Meetup vs Luma: an honest comparison
Meetup is best for interest groups that meet regularly and want to be found by strangers. Luma is best for polished event pages and calendars for tech and startup communities. Here’s how they compare on what organizers actually need.
Checked October 2026 · By the Hiive team
The short answer
At a glance
Yes Partly No? Not confirmed from official sources
Where each one wins
Meetup wins on
- An established network of people browsing for groups to join.
- Groups as the main unit, so members stick around between events.
- A long track record with hobby and professional groups worldwide.
Luma wins on
- Free to start: the Free plan has no subscription, with a 5% fee only on paid tickets.
- Approval-based registration, coupons and check-in out of the box.
- Guest blasts across email, SMS, push and WhatsApp.
Pricing compared
Meetup
- Starter: free — one group, up to 2 in-person events a month and 10 attendees, no online events, and no event fees.
- Standard: from US$29.99 a month (or $99.99 for 6 months, $174.99 a year).
- Pro: from US$55 per group per month, for organizations running many groups.
- Attendees pay Meetup a service fee on ticketed events. Event fees are collected through PayPal and member dues through Stripe.
Meetup is a global platform and is used in India. Meetup says plan prices may vary by location, so Indian pricing can differ from the US prices below.
Luma
- 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.
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.
Who should use which
Meetup is for
- Hobby and professional groups that meet regularly and grow through discovery.
- Organizers running free events who can work within the Starter limits, or who value discovery enough to pay for Standard.
- Organizations running many chapters that can justify Meetup Pro.
Luma is for
- Tech, startup and professional communities running frequent events.
- Hosts of free events who want registration, approvals and check-in.
- Organizers outside India who can accept payments through Stripe.
Need something neither does?
For recurring events and communities in India — gigs, workshops, classes, games — Hiive combines local discovery in its app with ticketing that pays out in rupees, curated entry modes and venue schedules.
Questions
Meetup is the better pick when you want strangers to find a recurring group. Luma is better when you already have an audience and want beautiful event pages, approvals and guest messaging without a monthly fee to get started.
Meetup: Starter: free — one group, up to 2 in-person events a month and 10 attendees, no online events, and no event fees. Luma: Free: a 5% platform fee on paid tickets, plus Stripe fees. (as of October 2026 (US starting prices); check each provider for current pricing.)
Meetup: Meetup is a global platform and is used in India. Meetup says plan prices may vary by location, so Indian pricing can differ from the US prices below. Luma: 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.
Keep comparing
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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.
- Meetup Help — organizer subscriptions
- Meetup Help — plan features
- Meetup Help — downloading attendee lists
- Meetup Help — Pro member export
- Meetup API
- Luma — pricing
- Luma Help — countries you can accept payments from
- Luma Help — download guest CSV
- Luma Help — download calendar people CSV
- Luma Help — event chat