Directory
Tools and apps for meeting people
Every one of these gets you closer to being in a room with people. None of them does the actual work for you. We have listed what each does, what it costs, and what is wrong with it, because a directory where nothing has a downside is an advertisement.
We do not rank these and we take no commission from any of them. Categories are alphabetical within themselves.
Group dinners
Buffet
Free tier, with a paid tier for additional features.
An app that puts you at a table with a small group of people at a specific place and time, rather than leaving you to arrange it yourself.
- How it works
- A set of curated experiences is posted each week. You claim a seat, and once three people have claimed seats the group chat opens and the table is confirmed. Groups cap at six, and there is a one-to-one mode as well. Currently operating in Los Angeles, with other cities planned.
- Best for
- People who find the deciding-and-organising part the obstacle, rather than the showing-up part.
- Where it falls short
- City coverage is the binding constraint — outside its launch cities there is nothing to join. The small group size means a table that does not click has fewer people to fall back on.
Timeleft
Paid per dinner or by subscription; the restaurant bill is separate.
Weekly dinners that seat a handful of strangers together at a restaurant.
- How it works
- You complete a personality questionnaire and are matched to a table for a set night. There is no messaging before the dinner, which is deliberate. Founded in 2020; the company reports having seated more than three million guests.
- Best for
- Trying the format once with no ongoing commitment.
- Where it falls short
- One-off by design, so a good table does not automatically become a second meeting. You also pay for dinner on top of the booking fee.
Interest groups
Meetup
Free to attend most groups; organisers pay to run them.
The long-running platform for recurring in-person groups organised around an interest.
- How it works
- Search your area, join a group, turn up to its events. Groups are run by volunteer organisers rather than the company. Reported at roughly 60 million members.
- Best for
- Recurrence. The same people at the same hiking group each month is how acquaintances become friends.
- Where it falls short
- Quality depends entirely on the organiser. Dormant groups with old listings are common, and some cities are much better served than others.
One-to-one matching
Bumble BFF
Free, with paid upgrades.
Friend-finding built on the dating-app interaction model.
- How it works
- Swipe through profiles, match, then message. It relaunched as a standalone app in late 2025 and added group chats and meetup planning.
- Best for
- One-to-one friendships, and people already comfortable with the swipe format.
- Where it falls short
- The gap between matching and actually meeting is where most of these conversations die. Matching is not the hard part, and the app cannot do the hard part for you.
Peanut
Free, with a paid tier.
A network for mothers and women through fertility, pregnancy, and motherhood.
- How it works
- Profile-based matching with local women at a similar stage, plus group discussion.
- Best for
- New parents, who face one of the sharpest and least-discussed drops in social contact.
- Where it falls short
- Narrow by design. If you are not in its audience it is not for you.
Neighbourhood
Nextdoor
Free.
A message board tied to your verified physical neighbourhood.
- How it works
- Post, read, and reply to people who live near you.
- Best for
- Weak ties — the people you recognise but do not know well, which the research treats as a distinct and undervalued form of connection.
- Where it falls short
- Not built for making friends, and its tone varies enormously by neighbourhood. Treat it as a way to find local things happening, not as a social app.
Not an app
Your public library
Free.
Free, staffed, heated buildings that run regular programming and expect nothing from you.
- How it works
- Check the events calendar for your branch. Most run reading groups, classes, and clubs.
- Best for
- Anyone for whom cost, or the pressure of a social app, is the barrier. Libraries are the clearest real example of what researchers call social infrastructure.
- Where it falls short
- Programming is uneven between branches, and it is rarely advertised well. You usually have to go in and look at the noticeboard.
Run clubs and sports leagues
Free to modest league fees.
Recurring physical activity with the same group of people.
- How it works
- Most cities have free run clubs meeting on fixed days from a fixed place, and recreational leagues that take individual sign-ups rather than whole teams.
- Best for
- People who find unstructured socialising hard. A shared activity removes the need to generate conversation from nothing.
- Where it falls short
- The fitness barrier is real but usually overstated — most run clubs have a slow group. Leagues that require you to bring a team are no use if you have no team.