# Meetup: Social Events & Groups — Meet New People & Make Friends

> Social platform for finding and organizing local and online interest-based groups and events. (iPhone/iPad app by Meetup LLC.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/meetup-social-events-and-groups/id375990038 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Meetup LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/365018580)
- Category: Social Networking, Lifestyle
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.70/5 from 272,639 App Store ratings · 1,864 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 16.0 · 263 MB
- Languages: American English, Dutch, French (France), German (Germany), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, European Portuguese, Russian and 2 more
- Released: 2010-06-13
- Data updated: 2026-08-29
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/meetup-social-events-and-groups/id375990038/reviews.md

## What is Meetup?

Pursue your interests with people who share them, both online and in person. With over 60 million members, Meetup helps you build a career network, discover a tech community, create a personal brand, make time for your hobbies, and meet friends who share similar interests. 

Easily meet people you know you’ll get along with and create groups of friends that will be as excited as you to embrace your hobbies, participate in online or local events or engage in discussions. Download the Meetup app and host your own events or join one of the 100,000 Meetup events with new people happening every week. 

Discover local and online events

Meet new people and get matched with over 330,000 groups and friends based on your network of interests, from tech conferences to free yoga and everything in-between
Explore online or local events by category, search by keyword, or see what’s popular in your area with a map
Save events you’re interested in and come back to  them later. Pick and choose the people and friends you want to meet at all the events that you like
Have discussions with the people you meet and use direct messaging to stay in touch with your new friends
Meet  people who are interested in the same local or online events, create new groups of friends and expand your online network

Start a group

Host your own events online and in person by creating a group on your favorite topic, and meet friends who wants to participate
Watch your community of friends and network of people grow as your group is recommended to interested people and potential new friends to meet
Easily personalize and schedule events on-the-go, and manage your group from anywhere
Keep the momentum going between events by sharing photos and using discussions and instant messaging to connect with the people and friends in your group that you are keen to meet

Get in touch with questions or suggestions: iossupport@meetup.com

In order to recommend Meetup events that are hosted by local groups, we use your device's precise location (GPS and network-based).

EULA: 
https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Privacy Policy:
https://www.meetup.com/privacy/

## Key features

- Discover local and online events
- Join or create interest-based groups
- Meet new people and make friends
- Host and manage your own events
- Engage in discussions and direct messaging
- Personalize event schedules

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Unlimited Subscription | $19.99 | per month |
| Meetup Subscription: 6 months | $98.99 | per 6 months |
| Meetup Subscription: 1 month | $27.99 | per month |
| Meetup Subscription: 6 months | $108.99 | per 6 months |
| Member Subscription: 1 Year | $64.99 | per year |
| 1-Month Unlimited Subscription | $14.99 | per month |
| Meetup Subscription: 1 month | $23.99 | per month |
| Member Subscription: 1 Month | $3.99 | per month |
| Meetup Plus Subscription | $4.99 | per 7 days |
| Meetup Plus Subscription | $4.99 | per 7 days |
| Standard Organizer | $12.99 | per 7 days |
| Meetup Plus Subscription | $4.99 | per 7 days |
| Member Subscription | $9.99 | per 7 days |
| Member Subscription | $9.99 | per 7 days |
| Meetup Plus Subscription | $9.99 | per 7 days |
| Member Subscription | $6.99 | per 7 days |
| Core Subscription | $44.99 | per month |
| Member Subscription | $84.99 | per year |
| Meetup Plus Subscription | $4.99 | per 7 days |


## Chart rankings

- #40 in Top Free · Social Networking (US App Store)
- #12 in Top Grossing · Social Networking (US App Store)

## What do users think of Meetup?

Overall sentiment: neutral

**Pros**

- 🤝 Great way to meet new people
- 🌍 Connects people with similar interests
- 🎉 Helps with socializing and making new friends
- 🌳 Organizes outdoor activities and events

**Cons**

- 💰 Expensive subscription fees
- 🔒 Privacy concerns with sharing personal information
- 📢 Too many notifications and emails
- 🤯 Confusing and unintuitive user interface
- 🐛 Buggy app with crashes and glitches

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Inability to upload photos
- Inconsistent event information across app and website
- Login and account management issues
- Unreliable push notifications

**Most requested features**

- Ability to customize notification settings
- Option to filter events by age group
- Improved calendar integration
- More moderation of inactive or spam groups

## Recent user reviews (10 of 1,864)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/meetup-social-events-and-groups/id375990038/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Refund money

*2026-08-26, version 2026.8.20*

Meetup


I am making a formal complaint regarding repeated charges for a Meetup Member Subscription.

I downloaded the Meetup app myself, but I did not realise that the subscription would continue automatically and charge me $14.99 AUD every week. I only discovered the subscription after noticing that money had repeatedly been taken from my account.

I have now found approximately six recurring charges. I did not intend to continue a weekly paid subscription, and I did not use the paid subscription benefits during these periods.

As soon as I became aware of these charges, I immediately cancelled the subscription.

I have contacted Apple and requested refunds. So far, I have only received a partial/prorated refund for one charge, while the other charges have not been refunded.

I am extremely dissatisfied with this experience. I believe the recurring weekly charges were not sufficiently clear to me when I subscribed, and I would not knowingly have agreed to continue paying $14.99 every week.

I am requesting that Meetup review my subscription and billing history and assist me in obtaining refunds for all of the remaining recurring charges.

Please also confirm that my subscription is fully cancelled and that I will not be charged again.

