Best Apps to Find People to Go to Concerts With (2026)

ConcertBuddy • April 2026

5 min read

You've got the ticket. You've got the date marked on your calendar. The only thing missing is someone to go with. It's a situation millions of music fans find themselves in — not because they lack social lives, but because finding someone who shares your taste and is free on that specific night is genuinely hard.

A handful of apps have emerged to solve exactly this problem. In this article we compare the best options in 2026 — what each does well, where each falls short, and which one is worth your time.

What to Look for in a Concert Companion App

Not all apps in this space are built the same. The key things that separate a useful tool from a frustrating one: how easy it is to find people for a specific show, whether the setup is quick or requires filling out a full profile, how the app handles safety, whether it works in your city and genre, and whether it's available in your language.

1. ConcertBuddy — Best Overall

ConcertBuddy is purpose-built for finding someone to attend a concert with. You can search by location, by music genre, or by keyword — making it easy to find people for a specific show without scrolling through unrelated content. Setup is minimal: no birthday required, no lengthy onboarding. The app supports in-app messaging so you can chat with potential concert companions before committing to meeting up, and push notifications keep you updated when someone responds. It is available in 10 languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish and Czech — making it one of the few apps in this space that works for non-English speakers. Dark mode is supported. ConcertBuddy is currently available on Android.

✓ Pros: free with no in-app purchases — zero permissions required — global coverage — available in 10 languages

✗ Cons: Android only for now — still low user base

2. GigMate — Safety-First, UK Only

GigMate was founded in Liverpool in 2022 with a clear focus on safe, platonic concert companionship. It integrates directly with Skiddle so real local gig listings are built into the experience, which means you are always browsing actual upcoming shows rather than a generic social feed. Its safety design is one of the most thoughtful in this space — public meet guidelines, a flagging system, and a community-first approach. It won a UK Startup Award in 2023. The limitation is geographic: it currently only covers five UK cities (Brighton, Liverpool, Leeds, London, Manchester), is English-only, and has a small user base as it is still early stage.

✓ Pros: best-in-class safety design — real local event integration via Skiddle — genuinely platonic focus — award-winning concept

✗ Cons: UK only, 5 cities only — English only — small user base — early stage product

3. GigBuddy — Promising but Unproven

The newer GigBuddy app (2024/2025) has a clean feature set: verified profiles, an event map showing other attendees nearby, and in-app messaging before you agree to meet. The premium tier is optional and the free version covers the basics. It also supports macOS on Apple Silicon. The main issue is that it launched very recently and has no public user reviews yet, so there is no real-world track record to evaluate. It is iOS only, with no Android version, and its geographic coverage has not been publicly confirmed.

✓ Pros: verified profiles — in-app messaging before meeting — event map — free to download — macOS support

✗ Cons: iOS only — premium up to $119.99/lifetime — requires location and contacts permissions — geographic coverage unclear

4. Radiate — Most Established, Most Controversial

Radiate has been running for over nine years and has the largest existing user base of any app in this space. It offers event-specific group chats for hundreds of festivals, a social map so you can see who is nearby, a ticket and merchandise marketplace, and a vouching system for trust. At major US festivals it genuinely comes alive. The problems are well-documented though: based on over 26,000 reviews it has a safety score of 37.6 out of 100, with consistent reports of fake profiles, scam accounts, and inadequate moderation. The user base skews around 80% male. Outside of major US festivals activity drops sharply, and the app has frequent technical complaints.

✓ Pros: largest user base — event group chats for 120+ festivals — ticket and merch marketplace — vouching system — free — 9+ years of track record

✗ Cons: serious safety concerns — fake profiles and scams reported — heavily male-skewed — US and festival-focused — frequent crashes — requires location, camera and storage permissions

5. Beatmatch — Best for Music Discovery

Beatmatch stands out for its music-first approach: it syncs with your Spotify or Apple Music listening history to recommend events you are likely to enjoy and connect you with people who share your taste. It is backed by Warner Music Group, Sony Music, and Live Nation, and has strong tools for event creators including ticketing, SMS/email blasts, and audience analytics — all with no platform fee. For someone purely looking for a concert companion it is less focused, as it skews toward nightlife and a dating-adjacent dynamic. It is also mainly active in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

✓ Pros: Spotify and Apple Music integration — event recommendations based on your taste — strong creator tools — backed by major labels — free

✗ Cons: active in 3 US cities only — leans dating and nightlife — iOS primary — uses location data for advertising — tracks you across other apps

6. Meetup — Best for Building a Regular Crew

Meetup is not concert-specific, but it has one of the largest communities of any social app globally — over 10 million downloads and a 4.4 rating on Android. Most major cities have active live music groups covering a wide range of genres, and the platform has invested heavily in technical improvements in 2025 (400+ bugs fixed, significantly faster performance). If you want to build a regular group of people to go to concerts with rather than find someone for a one-off show, Meetup is the most established option. The catch is that creating or organising a group requires a paid subscription, which has caused some groups to shut down or charge entry fees.

✓ Pros: 10M+ users globally — highly rated (4.4 Android, 4.7 iOS) — wide range of active music groups — free to attend — significantly improved in 2025

✗ Cons: subscription required to create or organise groups — not concert-companion-specific — quality varies heavily by city and organiser — requires location, camera, microphone and contacts permissions

Other Options: Reddit, Discord, and Facebook Groups

Before any of these apps existed, fans were solving this problem on Reddit and Discord. Artist-specific subreddits and Discord servers regularly have threads where fans look for concert companions. These work, but require more legwork and have no structure for meeting safely.

Which App Should You Use?

If you want to find someone for a specific concert and want the most flexible, globally available option, ConcertBuddy is the strongest choice — it works anywhere, has no heavy setup, and lets you search exactly how you need to. If you are in one of the five supported UK cities, GigMate is a solid platonic alternative. If you are on iOS and willing to try something new, GigBuddy is worth a look. Avoid Radiate if safety is a priority. And if you want a regular crew rather than a one-off companion, Meetup is your best bet.