Apps to make friends online: how to choose (2026)
Choose an app to make friends by how you want the friendship to start: local introductions, a shared hobby, language exchange, letters or a small group chat. Check its age rules, location privacy, photo permissions and how people start a conversation. For friends far away, shared interests and a pace you both enjoy matter more than living nearby.
What kind of friendship do you want?
Start with the conversation or activity you want, rather than the longest list of features. Meeting someone nearby for a shared activity is different from writing to an international friend you may never meet in person.
- Nearby friends: look for local friend matching or groups built around activities you would like to join.
- International friends: consider letters, shared-interest communities or language exchange, where distance need not be the starting point.
- Conversation pace: choose between longer letters, quick chats and group conversations.
Friendship apps grouped by kind
These examples describe what each app is built around, checked October 2026. Choose the kind of exchange you want, then check the app’s current rules before joining.
| Kind | Examples and what they are built around | What to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Local matching, including swipe-to-meet apps | Bumble BFF: local friend matching | Do you want friends nearby? Check who sees your location and whether meeting in person is expected. |
| Interest groups and events | Meetup: in-person groups | Choose an activity you enjoy. Check the group’s age rules and who organises it. |
| Language exchange | HelloTalk and Tandem: language exchange | Do you both want language practice? Agree on whether corrections are welcome. |
| Pen pals by letter | Slowly: letters. Sea Pals: letters to people with shared interests, then chats and a shared pet | Do you enjoy everyday stories and taking time to reply? Check how recipients are found. |
| Small group chats | Sea Pals lagoons: small group chats with friends | Do you want to talk together after becoming friends? Check how invitations, photos and leaving a group work. |
What to check before joining
Read the privacy and safety rules before uploading a photo or writing to someone. A friendship label does not tell you who can contact you or what they can see.
- Age rules: what is the minimum age, and can adults contact teens? Check incoming messages as well as searches.
- Location: does your profile show an exact location, distance or nearby places? Check what strangers see and which settings you can change.
- Photos: who can send them, who sees them, and can you refuse them? Find out whether group photos follow the same rules.
- Purpose: read how conversations start and say what you would enjoy talking about. You can leave a conversation you do not want to continue.
- Safety controls: find block, report and leave-group options before you need them. Keep contact details private and early conversations inside the service.
- Price: check what is free and whether the exchange you want needs paid features.
How to make friends online across countries
A shared game, favourite song or recipe gives you a reason to write. Say hello, share a small detail and ask something easy to answer.
For a letter, use the first-letter guide and pen pal questions. Leave room for time zones and busy days. See making friends abroad for conversation tips and pen pal safety for privacy basics.
Where Sea Pals fits
A bottle letter in Sea Pals gives a friendship across distance a place to start: Mochi looks for people with shared interests and languages. Anyone who writes back becomes a friend on your island, where you can chat, join a lagoon with up to 6 friends or raise Doori together.
Teens meet only teens as strangers, and strangers never see your birthday, exact location or username. Links and social handles stay out of letters. For friends who met by letter, photos need 5 messages from each side and the receiver’s permission; in lagoons, each person sees a photo only if their own pair’s rule allows it.