Butter vs mmotion
Butter and mmotion are both friendship apps that help you meet people in real life, but they take different approaches. Here’s how they stack up across pricing, format, cities, and more.
Side-by-side comparison · Updated 2026
At a glance
Pricing
Both Butter and mmotion fall in the Free price range. Butter: Free to use; you cover any activity costs. mmotion: Free (invite-only beta).
Format & matching
Butter uses groups of Varies, compared to mmotion’s 5 friends per profile, and Butter relies on manual / self-select matching while mmotion uses interest-based matching.
How they work
Butter: Download the app and create a profile. Browse plans others have posted — anything from dinner parties to run clubs to coffee catch-ups — or host your own by setting the activity, time, and location. When someone wants to join your plan, they send a request and you decide who to accept. Show up, do the thing, and meet people who are genuinely into the same stuff. After the plan, you can stay connected through the app or just show up to the next one.
mmotion: Apply to join the vetted community — mmotion is members-only. Once approved, the app quietly logs the places you spend time at (restaurants, gyms, galleries) into a private Location Vault that only you can see. You create up to three profiles to express different sides of yourself — maybe one for nightlife, one for fitness. When you're ready, you choose which visits to share publicly. You can discover other members who've visited the same spots and connect with them, limited to five friends per profile to keep things intentional. Messaging opens with a built-in conversation starter about the place you both visited.
What to love
Butter: You choose the activity, so every meetup is something you actually want to do. Host-picks-guests model means more intentional, higher-quality connections. Alcohol-free plans are a first-class option, not an afterthought. Free to use with no subscription paywall. Covers a wide range of activities beyond just dining.
mmotion: Privacy-first design — everything is private by default. Location-based matching feels more organic than profiles or algorithms. Multiple profiles let you compartmentalize your social life. Five-friend limit per profile forces genuine connections. Built-in conversation starters remove the cold-open awkwardness.
Reality check
Butter: Currently limited to Melbourne — most people can't use it yet. Only four screenshots on the listing, so the app experience is a bit opaque. Success depends heavily on local user density and active hosts. No algorithmic matching — you have to browse and self-select.
mmotion: NYC-only beta with a 1,000-user cap — most people can't use it yet. Invite-only application process creates a barrier to entry. Requires constant location access, which is a big ask. Very new — the community may be too small to reliably match with people.
Søren's take
On Butter: Butter is doing something refreshingly different: instead of matching you with strangers and hoping for the best, it lets you build plans and invite people into them. The host-selects-guests model gives you real agency, and the focus on alcohol-free and activity-based plans feels genuinely modern. The catch is that it's Melbourne-only for now, so unless you're there, you're on a waitlist. If you are in Melbourne and tired of apps that promise connection but deliver small talk, Butter is worth a serious look.
On mmotion: mmotion is one of the most interesting social apps I've seen in a while — the idea of meeting people through shared places instead of shared bios is genuinely compelling. The privacy controls are thoughtful and the five-friend cap is a bold design choice that signals they're serious about quality over quantity. But right now, it's a NYC-only beta capped at 1,000 users, so unless you're in Manhattan, you're on a waitlist. Worth applying if you're in New York and curious about what post-swipe social networking looks like.
