Cloomba vs Meetup
Meetup invented the model of recurring local groups around shared interests. Two decades on, the price has gone up, and a lot of organizers are looking around. Cloomba is one of the alternatives — built for the same use case (recurring community events) without the monthly group fee.
What both do well
- Recurring local groups / channels that build a following
- Public event pages with RSVPs
- Member discovery within the group
- Free for attendees to join
When Cloomba is the better fit
You don't want a monthly subscription. Cloomba calendars — the equivalent of a Meetup group — are free. So are your events, as long as they're free to attend.
You want to sell paid tickets. Cloomba has full Stripe Connect support, plus an off-platform payment mode. Every event can be paid into its own payment account, so co-organizers on one calendar each keep their own money.
You want pages without ads. Cloomba shows no ads, and it is free for free events, on the web and in the iOS and Android apps.
You want richer event pages. Cloomba ships with a media wall, comments and reactions, organizer updates, waitlists, and guest approval.
You want a CSV export of your attendees. Cloomba's export is one click.
You're an EU organizer. Cloomba's servers are in Amsterdam. Meetup is US-hosted (currently owned by Bending Spoons, an Italian company, but the infrastructure remains US-based).
When Meetup is the better fit
- You're starting a group from zero and want immediate discovery. Meetup has a large existing audience that browses by topic and city — installing the app and joining a group is a well-established habit, especially in the US and UK.
- You're in a city where Meetup already has hundreds of active groups and your target audience is reflexively checking Meetup for things to do.
- You don't mind the subscription fee and you already have your group set up there.
Pricing snapshot
| Cloomba | Meetup | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting your group / calendar | Free | Monthly subscription (rate varies by region and plan) |
| Free events | Free | Included with the subscription |
| Paid events | 5% + standard payment processing | Subscription + fees + payment processing |
| Member limits | None | Tiered by subscription |
| Hosting | EU (Amsterdam) | US |
Meetup's exact pricing depends on your country and tier — check their current pricing page.
Honest bottom line
If you're a community organizer tired of paying a monthly fee for a group page — and you don't depend on Meetup's existing audience for discovery — Cloomba gives you the same recurring-group model for free, on an EU-hosted platform. If you depend on Meetup's discovery to fill events in a city where that habit is entrenched, switching costs a real audience and may not be worth it.