12 friendship apps that can actually help you meet new people as an adult

Making friends as an adult? Weirdly hard. Like, harder than deciding if you should get bangs. Once you’re out of school and not bonding over dorm floor bathrooms or bottomless brunch hangovers every weekend, figuring out how to meet new people feels confusing at best and borderline impossible at worst. Which is where friendship apps come in to save the day—and your social life.

Think of them as the dating apps of your platonic dreams: low-lift, swipe-friendly, and full of future BFF potential. “The fact that these apps even exist says a lot about the very real challenges many people face in making new friends,” says psychotherapist and relationship specialist Stevie Blum, LCSW. “Just downloading a friendship app and seeing how many people are also looking to connect can be surprisingly comforting.”

Before you start doubting the effectiveness of an app to find friends, let me just stop your almost-spiral. “Friendships are a vital part of emotional and mental well-being, and can even impact your physical health,” explains Blum. “But as we get older, those built-in opportunities start to fade. Friendships can feel harder to maintain or even awkward to build from scratch, so people often let them slide.” But that need for a support system and someone to grab dinner with on a casual Thursday? Yeah, that never goes away.

That's why friendship apps are so clutch IRL—Blum says using them can def make the whole process easier. You already know everyone there is open to making new connections, and not only can you narrow down the pool of people based on things like interests, but you can also find folks who live near you, so you don’t have to schlep across town for a quick hang.

(Before meeting up with someone IRL, though, Blum suggests picking a public location and letting someone else know where you’re going. Safety first always!)

So, whether you just moved to a new city and are looking to build a whole new friend group, just went through a friend breakup (it happens!), or simply want someone to text during Love Island, we’ve got you. These friendship apps are here to help you make real, solid connections. Now let’s go find you a platonic soul mate!