Guide
Best Meetup alternatives.Matched to why you are leaving.
Meetup’s strength is discovery: a new group gets put in front of people who are already searching for one. This guide covers five things an organizer weighs before leaving: the subscription, fees on members, access to the member list, charging for events or memberships, and discovery. It starts with what Meetup charges today, taken from its own help center, then matches each one to the tools that fit. For most of them, the right tool is not ours.
The best Meetup alternative depends on why you are leaving. For a free social or hobby group that wants a home without an organizer subscription: Heylo, Luma, The Playground, or a Facebook group. For a group that runs as a business, with paid events, memberships, and a member list to reach by email and SMS: SocialLoop. For public ticketed events that need a marketplace: Eventbrite. For a paid membership community with courses: Mighty Networks. For volunteer-run groups that want open-source software: Mobilizon. If your group grows mainly through strangers finding it, Meetup is still the right home.
What Meetup charges in 2026
Published figures for Meetup’s price vary, partly because Meetup prices by location. These come from Meetup’s own help center, checked on September 28, 2026.
- Organizer, Standard plan
- Starting from $29.99 a month, $99.99 for six months, or $174.99 a year. Covers up to three groups, with unlimited events and attendees.
- Organizer, Pro plan
- Starting from $55 per group per month, or $47 per group per month on six-month billing. Adds member email export, a Mailchimp sync, and analytics.
- Organizer, Starter plan
- Free, and only for first-time organizers: one group, two in-person events a month, ten people per event. Meetup says an organizer who has ever held a paid plan cannot switch to it.
- What members pay
- Joining groups and RSVPing is free. On a paid event, Meetup adds a service fee on top of the ticket price; the member pays it and Meetup keeps it. Meetup’s example is $1.62 on a $10 ticket. Meetup+, a separate member subscription, removes that fee and unlocks full member lists, attendee lists, and direct messages to any member.
- Charging your members
- Standard and Pro organizers can charge event fees and member dues; Starter organizers cannot. On event fees, Meetup says a small transaction fee is also taken from what you charge, and to check the amount with PayPal. On dues, which run through Stripe, a transaction fee of 7.5% plus $0.50 is taken from what you charge, in US dollars only.
- Reaching your members
- Organizers can email the group through Meetup’s Contact Members tool, which does not show members’ addresses. Meetup’s description of the free Starter plan names group discussions and event chat. Downloading member emails is a Pro feature, and it covers only members who RSVP to an event and agree to share their address.
Meetup says these prices are a starting point and vary by location, currency, and where you subscribe; your account shows the price that applies to you. Sources, all on help.meetup.com: What Meetup Pro adds, What free members can do, Why prices vary, Organizer subscription prices, Starter plan: who can use it, and its limits, No switching from a paid plan to Starter, Service fee on paid events, Meetup+ and the free plan, Member dues, Member emails on Pro, Contact Members tool, Event fees, Spam and messaging.
Start with your reason for leaving
The organizer subscription is more than a free group can carry
A hobby group with no income pays the same subscription as one that sells tickets. These have no organizer fee: Heylo’s Base plan ($0 per group, unlimited members and events), Luma’s free plan (unlimited events and guests), The Playground (its site says free for organizers and members), and a Facebook group. If you are a first-time organizer with one group, two in-person events a month and ten people or fewer at each, Meetup’s own Starter plan is free too.
Your members are being asked to pay
On Meetup, a member without Meetup+ pays a service fee on paid events and cannot see the full member or attendee list. If that is the friction, look for a home where every member gets the same experience. Heylo’s free plan includes a member directory and group chats. The Playground says it is free for members. Ask how each tool handles ticket fees before you switch: on Eventbrite and on SocialLoop, for example, buyers pay the fees unless you choose to absorb them.
You want your member list, and a direct line to it
On Meetup, member email addresses come only with Pro, and only from members who RSVP and consent. If the list is what you are building, pick a tool organized around it. SocialLoop keeps members and guests in a CRM and reaches them with email campaigns and SMS announcements. Luma’s free plan includes CSV import and export and up to 500 invites or newsletters a week. Heylo says you can export your member list, attendance history, and payment records at any time.
