Hiive vs Luma: which fits how you run?
Luma (formerly lu.ma) is a platform for event pages, registration and ticketing, with calendars that work as community hubs. It is especially popular with tech and startup communities. Here’s how it compares with Hiive for organizers, venues and communities — including where Luma is the better choice.
Checked October 2026 · By the Hiive team
The short answer
At a glance
Yes Partly No? Not confirmed from official sources
Where they differ
Cost to organizers
Luma
Free plan with a 5% platform fee on paid tickets; Luma Plus from US$59 a month removes it.
Hiive
Free for the first couple of months, then a fee agreed with you based on value.
Getting paid
Luma
Stripe only, and Stripe accounts based in India aren't supported.
Hiive
Tickets and bookings with payouts in ₹ and platform-fee tax invoices.
Community
Luma
Calendars with subscribers and memberships; event chat started from iOS.
Hiive
Hives that are open, invite-only or closed, with a join-request queue and event and community chat.
Venues and schedules
Luma
Not supported — events point to a location.
Hiive
Bookable venue services and a combined calendar of events and schedules.
Reaching your audience
Luma
Blasts by email, SMS, push and WhatsApp, up to 500 a week on Free.
Hiive
Campaigns for promotion, announcements, offers, win-back, post-event, renewals and a weekly digest.
Which should you choose?
Choose Luma if…
- Your events are free and you want the cleanest possible registration page.
- You run tech, startup or professional events where Luma is already familiar.
- Your organization can take payments through a supported Stripe account outside India.
- You want a calendar that people subscribe to across many cities.
Choose Hiive if…
- You run paid sessions in India and want payouts in rupees.
- You run paid events in India — gigs, workshops, classes, games — or a venue.
- You want members, join requests and chat in one community space.
- You want to see where bookings drop off in the checkout funnel.
About Luma
Pricing
As of October 2026 (US prices)
- Free: a 5% platform fee on paid tickets, plus Stripe fees.
- Luma Plus: US$59 a month billed annually, with a 0% platform fee, more email sends, tax collection, custom URLs, Zapier and API access.
- Enterprise: custom pricing.
In India
Hosts in India can run free events on Luma. For paid events, Luma's help centre says it can't support Stripe accounts based in India due to technical limitations, and it doesn't support other processors such as PayPal or Razorpay.
Best for
Polished event pages and calendars for tech and startup communities
Where Hiive isn't the best fit
- Hiive is newer than most tools it's compared with. Its event and community coverage is deepest in Mumbai, where it launched, and is growing city by city.
- Business pricing isn't a public rate card: the software is free for the first couple of months, then a fee is agreed with each partner based on the value delivered.
- Businesses join through an application, so setup is guided rather than instant self-serve.
Switching from Luma
- 01
Export your guests from Luma.
- 02
Create your Hiive and set up your first event, Hive or venue.
- 03
Share your Hiive link with your community and run the first event on it.
Questions
Hosts in India can run free events on Luma, but Luma's help centre says it can't support Stripe accounts based in India due to technical limitations, and it doesn't support other processors such as PayPal or Razorpay. That means Indian organizers can't currently collect paid ticket revenue through Luma.
Luma's Free plan charges a 5% platform fee on paid tickets plus Stripe fees. Luma Plus costs US$59 a month billed annually and removes the platform fee, adding more email sends, tax collection, custom URLs, Zapier and API access. Enterprise is custom (October 2026).
For event organizers and communities in India, Hiive offers paid tickets with payouts in rupees, member communities with chat, venue schedules and booking analytics. Townscript is an Indian option for standalone ticketed events, and Meetup suits interest groups that want discovery.
Luma is the better choice for free events and tech or startup communities that want beautiful event pages and a calendar to gather subscribers. Hiive suits event organizers and communities in India that need paid tickets with payouts in ₹, venue schedules, curated entry and booking analytics, with events surfacing locally in the Hiive app.
The Hiive software is free for the first couple of months while your business is set up and runs real activity. After that, Hiive and the partner agree a fee based on the value Hiive has added. There is no fixed public rate.
Try Hiive with your real events. Free for the first couple of months.
Create your Hiive, or tell us how you run things today and we'll map the right setup and a useful pilot.
See the whole platform →Sources and disclosure
Written by the Hiive team. We make a competing product, so every claim about another product here comes from its own website or help centre, checked in October 2026. Prices and features change — check the provider before you decide. Spotted something out of date? Email jai@hiive.club and we’ll fix it.