updated 2026

The Joy alternative for couples who want the planner too.

Joy (withjoy.com) earned its loyalty by being the design-forward, mostly-free wedding website. The aesthetic was a step above what wedding software usually delivers. LOML carries that aesthetic forward — eight couplemark logo styles, seven editorial heading fonts — and adds the planning infrastructure Joy was always intentionally light on: a live budget tracker, per-chair seating, vendor management, and an AI co-planner that reads your data.

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Couple in editorial wedding portrait — LOML vs Joy comparison
LOML vs Joy

01 · The verdict

LOML vs Joy, in one sentence.

Joy is the right pick if all you need is a beautiful free wedding website with a clean RSVP page. LOML is the right pick if you want the planning side — budget, seating, vendors, day-of timeline — at the same level of design care as the website itself.

Pick LOML if…

  • You want the planning workflow as polished as the wedding website.
  • A live, vendor-linked budget tracker matters to you.
  • Per-chair seating with dietary tags surfaced inline matters.
  • You'd use an AI co-planner that reads your live data and answers real questions.
  • Both partners need to edit live in one shared account.

Pick Joy if…

  • All you need is a beautiful free wedding website and RSVP page.
  • You don't want to maintain a live budget or detailed seating chart.
  • Free pricing is more important than depth of planning tools.
  • You're indifferent to AI assistance and live two-partner editing.

02 · Module-by-module

Where each one is actually stronger.

Marketing pages collapse this to a checklist. Here's how the two products actually compare in the modules that matter.

Round 1

Wedding website

Winner: Close

LOML

LOML's website is composed — pick a couplemark logo style (eight options: joined, monogram, stacked, dotted, bracket, circular, dated, classic) and a heading font (seven editorial faces), and the rest of the type system locks in automatically. Sections include hero, countdown, story collage, photo gallery, registry, wedding party, venue/location, and RSVP — all themed consistently.

Joy

Joy's website is genuinely beautiful for a free product, with a strong template library and clean RSVP flow. It's been the gold standard for free wedding websites for years. The design ceiling is what it is — composed-by-template rather than designed-by-system — but the floor is well above what most wedding software delivers.

Round 2

Budget tracker

Winner: LOML

LOML

Live, multi-category budget tracker. 16 spending categories with deposits, balances, and overrun flags. Every line item ties to its vendor. The AI planner reads it — ask 'are we under budget for catering?' and it pulls the actual numbers. Multi-partner live editing means no version conflicts.

Joy

Joy's budget tool is intentionally light. You can set a target and track categories at a high level, but it's not a live ledger linked to vendors with deposit/balance separation. For couples who want the budget to be a serious part of the planning workflow, this is the biggest gap.

Round 3

Guest list & RSVPs

Winner: LOML

LOML

Real spreadsheet-meets-database. Phone, email, side, tags, dietary needs, plus-ones with their own row + meal, meal choice on every row. RSVPs via per-guest tokenized text/email links feed directly into the same row and update the seating chart and catering count in real time.

Joy

Joy's guest list and RSVP flow is one of its strengths — clean UX, good mobile experience, well-integrated with the website. The data model is shallower than LOML's (no first-class dietary tags as a structured field, no live two-partner editing), but for a free product the quality is high.

Round 4

Seating chart

Winner: LOML

LOML

Per-table, per-chair. Industry-standard table sizing presets (36–72 inch rounds, 48-inch squares, 6-foot and 8-foot rectangles, ovals, plus role presets: sweetheart, king's, kids, vendor). Drag-drop guests into numbered chair positions. Plus-ones get their own seat assignment row. Dietary tags surface inline for the caterer.

Joy

Joy's seating tool is rudimentary or absent depending on which plan you're on. The product was built around the website experience; seating wasn't core to the original surface area.

Round 5

AI planning assistant

Winner: LOML

LOML

LOML's planner brain is built on Claude and reads your live wedding data — guests, RSVPs, budget, vendors, timeline, tasks. Ask 'who hasn't RSVP'd?' or 'what's our average per-head spend?' and it pulls real data. Tell it to 'follow up with the photographer about the engagement shoot' and it drafts the email.

Joy

Joy does not have an AI planning assistant. The product is centered on the wedding website experience rather than a long-running planning workflow.

