Friend-making apps have really increased over the past few years. There are now many apps specifically designed for people who want to make friends purely, not for romantic purposes. People who want to expand their social circle as working adults, those looking for friends with similar hobbies, or even those in their 40s and 50s starting to make friends again—there are all kinds of reasons, and it’s made me realize that the variety is quite broad.

However, when actually trying to use them, concerns come up like “Is it really free to use?”, “Are there any weird people?”, or “Can I actually meet people who are genuinely looking to make friends?” To address this, I gathered 15 popular friend-making apps and compared them from various angles—usability, safety, pricing, search functions, and more.

In general, the three key conditions for a good app are: it attracts users who want to make friends, it offers basic features for free, and it has solid safety measures. Especially for apps aimed at women, many are women-only with 24-hour monitoring systems, which provides peace of mind.

The top-ranked apps tend to be those specialized for finding friends for activities like supporting favorite hobbies, or apps dedicated solely to women looking for friends. Features like timelines that let you use the app like SNS are also common in recent apps. They allow searching for people on days off, or finding compatible friends through hobby cards—these small details show thoughtful design.

For apps originating in the U.S., there’s a “BFF Mode” dedicated to making friends, which even allows you to find friends of the opposite sex. The male pricing is also set relatively low, giving male users more options. There are also large-scale apps from China, which seem suitable for those interested in global friend-making.

Apps targeting people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s have also appeared, expanding options for middle-aged generations to make friends. Features like searching based on whether you have children or finding people with similar ways of spending holidays cater to the specific needs of this age group.

Overall, I was surprised to find that there are more options for friend-making apps than I expected, and you can choose one that fits your purpose and age group. Many are free to use, so trying them out first might be a good idea.