Is Hopin or Meetup better?

Neither clearly leads. Hopin starts at Free and Meetup at $55/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Hopin or Meetup?

Hopin has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hopin and $55/month for Meetup.

Does Hopin or Meetup run on more platforms?

Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

Can I use Hopin for free?

Yes. Hopin has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Meetup starts at $55/month.

What is Hopin best used for?

Hopin is most often used for event planning, ticket sales, attendee management, virtual events. Of those, event planning and ticket sales are not what Meetup is typically brought in for.

What can Hopin do that Meetup cannot?

Hopin covers Virtual stages, Networking sessions, Expo areas, Breakout rooms. Meetup covers Groups, Events, RSVP System, Messaging. Both handle Web support, Ios support, Android support.

Webinar & Virtual Events · head to head

Hopin vs Meetup

Hopin

Webinar & Virtual Events

Virtual and hybrid events at scale

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Meetup

Event Management

Find your people

From: $55/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Hopin has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Hopin platform complexity with feature breadth that results in no single feature being particularly strong compared to specialized competitors; Meetup organizer fees tripled following Bending Spoons acquisition in 2024
They diverge on capability: Hopin covers Virtual stages, Meetup covers Groups.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hopin and Meetup actually diverge.

Attributes where Hopin and Meetup differ
Attribute	Hopin	Meetup
Starting price	Free	$55/month
Free tier	Yes	No
Category	Webinar & Virtual Events	Event Management
Founded	2019	2002

Identical on both: pricing model (Unknown), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Hopin

Virtual stages
Networking sessions
Expo areas
Breakout rooms
Live streaming
Stripe
HubSpot
Salesforce

Only in Meetup

Groups
Events
RSVP System
Messaging
Event Photos
Recommendations
Google Calendar
Zoom

Both cover

Web support
Ios support
Android support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Hopin

Event planningnot Meetup
Ticket salesnot Meetup
Attendee managementnot Meetup
Virtual eventsnot Meetup
Event marketingnot Meetup

Meetup

Finding local groups and events around a shared interestnot Hopin
Organising a recurring in-person groupnot Hopin
Running online events alongside physical onesnot Hopin
Growing a community by drawing on Meetup's existing member basenot Hopin

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Hopin

Platform complexity with feature breadth that results in no single feature being particularly strong compared to specialized competitors
Hard registration caps with additional charges if events exceed 100 registrations
Post-acquisition delays with slow account activation taking up to 45 days and slow responses to onboarding questions
High pricing particularly problematic for organizations running occasional or simple webinars
No Facebook or YouTube live streaming integration and limited caption support for accessibility

Meetup

Organizer fees tripled following Bending Spoons acquisition in 2024
Increased paywalling of core community features
Platform is buggy with many unfixed issues
Customer support no longer available with AI responses only
Issues with billing accuracy and unauthorized recurring charges
Poor technical support responsiveness to organizer complaints

Pricing, plan by plan

Hopin

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Hopin review.

Meetup

$55/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Meetup review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Hopin if

You need virtual stages.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want networking sessions.

Hopin review

Choose Meetup if

You need groups.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want events.

Meetup review

Questions people ask

Is Hopin or Meetup better?: Neither clearly leads. Hopin starts at Free and Meetup at $55/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hopin or Meetup?: Hopin has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hopin and $55/month for Meetup.
Does Hopin or Meetup run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Hopin for free?: Yes. Hopin has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Meetup starts at $55/month.
What is Hopin best used for?: Hopin is most often used for event planning, ticket sales, attendee management, virtual events. Of those, event planning and ticket sales are not what Meetup is typically brought in for.
What can Hopin do that Meetup cannot?: Hopin covers Virtual stages, Networking sessions, Expo areas, Breakout rooms. Meetup covers Groups, Events, RSVP System, Messaging. Both handle Web support, Ios support, Android support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hopin: What is Hopin's pricing?

Hopin (now RingCentral Events) starts at approximately $99 per organizer per month (billed annually) for the Events Pro plan, with higher tiers at $199 and $299 per month adding onsite capabilities and advanced integrations. A free plan is available with limited features.

Source

Meetup: What is Meetup Pro pricing?

Meetup Pro starts at $55 per group per month, or $47 per group per month for six-month commitments. Enterprise plans are available at custom pricing. A one-week free trial is offered.

Source

Hopin: What features does Hopin include?

Hopin provides registration, live streaming, networking tools (1:1 video matchmaking, breakout rooms), virtual reception and expo areas, real-time analytics and reporting, and integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, and Pardot.

Source

Meetup: What features does Meetup Pro include?

Meetup Pro includes event scheduling, group management, member engagement tools, community-building features, and integrations with platforms like Zoom and Mailchimp.

Source

Hopin: Can Hopin live stream to Facebook or YouTube?

No. Hopin does not offer native options to live stream video conferencing directly to Facebook or YouTube. This requires manual setup or third-party solutions.

Source

Meetup: Does Meetup charge organizers fees?

Yes, Meetup charges organizers fees for hosting groups and events. Organizer fees have increased significantly following the Bending Spoons acquisition in 2024.

Source

Hopin: Does Hopin provide automated captions during events?

Hopin does not offer built-in caption support across all features, which is a limitation for accessibility and engagement during live sessions.

Source

Hopin: Who acquired Hopin?

RingCentral acquired Hopin in late 2023. The platform is now sold as RingCentral Events with ongoing support and updates managed by RingCentral.

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Hopin vs Meetup

Hopin

Meetup

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Hopin

Only in Meetup

Both cover

What people use each for

Hopin

Meetup

Where each one falls short

Hopin

Meetup

Pricing, plan by plan

Hopin

Meetup

Which should you pick?

Choose Hopin if

Choose Meetup if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Hopin

More on Meetup

Keep looking

Other head to heads