Round 6

Vendor manager

Winner: LOML

LOML

LOML's vendor manager tracks every vendor you book — photographer, florist, caterer, DJ, planner — with quote, deposit, balance, contact info, and follow-up date in one row. The budget tracker ties line items back to vendors. Useful all the way through the planning cycle.

Joy

Joy doesn't have a structured vendor manager in the same sense. The product is centered on guest-facing surfaces (website, RSVP) rather than the couple's behind-the-scenes work.

Round 7

Pricing model

Winner: Joy

LOML

$59.99/mo flat, 7-day free trial, no credit card to start. One subscription covers both partners. All modules included — no upsells for the website, no premium templates, no per-invite charges. Cancel anytime and keep read-only access to your data.

Joy

Joy's baseline is free, which is genuinely generous for what you get. Some premium features and paper goods are paid. For couples whose entire need is a beautiful free wedding website, Joy is hard to beat on price.

03 · Every feature, side by side

The full feature matrix.

No vague checkmarks. Either it's in there with the depth we claim, or it isn't.

FeatureLOMLJoy
AI planning assistant (reads your data)Built-in (Claude)
Live multi-partner editingAccount sharing, no live sync
Wedding website builder8 logo styles × 7 fonts, composedTemplate catalog
Editorial design systemTemplate-based
Custom domain supportSubdomain on loml.weddingSubdomain on withjoy.com
Save-the-date sendingBranded email + per-guest textEmail
Digital invitation suiteBranded emailsEmail
RSVP tracker
Dietary tags (first-class field)
Plus-one own row + own meal
Guest list CSV import
Live budget tracker (vendor-linked)16 categoriesBasic
Vendor manager (quotes/deposits/contacts)
Per-chair seating chartLimited
Industry-standard table presets
Day-of timeline builder
RegistryExternal-link managerBuilt-in + external links
Disposable camera (QR-based guest photos)
Post-wedding per-guest album
Ads in productNeverLimited
Free tier7-day trial, no cardFree baseline

04 · What you actually spend in a year

Real total cost of ownership.

Headline pricing rarely tells the whole story. Here's what each tool tends to cost a couple over a full year of planning.

LOML — flat subscription

  • LOML subscription (12 months × $59.99)$720
  • Wedding website (included)$0
  • Save-the-date + invitations (included)$0
  • AI planner brain (included)$0
  • Vendor manager (included)$0
  • Per-chair seating chart (included)$0
1-year total$720

Joy — free + typical add-ons

  • Joy free tier (website, RSVP, basic budget)$0
  • Joy premium / paid features (if applicable)$0–$200
  • Paper save-the-dates (if you want them)$0–$200
  • Paper invitations + RSVP cards (if you want them)$0–$500
  • External seating chart tool (if needed)$0–$50
  • External budget tracker (if needed)$0
1-year total$0–$950

Joy's true cost depends entirely on whether you stay on the free tier or use any premium features and paper goods. For a couple whose entire need is a free wedding website and RSVP page, Joy is genuinely free. For couples who need the planning side too, the real cost ends up being the value of the time spent stitching together other tools.

05 · Migration

How to switch from Joy to LOML.

Joy's website is portable — you'll rebuild the design in LOML's editorial system (which is fast since you're picking from logo styles and font pairings rather than editing template details). Guest list and RSVPs export as CSV and import cleanly.

  1. 01

    Export your Joy guest list as CSV

    In Joy, open Guests → ⋯ → Export. The CSV includes name, email, address, party, RSVP status, plus-one info, and meal selection. Save it locally.

  2. 02

    Sign up for LOML

    Create your LOML account at /sign-up. Onboarding collects partner names, wedding date, venue, and your partner's phone number for invite-to-account.

  3. 03

    Import your guest list

    Open Guests → Import → drop the Joy CSV. Columns auto-map for name, email, side, plus-one, and meal choice. Confirm — your guests appear in the table in seconds with RSVP status preserved.

  4. 04

    Build your LOML wedding website

    Open /app/website. In the Design panel, pick your couplemark logo style (eight options) and heading font (seven curated faces). Add story photos, venue, registry links, and wedding party. Publish — your site lives at yourwedding.loml.wedding immediately. Most couples find this faster than editing a Joy template.