You want to charge for events or memberships
Meetup does this on Standard and Pro, at the fees above. If paid events and memberships are what sustain the group, compare the whole cost. SocialLoop is free to start. The Free plan covers 1 event per month, 1 ticket tier per event, a community of up to 50 members, 1,000 contacts, 25 invitations a week, and 500 marketing emails and 10 SMS a month. Paid plans start at $19.99 a month and raise those limits; the pricing page lists every limit. On paid tickets the platform fee is 5% on the Free plan. Card processing is 3.4% + 30¢ per order. When fees are passed to the buyer, which is the default, a 50¢ service charge, kept by SocialLoop, is added and the platform fee has a $1 minimum per order, never more than the order itself. On a $10 ticket that comes to $2.22 in fees, paid by the buyer. If you choose to absorb the fees instead, the buyer pays $10 and $1.14 comes out of your payout. Memberships carry a 5% platform fee, and card processing comes out of your share. Heylo takes 5% plus $0.59 per transaction on its free plan, less on paid plans. Luma takes 5% of paid events on its free plan and 0% on Luma Plus, with Stripe’s card fee on top. Mighty Networks is built for paid memberships; its Explore plan is $350 a year, and courses come with the Launch plan at $79 a month on annual billing. Eventbrite sells tickets to public events at 3.7% plus $1.79 per ticket, plus 2.9% processing, in the US.
You want new people to find you
If this matters most, it is the reason to stay. Meetup members discover groups by interest and location, and Meetup describes its network as millions of members. If you leave, decide first where new members will come from. Eventbrite has a marketplace for public events. Heylo lists groups in its discovery directory and on search engines. Luma has a public Discover page. SocialLoop lists public events for people to find, but it is not a network of people browsing for groups to join: you bring your members.
At a glance
| Tool | What the organizer pays | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Meetup | Standard from $29.99 a month; Starter free for first-time organizers, with limits | Groups that grow through strangers finding them |
| SocialLoop | Free plan: 1 event per month, 50 members; paid plans from $19.99 a month; fees on what you sell | Groups that run as a business |
| Heylo | $0 per group on Base; paid plans from $19 to $199 per group per month, custom above that | A free home for a social group that talks between events |
| Luma | Free plan; Luma Plus $59 a month billed annually | Free events for an audience you already have |
| The Playground | Free, by its own account | A community page with events and no platform fees |
| Facebook Groups | No charge, unless Facebook states otherwise | Groups whose members already use Facebook |
| Eventbrite | Free for free events; fees per paid ticket | Public ticketed events that need a marketplace |
| Mighty Networks | Explore plan $350 a year; no free plan | A paid membership community, online and in person |
| Mobilizon | Free to join an existing site; hosting costs if you run your own | Volunteer-run groups that want open-source software |
The best Meetup alternatives, by use case
SocialLoop
Best for: Groups that run as a business
Built for the organizer whose group earns money. SocialLoop brings a CRM, email campaigns and SMS announcements, ticketing, and memberships into one place: events with RSVPs, paid tickets, guest lists, and check-in; memberships for your regulars; campaigns to the people in your CRM. SocialLoop is free to start. The Free plan covers 1 event per month, 1 ticket tier per event, a community of up to 50 members, 1,000 contacts, 25 invitations a week, and 500 marketing emails and 10 SMS a month. Paid plans start at $19.99 a month and raise those limits; the pricing page lists every limit. On paid tickets the platform fee is 5% on the Free plan. Card processing is 3.4% + 30¢ per order. When fees are passed to the buyer, which is the default, a 50¢ service charge, kept by SocialLoop, is added and the platform fee has a $1 minimum per order, never more than the order itself. On a $10 ticket that comes to $2.22 in fees, paid by the buyer. If you choose to absorb the fees instead, the buyer pays $10 and $1.14 comes out of your payout. Memberships carry a 5% platform fee, and card processing comes out of your share. The trade-off is discovery: SocialLoop is not a network of people browsing for groups, so you bring your own members. If your group is free and casual, one of the tools below is a simpler fit.
