Show HN: Radius – A Meetup.com Alternative
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Show HN: Radius – A Meetup.com Alternative
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datadrivenangel · · focus · HN ↗
why should I use this versus luma or something similar?
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
So I think Luma is mostly focused on beautiful event pages (which they do well) and event calendars rather than the community/group itself being the core unit. In that way, we're more of a competitor to Meetup.com. I don't think a local cycling club would use Luma to organise a weekly cycle, for example.
Compared with Meetup, I'm trying to keep Radius a bit simpler and more flexible for organisers. Pricing is a flat £12/month for Pro groups, and things like our Events API [1], embeddable event widgets [2], calendar subscriptions, guest RSVPs and waitlists are all available for free groups as well.
There's also the Activities [3] feature I mentioned - not super applicable to you if you're an organiser but regular users might find it useful. You don't need to create or run a group at all and can just say "I'm going cycling Saturday, anyone want to join?" and see who nearby is interested. AFAIK, I don't think Meetup or Luma etc have anything like this.
[1] <a href="https://radius.to/documentation/api-reference/create-events" rel="nofollow">https://radius.to/documentation/api-reference/create-events [2] <a href="https://radius.to/documentation/organizer-tools/embed-widget" rel="nofollow">https://radius.to/documentation/organizer-tools/embed-widget [3] <a href="https://radius.to/documentation/activities/post-an-activity" rel="nofollow">https://radius.to/documentation/activities/post-an-activity
weitendorf · · focus · HN ↗
For example, do you think it makes more sense to aggregate groups by subject matter, or by location? Why would I want to browse events on the other side of the world/guess which category a group got bucketed into?
Sincerely trying to help because I've made the same kinds of mistakes before and it pains me so so much. The main reason is that I find it very hard to trust a product that seems to prioritize aggressive conversion, or strange prioritization of actual user needs vs larping as a saas, and I think it's hard to recognize that in your own work because you're thinking "I'm building a saas" and your users are seeing something that cares more about Being SaaS or prioritize random stuff more than even the basic thing it's supposed to help them do.
The impression you get isn't "more is nice to have even if it arrives in the wrong order", it's actual frustration/distrust seeing all this random stuff and what you want it do or be perceived as, prioritized over the actual thing it's supposed to do. Make it easy to find a group or trust that this is an actual thing people can use, I promise you that you don't need an Events API with embeddable widgets until you can do that.
eecks · · focus · HN ↗
abeyer · · focus · HN ↗
datadrivenangel · · focus · HN ↗
yosh102 · · focus · HN ↗
That feels meaningfully different from Meetup.
Curious which has been the better wedge so far: bringing existing groups and their members over, or creating new local connections through individual activity posts?
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
Thank you! Nice to hear this makes sense to someone other than myself :)
> Curious which has been the better wedge so far: bringing existing groups and their members over, or creating new local connections through individual activity posts?
I'll have to get back to you on that hah! I've only launched the activities this week, so we shall see!
dbbk · · focus · HN ↗
deankong · · focus · HN ↗
[dead]
hamedb · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
Yeah, I don't disagree! In a way, I'm trying to combat that by facilitating people actually getting together in the real world, through events, activities and shared interests. I've deliberately not allowed free-form text posts or DMs between users, so it doesn't just turn into another social media feed.
> why would someone switch from direct communication (WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups..etc)
Yup, I think it depends on the size and nature of the group. A meetup between friends probably doesn't need a web presence at all, and WhatsApp would be perfectly adequate.
For larger clubs or public groups that want to attract new people, though, there's value in having somewhere discoverable with proper event pages, recurring events, RSVPs, waitlists, calendars, etc., so that's who this is for.
atmanactive · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
yesitcan · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
VeryGoodMorning · · focus · HN ↗
It should be as easy as here on HN:
Hello! I think Hamburg in Germany needs a good solopreneur meetup. If anyone is interested, let me know!
This is what I would have posted, but I got stuck somewhere along the long signup process.
utopiah · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
The sign-up form only asks for name, email, password and a pre-filled location - there's some quick "Interests" selection after that, but I felt it was fairly easy/quick to fill out. Maybe I could move that out of the sign-up.
Which part specifically felt too complicated? I'll revisit it and see if there's anything else I can shave off or make it smoother!
AIorNot · · focus · HN ↗
Eg meetup at least has critical mass of users and meetups
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
Maybe! Or maybe there's more going on than you know about? A meetup I regularly attend now existed in my city for 9 years before I found out about it - they just had no good way to advertise themselves easily.