### 4/5 — Great for connections, needs bot cleanup

*2026-08-25, version 2026.8.20*

To be fair, this app actually delivered on the main thing; met people I genuinely click with, which is rare. But there are some things are killing the experience:

The algorithm keeps showing me women-only events even though it clearly knows I’m a guy. Like why am I seeing events I literally can’t attend by their own rules? Feels like a filtering bug that should’ve been fixed ages ago.

The job scam bots are out of control. Constantly getting spammed with “make $1k/week remote, just click this link” nonsense from sketchy sites. It’s everywhere and makes the platform feel unsafe. Please get some actual filters/moderation going to catch these before they flood every group.

Fix these two and this easily becomes a 5 star app.

### 2/5 — Dishonest app opens ads without a tap

*2026-08-24, version 2026.8.20*

Opens advertisers links without me tapping on them. Dishonest app. Swiping to scroll is not a tap on ad ,

### 2/5 — Too many requests to pay money

*2026-08-24, version 2026.8.15*

This “upgraded” app keeps trying to make people pay to join … what I thought was a “free” service. The organizer fees have doubled w/ less helpful customer service!

### 1/5 — Increasingly unfunctional

*2026-08-24, version 2026.8.20*

It went downhill within 1.5 years, charged for previous basic functions, app was not doing what it said it would with organiser or pro function. Cost went up for nothing new. It was after 3.5 years, i decided to end  my time with the app. 
Incredibly clunky and unnecessary first it was matching and connecting and then ads. Move on

### 1/5 — RIP to my meetups.

*2026-08-24, version 2026.8.20*

Paying to use the site makes it inaccessible to those on a limited income. Especially when some groups also require money. I used this app so much to find new groups, not sure where to go now.

### 2/5 — Unrealistic groups

*2026-08-22, version 2026.8.20*

The app is very user unfriendly. There are groups on there that are on in the evening but if you toggle evening groups, nothing appears. 
I was thinking about creating my own group, but that is impossible. The events that are being cast on there are really nuts. I seriously don't wanna climb up a mountain and I don't wanna go on a 25 mile bike ride. 
I also don't wanna get involved in other peoples religious beliefs, and the groups that were slightly interesting to me were all online. 
I thought the principal creation of Meetup was so that you actually meet up with people in real life. 
I was on Meetup about six years ago and it was great because there were some people I got to know quite well. I left it though because my circumstances changed and I've recently come back to it and seen how awful it is now. 
To be honest I'm thinking of just deleting my profile again and joining groups on Facebook or other social sites that create events that are not so wacko... after all I don't want to end up in hospital or debate with the crazies!

### 1/5 — Location

*2026-08-22, version 2026.8.20*

I don’t know what’s going on with the dad, but you cannot get Location with me all in the United States when I take 50 miles from where I’m at. Deleting this app

### 3/5 — Too many taps to get to events

*2026-08-22, version 2026.8.19*

I’ve been a member for about 17 years. In that time, the price has gone up roughly 500%, but the app has gotten harder to use — it now takes 4-5 taps to get to my own groups because of promotional content and member-contact prompts in the way.

Could you pass this along to the product team: please add a way to default to “My Groups” instead of the discovery feed, and reduce the number of steps to reach content I’ve already joined.

Also, as a member, not a host, we used to be able to access some basic info about riders (cycling clubs) to determine if it was a good fit. Now we need to pay monthly for that information. It is too expensive and more cumbersome.

Thanks,
Patti M.

### 1/5 — Got worse and worse

*2026-08-21, version 2026.8.19*

I know apps need to make money, but Meetup does this by annoying you.
Hiding information, constant pop ups 
This used to be a good app, now’s it just waiting to be replaced by an app that doesn’t harass users.

## Frequently asked questions about Meetup

### What does the Meetup app do?

The app helps you discover and join local and online events and groups based on your interests. You can also create your own groups and host events, connecting with people who share similar passions.

### What are the key features of Meetup?

Key features include discovering events by category or keyword, joining or starting groups, meeting new people, engaging in discussions, and direct messaging to stay in touch with new friends.

### Is Meetup free to use?

The app is free to download and use for discovering and joining events. There are in-app purchases available, which may relate to premium features or group management tools.

### How does Meetup use my location?

The app uses your device's precise location (GPS and network-based) to recommend Meetup events that are hosted by local groups in your area.

### Who is the Meetup app for?

This app is designed for anyone looking to expand their social circle, pursue hobbies, build professional networks, or find communities of like-minded individuals through organized events and groups.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2026.8.27 — 2026-08-28

This release includes some under-the-hood improvements to keep things running smoothly.
App feedback is always welcome: iossupport@meetup.com

### 2026.8.24 — 2026-08-26

This release includes some under-the-hood improvements to keep things running smoothly.
App feedback is always welcome: iossupport@meetup.com

### 2026.8.20 — 2026-08-22

This release includes some under-the-hood improvements to keep things running smoothly.
App feedback is always welcome: iossupport@meetup.com

### 2026.8.19 — 2026-08-20

This release includes some under-the-hood improvements to keep things running smoothly.
App feedback is always welcome: iossupport@meetup.com

### 2026.8.15 — 2026-08-17

This release includes some under-the-hood improvements to keep things running smoothly.
App feedback is always welcome: iossupport@meetup.com

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## More apps by Meetup LLC

- [Meetup for Organizers](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/meetup-for-organizers/id1581498347)

All apps by Meetup LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/365018580

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-29.*