Heylo
Best for: A free home for a social group that talks between events
A group app with chat at the center. The Base plan is $0 per group with unlimited members, events, and RSVPs, and includes group chats, a member directory, and payment collection at 5% plus $0.59 per transaction. Paid plans run from $19 to $199 per group per month and lower that fee. Heylo says you can export your member list, attendance history, and payment records at any time, and that groups are listed in its discovery directory and on search engines. The Base plan includes 500 emails a month.
Luma
Best for: Free events for an audience you already have
Event pages and a calendar, free on the base plan with unlimited events and guests, reminders by email and SMS, check-in, and CSV import and export. Paid events carry a 5% platform fee, or 0% on Luma Plus at $59 a month billed annually; Stripe’s card fee, typically 2.9% plus 30 cents, comes on top. The free plan sends up to 500 invites or newsletters a week. A fit when members come from your own network, company, or newsletter.
The Playground
Best for: A community page with events and no platform fees
A platform for communities that host events. Its site says it is free for organizers and members: no subscription, no platform commission, and no limit on communities, events, or members. For paid events it says only Stripe’s standard card fee applies. It also says you can export your members, events, and history at any time. Everything here comes from The Playground’s own site, so confirm it covers what your group needs before you move.
Facebook Groups
Best for: Groups whose members already use Facebook
Facebook’s terms say it does not charge you to use Facebook unless it states otherwise. A group can be public or private, and you can create events inside it. It works when your members already open Facebook most days and the group is mostly conversation with a gathering now and then. The group lives inside Facebook, so it suits communities that are content to stay there.
Eventbrite
Best for: Public ticketed events that need a marketplace
A ticketing platform with a marketplace where people look for events. Free events cost nothing to publish. In the US, paid tickets carry a service fee of 3.7% plus $1.79 per ticket and a 2.9% payment processing fee per order; buyers pay these by default, or you can absorb them. It is organized around events rather than an ongoing group, so it fits organizers who grow one public event at a time.
Mighty Networks
Best for: A paid membership community, online and in person
Community software for paid memberships, courses, and events, online and in person. The Explore plan is $350 a year, or $35 month to month, and covers an activity feed, chat, and virtual and in-person events for a paid community. Courses come with the Launch plan, $79 a month on annual billing ($950 a year) with a 2% transaction fee; higher plans lower the fee. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial. A fit when members pay a subscription for an ongoing program.
Mobilizon
Best for: Volunteer-run groups that want open-source software
Free, open-source software for events and groups. There is no single Mobilizon platform: independent Mobilizon sites connect to each other, and you can join an existing one or run your own. It covers events, groups, and member management, and visitors can search for events and groups. Its feature list does not mention ticketing or payments, so it suits free, volunteer-run groups.
We make one of the tools on this list. Details about the others come from each company’s own pricing and help pages, checked on September 28, 2026. Pricing changes, so confirm on their site before you decide.
Moving a group without losing it
A group is its regulars. The move has worked if the people who come to your events make it across.
1. Open the new home before you announce it
Set up the group, the next two events, and how people join. A member who follows the link should find something to say yes to that day.
2. Bring your regulars first
Ask the ten or twenty people who come most often, one by one. When everyone else arrives, the room is already full of familiar names.
3. Tell the whole group, once and plainly
Post on Meetup and send the group one message there; Meetup treats repeated or promotional messages as spam. Say where the group is going, why, and what stays the same. Then say it again in person at your next two events.
4. Run both for a while
This is our view, and some tools advise a clean cut instead. Keep posting events on Meetup with a line about where RSVPs now happen, for as long as new people still find you there, within Meetup’s policy on promotion described below. Close the group, or keep it for discovery, once you know which.
When Meetup is still the right answer
Stay on Meetup if your group is free to attend, open to anyone, and grows because people search for an interest in their city and find you. That network is what the organizer subscription pays for. Our Luma vs Meetup comparison covers that choice in more detail.
Meetup’s help center names three ways to lower the cost without leaving. Six-month and annual billing reduce the monthly price. A Standard plan covers up to three groups, so co-organizers can run their groups under one subscription and split it. And member dues or event fees can cover the subscription.
You can also keep a Meetup group for discovery and handle additional registration or ticketing somewhere else. Meetup’s policy on business promotion for groups connected to a business, brand, or organization allows this under conditions, among them that the group gives members real value of its own and that any additional registration or ticketing outside Meetup is clearly explained to them. Read the policy before you rely on it.
