Timeleft Alternatives: 7 Ways to Meet People

The closest Timeleft alternatives are 222 on iPhone, Pie in a few US cities and Meet5 in the US and parts of Europe. If you want to see the same faces twice, a weekly Meetup group or a free parkrun will do more for you than another table of strangers. And if you'd rather start with conversation from home, an online circle is a different route to the same place.

The short answer

Closest match: 222 (iPhone only and paid), Meet5 and Pie.
Same faces every week: a Meetup group, a parkrun or a local run club.
Free: parkrun, or hosting your own table, which takes a couple of messages to organise.
Food first: Eatwith or a local supper club.
Talking first, from home: Rimeso, on Android, online only.

We make Rimeso, so we're not neutral about it. We've tried to be fair about what each app is good at, including where others are the better choice.

What Timeleft does well

It's worth knowing what you'd be giving up. Timeleft runs in more than 200 cities across 52 countries, by its own count, which makes it the widest option here by a long way. You choose dinner, drinks, coffee or a walk, plus a date, your languages and a budget. It forms the group, books the place and shows you the venue shortly before you go. There's no swiping, and no private messaging before you meet (Timeleft FAQ). It's on iPhone and Android, for ages 18 and over.

For someone new in a city with a free evening and no plans, that's hard to beat. You organise nothing. You only have to turn up, which is the part most of us can manage.

The FAQ is also clear on money. Booking needs a paid membership that renews automatically, the price varies by country and device, and you pay for your own food and drinks at the venue.

Why people look for apps like Timeleft

Your city isn't on the list. Two hundred cities is a lot, and yours may still not be one of them.
A membership doesn't suit you. You might only want to go once or twice, or you may want something that costs nothing at all.
You liked the dinner and never saw anyone again. This is the big one.
Dinner isn't your format. Loud rooms, long evenings, a strict diet or simply eating in front of strangers can put you off.

The third reason deserves a moment. Researcher Jeffrey Hall estimated about 50 hours together to become casual friends (Hall, 2018). A dinner gives you around two. At that rate you'd need 25 dinners with the same person, and each booking puts you with new people. Timeleft is very good at the introduction. Anything after that is up to you, so the options below are sorted with that in mind.

7 Timeleft alternatives and other ways to meet people

Option	Like Timeleft?	Same people again?	Platforms	To start
222	Very close	Not by default	iPhone only	Paid
Meet5	Close, with more people	Yes, you can invite favourites	iPhone, Android	Free activities, paid plans optional
Pie	Fairly close	Yes, through regular groups	iPhone, Android	Free download
Meetup	Different	Yes, that's the point	iPhone, Android, web	Free to join, some groups charge
Hosted dinners	Food first	Rarely	Website	Paid per meal
parkrun and run clubs	Different	Yes, weekly	No app needed	parkrun is free
Rimeso	Online only	Yes, the same circle daily	Android only	Free

1. 222: the nearest thing on iPhone

222 uses a personality test to place you with a group of strangers, then invites you to public venues such as wine bars and comedy clubs. You find out on the day, and you can bring a plus-one (TechCrunch, 2026). There are no profiles or direct messages. It's iPhone only and paid, and it reaches far fewer cities than Timeleft, so check the app for yours.

One difference matters. Global Dating Insights reported in March 2026 that its users split roughly evenly between people seeking friends and people open to romance, and that the company helps arrange hangouts or dates afterwards. If you want strictly platonic evenings, ask yourself whether that suits you.

2. Meet5: group activities, mainly for the over-40s

Meet5 lists the US, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. Members post activities such as a meal or a hike, you join one or create your own, and you meet at least five new people. Each activity has a group chat for before and after, and you can save people you liked as favourites and invite them next time, which fills Timeleft's biggest gap. Joining activities is free, with optional paid plans.

TechCrunch describes it as aimed at people over 40, so if you're 26 you may be the youngest at the table by some distance.

3. Pie: plans hosted by locals

Pie names Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Austin on its App Store page. Members host plans such as run clubs, supper clubs and watch parties. In August 2026 it added Community Homes, permanent pages for groups (Startup Researcher, 2026), which helps if you want to go back to the same people. It's for ages 18 and over, and the app is free to download.

