Midnight Runners vs Pie
Midnight Runners and Pie 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 Midnight Runners and Pie fall in the Free price range. Midnight Runners: All events are completely free. Pie: Completely free — no subscriptions, no paywalls.
Format & matching
Midnight Runners uses groups of 20-100+ per event, compared to Pie’s Varies, and Midnight Runners relies on manual / self-select matching while Pie uses interest-based matching.
How they work
Midnight Runners: Head to the Midnight Runners website and find your city's page. Each city has its own Instagram and community hub where upcoming events are posted. Events are managed through the free Heylo app — download it and join your city's Midnight Runners group to RSVP. Show up in running gear (some events offer bag drop, check beforehand), and you'll join a 5-10km bootcamp run with music, exercise stops, and a cool-down. No pace pressure — all fitness levels are welcome. Events typically run weekly, with occasional party runs and special events.
Pie: Download the app and set your city — Pie is live in Chicago, Austin, Bay Area, and Columbus. Your home feed shows free, in-person events happening nearby, filtered by your interests. Tap an event to see who's going, RSVP, and add it to your calendar. After you attend, Pie starts learning who you vibe with and surfaces a personalized feed of friend and friend-of-friend activity. You can also host your own events — keep them private or broadcast them to the whole network using 'snowball mode.' There's a built-in chat for coordinating plans and sharing photos after the fact.
What to love
Midnight Runners: Completely free — no membership fees, no hidden costs, ever. Active in 18 cities worldwide, so you can join runs while traveling. Music and exercise stops make it feel more like a party than a workout. Volunteer-led with 240+ crew captains who genuinely care about community. All fitness levels welcome — no pace requirements or experience needed.
Pie: Completely free — no premium tier, no paywalls, no catch. Event-first model means you're bonding over shared experiences, not forced small talk. The friend-of-friend feed creates organic social discovery that feels natural. You can host your own events, giving you control over the vibe. 4.7-star rating with 1,000+ reviews suggests people genuinely love using it.
Reality check
Midnight Runners: No dedicated app — event management happens through Heylo, a third-party platform. Event availability depends on local volunteer crew captains, so some cities are more active than others. Large group sizes mean less intimate social interaction compared to smaller dinner clubs. Primarily running-focused — if you don't enjoy running, the social side alone might not be enough.
Pie: Only available in four cities — if you're not in Chicago, Austin, Bay Area, or Columbus, you're out of luck. No algorithmic matching — you have to browse and choose events yourself. Event quality depends on what's happening in your area on any given week. As a PBC (Public Benefit Corporation), long-term monetization strategy is unclear.
Søren's take
On Midnight Runners: Midnight Runners is one of the most impressive community-building stories in fitness. The fact that it's entirely free and volunteer-run, yet operates in 18 cities with consistent quality, is remarkable. The experience is genuinely fun — portable speakers, choreographed stops, and a post-run social vibe that naturally builds friendships. If you're in a city with an active chapter, just show up once. You'll know immediately if it's for you.
On Pie: Pie is refreshingly simple in a space full of personality quizzes and subscription paywalls. The pitch is: here are free events near you, go to them, meet people. That's it. No matching algorithm, no premium tier, no gamification. The friend-of-friend social graph that builds over time is genuinely clever — it mimics how real-life social circles actually form. The catch is geographic: four cities is a small footprint, and if yours isn't on the list, you're waiting. But if you're in Chicago, Austin, or the Bay Area and want a zero-cost way to build a social life, Pie is the obvious first download.
