Matchboxmatchbox
← Problems

Tools to meet new people at events

The problem, in plain words: I’m at an event and I want to meet and chat with new people to make friends.

MateUp Event Connection fits best, with 4 more that fit too.

You’re looking for a quick way at an event to meet new people and start conversations to make friends.

Updated June 2026.

What fits

It’s built specifically to connect you with people who are at live events for real-life meetups, directly targeting the awkwardness and uncertainty of meeting at an event and starting a conversation in the moment.

Best for: Getting matched to people who are also attending live events so you can chat and meet up without the awkwardness.

Fuck the smalltalkstrong · 84

It’s a hosted, guided conversation event series meant to help adults meet new people while skipping awkward small talk, which directly addresses both starting conversations and the in-the-moment uncertainty at social events.

Best for: When you want structured conversation prompts and a host to reduce awkwardness while meeting people.

It focuses on real-life meetups by getting you matched for dinners, drinks, and coffee with like-minded people, which lines up with your need to quickly find people to talk to and build friendships during an event-like outing.

Best for: Getting matched for small real-life hangouts with like-minded people without relying on swiping.

It’s designed around curated real-life group events and explicitly positions itself as matching you with compatible people for local meetups instead of swiping, which fits your goal of quickly meeting new people at an event context.

Best for: Curated, small-group IRL meetups where you’re matched with compatible people to chat.

It centers on getting matched for small guided hangouts where they plan and you show up, which directly reduces the “what do I do next?” problem that stops conversations from starting naturally at the event.

Best for: Small guided hangouts where structure helps you start conversations with matched people.

Partly fits

Linkaoutpartial · 58

It helps you find events and join them to meet new friends, but it doesn’t clearly focus on in-the-moment one-on-one chat during a specific event you’re already at.

Won’t cover: It helps you join events, but it’s not clearly positioned for instant conversation starters specifically at the moment you arrive.

It’s about discovering real-life connections, events, and communities near you, which can help you find the right people to talk to, but the data doesn’t emphasize guided conversation prompts.

Won’t cover: It focuses on discovering events and communities near you rather than providing hosted guidance to kick off conversations.

Questions

What's the best tool to meet new people at events?

MateUp Event Connection is the strongest match — It’s built specifically to connect you with people who are at live events for real-life meetups, directly targeting the awkwardness and uncertainty of meeting at an event and starting a conversation in the moment.

Is there a tool that fully solves this?

5 products match this closely.

What won't these tools cover?

It helps you join events, but it’s not clearly positioned for instant conversation starters specifically at the moment you arrive. · It focuses on discovering events and communities near you rather than providing hosted guidance to kick off conversations.

Not quite your version of it?

Describe the problem in your own words and the matcher will read it fresh — including products too new to be anywhere else.

Matched by Matchbox. Nothing here is sponsored and payment never affects ranking. Products link to their listings; some are auto-extracted and not yet maker-verified.