Report

Should I Use Meetup?

meetup.com·Analyzed 1 hour ago·Based on 10 sources

Find Meetup events, join groups, or start your own. Make new friends and connect with like-minded people.

Depends

Great as a free attendee hunting local interest groups; nothing else matches its density.

Free and great for finding local groups; risky for organizers after sharp price hikes and shaky support.

Confidence: Medium

1.9/5

SmartCustomer rating

498 reviews

Yes

Free tier

Joining groups costs nothing

Up to 6x

Organizer price hikes

User-reported: $40 to $300/yr

44M members

2020 flaw exposure

Group takeover and payment risks

Value for money

Sharp organizer hikes; heavy user backlash

Feature depth

Group tools plus event ratings; Pro adds scale

Support quality

1.9/5 ratings; complaint-heavy feedback

Security posture

Patched 2020 flaws; 2024 privilege-escalation CVE

Pros

Free to join groups and RSVP; paid Meetup+ is optional
Members happily attend regular events like boardgame nights
Organizers get event feedback and ratings tools built in
Meetup Pro tier exists for brands running multiple groups^⁹

Cons

Organizer prices raised up to 6x per user reports^⁴
Subscription triples announced with under a month's notice^³
1.9/5 average rating across 498 customer reviews^¹
Fees added to features that were previously free
Longtime users say the platform is past its prime

Gotchas

highOrganizer prices tripled with under a month's notice in 2024; expect more hikes^³
mediumNew fees now apply to features that used to be free
mediumBending Spoons ownership era coincides with aggressive monetization¹⁰
medium1,200+ complaints on PissedConsumer; support contact is hard to reach

Best for

Finding local hobby and interest groups
Regular attendees joining existing groups
Organizers running recurring in-person communities
Brands managing many groups via Meetup Pro

Not for

One-off or ticketed event hosts — use Eventbrite
Budget-sensitive organizers; fees rose sharply
Online-only webinar and virtual event teams
Small casual friend circles — fees outweigh value

Pricing

Member (free plan)

Join groups
RSVP to events

Organizer (Starter/Standard)

Varies; user reports $40 to $300/yr after hikes

Run a group
Schedule events
Event ratings

Meetup Pro

Not disclosed

Multiple groups for organizations
Group management at scale

Security

2020 high-risk flaws enabled group takeovers and payment redirection (44M members exposed, since patched); one 2024 privilege-escalation CVE exists.

CVE-2024-50483 — privilege escalationBroken authentication allowing privilege escalation; disclosed 2024.^⁷
2020 group takeover and payment redirection flawsCheckmarx found high-risk bugs exposing 44M members to data loss and PayPal theft; Meetup patched them.^⁶