> Eg meetup at least has critical mass of users and meetups
It definitely does. That's part of why I've made the Activity [1] feature - to give individual users something useful to do even before we have that critical mass of established groups.
[1] <a href="https://radius.to/documentation/activities/post-an-activity" rel="nofollow">https://radius.to/documentation/activities/post-an-activity
cwnyth · · focus · HN ↗
rtvn83 · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
foven · · focus · HN ↗
sram1337 · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
You can still filter by nearby, category, etc though!
weitendorf · · focus · HN ↗
This isn't just a complaint about the UI being "vibe-coded-coded" or incomplete, but the product itself not making the happy path very useful or confusing.
For example why is the landing page trying to sell this like a b2b saas app or hit me with a bait and switch login wall, or why is the screenshot not just the actual directory/a search bar, why do I have to know to go to groups? (Also, why are you showing me activity feeds or funneling me into that when I'm on your website primarily to look at groups and events? Why would I go to your site to look at that) Then on the group page it would be very convenient if there were just an edit/post button that I can click to draft or actually make a group (and then maybe quickly group by / filter by location or region). Same thing with adding an event, you could have a + button with a modal to draft it and only hit me with the login wall when I try to post.
The event/group UI actually looks decent but I really think you need to prioritize the core activation flow and design. Right now it makes activation, understanding what the product is, and doing the first thing I would want to do (look at groups or events) not obvious. I'm somewhat of a hypocrite on this but also speaking from experience - there's no point in spending time marketing a product with own-goals like that.
Why are your docs so much better designed/clear than the first thing I see or want to do! You don't need docs for this, it's like three database tables you can search and post to! Why the globe?? I'm not even sure why I would want or need to directly browse your users but why is there so much more effort here than in the groups UI (the thing I would be using this for)?
Since this is a pretty conventional crud app the only reason people would really have to use it is UX (or an audience you don't have yet). Trying to be helpful here because I think you should keep working on it and it's something I'd want to use if there were more attention to detail, which you could prob fix in less than a day with a coding agent.
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
For context, I think many of the decisions I've taken have been due to a lack of activity to surface. I completely agree that there needs to be an /events page, but it doesn't make sense with the low volume of events right now (IMO, at least).
Fair points on the landing and groups page - I've tried to address some of those issues tonight.
> you could have a + button with a modal to draft it and only hit me with the login wall when I try to post.
Not something I'd considered, to be honest! I usually get annoyed when I fill out a form only to find I need to sign up to finish the process - maybe others prefer that? I've gone and added that for groups and activities (well, when my CI finishes). Events are dependent on a group (for now at least), so that's a task for tomorrow, I think. Thanks for this suggestion!
pelagicAustral · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
katspaugh · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
What would make it “it” for you? Is there a specific feature(s) you think is missing?
RunSet · · focus · HN ↗
dewey · · focus · HN ↗
I'd take a look at how Luma (The only seemingly competitor in that niche these days) is doing it, they are focused on a very small group of large cities and started being mostly for crypto related events. Only these days it feels like there's more variety in the events depending on the city. Doing a generic "I was annoyed with Meetup" strategy won't work.
sshussain270 · · focus · HN ↗
dewey · · focus · HN ↗
sshussain270 · · focus · HN ↗
launch48alin · · focus · HN ↗
[dead]
miraline · · focus · HN ↗
[dead]
readbeard · · focus · HN ↗
EyMaddis · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
weitendorf · · focus · HN ↗
If they have a mostly consistent set of attendees, they don’t need or care about discovery, just managing events and groups and sharing it as a link to their users. Imagine a Boy Scout troop, Alcoholics Anonymous, pub trivia, blood drives, local alumni association, churches, user groups.
A lot of businesses have this problem and don’t want to use Facebook or discord because of the login wall and unprofessional vibes. They would pay for a real tool that makes consistent event/group hosting easy. That’s why you’re getting interest/engagement in spite of the critical feedback, anybody who regularly hosts events really needs that.
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
Just to clarify, your improvement on the login wall is the suggestion you made earlier to allow forms to be filled out before login/sign-up, right? I've done this for groups [1] and activities [2].
[1] <a href="https://radius.to/groups/new" rel="nofollow">https://radius.to/groups/new
[2] <a href="https://radius.to/activities/new" rel="nofollow">https://radius.to/activities/new
mft_ · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
luckydata · · focus · HN ↗
I don't know exactly WHY this site should deserve the user's time.
