What Happened to Hey! VINA? Alternatives for Women Who Want Friends
Product · by Simone Rainieri · 6 min read · Published
Hey! VINA, the friendship app for women, is no longer running. Its own website now says "it's been a wonderful 9 years, but it's time to move on to the next chapter", and we did not find a working service to review. The closest replacements depend on what you liked about it: Gofrendly for a women-only friendship app, Peanut for pregnancy and motherhood, Timeleft's women-only Tuesday dinners, and BFF from Bumble or Meetup for a wider pool. Vairi is not women-only, but it introduces one person at a time in London and New York.
What Hey! VINA was
Hey! VINA launched in January 2016, founded by Olivia June Poole and Jen Aprahamian, who had worked together at General Assembly. TechCrunch described it as a swipe-based app for women who wanted female friends, with a short lifestyle and personality quiz, weekly quizzes for extra matching data, and a matching algorithm that weighed mutual friends and proximity. It started in San Francisco and New York. Its website describes friend matching, communities, quizzes, plans and live group chat.
What happened to Hey! VINA
The company's website now carries a goodbye note saying the app is closing its chapter after 9 years. A December 2024 post on the blog of a rival app, Gofrendly, reported the shutdown and attributed it to operational and product challenges, saying the platform could no longer be maintained or updated at the level users expected. That post is a competitor's account, not a statement from Hey! VINA, and it gives no date. If you still have the app, check it before relying on it.
Hey! VINA alternatives for women
| App | Who it is for | How you meet | Cost | Drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gofrendly | Women only, 18+ (its footer) | Profile, matches, local communities and meetups | Free to download; check the app for paid features | Pricing is not shown on its website; we could not check ratings |
| Peanut | Women in pregnancy, motherhood and menopause | Swipe matching, groups, live discussions | Free with in-app purchases | Only useful within its audience |
| Timeleft women-only dinners | Women in 50+ cities, per Timeleft | Tuesday dinner with matched strangers | $19.99 a month in the US per Timeleft; food extra | Attendance varies; subscription required |
| BFF from Bumble | Anyone 18+, US at the moment | Swipe matching and interest groups | Free on its US listing | Not women-only; limited to the US for now |
| Meetup | Anyone | Interest groups and events | Free app; organisers pay | A single visit rarely leads to a friendship |
| Vairi | Anyone 18+, London and New York | One AI-matched introduction at a time, anonymous chat | Free to join; from £3.99 a month | Not women-only; two cities only |
We compare Peanut, BFF, Meetup, Timeleft and Vairi in more detail in best friend finder apps compared, and how to make female friends in a new city covers the routes that are not apps.
How to choose
If the point was a women-only space, start with Gofrendly, and Timeleft's Tuesday dinners if you want a table. If you are pregnant or a mother, Peanut is built for you. If you want the biggest pool and are in the US, try BFF. If you preferred an app that matched you on a quiz, Vairi asks a short AI-led interview and introduces you to one compatible person at a time, with names and photos hidden until you both choose to reveal them. We make Vairi, so weigh that accordingly.
Whichever you pick, give it a month and count conversations and meetings, not matches. Research by Jeffrey Hall at the University of Kansas suggests about 50 hours together makes a casual friend, so a quick swipe is only the first step.
Key takeaways
Hey! VINA has shut down, according to its own website, and no dated announcement is available. For women-only friendship apps, look at Gofrendly, Peanut for pregnancy and motherhood, and Timeleft's women-only Tuesday dinners. BFF from Bumble and Meetup offer bigger pools that are not women-only. Judge any replacement after about a month of real effort.
Related reading: best apps to make friends in 2026, and best friend finder apps compared.
What happened to Hey! VINA?
Its website now says it is closing after 9 years. A rival's December 2024 blog post reported the shutdown and gave operational and product challenges as the reason. We found no dated announcement from Hey! VINA.
Is Hey! VINA still available?
No working service that we could find. Its website carries a goodbye note, and we did not confirm a live app listing.
What is the best app like Hey! VINA?
For a women-only friendship app, Gofrendly. For pregnancy and motherhood, Peanut. For women-only dinners, Timeleft on Tuesdays. For a larger mixed pool, BFF from Bumble in the US or Meetup.
Are there women-only friendship apps?
Yes. Gofrendly says it is exclusively for women, and Peanut is for women in pregnancy, motherhood and menopause. Timeleft runs women-only dinners on Tuesdays in more than 50 cities.
Who started Hey! VINA?
Olivia June Poole and Jen Aprahamian, according to TechCrunch's January 2016 launch report.
Sources, all opened on 24 September 2026: Hey! VINA website; TechCrunch, Hey! VINA is a Tinder for girl friends (26 January 2016); Gofrendly, Hey VINA is shutting down (blog post dated 26 December 2024 in its URL) and Gofrendly homepage; Peanut on the Australian App Store; BFF on the US App Store; Meetup on the US App Store; Timeleft blog (13 April 2026); Vairi pricing page; University of Kansas (2018).
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