Apps to make friends: an honest comparison

The best apps to make friends depend on how you like to meet. BFF by Bumble suits one-to-one chats, Meetup suits hobby groups, Timeleft suits ready-made dinners with strangers, and Peanut suits women at life stages like motherhood. Pick one that matches your style, use it consistently for a few weeks, and move chats offline early.

Making friends as an adult is harder than it should be. School and university hand you a ready-made social circle. Work and family life rarely do. Friendship apps try to fill that gap, but they work in very different ways, and the right one for you depends on whether you prefer one-to-one coffees, groups or a planned event.

Here is an honest look at the main options, what each is good for and where each falls short. Features and prices change, so check the app itself before you commit.

Quick comparison

App	Best for	How it works	Cost
BFF by Bumble	One-to-one friends and small groups	Match, chat, join groups	Listed as free
Meetup	Hobby and interest groups	Join groups, RSVP to events	Free core; paid Meetup+
Timeleft	A ready-made dinner with strangers	Matched table of six	Pay per booking, plus your meal
Couchsurfing Hangouts	Travellers and locals, right now	Signal you are free; others ask to join	Paid membership
Couchers.org	Travel community without fees	Hosting and community events	Free
Peanut	Mums and women at different life stages	Swipe, match, groups	Free; optional Peanut Plus
Now I'm Open	Specific plans with like-minded people nearby	Post an "Open to…" card	Free at launch

BFF by Bumble

Bumble has offered a friends mode since 2016. In 2023 it moved this into a standalone app, Bumble For Friends, and in September 2025 it relaunched the app as BFF, rebuilt on Geneva, a community app it acquired in 2024. The new version keeps one-to-one matching and private chat, and adds a Groups tab with group chats, posts, video calls and hangout planning.

Good for: people who like getting to know someone one-to-one before meeting, and who also want small groups around shared interests. The App Store listing says every match has passed selfie verification and that "everything is free".

Watch for: swipe-style matching can lead to lots of chats that never become plans. Suggest a specific coffee or walk early.

Meetup

Meetup is the veteran of interest-based groups: hiking clubs, language exchanges, book clubs, board games, tech talks and much more. Members can find groups, join and RSVP to unlimited events, and message organisers for free. The paid Meetup+ tier adds extras, such as seeing who else is attending. Organisers pay for a subscription and can set dues or event fees to cover costs.

Good for: people who would rather bond over an activity than make small talk. Turning up to the same group a few times is one of the most reliable ways to turn faces into friends.

Watch for: quality varies by group and city. Some events are large, which can make it harder to have real conversations.

Timeleft

Timeleft takes the planning away. You answer a short personality questionnaire, and it matches you with five strangers for dinner at a restaurant it books. Dinners run mainly on Wednesdays, with women-only dinners, extra nights and drinks events in selected cities. The reservation fee does not include your meal. By 2024 it had reached Singapore and Malaysia, its first two Asian markets.

Good for: anyone who wants a fun night out with zero organising and a mix of people they would never meet otherwise.

Watch for: you meet a new table each time, so building a lasting friendship takes a bit of follow-up on your part.

Couchsurfing Hangouts and Couchers.org

Couchsurfing's Hangouts feature lets you say you are free and what you fancy doing. Nearby members ask to join, existing participants approve them, and a group chat opens. Your pin sits near your real location, not on it. Couchsurfing has required a paid membership since 2020. Couchers.org is a non-profit alternative that describes itself as "free forever", with hosting and community events.

Good for: travellers, and locals who enjoy meeting travellers.

Watch for: activity depends heavily on the city. In quieter places there may be few people around.

Peanut

Peanut is designed for women, especially mums. Its listing describes connecting women from "fertility to menopause", with swipe-to-match for local friends, groups for stages such as pregnancy and toddlerhood, and selfie verification. It is free to use, with an optional Peanut Plus subscription.

Good for: new parents and women going through a specific life stage who want people who get it.

Watch for: it is focused on that audience, so it is not the right fit for everyone.

What happened to Hey! VINA?

Hey! VINA was a popular friendship app for women. It has announced that it is closing after around ten years, so it is no longer an option. If you used it, BFF by Bumble and Peanut cover similar ground, and interest-based groups are worth a look too.

Travel-focused options

If you mostly want company on trips, Hostelworld's app now includes city and hostel chats, and lets you share travel plans to see who else is heading the same way. Our guide on how to meet people when travelling solo goes into more detail.

Now I'm Open (new)

Now I'm Open is a new app launching from Singapore, so it does not yet have the track record of the options above. Instead of profiles and swiping, you post a short card about what you are open to, in one of three modes: Ideas, Friends or Date. For example: "Open to a coffee chat about starting a café, Tiong Bahru, Sat am". Visibility is mutual and opt-in, location is shown only at area level, photos stay hidden until both people say yes, and a chat opens only on a mutual yes. Travellers can post check-ins, and a few curated picks arrive daily at noon. It is free at launch.

Good for: people who have a specific plan or topic in mind and want to meet someone who is into the same thing, without judgement.

Watch for: as a new app, there will be fewer people on it than on established platforms while it grows.

How to get more out of any friends app

• Be specific. "Looking for friends" is hard to answer. "Keen on Sunday morning runs and a kopi after" is easy.
• Move offline early. Suggest a short, low-pressure meet-up within a few messages.
• Show up more than once. Friendships usually need repeated time together, so a second and third meet-up matter more than the first.
• Keep it safe. Meet in public, tell someone your plans and trust your instincts.
• Do not take silence personally. People get busy. If someone goes quiet, our guide to ghosting may help.

Need conversation starters? Try our list of ice breaker questions.