WhatsApp event invites no longer stop at people who use WhatsApp. Under an update announced Thursday, you can create an event with a cover photo and share a link. Anyone who opens it sees the details and can RSVP. Nobody has to download the app. Meta says it is rolling out to everyone over the following weeks, so it may not show up on your phone right away.
The update also adds an Events Home for making and sending custom invitations and tracking who is coming. Hosts can set custom reminders and let guests bring a plus one. To see every event you have created or been invited to, past and upcoming, go to Settings and choose Events.
What guests see
Meta put some privacy limits on the invites. Guests you do not know cannot see your phone number. Someone without a WhatsApp account only sees the event's address after they RSVP, which matters if you are hosting at home and the link gets forwarded.
WhatsApp made a similar change to calls in mid-October, when it added guest calling. Anyone can join a WhatsApp call from a link in a computer browser once the host lets them in from a waiting room, though only someone with a WhatsApp account can create the link. Group calls hold up to 32 people.
How it compares with Apple Invites
Apple took a similar approach when it launched Apple Invites in February 2025. Guests can reply in the iPhone app or on the web without an Apple Account, and hosts share invitations with a link and decide what shows in the preview, such as a home address.
The difference is who can host. Creating an Apple invitation requires a paid iCloud+ subscription, and the app is for iPhone. WhatsApp's events need only a WhatsApp account, which is free and works on Android phones as well as iPhones.
Apple's version adds Shared Albums for event photos and Apple Music playlists.
Either one now gets a holiday invite to a mixed group of iPhone and Android friends, and the choice comes down to which app the host already uses and whether they pay for iCloud+.
