In 2022, a team from the Pew Research Center released a study showing that more than 30% of all US adults use online dating apps. The most active groups here are millennials and zoomers. For them, Tinder has become an irreplaceable app on their smartphones, on which they spend several hours every day.
However, Tinder, like many of its rivals, is far from perfect. Yes, it has undeniable advantages, but there are also plenty of disadvantages. Let’s try to figure them out!
Tinder: the main pros and cons
Tinder was launched in 2012 and over the decade of its existence has become one of the key dating sites around the world. Today, Tinder has over seven million users in almost two hundred countries. This is a huge number. And overall that’s justified, because the application offers several important advantages:
- An interesting format of interaction with other users through swipes.
- Modern app and website design, intuitive features and a well-designed interface.
- Regular updating of functionality and the emergence of new opportunities for convenient communication. For example, built-in video chat or blind dates.
- The platform works almost all over the world — in 190 countries. In addition, Tinder is available in 40 languages.
But as we said earlier, Tinder also has serious disadvantages that many users won’t put up with. Among the most significant are the following:
- Mostly paid functionality. From seven million Tinder members, more than 5.9 million are paid members.
- Linked to location, which is why it is very problematic to look for a potential partner in another city or country.
- Lack of profile settings and opportunities for self-expression on the site. As a result, all accounts look pretty similar.
We can add that among the users of dating applications, about 23% go on dates with new acquaintances, and 12% of them subsequently start a serious relationship. Not a bad result, albeit hardly a record-breaking one.
The modern Internet user has become much more selective when choosing a site for online dating. They don’t want to spend a lot of time searching, they need more freedom, they strive to constantly expand their social circle and maintain social ties. Unfortunately, Tinder and its closest rivals are no longer able to satisfy the needs of 100% of people. So we recommend looking at some of the more interesting alternatives.
The best Tinder rivals you should try
Snack
An unusual dating app that combines classic text chat and video chat. At first glance, Snack does not differ much from its rivals. But there is a difference, and a very significant one. In the application, you can exchange not only text messages, but also videos. Record video responses to your chat partner’s questions, share videos of your pets, or just have a good time conversing via video call. Unfortunately, Snack only works on iOS devices so far. But we are sure that an Android version of the application will appear soon.
Sauce
This is another dating site that actively uses the video format. But the principles of use are different. In Sauce, instead of a boring profile photo, you have short videos. This is a great opportunity to talk about yourself, show your individuality and just discover a new way to get acquainted on the Internet. And most importantly, Sauce saves time. From a short video, you can learn a lot about a person even before you begin to interact. We recommend trying it.
Victoria the app
This dating site is positioned as a platform for creative people who are fond of music, art, culture, travel and so on. The service has quite strict moderation — the developers make sure that the audience of the application is loyal, creative, shows empathy and does not radiate negativity. We observe that Victoria the app provides a private community of like-minded people, where it’s not so easy to fit in. Like Snack, Victoria the app is currently only available for iOS devices.
String
An unusual dating app for Android and iOS. Its main feature is the ability to communicate only by voice message. There’s no text chat here at all, so all communication is carried out exclusively via voice. It’s difficult to call this format truly convenient and universal. But if you’re looking for a change, String might be the way to go. Among the convenient features of the application is a wide list of filters for searching for new people — from interests and age to religious affiliation.
CooMeet
CooMeet is an unusual random chat app for several reasons. For example, a unique gender filter is used here, thanks to which the system connects men only with girls and never makes a mistake. This is achieved, among other things, by the mandatory verification of women user’s identities. For the convenience of communication, an auto-translator for messages is available, and the user support service works 24/7. Plus CooMeet has its own affiliate program that allows you to earn real money for attracting new users. You can communicate via random video chat directly on the website or in the official CooMeet apps for iOS and Android. This random chat can be tried without registration.
Bazoocam
Bazoocam is a classic random video chat app with a basic set of features and a slightly outdated interface. But it does have a few interesting options. Firstly, there are online mini-games that you can play with other participants to diversify communication. And secondly, the site has an integrated platform for video streaming. If you are interested in this format, we recommend you try it. You can start your own stream to gather viewers and attract attention, or connect to other users’ streams as a viewer.
Chatrandom
This random chat site has several key features: gender and geographic filters, search for chat partners by interest, as well as its most interesting feature — themed chat rooms. You simply select the “room” you are interested in and connect to the rest of the participants who are already in it. The topics are very different: “Dating”, “Intrigue”, “Games”, “18+” and dozens more. There’s so much variety that everyone will find something ideal for them.
There’s more to dating than Tinder
As you can see, Tinder is far from the only popular dating site on the Internet. There are more than eight thousand classic dating sites in the world alone. And we do not take into account apps that offer video chat with strangers, of which there are also thousands.
The main thing we want to convey is that you should not concentrate your attention only on one site. This just forces you into a framework and severely limits the circle of potential acquaintances. We recommend combining different services and different dating formats. Believe us, you will have a completely new experience. And most importantly, you’ll multiply your own chances of successfully finding new friends and maybe even your soulmate. We wish you good luck and only pleasant encounters on the web!
