WeddingBeacon vs Hitched: an honest comparison

The short version

• Choose Hitched if you want one place to find a venue and suppliers, keep a budget and checklist, and run a classic UK day with ceremony, wedding breakfast and evening reception guests.
• Choose WeddingBeacon if you want guests invited personally on WhatsApp, a wedding spread over several events (a trad and white wedding, a mehndi, a brunch), English and French guests, gifts collected by card on your site, or QR check-in at the door.

What each one is

Hitched

Hitched is a UK wedding planning site, owned since 2020 by The Knot Worldwide, the company behind The Knot and WeddingWire. At the time of the sale, it said Hitched would keep operating from London. It's best known for its directory of venues and suppliers (its homepage says over 34,000) and its planning tools: a checklist, budget planner, guest list, seating chart and wedding website. There's also an app, wedding forums, and Wedshoots, which lets guests add photos to a shared album.

WeddingBeacon

WeddingBeacon gives you one wedding site, with 30+ designs, for your story, schedule, dress code, travel and FAQs. You invite guests one by one: each gets a personal WhatsApp or email invite with their name on it, which opens their own page. Guests RSVP to each event they're invited to, and confirmed guests get a QR guest pass.

Pricing

Hitched

Hitched says all of its planning tools are at no cost, including the wedding website. Its parent company describes its business as wedding planning and advertising services, so suppliers in the directory are what pay the bills.

WeddingBeacon

WeddingBeacon is Free to start, and you pay once when you want more. There's no subscription and no charge per guest.

Fair point to Hitched: if you want a simple site with RSVPs and you're happy with how guests find it, Hitched won't cost you a penny.

• Plan: One-time price
• Free to start: £0
• Basic: £62
• Standard: £118
• Season (for planners, 5 weddings): £513

Finding suppliers and planning

This is Hitched's home ground and there's no contest. Browsing thousands of photographers, florists, caterers and venues by area, reading reviews and messaging them from one account is genuinely useful. Its budget planner links to its checklist and supplier manager, so you can see what's paid and what's still due.

WeddingBeacon does not keep a budget or a planning checklist on the wedding. The public budget sketch and checklist stay in the browser and are not saved to your account. The guest list is part of the wedding. WeddingBeacon is not a supplier directory. If you want venues, suppliers, a budget and a checklist in one planner, use Hitched for that.

How guests get the invite

On Hitched, guests RSVP on your website or through a virtual invitation. To find their invite on the site, they type their first and last name, and Hitched's help centre notes it has to match exactly how you entered it. So a guest you saved as "Oluwaseun" who types "Seun" may get stuck. We couldn't find a documented way to send invites through WhatsApp from Hitched.

WeddingBeacon skips the search. Each guest gets their own invite on WhatsApp or email, and the link opens their page straight away, with no name to type. You can send through WeddingBeacon or from your own phone. Phone numbers are cleaned up before sending, which helps with a list that mixes UK and overseas numbers.

Day guests, evening guests and other events

Hitched handles the classic British split well. You can invite guests to the ceremony, the wedding breakfast or just the evening reception, and RSVPs sync back to your guest list. Its guest list also collects menu choices and dietary needs.

WeddingBeacon lets you set up to six events, named whatever you like, and each guest only sees the ones they're invited to. That covers day and evening guests, and it also covers weddings that don't fit the classic shape: an introduction, a traditional ceremony, a church wedding and a reception, or a mehndi, sangeet and ceremony. Each event gets its own RSVP, time, venue and dress code, so you get separate numbers for the caterer.

English and French

If some of your family read French, WeddingBeacon lets you choose English or French for each household, and both the invite and the guest site appear in that language. That's handy for Cameroonian and francophone families. We couldn't find a language option for guest sites in Hitched's help pages, so we've left it out of the table.

Gifts

Hitched's help centre says it doesn't currently offer its own gift list. Instead you link to an outside registry, an Amazon wishlist or a honeymoon fund, or add your bank details as text on your site.

WeddingBeacon lets guests give by card on your wedding site, to cash funds such as a honeymoon fund, and leave a note so you know who gave what. You can also add a wishlist and link to an outside gift list.

Seating and the day itself

Hitched's drag-and-drop seating chart is good and costs nothing.

WeddingBeacon has a table list on every plan, including Free to start, and a floor-plan drawing on Standard and Season. On the day, every confirmed guest has a QR pass and your ushers check people in from a phone. The Check-in role can mark arrivals and see who is coming. It cannot open gifts, guest notes, or the rest of the wedding. Hitched doesn't list a door check-in tool.

Messages before and after

On WeddingBeacon's Standard and Season plans, you get automatic RSVP confirmations, reminders only to guests who haven't replied, a day-of note and thank-you messages. Bea, the built-in AI assistant, helps you write them, and nothing is sent until you confirm.

Hitched's guest list lets you send RSVP requests and invitations, and ask guests for missing details with an automatic message.

Side by side

• WeddingBeacon: Hitched
• Based in: UK (London), UK, part of The Knot Worldwide (US)
• Cost: Free to start, then one-time £62 to £513, No charge for website and tools
• Supplier directory: No, Yes, over 34,000 listed
• Budget and checklist: Not saved on the wedding, Full planner, linked together
• Invites: Personal WhatsApp or email invite per guest, Website RSVP and virtual invitations
• How guests find their RSVP: Their own link, Search by exact first and last name
• Events: Up to 6, named as you like, Ceremony, wedding breakfast, evening reception
• Languages: English and French, per household, Not found, so not listed
• Gifts: Cash funds by card, wishlist, outside links, Link to an outside list or add bank details
• Day of: QR guest pass and phone check-in, Not listed
• Guest photos: Guestbook with photo uploads, Wedshoots shared album

Which should you choose?

Keep your Hitched account for finding suppliers, keeping your budget straight and reading the forums. It's very good at all of that.

For the website your guests actually use, ask yourself how your family communicates. If invites go out by post and your day is ceremony, breakfast and evening do, Hitched's site will probably do the job. If your family lives on WhatsApp, you've got more than one event, or the door needs proper control, WeddingBeacon is built for that. It's Free to start, so you can try it before paying anything.

If you're comparing a few options, read WeddingBeacon vs Zola, WeddingBeacon vs Joy, and the best Zola alternatives for UK couples.

FAQ

Is the Hitched wedding website really no cost?

Yes. Hitched says its website and planning tools cost nothing.

Can I use Hitched and WeddingBeacon together?

Yes. Lots of couples use Hitched to find suppliers and plan the budget, and a separate site for invites and RSVPs. Just make sure guests only get one RSVP link so your numbers stay in one place.

Can Hitched separate day and evening guests?

Yes. You can invite guests to the ceremony, the wedding breakfast or the evening reception only.

Does Hitched have a gift list?

Not its own one. Hitched suggests linking to an outside registry, a wishlist or a honeymoon fund. WeddingBeacon lets guests give to cash funds by card on your site.

Is WeddingBeacon a subscription?

No. Each plan is a one-time payment: Free to start (£0), Basic (£62), Standard (£118) or Season (£513 for planners running five weddings).