If you’re a Grindr user, you’re no doubt aware that the app is an absolute shambles at the moment, and getting worse.
Reports all over the world of the grid not refreshing, messages not loading, profile pics not being able to upload and now, spambots taking over. The screenshot to the left is an actual user’s experience. You can read some of the current feedback on Reddit here.
I have personally submitted tickets for some of these problems and have been waiting over a year with still no response, except for the occasional “our engineers are still investigating this issue”.
There’s a lot of theories going around about why things have turned so bad, mostly centering around the new owners of Grindr intentionally running it into the ground, or just chasing money and not caring about the app anymore. And also that the spambots are actually from Grindr themselves, in order to boost app numbers.
I tend to agree with some of these theories, because it seems clear that the owners of Grindr are not addressing the issues and they are getting worse. So for me, like thousands of others, I’ve made the decision to move on. It’s sad that a once great app has been reduced to this.
So what are your alternatives to Grindr? This will vary greatly depending on what part of the world you live in. And I’m hopeful that another app will move in to take the place of Grindr. But at the time of writing this (August 2025) and certainly in my area of the world (South Western Australia), some of the alternatives worth considering are:
- Scruff
- DaddyHunt
- Red Hot Pie (especially if you’re bisexual)
- Fetlife
- Locanto
- And of course the usual big social platforms like X, Instagram etc
I know they’re not great alternatives but they’re worth checking out. The Grindr experience has become almost unusable, and they don’t seem to care or have a plan to fix it.
What alternative apps or platforms are good in your area? Mention them below in the comments so others can know!
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