4 of India’s dating apps that aren’t Tinder (and when to use them)

Photo credit: Pixabay.

Tinder kicked off 2016 by starting its first international office in India, wasting no time by partnering with Zomato at the end of January for a Valentine’s Day promotion. The dining connection site featured “Tinderlicious” restaurants in the Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Chandigarh as great places to take your Tinder date.

The office was the first of the people-meeting app outside of the US, but Tinder’s been present outside the US for a while. As of December 2015, 196 countries were using the app, and 60 percent of the app’s users were located outside North America. India is no exception when it comes to the growing popularity of mobile dating, so picking the country as a hub was a smart move. The app’s found success particularly among the young entrepreneur-heavy population.

But there are plenty of other dating apps popping up in the country. Curious, I downloaded a few of many dating apps available in India to use for a few days. The result is a list that caters to the full spectrum of daters (with Tinder falling somewhere in the middle).

1. Frivil

The line between love and competition is very thin, apparently. Photo credit: Pixabay.

Use If: The Hunger Games and/or Gladiator are your favorite movies, you see dating as a competition that you have to win, and you never want to read profiles on Tinder…OR if you love dating ironically and B movies are your favorite.

If your answer to the question “How soon do you want to get married?” resembles more of a bark of laughter than a concrete time in the near future, you could try Frivil, backed by marriage site Shaadi. Unlike Shaadi’s marriage portal, it seems Frivil’s way of getting into the Tinder market was by going completely around the bend.

Frivil’s point is to be Shaadi’s trendier cousin, but it comes off like your dad trying to fit in with the cool kids.

Frivil is part matchmaking app, part competition. Signing up gets you a board that lets you rank how attractive people of the opposite sex are (you’re shown two pictures and pick one). Picking more attractive people can increase your own popularity score (basically, you’re considered more attractive the more you agree with everyone else). Meanwhile, every time you win or lose a picture match, you get notified. A day of competition lands you in a “league,” and at 9pm every night, you’re shown several profiles from other people in your league. From there, you can chat with them.

Frivil’s point is to be Shaadi’s trendier cousin, but it comes off like your dad trying to fit in with the cool kids. The app’s use of terms like “on fleek” and “wtf” strike me as forced and ultimately not cool. Still, social climbers and people looking for a good laugh could both get enjoyment out of it.

2. OkCupid

If the statement “Tell me about yourself” makes you feel as excited as this person (or you get this excited to say this to others), this app may be for you. Photo credit: Pixabay.

Use If: you love options, you love taking personality quizzes on the internet and/or talking about yourself.
Also See: Woo

3. Dil Mil

4. Aisle