At a glance
| Sodalit | Meetup | Bumble BFF | Timeleft | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Small, spontaneous plans near you, often today or tomorrow | Groups that run recurring events around an interest | Finding friends through one-on-one matches, plus group chats | Meeting a matched group of strangers at a set event |
| How you meet | Join a plan, or post one in a sentence; the host approves or lets people join instantly | RSVP to an event a group’s organizer schedules | Browse profiles, match, then message | Take a personality quiz; you’re placed in a group of four to six |
| When | Whenever someone nearby posts a plan | When the organizer schedules events | Whenever you and a match arrange it | Dinners on Wednesdays; other formats vary by city |
| Cost | Free to join and post plans; Ruby only for some themed tables | Organizers pay for a plan (first-time organizers can start on a limited free plan); some groups charge dues | Check the app for current pricing | Membership required; food and drinks paid separately |
Details checked on each company’s own website in October 2026. Features and prices change, so check before you sign up.
Choose Sodalit if…
- you want something to do today or tomorrow, not in three weeks;
- you’d rather meet over an activity, like a run, a game or a coffee, than over profiles;
- you want to see the plan, the place and the time before you commit;
- flaky people drive you mad: everyone has a Reliability Score;
- you’d like a curated option too: themed tables in New York and Baku.
Choose something else if…
- Meetup: you want a long-running group around one interest, like a weekly hiking club, with an organizer who runs it.
- Bumble BFF: you’d like to get to know people one-on-one in chat first, or join interest-based group chats.
- Timeleft: you love the idea of being matched into a dinner table of strangers on a set evening, and a membership doesn’t bother you.
Or use more than one
Plenty of people do: a Meetup group for the weekly thing, Sodalit for the spontaneous Tuesday when you just want a coffee and a chat. The best app is the one that actually gets you out the door.
