Dating apps have long been big business. Globally, over 200 million people use digital dating services every month, the industry is worth over $2.5 billion in the US and over a third of marriages in America now begin online. While Tinder continues to dominate the market with a reported 50 million active users, competing apps have tried to find a point of difference: on Bumble women make the first move; on Hinge you meet friends of friends; on Happn you match with people you've walked past in real life. But now, in an increasingly crowded market, a new generation of apps are going a step further by homing in on specific requirements that narrow down the dating pool drastically.

What niche dating apps can bring to the experience

“I've found that people from similar backgrounds tend to stick together,” says Lydia Davis, founder of Toffee, the world's first dating app for the privately educated. A professional matchmaker who went to boarding schools in Hampshire and Dorset, Davis set up Toffee in 2018 with the aim of connecting people on the posher end of the spectrum. Users have to pay £4.99 per month, after which they can use sliders to indicate their interests (the city, partying, the country), meet others and compare social calendars to see if their matches are attending Ascot, Henley or Wimbledon. “I knew about The League,” she adds, referring to the US-based app for young professionals which has a thorough vetting process, “but there wasn't an equivalent in the UK.” Does the thought of reinforcing historic class divisions make her uneasy? “It was never our intention to be elitist,” she maintains. “Schooling is a big part of people's lives—10 years of their childhood. It doesn't define them, but it is part of their identity. It's just one of many things people might have in common.”

While she does cater to a niche audience, Davis insists that it is a large niche. In nine months, the app has gained 25,000 subscribers in the UK and there are plans to expand into new markets including Australia, India and Nigeria. “In the UK, 8 per cent of people are privately educated but in Australia that number is around 35 per cent. In India, it's 38 per cent—that's 500 million people.” There is certainly demand for apps that target a privileged demographic. The Inner Circle, an exclusive dating app launched in Amsterdam in 2012, is now active in 30 cities and has 1.4 million members. Users are screened using their Facebook and LinkedIn accounts before being allowed to join, though the required criteria remains a closely guarded secret. Not so with Luxy, a dating app for the super-rich where users are encouraged to verify their income by submitting their tax returns (expect to be earning above $200,000 to make the cut).

Location and lifestyle are also important factors for niche dating platforms. In 2006, sisters Lucy Reeves and Emma Royall set up Muddy Matches, a dating site for “country-minded people”. Operating out of a converted barn on a farm in Northamptonshire, they also launched the Get Muddy dating app in 2014 and currently have 200,000 registered members. “My sister and I grew up in the countryside,” explains Reeves. “We chatted about online dating and my sister said she'd given it a try, but everyone seemed really townie. So, we came up with Muddy Matches, which is for anyone who loves the country and isn't afraid of a bit of mud: farmers and gamekeepers but also people who live in cities and enjoy spending time in the country.” Users can subscribe for £26 per month and take a quiz that determines their “Muddy-Townie ratio” in order to meet like-minded partners. For a community who often live in remote rural locations and have difficulty meeting new people, Reeves says the platform has been a big success. “We've had thousands of weddings from people who've met on Muddy Matches and at least 10 Muddy babies.”

Gluten intolerant and looking for company? There's a dating app for that

Interested in meeting fellow dog owners? Try Twindog. Have facial hair or want to date those who do? Download Bristlr. Gluten intolerant? Sign up to Gluten Free Singles. Created by San Diego-based friends Sheri Grande and Marcella Romaya in 2013, it's the first online platform for daters with coeliac disease. Romaya, who suffers from the condition herself, admits she found it stressful dating people who didn't understand her dietary requirements. “I had anxiety before going on first dates,” she says. “I'd worry about choosing restaurants. Would they have gluten-free options? Would I have to explain why I was gluten free? Would I seem high maintenance?” After doing some research, the pair discovered that 1 per cent of the US population (approximately 3 million people) had coeliac disease and many more were choosing to eat gluten free. Their site now has 36,000 members from around the world. “More and more people are choosing niche dating sites over larger traditional ones,” adds Romaya. “It's just a fact that relationships last longer when partners have similar lifestyles.”

This assumption has also driven the growth of religious dating platforms. Among the most popular is JSwipe, a Jewish dating app with users in 70 countries. Prospective daters can declare their denomination (from Orthodox and conservative to just Jewish), say whether they are kosher or not and upgrade to JSwipe First Class for premium features including a boosted profile that appears twice as often. Christian Mingle and Salt have found similar success with the Christian market, while the Single Muslim app has a database of over two million people. Shaadi.com, an online matchmaking service for people of South Asian origin which was founded in 1997, also operates an app. Combined with the site, it is responsible for a new match being made every 2.4 seconds.

Just as some apps match people based on their interests, others focus on their mutual dislikes. Hater, a dating app that determines compatibility based on the things you hate, allows users to complain about “everything from slow walkers to Kim Jong-un”. It has been downloaded by two million people since its launch in 2017—perhaps unsurprising considering the divisiveness of our current political climate. “Things like Trump and Brexit might attract people to Hater, but that won't be the reason they stick around,” says the app's press and marketing director Sam Terris. “More than anything, our model provides easy conversation, which is often cited as an issue on other apps where people just say ‘hey' and nothing else. Niche apps are about creating a space to geek out over what you have in common. We had a Trump supporter and a Clinton supporter get engaged last year—they bonded over their mutual hatred of pistachios that were difficult to open before they even discovered their political differences.”

Of course, there are many others who would rather not date across the political aisle. Donald Daters, an app for Trump supporters that uses the tagline “make America date again”, launched in 2018 and gained 1,600 users in a single day. “Trump supporters face extreme hostility wherever they go—whether they're at a restaurant or on an online dating app,” the company's CEO Emily Moreno said in a statement. “I started this app to provide a solution to young Trump supporters who have told me their dating horror stories. For many of them, liberal intolerance has made meeting and dating nearly impossible.” Rival platforms include NeverTrump.Dating which encourages users to “escape Trumpism with an enlightened lover”. Increasingly, it seems we are afraid to engage with those we might disagree with.

Despite Terris's assurances, niche dating apps do seem to pigeonhole users more often than they encourage open-mindedness. Has the old adage of opposites attract become outdated? What about those who might fall in love and convert to another religion for a partner or couples who might thrive on the fact that they come from different backgrounds? Reeves and Davis insist that their apps don't promote division. “What I've found from friends of mine who are dating online or through apps is that most people are on more than one site,” says Reeves. “Of course they'll join free ones because it's all about quantity.” Davis agrees: “People just want to maximise their chances. They'll go on apps like Tinder where they can meet all sorts of people and they might also use two smaller apps alongside it.” Their advice? Narrow down the dating pool with niche apps but keep your eye on the big picture too. After all, you never know who you might meet.

Also read:

This is what happens when a world-class comedian takes over your Tinder account

Is Valentine's Day outdated? Three Gen Z women weigh in