Thursday seeks to shake up conventional online dating in a crowded market. The app, which recently expanded to San Francisco, fosters intentional dating by restricting user access to Thursdays. At midnight, all matches disappear. The idea is that by restricting usage to one day a week, potential matches will be encouraged to set up real-life meetings sooner.
Many singles, especially younger users, are dumping traditional dating apps due to “swiping fatigue,” a term used to describe the feeling of exhaustion that comes from swiping through countless profiles. This, along with other negative experiences, such as suffering from burnout after talking to too many people, or getting stuck in an in-app messaging trap that rarely results in an in-person date, has caused some younger users to burn out on traditional dating apps. For instance, Tinder, which essentially invented the swipe-left/swipe-right approach to dating, has lost paid users for seven consecutive quarters.
In contrast, Thursday encourages users to use the app when they genuinely want to date. By promoting in-person meetups sooner rather than later and deleting matches after 24 hours, the app aims to prevent users from endless scrolling and seeking validation from dozens of matches they’ll never interact with. In fact, Thursday lets you match with only 10 people a day, unless users pay a $19/month subscription fee to remove the cap.
Additionally, the company hosts exclusive IRL (in real life) singles events through a separate app called Thursday Events. The app offers large meetups at venues like bars, running clubs, gym classes, dance studios and art galleries. Users can also apply to organize their own events.
In-person dates have experienced a resurgence in the post-pandemic era, with younger singles reverting to “old-fashioned” methods such as meeting in public with hopes of finding love. According to a 2024 Eventbrite survey, attendance at dating and singles events on the event marketplace rose 42% from 2022 to 2023. Eventbrite reported that there were over 1.5 million searches for these types of gatherings on the platform. Speed dating is also making a comeback.
Thursday’s most recent launch in San Francisco comes as dating giants Bumble and Match Group (owner of Tinder and Hinge) grapple with the challenges of adjusting to the post-pandemic dating landscape and people’s general frustration with dating apps.
Bumble reported its second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, falling short of Wall Street’s revenue estimates. The company also reduced its annual revenue growth forecast, concerning investors about the company’s ability to attract and retain users and causing its shares to drop by 30% after the closing bell.
Match also experienced setbacks in Q2, including a 6% reduction of its workforce after ending its livestreaming services in dating apps Plenty of Fish and BLK. Notably, Tinder experienced a slump in paid users for the seventh quarter in a row.
Other dating startups have also tried to capitalize on disillusionment with Bumble, Tinder and Hinge. Over the years, we’ve seen various new apps emerge, catering to all kinds of user behavior and communities. This includes gamer-focused platforms, an app that hides selfies until users message each other, an app that matches users based on favorite dating spots, and so on. There’s even a dating app for people with good credit scores.
Thursday launched in 2021 and was founded by Matthew McNeill Love and George Rawlings. To date, it has 906,000 total global downloads across iOS and Android devices, according to Sensor Tower estimates.
The app is currently available in six markets — Australia, Canada (Toronto only), Ireland, the U.K., the U.S. and Sweden (Stockholm only) — in 26 cities, including Austin, Texas; Dublin, Ireland; Chicago, Illinois; London, England; Miami, Florida; New York, New York; Sydney, Australia; and more.
The company’s goal is to be in 100 cities by the end of 2024.
