Since the pandemic, there have been endless think pieces on the decline of the dating app. The dating app is “dead,” people are experiencing “dating burnout,” and Gen Z is “ditching dating apps.” According to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, roughly nine in 10 Americans who had used dating sites or apps in the previous year said they'd felt disappointed by the people they encountered at least sometimes. Users were also about twice as likely to say they often felt disappointed as they were to say they often felt excited about their experiences.
In other words, people are still hopeful for connection, they’re just getting tired of how they're expected to find it. And in the midst of this dating app apocalypse, one platform seems to have found its stride. Feeld is a dating app for “open-minded individuals.” In its mission statement, the company vows to “elevate the human experience of sexuality and relationships” for its 14 million users.
Aside from the typical prompts you may see on other popular dating apps—your age, your likes, and what kind of relationship you’re looking for—there’s also space for you to specify your sexual desires and find others who share them. And this system seems to be working quite well. Feeld is seeing a lot of growth as more people look beyond traditional dating apps for relationships and sex that feel a little less conventional.
According to The Guardian, the UK-based app—which caters to non-monogamous, queer, kinky, and generally “curious” daters—saw revenue jump 32 percent to £64 million. The company’s profits also increased. Although Feeld is based in the UK, lot of this growth is coming from outside the region, with cities like New York, Toronto, and Paris seeing user numbers rise by more than 20 percent.
And even though the app was originally geared toward unconventional relationships, it’s starting to attract everyone. People who may have originally stuck to apps like Tinder or Hinge are joining Feeld, suggesting that the app is doing something right—or that more people are interested in exploring alternative approaches to dating. Match Group, the parent company of Tinder and Hinge, reported that its paying users fell 5 percent in 2025, to 14.2 million.
Tinder's paying-user numbers dropped 7 percent, while Hinge's grew 18 percent. So while some of the biggest names in online dating are struggling to retain paying users, others are still finding ways to grow—including Feeld. In looking at customer satisfaction data, Mohammad-Laity explains that community seems to be the most important to the users who join (and stay) on Feeld.
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