(updated 28 June 2024)
If you are an event host and managing events around the whole year. You must have used Meetup.com
You have used it because it was good enough to bring traction to your group, and it has a feature which you can use to connect with your meetup group members via email.
But recently, meetup has increased its monthly subscription fee.
That happened because WeWork took over on meetup and then gone bankrupt after that 6 individual investors took over meetup, and now they are all trying to get their money back.
And you don't necessarily have to pay it off from your pocket. I mean why should you?
If you are looking for an alternative to meetup because you don't want to pay these hefty fees.
Here is the list of 12 Alternatives for Meetup which you can use.
What are the best alternatives to Meetup.com? Specifically, what sites like meetup would have automatic event messaging capabilities built around a social community core?
If you prefer to watch a video here we have one for you:
1. Odd Circles (free)
If you have ever used Airbnb, then you understand that they have disrupted the industry by design.
They made people use the same assts and resources differently. This is exactly what Odd Circles is doing.
It’s a very simple app which uses the user interface inspired by Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. So you are already familiar with the design.
This reduces the learning curve for an app to almost zero.
I mean, look at some screenshots below:
And the cost associated with managing your community is very low $49 annually.
Try here: https://www.oddcircles.com
Note: OddCircles is running a promotion at the moment if you register your group before 25/December/2023 you can keep it free for life :)
2. Skool ($99/month)
Have you tried skool? You can start a group with just a few clicks. There are tons of features that will empower you to become an established community chief in your niche.
You can email your group members, you can start discussions and host virtual meetings, you can limit the number of attendees in your event, and much more.
One of its customer feedback is “It’s F**king easy”
They have built it on mobile-first, so you can actually do pretty much everything on your handset instead of going online.
Also, they don’t have a registration form. Everyone who joins in Bylde comes from authorizing their social profiles. So Basically you will only see genuine humans, no bots or fake profiles.
The best part is it will only cost you as a group admin only £12 annually. This is 9 times cheaper than what meetup charges you. And they are also about to launch their iOS and Android apps.
So, I guess you can’t grab a better deal than this to migrate your group from meetup or create a fresh start.
Try it.
3. Disciple Media ($99/month)
(https://www.disciplemedia.com/)
I recently discovered this new platform on product hunt. This is a white label company which will create a community platform for your group. But their prices are really steep.
Remember, you could go with this option if you have already a very big community, and you are making money with it. Because the price point here is focussing only on businesses which are already running successfully.
4. Locals ($99/month)
Locals org is a platform where you could create your community. But remember, you will not have features like:
- Sending emails to your group members.
- Sending notification
- Announcing your events etc.
The platform is free to use, but you could incur more than $99/month cost when managing your community.
5. Heylo ($250/month)
Heylo is created by one of the x-googler. You will not know the pricing until you create a group and put a lot of effort to get your community together.
After that, slowly you will get to know that it is super expensive to manage your community.
5. Eventbrite (Percentage Commission)
Eventbrite is a social platform used for hosting and registering for events and is one of the most popular Meetup alternatives. In a few simple steps, you can create an event, set up seating and ticket pricing, and then put the word out using social media to draw a crowd. Users can also register for events, using Eventbrite’s search engine to find events close to them, of a specific type, or within their budget. Though Eventbrite isn’t necessarily intended for regular group meetings, it can still bring people together with similar interests. It also makes it easy to sell tickets and keep track of fees, all online.
To learn more about Eventbrite, check out our course on Eventbrite.
6. Peanut (free)
Peanut is an alternative to Meetup which functions as a group-coordination and event-planning website but only for mums. You can create a group, post online membership forms, and collect membership dues from group members. You can easily create email lists and manage your subscriptions, and archive everything from your group meetings online. Peanut makes it easy to create events and synchronize them with your calendar and Facebook events. You can even sell tickets to your event online.
7. OpenSports ($20/month)
(https://opensports.net/groups)
OpenSports is a sports-specific meetup platform that’s available on the web, and as an app on iOS and Android mobile devices. It’s used for organizing and registering for pickup and drop-in sports events. Organizers create public or private groups, set up events, and send invites for events to players in their group.
The discovery tools in OpenSports also allow local players to find and join groups and events they are interested in. OpenSports makes it easy to recruit players for different positions, collect payment online, create memberships and discount programs, and write waivers when the legal need arises. It even has an advanced automatic wait list system for people wanting to get in on a specific event or group.
8. Citysocializer (£18.99/month)
Citysocializer is a social media app available on Google Android and Apple iOS devices that helps you find cool social gatherings going on around you. Like Meetup, it focuses on face-to-face interactions rather than online connections.
As you attend more events, your network will grow, and you’ll be invited to even more events. It’s also a great way to see what’s going on in a new city, or find great places in your city that you may not have known existed!
9. Facebook (free)
Start a group. You can also make it public, or private (via invite only). They’ve tweaked their events where your friends select if they’re ‘interested’ in an event.
This means your friends are receiving notifications but haven’t committed to RSVPing yes.
But there is no option to email or notify your group members except if they have a Facebook app then they will get a notification on the app.
10. NING ($25/month)
(https://www.ning.com/pricing/)
You may try NING.com — the biggest platform for creating social communities (2+ million communities powered by us) of all types.
Would I have automatic event messaging capabilities built around a social community core?
Yes, yes, and again yes.
1# step: You can create unlimited quantity of events
2# step: You are sending invites by uploading list of emails
3# step: You hit the button “Send” and Voila! mails are broadcast-ed
11. Kommunity ($7.99/month)
Kommunity is a nice alternative to meetup. It does have various features which supports you to manage your local group as well as events.
12. TicketTailor (Percentage Commission)
Ticket Tailor is also another alternative to meetup, as it fulfils the event management requirements for your community.
I understand that it will not come to 100% of what you could achieve with meetup, but it is still better to manage your paid events as the pricing is quite low.
13. Circle So ($89/month)
This platform is more about how you can create a private community which will become an entire Facebook for your community.
So basically there will be no other communities around it. It will be your own personal space.
They do have a iOS app also, but unfortunately it has very bad reviews on app store.
I have listed a few more options if you want to consider:
- GroupValley — Free — make friends — create/join local activities and chats
- Bookwhen — Group booking system
- Eventpeg AUD 12.00/yr for each group. Full featured event manager.
- Far or Near
- Funzing
- Verlocal
- Peatix
- Picatic
- Doorkeeper
- Eventbrite
- Appinall
- Mobilize
- Ticketleap
- citysocializer
- Hashmeet with one Moto meet right people just the way you think #SaveYourTime
- Peoplegogo create a community around a common goal and attract people and their skills
Bonus: Bumble BFF
Bumble, like Meetup, is a website that was created with the purpose of using the Internet to bring people together from all over the world for fun, free events.
Bumble is run entirely by a single company, so for a reasonable membership fees you can get lots of premium features;
So if you have tried other options apart from meetup and do let me know in comments and I will try them too before adding them to this list.
Peace up ✌️
