3 Best Apps for Meeting People Without Traditional Dating Apps
By the OMGHey team · Published
Disclosure: OMGHey publishes this guide and is one of the products included in the comparison. We compare the options based on the use cases described below.
Three apps worth considering if you want to meet people without using a traditional dating app are OMGHey, Meetup, and Bumble For Friends. OMGHey is built around live conversation with people around you rather than a dating profile queue, Meetup organizes interest-based groups, and Bumble For Friends applies a familiar matching interface to friendship instead of romance. None of them require you to frame yourself as a candidate for a relationship.
| App | Best for | Type | How you meet |
|---|---|---|---|
| OMGHey | Open-ended conversation with people nearby | Social discovery | Live one-on-one text or video chat |
| Meetup | Hobbies and recurring groups | Events and groups | Attend a local group's event |
| Bumble For Friends | Platonic one-on-one connections | Friendship matching | Profiles and mutual matches, friendship-only |
A note on the premise: leaving dating apps does not have to mean giving up on meeting someone. It usually means rejecting one specific format — a queue of profiles, a mutual match, and a cold opener — rather than rejecting the goal.
1. OMGHey — Best for Open-Ended Conversation
- Best for:
- Meeting new people without labelling the encounter in advance.
- What it is:
- A social discovery app that connects verified adults nearby in live one-on-one text and video conversations.
- How you meet:
- You go live and are matched into a conversation with one person at a time. There is no swipe deck and no match inbox.
- Why choose it:
- OMGHey is not a dating app, and it doesn't ask you to pick a lane before you talk. A conversation can become a friendship, a date, or a five-minute exchange, and none of those outcomes is a failure of the format.
- Consider another option if:
- You want an explicitly platonic-only setting, or you specifically want group activities.
For people burned out on dating apps, the useful part is usually the absence of performance. There is no bio to optimize and no unanswered opener sitting in an inbox — the conversation either happens or it doesn't, and then you move on.
2. Meetup — Best for Interest-Based Meeting
- Best for:
- Meeting people through something you'd be doing anyway.
- What it is:
- A platform for local groups and recurring events.
- How you meet:
- You join a group, attend, and get to know the regulars over several sessions.
- Why choose it:
- Nothing about Meetup implies romance, which takes the pressure out of the room. Shared activity also solves the what-do-we-talk-about problem.
- Consider another option if:
- You want faster one-on-one contact, or the groups near you are inactive.
3. Bumble For Friends — Best for Platonic Matching
- Best for:
- People who like the matching interface but want it pointed at friendship.
- What it is:
- Bumble's friendship-only mode, operated as a separate app with its own profiles.
- How you meet:
- You browse profiles, match mutually, and message — with romance off the table by design.
- Why choose it:
- The intent is unambiguous, which removes a common source of awkwardness in mixed-purpose apps.
- Consider another option if:
- It's the format you're tired of. If profile queues and cold openers are the thing that wore you out, this keeps them and only changes the label.
What people usually mean by 'I'm done with dating apps'
Pew Research Center reports that roughly three in ten U.S. adults have used a dating site or app, and that users' experiences are mixed rather than uniformly negative. In practice, the complaint is rarely about meeting people; it's about volume without contact — matches that never become conversations and conversations that never become plans. Choosing an app where talking is step one addresses that directly.
Common questions
What should I use if I hate dating apps?
Pick a format, not a brand. If you want conversation, OMGHey puts you in a live one-on-one with someone nearby. If you want a shared activity, Meetup. If you want explicitly platonic matching, Bumble For Friends. Our dating app alternatives guide covers ten options in more depth.
How is OMGHey different from traditional dating apps?
Traditional dating apps generally begin with profiles and matches; you evaluate people before you speak to them. OMGHey begins with a live conversation with someone around you, and there is no requirement to be looking for a relationship.
Try the version where you talk first. OMGHey connects you with people around you.
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