Key Takeaways

The third-party data aggregator AppMagic claims Hily has overtaken Bumble, Plenty of Fish, Badoo, and OkCupid as the #3 most downloaded free dating app. Sure, Tinder and Hinge still reign supreme, but Hily’s ascent suggests that legacy apps are not as secure at the top as they used to be. 

It’s worth noting that AppMagic uses third-party aggregated data and is not an Apple or Google ranking. A similar aggregator, Sensor Tower, puts Bumble at #5 and Hily at #6. These rankings seem to change frequently, with Hily and other non-legacy apps, like Doni, Feeld, Taimi, and Boo, often rising in the ranks among Bumble, Hinge, and Tinder. 

The popularity of non-legacy apps could come down to recency bias, but the fact that their marketing is almost always centered around inclusivity, authenticity, and connection can’t be ignored. 

After almost 20 years of swiping through the same profiles, daters are not only ready for a change in dating app structure, but in dating app culture. DatingNews spoke to Hily CPO Liubomyr Pivtorak about the app’s growth, its focus on Gen Z values, and its plans moving forward. 

Legacy Apps Risk Showing Their Age 

If Hily’s growth proves anything, it’s that legacy may be a double-edged sword. 

Yes, Tinder and Hinge have years of experience, not to mention deep pockets. But years of experience can also make an app seem out of touch. Tinder is associated with millennial dating habits, not Gen Z. And deep pockets, while powerful, can also make users feel like bottom lines. 

To Gen Z, there’s something refreshing about smaller apps like Hily. “Smaller” often means more targeted, more responsive, and more personalized — three things Gen Z daters crave from their dating apps. They want to feel like priorities, not like data. They want to feel heard, not preached to. And they want their apps to mold to their needs. 

Hily’s growth is nothing to sneeze at. For a company with less than 50 employees (according to LinkedIn, at least), to be at Hinge (200-500 employees) and Tinder’s (500-1,000 employees) heels is a sure sign that Gen Z daters are craving something that legacy apps just aren’t delivering. 

In fact, Hily saw January as a key month to foster growth and engagement. “We came to this period with new set-ups, new campaigns, optimizations, and new features,” Pivtorak told DatingNews. “This really helped us grow during this period.” 

Gen Z Users Want Meaning, Not Empty Swipes 

The swiping method may be an oldie, but it isn’t necessarily a goody. 

Last year, 22% of respondents to a Forbes survey said that meaningless swiping leads to dating app burnout. The same survey found that approximately 78% of respondents suffer from dating app burnout overall. 

With this in mind, apps that depend on swiping, like Hily, Tinder, and Hinge, must decide if it’s still the best way to make matches. Outcomes aside, ease of use is key to fostering connection and engagement on dating apps, which is why Hily confronted its own user experience in 2026. 

“From the product perspective, we focused on [providing a] seamless experience during this period,” Pivtorak told us. Hily and other apps are starting to refine their definition of convenience. Being user friendly and accessible is not just about swiping, but about innovating around the user’s real needs. 

“[Gen Z users] are tired of simply scrolling through profiles and endlessly picking users from their pool,” Pivtorak explained. “They are focused more on meaningful interactions.” 

Hily Has a Renewed Focus on Quality, not Quantity 

Ten years ago, dating apps were all about quantity, Pivtorak told us. Now, users prefer a few high-quality matches over many low-quality matches. To Hily, this means helping daters to establish strong connections, whether romantic or otherwise, earlier in the matching process.  

“There is a dating-through-friendship concept among the Gen Z audience,” Pivtorak said. No more jumping into casual relationships after just a few swipes; Gen Z daters want to establish meaningful connections in the form of friendships before broaching romance.  

Like Bumble, Grindr, and Tinder before it, Hily recently launched an AI tool aimed at providing increased trust and safety to users. The feature, Consent Guard, allows users to get deep with matches and have important conversations about boundaries before they actually meet IRL.  

And speaking of meeting IRL: “[Gen Z daters] want to convert these online meetings offline as soon as they can,” according to Pivtorak. 

This is the apps’ main obstacle: They have to remain relevant despite users demanding offline connections. Hily has attempted to strike this difficult balance by shouting “authenticity” from the rooftops. 

Hily Signals a Industrywide Shift Toward Authenticity 

With “Hily: Date as you are” splashed across the company’s homepage, it’s clear the app promotes a modern version of authenticity that specifically connects with Gen Z. 

Amplifying inclusivity, low-pressure connections, and community seems to resonate with modern daters more than older apps’ calls to “sign up and create an intricate dating profile.”

There’s a paradox of need in the dating industry, where users simultaneously crave connections and avoid them. “At Hily, we call this [the] dating reality disconnect,” Pivtorak said. “Everyone talks about being authentic, but still, people feel the pressure to be perfect. We want to change that.”

Hily’s strategy is to help daters “drop the act and boldly date as they are,” as Pivtorak put it. 

It’s going to take a lot of time and resources — and, perhaps, a complete dating app comeback — for Hily to completely take over Tinder and Hinge’s cultural dominance. But Hily’s growth shows it’s possible for young apps to gain meaningful ground, even as dating fatigue abounds.