Common questions
What is the best free Meetup alternative?
For a free social or hobby group, the closest free replacements are Heylo, Luma, The Playground, and Facebook Groups. Heylo’s Base plan is $0 per group with unlimited members and events, group chats, and a member directory. Luma’s free plan has unlimited events and guests. The Playground’s site says it charges no subscription and no commission. Facebook’s terms say it does not charge you to use it unless it states otherwise. Discovery works differently on each, so plan how new people will find you. Meetup itself has a free Starter plan for first-time organizers, limited to one group, two in-person events a month, and ten people per event. Prices checked September 28, 2026.
How much does Meetup cost organizers in 2026?
According to Meetup’s help center, checked September 28, 2026, the Standard organizer plan starts from $29.99 a month, $99.99 for six months, or $174.99 a year, and covers up to three groups. Meetup Pro starts from $55 per group per month, or $47 per group per month on six-month billing. A free Starter plan exists for first-time organizers only, limited to one group, two in-person events a month, and ten attendees per event. Meetup says prices vary by location, currency, and whether you subscribe on the web or in the app, so the price in your account may differ.
Why are organizers leaving Meetup?
There is no public count of how many organizers leave Meetup or why. Guides to Meetup alternatives, most of them published by competing tools, cite cost, fees charged to members, access to the member list, and fees on payments. Meetup’s own help center confirms the facts behind each. Cost: Meetup raised prices for Standard and new Pro plans starting June 2024, and Standard now starts from $29.99 a month. Member fees: members pay a service fee on paid events unless they subscribe to Meetup+. List access: member email addresses can be downloaded only on the Pro plan, and only for members who RSVP and consent. Payments: a transaction fee of 7.5% plus $0.50 is taken from member dues. Whether any of these outweighs Meetup’s discovery network depends on how your group finds new members.
Can I move my Meetup members to another platform?
Not as a list, in most cases. Meetup’s help center says only organizers on the Pro plan can download member email addresses, and only for members who RSVP to an event and agree to share their address; upgrading to Pro does not reveal the addresses of members who joined earlier. Other organizers can still message the whole group through Meetup’s Contact Members tool, which sends the email without showing addresses. The practical route is to tell members where the group is going and let each person join the new home themselves. Expect some members not to follow, and keep the Meetup group open during the move if new members still find you there.
Which Meetup alternative lets me charge for events or memberships?
Several do, and Meetup itself does on its Standard and Pro plans: a transaction fee of 7.5% plus $0.50 is taken from member dues, and members pay a service fee on paid events. SocialLoop is built for groups that run as a business, with ticketing, memberships, a CRM, and email campaigns and SMS announcements in one place. SocialLoop is free to start. The Free plan covers 1 event per month, 1 ticket tier per event, a community of up to 50 members, 1,000 contacts, 25 invitations a week, and 500 marketing emails and 10 SMS a month. Paid plans start at $19.99 a month and raise those limits; the pricing page lists every limit. On paid tickets the platform fee is 5% on the Free plan. Card processing is 3.4% + 30¢ per order. When fees are passed to the buyer, which is the default, a 50¢ service charge, kept by SocialLoop, is added and the platform fee has a $1 minimum per order, never more than the order itself. On a $10 ticket that comes to $2.22 in fees, paid by the buyer. If you choose to absorb the fees instead, the buyer pays $10 and $1.14 comes out of your payout. Memberships carry a 5% platform fee, and card processing comes out of your share. Heylo collects event fees, memberships, and donations at 5% plus $0.59 per transaction on its free plan. Luma charges a 5% platform fee on paid events, or 0% on Luma Plus. Mighty Networks is built for paid memberships; its Explore plan is $350 a year, and courses come with the Launch plan at $79 a month on annual billing. Eventbrite sells tickets to public events at 3.7% plus $1.79 per ticket plus 2.9% processing in the US. Check each provider’s current pricing before you decide.
Running your group as a business? Try SocialLoop
If your group sells tickets, runs memberships, and needs to reach its people by email and SMS, SocialLoop puts those tools in one place. What it costs is set out above.
See SocialLoop vs Meetup