You're organising meetups, workshops or community events and looking for the right platform? This comparison analyses three popular options (Meetup, Luma and The Playground), breaking down their models, pricing and limitations.
The real question: events or community?
Before comparing features, you need to understand a structural difference between these platforms.
Some are event-centric: you create a page, people sign up, the event happens, and everyone goes their separate way. If you want to host another event, you start from scratch.
Others are community-centric: attendees join a group. They receive upcoming events, see other members, and come back naturally.
This distinction changes everything for retention. If your attendees don't come back from one event to the next, the problem might not be your content. It might be your tool.
The comparison at a glance
| The Playground | Meetup | Luma | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Community | Community | Event (+ Calendar) |
| Free for organisers | Yes | Variable (see below) | Yes |
| Commission on paid events | 0% (Stripe fees only) | Via platform | 5% (or 0% at $59/month) |
| Premium event page | Yes | No | Yes |
| Registration without account | No (magic link or OAuth) | No (account required) | Yes (email only) |
| Public community page | Yes (members, events, identity) | Yes (group) | Partial (Calendar, no members) |
| Attendee export | CSV per event | CSV members + restricted API | CSV per event + Calendar contacts |
| Public discovery | Yes (directory) | Yes (directory, the largest) | Yes (Discover, 50+ cities) |
| Infrastructure | Europe (Vercel EU, Neon EU) | US | US |
Meetup: the original community model
Meetup invented the concept of local online groups. You create a group, people join it, and they get notified with every new event. It's the right model, and it's been proven for 20 years.
Since the acquisition by Bending Spoons in 2024, Meetup has changed course. The company cut its teams and revised its pricing: organisers still pay a subscription on certain plans, and members also pay (around $2 per RSVP, or a Meetup+ subscription at ~$5/month for unlimited RSVPs). Both sides pay.
What works
- The community model: persistent group, members, notifications. It's the reference.
- Local discovery: the directory by city and topic is still the most comprehensive on the market. If you're starting a new group, Meetup gives you organic visibility.
- The installed base: millions of active users worldwide.
The limitations
- The double paywall: both organisers and members pay. For a free community, this is a real barrier to adoption.
- The interface: revamped after the acquisition, but still far from the Luma standard. Registration requires a full account (email, password, profile), which hurts conversion from a shared link.
- Export: CSV of members available for organisers. The public API has been significantly restricted in recent years.
When to choose Meetup
Meetup remains relevant if you're relying on organic discovery: you want strangers to find your group via the directory. That's its unique strength. If your community already exists and you distribute your events through other channels (WhatsApp, Slack, LinkedIn), the Meetup directory loses its value, and the cost becomes hard to justify.
Luma: the event page benchmark
Luma set a new standard for the event page. Polished design, registration in seconds (email only, no account), automatic calendar integration. It has become the go-to tool for tech events, creative gatherings and conferences.
On pricing, Luma is free for organisers. The platform takes a 5% commission on paid events (on top of Stripe fees). To remove that commission, you need Luma Plus at $59/month, which also unlocks API access, custom URLs and higher email sending limits.
Luma has evolved beyond the purely event-centric model with Calendars: a public page listing your events, which visitors can subscribe to. And more recently, Calendar Memberships allow you to create membership tiers (free or paid).
What works
- The event page: the market benchmark. Beautiful, fast, optimised for sharing.
- Frictionless registration: email only, no account, no password. Conversion rate is excellent.
- Communications: email, SMS, push, WhatsApp. All included in the free plan.
- The Calendar: a first layer of persistence to stay in touch with your audience.
The limitations
- No real community page: the Calendar shows your events, but not your members. There's no sense of belonging to a group. Attendees subscribe to an event list, they don't join a community.
- The 5% commission: on recurring paid events, it adds up fast. The alternative ($59/month) is only worth it above a certain volume.
- No native recurrence: no recurring events as such. You have to duplicate manually (up to 30 times). Attendee lists are not copied.
When to choose Luma
Luma is the right choice if you're organising one-off events or conferences where the quality of the registration page is decisive and persistent community isn't a priority. It's also the best tool if you need multi-channel communications (SMS, WhatsApp) right now.
The Playground: community first, 100% free
The Playground starts from a simple observation: Meetup has the right model (persistent community) but an ageing product and a paid model. Luma has the right experience but no community layer. The Playground combines both.
The core principle: when someone registers for your event, they automatically join your community. After the event, they see the next meetups, the other members, your group's identity. The link doesn't break between events.
On pricing: 0% commission, no subscription, no limits. Only standard Stripe fees (~2.9% + €0.30) apply on paid events. The full amount goes to the organiser.
What works
- Persistent community: every community has its public page with its events (upcoming and past), its members and its identity. It's the retention layer that Luma doesn't have.
- Automatic membership: registering for an event = joining the community. No extra step, zero friction.
- Social proof: registered attendees are visible on the event page (avatars, remaining spots). It helps conversion.
- Paid events via Stripe Connect: the organiser receives the payment directly, with no intermediary and no platform commission.
- CSV export of attendees per event.
- Calendar add (Google Calendar + ICS file) after registration.
The limitations. Let's be honest
- No Discover as large as Meetup's: the directory exists, but the user base is smaller. Distribution relies on the organiser (shared links via WhatsApp, LinkedIn, etc.), not on a discovery algorithm.
- Registration via magic link or OAuth: more secure than a password, but one more step than Luma (which only requires an email). It's a security vs. friction trade-off.
- No SMS/WhatsApp in notifications (email only for now).
- Young platform: fewer advanced features than Luma (no QR check-in, no multi-channel communications, no native recurrence yet).
When to choose The Playground
The Playground is built for organisers who want to build a community over time, not just manage events on a case-by-case basis. If your attendees come once and don't return, that's the problem The Playground solves. And if budget matters, the total free model removes the question entirely.
Verdict
There's no universal "best tool". The choice depends on what you're building:
- You're relying on organic discovery and accept the cost → Meetup
- You organise one-off premium events and community isn't your priority → Luma
- You're building a lasting community, without budget, with a modern experience → The Playground
The real question isn't "which tool has the most features". It's "do your attendees come back?". If the answer is no, maybe it's the tool that needs to change.