OnlyFriends – A meetup app to become friends first, not a dating app

OnlyFriends is not a dating app. It’s a meetup and friend-making app designed so you can become “friends” first, comfortably, without pressure.

Koreans, Korea-loving foreigners, travelers, international students, and working holiday makers can all use OnlyFriends to meet people, eat together, hang out, and chat as real friends.

I’m a former dating app developer who personally spent over ₩1.7 million on dating apps over the years… and hit a wall. That’s why I decided to build OnlyFriends instead.

Why is this not “just another dating app”?

If you’ve ever used a dating app, you’ve probably experienced things like this (I’ve experienced them dozens, hundreds of times…):

• You have to pay first even though you barely get any matches
• Every profile view, like, or message seems to cost extra money
• Even when you finally match, people ghost or disappear, and you lose both time and money
• Too many steps and friction before actually meeting someone offline
• Scams, fake profiles, part-timers, and bots everywhere

OnlyFriends started because I wanted to reduce this kind of frustration.

What makes OnlyFriends different?

OnlyFriends is not about 1:1 matching. It’s all about meetups and friendships.

• Meetup-based

  • People with similar interests in the area you want to visit meet through group meetups, not just swipes.
  • For example: “I’m visiting Seoul in December. Looking for 3 Korean locals who want to meet a Japanese girl!” – that kind of vibe.

• Offline with local friends, right away

  • Korea-loving foreigners, Koreans, travelers, international students, and WHers

    meet to eat, grab a drink, and hang out together as friends – that’s the core focus.

• You pay only for actually meeting

  • You use coins to apply to meetups, but

    we designed it so you’re not constantly charged for every profile view or chat message.

  • The focus is on checking “can we actually become friends?” rather than endless in-app spending.

• Less ghosting / disappearing

  • Instead of endless 1:1 chats that go nowhere,

    you join small group meetups, which feels lighter and

    makes it much more likely you’ll actually meet people in real life.