  5. 05

    Set up the budget you didn't have before

    Open /app/budget. LOML pre-creates the 16 standard wedding spending categories. Add your venue, catering, photography, and other vendors with their quotes. The tracker shows total spend, deposits paid, and balance remaining in real time.

  6. 06

    Build your seating chart

    Open /app/seating. Add tables using the industry-standard size presets (60-inch rounds for 8–10, sweetheart for the couple, kids table, etc.). Drag-drop guests into numbered chairs. Dietary tags surface inline so your caterer's job is clean.

  7. 07

    Redirect your old Joy URL

    If your Joy URL is on a custom domain, point that domain at your new LOML site so guests who already have the link still land on the right place. If you're on Joy's free subdomain, leave the Joy site up as a redirect notice for a few weeks.

Couple at sunset on their wedding day

Ready to switch?

Try LOML for seven days. No credit card.

Bring your guest list from Joy as a CSV. Your account is shared with your partner from day one. The planner brain reads everything you enter and answers real questions about your wedding.

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FAQ · LOML vs Joy

Questions couples actually ask.

Is LOML free like Joy?
LOML is $59.99/month with a 7-day free trial that doesn't require a credit card. Joy's baseline is genuinely free, which is hard to beat if all you need is a wedding website. LOML is built for couples who also want the planning side (budget, seating, vendors, AI co-planner) at the same level of care as the website.
Will my wedding website be as good as Joy's?
It will be different, with a higher design ceiling. Joy gives you templates — pick one and customize within its constraints. LOML gives you a design system — pick a couplemark logo style and heading font and the whole site composes itself in that voice. Both can produce beautiful sites; LOML's tend to look more like a small studio designed them, Joy's tend to look more like polished templates.
Does LOML have free templates I can preview before paying?
The full website builder is included in the 7-day free trial. Build your real site, see your real couplemark, fill in your real content — all without entering a card. Most couples decide in the first session whether the aesthetic is right for them.
Can I keep my Joy site and use LOML for the planning side?
Technically yes, but you'd lose the integrated RSVP → guest list → seating chart flow that's a big part of LOML's value. Most couples migrate the whole thing once they decide LOML is the right fit.
Will my Joy guests still find my wedding info after I switch?
Yes. If your Joy URL is on a custom domain, point that domain at your LOML site and the existing link works. If you're on Joy's free subdomain, leave the Joy site up as a redirect for a few weeks while guests update their bookmarks.
What if I just want the wedding website and nothing else?
Stay on Joy. Genuinely. LOML is built for couples who want the planner at the same level of care as the website — if that's not your situation, Joy is the better economic choice.
How is LOML's wedding website design different from Joy's?
Philosophical difference: Joy is template-based (50+ designs, pick one, customize within), LOML is system-based (eight couplemark logo styles × seven editorial fonts, composed automatically). LOML's approach forces consistency across every section; Joy's allows more per-section variation within a template.
Does LOML have a registry like Joy's?
LOML's registry is an external-link manager — paste links from Amazon, Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma, smaller boutiques, or another registry tool, and they appear on your wedding website as branded cards. Joy has a similar external-link model plus some integrated registry options. The functional difference for guests is minimal.
Is the LOML planner brain actually useful?
Yes, in proportion to how much real data you put in. With a populated guest list, budget, and vendor manager, you can ask questions like 'who hasn't RSVP'd?', 'are we over on photography?', or 'draft a follow-up to the florist about the centerpiece change' and it pulls real data and does real work. With minimal data, it's still useful for general planning advice but the magic is in the live-data integration.
How long does switching from Joy take?
About 45–60 minutes for most couples. Export Joy CSV (5 min), import to LOML (1 min), rebuild website with LOML's design system (25–35 min — most of which is choosing your couplemark and font), build budget and seating chart (15 min). The website rebuild is the longest piece since you're moving from a template to a composed design.
Will I lose my Joy account or data if I switch?
No. Migrating to LOML doesn't touch your Joy account. Your Joy site stays live; your guest list export stays available; nothing is deleted. Run both side by side during the transition if you want.
Is LOML a real company or a side project?
Real company. Founded 2026. Built on Next.js, Supabase, and Vercel with full security hardening (rate limits, row-level security, content security policy, audited authentication). Subscription-funded — no ads, no vendor lead-gen, no data resale.