4. Meetup: give up the surprise, gain the repetition

Meetup is the opposite of Timeleft in almost every way. You pick the topic and the group, and you go back to the same people. It's less thrilling on the first night and much better by the sixth. Membership is free, though some groups charge dues.

Choose something that meets weekly or fortnightly, and arrive ten minutes early, because that's when people have time to talk. The second visit is the hard one: the novelty has gone and nobody remembers your name yet. Go anyway.

5. Hosted dinners and supper clubs

If what you loved was the food and the surprise of a shared table, look at hosted meals. Eatwith lists dinners, food tours and cooking classes hosted by locals around the world, and independent supper clubs run on the same idea. Search for your city's name and "supper club" and you'll usually find one. You pay per event, and these are built around a meal, so treat any friendship as a happy accident.

6. parkrun and run clubs: free, weekly, same faces

parkrun is a free, timed 5 km event held on Saturday mornings in 23 countries, organised by volunteers, with no entry fee (Reuters via FBC News, 2026). You can walk it. It doesn't run everywhere: there's none in India, for example, where local run clubs fill the same gap. Many cities now have social run clubs that end with coffee, and that coffee is the real event. Ask a regular where people go afterwards, then go there.

7. Rimeso: talk first, from home

This one is a different kind of thing, and we make it, so take that into account. Rimeso puts you in a small online circle where everyone gets the same question each day. You read the others' answers once you've posted yours, then you comment and chat one-to-one. It does something a dinner can't, which is keep the same people in front of you every day, for about four minutes.

The limits: Android only with no iPhone version yet, conversation in English or Hindi, online only with no meetups, and circles that aren't based on your city. It's a young app, so some circles are quiet. It won't get you out of the house on a Wednesday, so pair it with something that does.

The free version: host your own dinner with strangers

You don't need a dinner with strangers app to sit down with strangers. You need two people and a restaurant that takes bookings. Here's a version that costs nothing beyond your own meal.

Find two people. Anyone you've met once at a class, a group or work will do. They don't need to be friends yet. That's the idea.
Name a night and a place. "Thursday at 7.30, the noodle place near the station." A specific plan gets a yes. "Dinner sometime?" gets a thumbs-up and nothing else.
Ask each of them to bring one person you don't know. Three becomes six, and half the table is new to everyone.
Keep it cheap and short. Everyone pays for their own food, and two hours is plenty.
Repeat it next month, same night. The people who come twice are the ones to get to know.

💡 Try this: if you already go to a weekly group, say this at the end of the next session: "A few of us are getting food. Come along." It works even if the few of you is only two so far.

How to turn one dinner into a friendship

Whichever option you pick, the same small moves decide whether anything comes of it. Most tables won't lead anywhere, and that's normal. You're looking for one or two people, not five.

Before the bill arrives: "This was fun. Who's up for doing it again?" If two people nod, start a group chat there and then.
Within two days: send one small thing, such as the name of the place someone mentioned or a photo from the night.
Within two weeks: suggest one specific plan. Our guide to making friends as an adult calls this the two-week rule.
After that: expect people to drop off, and keep up with those who reply. Our guide to keeping friendships alive covers the long game.

If you've just arrived somewhere, our guide to making friends after moving puts all this in order. Our list of the best apps to make friends has more options, and readers in India should see our India guide, because Timeleft lists Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi on its cities page and local startups run similar tables.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free alternative to Timeleft?

Yes. parkrun is a free weekly 5 km run or walk in 23 countries. Meetup membership is free, though some groups charge dues, and Pie is free to download in its cities. You can also host your own table by inviting two people from a group you already attend.

Is Timeleft a dating app?

No. Timeleft says there is no swiping and no pairing off, and its tables are for meeting new people. Many cities also run separate singles dinners, so check which kind of event you are booking.

Which dinner with strangers app should I try first?

Try Timeleft if it runs in your city, because it has the widest reach and works on both iPhone and Android. If it does not, look at 222 on iPhone, Pie in its US cities or Meet5 in the US and parts of Europe. In India, StepOut runs similar meals in some cities.

How do I keep in touch after a dinner with strangers?

Ask before the bill arrives. Suggest a group chat, send one message within two days and propose one specific plan within two weeks. Someone has to do this, and it may as well be you.

Sources

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