Thursday is looking to revolutionize traditional online dating in a competitive market. The app, which recently launched in San Francisco, encourages intentional dating by limiting users' access to Thursdays only. At midnight, all matches disappear. The idea is that by limiting usage to just one day a week, potential matches will be encouraged to set up actual dates sooner.
Many singles, especially younger users, are abandoning traditional dating apps due to “swipe fatigue,” the exhaustion felt from swiping through countless profiles. This fatigue, combined with other negative experiences like burnout after talking to too many people and getting caught up in in-app messaging that never results in an in-person date, is causing some younger users to tire of traditional dating apps. For example, Tinder, which essentially invented the swipe left/swipe right approach to dating, has lost paying users for seven consecutive quarters.
In contrast, Thursday encourages users to use the app when they really want to date. By encouraging in-person meetings early and removing matches after 24 hours, the app aims to prevent users from scrolling forever and seeking approval from dozens of matches they'll never interact with. In fact, Thursday only allows users to match with 10 people per day unless they pay a $19 monthly subscription fee to remove the limit.
Additionally, the company hosts singles-only IRL (real-life) events through another app called Thursday Events, which organizes large meetups at venues like bars, running clubs, gym classes, dance studios, art galleries, etc. Users can also organize their own events.
In the post-pandemic era, in-person dating is becoming popular again, with young singles returning to “old-fashioned” methods such as meeting in public places to find love. According to a 2024 Eventbrite study, attendance at dating and singles events on the event marketplace increased 42% from 2022 to 2023. Eventbrite reports that there were more than 1.5 million searches for these types of get-togethers on the platform. Speed dating is also making a comeback.
Image credit: App Store Screenshots
The latest launch, in San Francisco on Thursday, comes as dating giants Bumble and Match Group (owner of Tinder and Hinge) grapple with the challenge of adapting to a post-pandemic dating environment, as well as people's general frustrations with dating apps.
Bumble reported second-quarter earnings on Wednesday that fell short of Wall Street's revenue estimates. The company also lowered its full-year revenue growth forecast, and shares fell 30% after the close as investors worried about the company's ability to attract and retain users.
Match also suffered setbacks in the second quarter, cutting 6% of its workforce after shutting down its live-streaming services on dating apps Plenty of Fish and BLK. Tinder, in particular, has seen its seventh consecutive quarter of declining paid users.
Other dating startups have also tried to capitalize on disillusionment with Bumble, Tinder, and Hinge. Over the years, a variety of new apps have emerged catering to all kinds of user behaviors and communities. These include platforms for gamers, apps that hide selfies until users message each other, and apps that match users based on their favorite date spots. There's even a dating app for people with high credit scores.
Image credit: App Store Screenshots
Thursday was launched in 2021 and was founded by Matthew McNeil Love and George Rawlings, and has been downloaded a total of 906,000 times globally across iOS and Android devices to date, according to estimates by app information provider Sensor Tower.
The app is currently available in six markets: Australia, Canada (Toronto only), Ireland, the UK, the US and Sweden (Stockholm only), and 26 cities including Austin, Texas, Dublin, Ireland, Chicago, Illinois, London, UK, Miami, Florida, New York, New York and Sydney, Australia.
The company's goal is to expand into 100 cities by the end of 2024.