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
Thanks for the feedback! Did you by any chance set your location to London on sign-up? If you check the groups and activities page filter there are 5-100km distance filters.
luckydata · · focus · HN ↗
dvt · · focus · HN ↗
joe_the_user · · focus · HN ↗
NamlchakKhandro · · focus · HN ↗
Then try again.
_ink_ · · focus · HN ↗
jeltz · · focus · HN ↗
phrotoma · · focus · HN ↗
I wrote a bot to scrape the feeds of local event organizers and extract their events for me so I wouldn't have to look at that damned site just to find out what's going on. My account was banned for bot activity.
Never posted, commented, liked, or interacted in any way. Just read feeds and exported data.
Abandoned the project and blocked instagram at the DNS level for all my devices.
Fuck instagram.
dvt · · focus · HN ↗
throwitaway222 · · focus · HN ↗
phendrenad2 · · focus · HN ↗
joacon · · focus · HN ↗
crossroadsguy · · focus · HN ↗
pixel_popping · · focus · HN ↗
Yes, this project will very likely die, because of this alone.
vladsiu · · focus · HN ↗
[dead]
khamba · · focus · HN ↗
Lovely. I am working on something on Rails myself, and this framework works really, really well with LLMs!
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
..and humans too! But yes, completely agree - if you stick with Rails' conventions, at least!
adityamishra241 · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
sellmesoap · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
cedws · · focus · HN ↗
heychristoph · · focus · HN ↗
moomoo11 · · focus · HN ↗
these are businesses, after all
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
Regarding the messages - that's one reason I've opted not to have user-to-user DMs. You can DM organisers of a group, but all messaging outside that is public (on activities and groups for example).
cedws · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
[1] <a href="https://www.theadminzone.com/resources/post-reputation-in-postbit.1092/" rel="nofollow">https://www.theadminzone.com/resources/post-reputation-in-po...
snovymgodym · · focus · HN ↗
port11 · · focus · HN ↗
DylanMerigaud · · focus · HN ↗
owebmaster · · focus · HN ↗
exiguus · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
exiguus · · focus · HN ↗
2data222 · · focus · HN ↗
ozyschmozy · · focus · HN ↗
Open up the site, (click away cookie consent banner), only way to see nearby events is to give location permissions for some reason (why? I just need to know what's happening in and around Amsterdam, not within x kms of my current actual location), look for a way to search by city while getting distracted by what seems to be the live event log of random people in different countries.
Go to "browse groups", click map view, now I have a teeny tiny globe on the bottom pretty much entirely covered by symbols. Drag the slider up, zoom in enough to see bits of the map in between symbols (which is pretty hard because it doesn't let me zoom if either of my fingers happened to be on a symbol, which again is most of the screen), finally find the Netherlands, and there's a single cryptic symbol. Tap on it, nothing happens. Tap a couple more times, then think to drag the slider back down to find that it's two "communities" of one person each.
Overall, not a very pleasant first impression. I'd put a nice search bar in the landing page, for searching by location or by group type. I'd also put some categories to filter by in the groups view.
I think the hyper-local discovery thing is pretty neat. Kinda reminds me of Tom Scott's pub flare idea. I'd much rather see that above the relatively pointless activity feed and events.
Also, the website has strong "vibe coded ui" vibes. I have no idea if that's the case or not, but the colors, the cards, the "x people online" pill, all just scream llm-ism, which makes me less likely to trust it.
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
> Also, the website has strong "vibe coded ui" vibes. I have no idea if that's the case or not, but the colors, the cards, the "x people online" pill, all just scream llm-ism, which makes me less likely to trust it.
It's likely my colour preference and the fact that tailwind is the CSS framework of choice for vibe coded UI's these days. Dark mode is likely also contributing to that feel but I'll be adding a light mode at some point as well.
gianlucabertell · · focus · HN ↗
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
gabrieldev · · focus · HN ↗
mshafir · · focus · HN ↗
Would love to see something like this get more traction!
radius89 · · focus · HN ↗
> Profile should have an edit button versus totally separate pages for profile and edit profile
> Custom social links would be nice, would love to have my github there
Great suggestions; consider these done (soon!).
I do need to fix the open in sidebar button - problem is the users are paginated to avoid loading them all at once so if they're not in the loaded list, this issue happens - need to find a better way around this. Thanks for flagging though!