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Most buyers should pick Luma.
Pick Luma for a free starting tier, event registration and communications, and paid-event fees that drop to 0% on Plus. Its Free plan allows unlimited events and guests, but charges a 5% fee on paid events and caps weekly invites or newsletters at 500. Choose Meetup Pro if you organize multiple Meetup groups and need unlimited groups, events, attendees, and co-hosts; pricing starts at $55 per group monthly, or $47 per group per month with a six-month commitment.
01Side by side
| Meetup Pro | Luma | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $55/group monthly; $47 with six-month commitment | Free; Plus is $59/month, billed annually |
| Free plan | No free plan; one-week trial, up to 20 groups | Yes; unlimited events and guests |
| Best for | Organizers managing multiple Meetup groups | Hosts managing registrations, tickets, and communications |
| Core strength | Discovering events and building interest-based groups | Event pages, ticketing, guest management, and communications |
| Learning curve | Not published | Not published |
| Integrations and data | Pro features not specified on the homepage | Plus includes Zapier automation and API access |
| Team and seat costs | Unlimited groups; billed per group | 3 calendar admins free; 5 on Plus; extra-seat price not published |
| Support | Support details not published | Plus includes priority support |
Meetup Pro Choose Meetup Pro if
- Choose Meetup Pro if you manage multiple Meetup groups.
- Choose Meetup Pro if unlimited events and attendees matter.
- Choose Meetup Pro if per-group pricing fits your budget.
Luma Choose Luma if
- Choose Luma if you want to start on a free plan.
- Choose Luma if you need ticketing and guest-management tools.
- Choose Luma if Plus’s 0% paid-event fee suits your volume.
02Pricing compared
Luma has the lower-cost starting point: its Free plan costs $0 and includes unlimited events and guests. The tradeoff is a 5% platform fee on paid events and a cap of 500 invites or newsletters per week. Luma Plus is listed at $59 per month when billed annually; its monthly-billing price is not published. Plus removes the paid-event platform fee and raises the weekly send limit to 5,000.
Meetup Pro has no free plan, but offers a one-week trial for up to 20 groups. Monthly billing starts at $55 per group. A six-month commitment brings the listed rate to $47 per group per month; one-year pricing is not published. Meetup Pro’s price is per group, so costs can add up for organizers managing several groups.
03Features and depth
Meetup Pro is built around groups and event discovery. Its homepage describes browsing local and online events, finding groups by interest, and starting groups. The Pro plan lists unlimited groups, events, attendees, and event co-hosts, with each group billed separately. The published information does not specify other Pro features.
Luma focuses more on running events. Organizers can create pages for in-person, virtual, or hybrid events; manage free or paid registration; and use options such as ticket tiers, coupons, applications, and waitlists. Guest tools include custom registration questions, exports, role assignment, and QR-code check-in. Luma also lists scheduled email and SMS messages, calendar invites, attendee chat, and public community calendars.
Both products support event discovery, but the details differ: Meetup highlights interest-based groups and local gatherings, while Luma lists a public event directory searchable by city and topic. Choose based on whether groups or event operations are the center of your work.
04Ease of use and learning curve
The published information does not include usability testing, so we would not call either product easier based on feature lists alone. The choice does indicate what you would need to learn: Meetup Pro centers on creating and managing groups, while Luma offers more event-specific controls, including ticket tiers, registration questions, check-in, and attendee messages.
Luma’s Free plan lets individuals host unlimited events and guests, but its 500 weekly invite or newsletter cap and 5% fee on paid events matter as activity grows. Meetup Pro’s listed limits are generous for organizers—unlimited events, attendees, and co-hosts—but its per-group price makes the cost of managing multiple groups worth checking before switching.
Questions people ask
How much does a Meetup subscription cost?
Meetup Pro starts at $55 per group per month with monthly billing. The listed six-month commitment rate is $47 per group per month. A one-year price is not published. Meetup Pro has a one-week trial for up to 20 groups, but the published pricing information does not list a free plan.
Is there an app like Meetup?
Luma is an alternative for organizing and discovering events. It offers event pages, registration, guest management, and a public directory searchable by city and topic. Its focus differs from Meetup’s emphasis on groups built around shared interests, so the better fit depends on whether you need group discovery or event-management tools.
What do you get with Meetup+?
The published information does not describe Meetup+. It covers Meetup Pro, which lists unlimited groups, events, attendees, and event co-hosts, billed per group. We can’t confirm whether Meetup+ is the same product or what it includes from these sources.
Is Luma better than Meetup?
It depends on the job. Luma has a free plan with unlimited events and guests, plus registration and communication tools; paid events incur a 5% fee unless you use Plus. Meetup Pro suits organizers who need unlimited groups and events, but starts at $55 per group monthly.