"This Month's Friend Fee: 400,000 Won Deposited"... "Matching Services" Let You Pay to Make Friends

Analyzes Personality Traits and Interests to Arrange In-Person Gatherings
Demand Surges as Loneliness Grows; Women-Only Apps Also Available

So-called “friend-matching services,” which charge people to meet new friends, are gaining popularity in the United States. Users enter their personality traits and interests, and an algorithm selects people they are likely to get along with and arranges in-person gatherings, such as meals or hikes.

Image for illustrative purposes only; unrelated to the article's specific content. Getty Images

According to The New York Times (NYT) on October 26, friend-matching startups such as Real Roots, 222 and Timeleft are growing rapidly in the United States. These services have attracted tens of thousands of users and generate millions of dollars in annual revenue.

Paying About 400,000 Won to Meet People for the First Time

Alexandra Pitcher, 33, began looking for new friends after moving from Nashville, Tennessee, to Honolulu, Hawaii, last year because of her husband's military service.

Real Roots, a women-only friend-matching service, connects users based on their values, lifestyles and other factors, and organizes in-person meetups. It operates in major cities across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Google Play screenshot.

She discovered Real Roots, a friend-matching service for women, on Instagram and paid $290 (about 380,000 won) to join. After completing a survey about her preferences and personality, she met eight women she had never met before at a brewery. She later continued building relationships with some of the participants, going camping and taking beach trips together. “I feel like I could be friends with most of them for the rest of my life,” Pitcher said. “There was a genuine connection.”

The process is simple. Users answer questions about their age, interests, values, sense of humor and how they like to spend time with friends, and an algorithm forms small groups. Users then just have to show up at the designated time and place. Gatherings include a variety of activities, such as meals, hikes, dumpling-making classes and shuffleboard.

“Having an Activity to Do Together Makes It Less Awkward”

Photos from reviews of the friend-matching service. Realroots Instagram: @realrootsgals

In August, Sylvia Re, 25, who works in marketing, paid about $170 for a day trip to the mountains organized by the friend-matching service 222.

Re used the service to build new relationships after moving to New York in April. She traveled by bus with her assigned group, went hiking and had lunch. “It feels much more natural to have an activity to do together than to sit down for dinner just to meet people,” she said.

222 currently holds at least one gathering a day in 21 cities worldwide. The monthly membership fee is $22 (about 30,000 won), while activities such as meals and yoga classes are charged separately. According to the company, revenue tripled last year compared with the previous year, and is expected to increase by about four times again this year.

As Loneliness Grows, the Paid Market for “Finding Friends” Expands

The Timeleft friend-matching service is now available in South Korea as well. Naver Blog @ban_namu

Rising loneliness is driving the growth of friend-matching services. According to a 2024 survey by Harvard University's Making Caring Common Project, 21% of respondents said they felt seriously lonely. Of those, 67% said they did not feel they belonged to a meaningful group.

Capitalizing on this demand, Real Roots is expanding its services, focusing on major U.S. cities. Timeleft, which connects strangers for dinner, also operates in more than 200 cities across 52 countries worldwide, including Seoul, Tokyo, Paris and London, as well as 55 U.S. cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. About 20 months after launching its business, Timeleft had grown to $18 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). It now has about 150,000 monthly users.

However, paying for a service does not guarantee that users will make friends. Some have complained that they did not get along with the people they were matched with or that the gatherings felt forced and awkward. One user who tried several friend-matching services said, “Deep friendships develop by spending real time together,” adding, “Even if you have similar tastes, I'm not sure an algorithm can create a deep relationship.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.