I am this friend. I am both a software guy and a meetup organizer. I searched high and low for an alternative to meetup last year, for my own use, and mostly because I didn't think Meetup.com provided me enough value to warrant their $180/year fee. I didn't find any usable alternatives at the time.
In the months since, I have found these platforms, which are all built by organizer/techies attempting to solve their own problems, and to tap into the groundswell of discontent with Meetup.com.
I've put a lot of energy into reading complaints about Meetup.com in the last few months, and one of the most common ones is a real frustration among organizers about being heard. There are endless stores of sending messages to Meetup support and hearing nothing, or receiving canned answers. About having no input into the interface updates. About corporate messaging that is all about the experience for meetup group MEMBERS (the ones who don't pay meetup) and not the organizers (the ones who do). And a great deal of pessimism about the WeWork purchase, and how little incentive there could be in that future, to improve things for organizers.
In the months since, I have found these platforms, which are all built by organizer/techies attempting to solve their own problems, and to tap into the groundswell of discontent with Meetup.com.
https://eventpeg.com (Australian guy, all types of groups)
https://groups.place (American guy, all types of groups)
https://opensports.net (Canadian team I think, sports groups only)
http://getmeetingstar.com/ (This is mine, all types of groups)
I've put a lot of energy into reading complaints about Meetup.com in the last few months, and one of the most common ones is a real frustration among organizers about being heard. There are endless stores of sending messages to Meetup support and hearing nothing, or receiving canned answers. About having no input into the interface updates. About corporate messaging that is all about the experience for meetup group MEMBERS (the ones who don't pay meetup) and not the organizers (the ones who do). And a great deal of pessimism about the WeWork purchase, and how little incentive there could be in that future, to improve things for organizers.
I recognize it's hard for a small company with millions of customers to make everyone feel heard, but right or wrong, this is the narrative in places like http://www.discussmeetup.com/forum/index.php and https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/meetup.com