Is the Thursday Dating App Any Good?

Thursday is good at one thing and poor at another. It is good at putting singles in a room, through ticketed events such as dinners, quizzes, classes and parties. It is poor if you wanted a swipe feed, because it no longer leads with one. Most of the bad reviews come from men who judged it as the wrong kind of dating app. So the real question is whether events suit you, and you can find out in three tries.

Thursday began as a dating app and now puts events first. Its homepage talks about less matching and more meeting, and it lists events for singles in cities around the world, sold by ticket.

That changes what a man is buying. A swipe app asks for your time on your phone, and a date comes at the end if you are lucky. An event asks you to turn up, and the first conversation happens face to face.

If a complaint you read treats Thursday as a swipe app, it is probably describing the old shape of the product. Check what the company offers in your city before you trust any review, including this one.

It skips the phase where most app conversations die. There is no week of messages that slowly fades. You meet, you talk, and you can ask for a number or suggest a drink while the moment is warm.

It also helps a man who is better in person than on a screen. Many men have ordinary photos and stiff first lines but are easy company. In a room, a woman can see how you stand, listen and laugh, and a camera cannot show any of that.

Everyone there is single and has paid to come, which removes a lot of the guessing about intentions that makes a dating app tiring.

Be honest about the costs.

Tickets cost money, and you pay for each one whether or not you meet anyone you like. We give no prices, because they differ by event and city. Spots are limited, so popular events sell out, and you cannot decide on the day.

Events are city based. A man in a large city sees a calendar, and a man in a small town may see little or nothing. If there are no events near you, you have your answer without spending anything.

Some formats have quirks too. At its Matchbox event, an AI matchmaking night, guests fill in a questionnaire on arrival and are matched on values. Some matches may be platonic on purpose, and a guest who misses the questionnaire window misses the matches. Do not read a match as a promise.

It suits a man who is comfortable talking to strangers in a group, who lives where events run, and who sees a ticket as the price of a real chance to talk.

It suits a shy man less well on his own. If walking into a room of strangers feels too big, take a friend, who gives you someone to talk to while you warm up.

It does not suit a man who wants a feed of faces to swipe through. For that, a mainstream dating app is the better tool, and you should pick the one that is busy where you live.

Do not judge it on one evening. Go to three events over a month and count the same things each time: people you spoke with for more than a few minutes, numbers you asked for, and dates you set.

Go with a plan. Pick one or two people you would like to talk to, open with something about the event itself, and keep early conversations short and friendly. Be direct about interest. If you like someone, ask for her number before the end of the night and suggest a specific time that week.

Dress as yourself on a good day, arrive on time and put your phone away.

Using both gives you a faster read on which one suits you. a dating coach's advice is that the right choice depends on your area and on you, and that you do not have to be loyal to one tool.

Keep a dating app going while you try events, and fix your photos and first lines, since those travel with you everywhere. If events give you more conversations and dates than the app, put more evenings there. If they do not, you have spent a small amount and learned something real.