The Knot and Zola are excellent, feature-packed free apps — but they’re online services: you create an account, your plan lives on their servers, and they’re supported by ads, registries and a vendor marketplace. If you’d rather own your plan and keep it private, here’s how The Marriage Ledger compares.
| The Marriage Ledger | The Knot / Zola | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $17 once | Free (ad-, registry- & vendor-supported) |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| Works offline | Yes | No — online service |
| Where your data lives | On your own device | On their servers |
| Ads & upsells | None | Ads, registry & vendor promotions |
| Printable invitations & stationery | Built in, 4 ink colours | Sold separately / paid |
| Wedding-day handover packs | Yes — coordinator, caterer, photographer, DJ | No |
| Budget | Forecasts your final cost, tracks contributions & refunds | Basic budget tracker |
| You keep it after the wedding | Forever — it’s just a file | Account may be archived or closed |
You want a free wedding website and gift registry, a big vendor marketplace, and you don’t mind an account and keeping everything online.
You want to own your plan, keep it private and offline, print your own stationery, hand the day over to your vendors, and skip the ads and upsells — for one flat $17.