Datefit is a niche social network and smartphone dating app that connects exercise enthusiasts of all skill levels for community, friendship, and dating.
Cleveland-based businessman Steven Macecevic founded Datefit.
In September 2016, a temporary website was developed for proof-of-concept testing after the company was formally established in 2015.
The mobile dating app made its formal debut on April 20, 2018, initially focusing on the Cleveland market before becoming global.
Macecevic came up with the concept after realizing that people who prioritize fitness frequently find it difficult to meet companions who share their values.
During a large-scale, 3,000-person fitness cruise he planned, he witnessed how effortlessly shared physical exercise fostered profound connections, which further solidified the idea.
Through community feeds and live events, the dating platform was designed to act as a hub for a community of fitness enthusiasts, bridging the gap between digital matching and in-person interactions.
Who Datefit Is Suited For
From professional athletes to those just starting their wellness journeys, Datefit is appropriate for a wide spectrum of people whose lives revolve around health and wellness.
The following groups are the target audience for the platform:
Diverse Fitness Levels: Datefit caters to individuals of all shapes, sizes, and fitness levels, in contrast to certain dating platforms that exclusively target elite athletes.
This covers everyone, from weekend hikers and yoga practitioners to CrossFit athletes and extreme bodybuilders.
Lifestyle-Oriented Singles: It’s perfect for people who value fitness above all else and are looking for a relationship partner who feels the same way.
Friendship Seekers: The dedicated Friends mode of the dating app makes it ideal for those who aren’t actively dating, who are searching for nearby exercise partners, or who want a group that encourages healthy living.
Social and Active People: The dating app is ideal for those who prefer face-to-face interaction through exercise; it hosts live events such as yoga classes, beach volleyball, and singles HIIT workouts to enable offline gatherings.
Diet and Goal-Oriented Daters: It is appropriate for users who wish to filter prospective matches not just by broad interests but also by particular dietary preferences, such as vegetarianism or keto.
U.S.-Based Users: Because of existing regional restrictions and a user base that is primarily American, it works best for Americans, especially those who live in large cities where events are held.
Who Datefit Isn’t Suited For
Android Users: The dating platform is mostly tailored for iOS.
The Apple App Store version is the only dependable way to use the dating service, despite the fact that an Android version has been developed but is regularly defective or non-functional.
International Singles: The dating app is only intended for use in the US and Canada.
Its terms of service specify that it is only managed from within the United States, and it usually does not permit registration for users with international phone lines.
Users in Small Towns or Rural Areas: Despite its expansion, the majority of its users are found in large American cities.
Users who live outside of these cities frequently discover that there aren’t many active accounts nearby.
People Not Making Fitness a Priority: The community standards and gym rules of the dating platform emphasize that leading a healthy lifestyle must be a primary priority.
The community feed and profile filters won’t matter to people who are searching for casual dating without a commitment to physical activity.
Privacy-First Daters: The dating app is not appropriate for those who would rather keep their dating life private or who do not want to share pictures and fitness objectives with a larger community because it uses a public social feed akin to Instagram.
High-Volume Seekers: The smaller, more niche community on Datefit might be too tiny for people accustomed to the enormous user bases of Tinder or Bumble.
Users Looking for a Totally Free Experience: Although the app has some basic capabilities, it strongly promotes its premium subscription for essential features like unlimited chatting, which could not be appealing to people who aren’t prepared to pay for a matchmaking dating service.
User Base of Datefit
The user base of Datefit is distinguished by its specialized focus on the North American active lifestyle market.
User Statistics and Demographics
Total Community Size: There are more than a million users around the country.
Target Audience: Fitness enthusiasts of all skill levels, including bodybuilders, yogis, runners, and infrequent gym patrons, make up the user base.
Regional Concentration: With a smaller presence in Canada, the United States is home to the great majority of users.
Major cities, especially those surrounding its main base of Cleveland, Ohio, are home to the majority of its active population.
Age and Gender Profile: The user base is consistent with general dating and fitness trends, with over 70% of active app users being Millennials and Gen Z.
Core Engagement: The online dating app highlights a dual-sided community, which means that its user base consists of both single people looking for romance and non-singles only looking for platonic fitness mates.
Growth and Market Position
Steady Annual Growth: Datefit averages 300,000 new registered users a year.
Platform Split: The user base is heavily skewed toward iOS users, as the app is primarily optimized for the Apple ecosystem.
The Android community is notably smaller due to ongoing technical rebuilds on that platform.
User Quality: Unlike general dating apps, Datefit users typically exhibit higher levels of health consciousness, often filtering connections by specific dietary habits (e.g., keto, vegan) and fitness goals.
Sign-Up Process and Creating a Profile
Verifying health-conscious individuals and customizing matches to particular lifestyle objectives are intricate parts of the sign-up and profile creation process.
Sign-Up Process
Registration Options: You can register by downloading the iOS app and logging in with your phone number, email address, or Facebook login.
Facebook Integration: Connecting Facebook allows the dating app to automatically import profile images, birthdays, relationship statuses, and interests; however, you can change these options afterward.
Eligibility & Verification: To participate, you must be at least eighteen years old.
To verify your age, the mobile dating app asks for your date of birth when you join up.
Mode Selection: You have to select “Dating” or “Friends” as your main objective during the first setup.
Once you’ve registered, you can switch between these modes whenever you want.
Creating a Profile
Core Information: Your name, occupation, location, age, and height are all required for a normal profile.
Fitness Interests: To assist the sophisticated matching algorithm in finding compatible companions, you can choose from a variety of activities, such as CrossFit, yoga, running, and kayaking.
Health and Lifestyle Objectives: Your own health objectives, food choices, such as vegetarian or ketogenic, and “musts” in a relationship are all covered in the profile section.
Photo Guidelines: Users are urged to share up-to-date images of their fitness adventures.
However, images of minors alone or without clothing, as well as nude, improper, or sexual content, are absolutely forbidden under the “Gym Rules.”
Profile Assistance: To enhance match quality, Datefit provides a service that helps premium members create a compelling “about me” bio through a brief interview process.
Privacy Control: Through the settings of the matchmaking app, you can control location permissions and choose what data is shared with other users.
Matching System
Instead of focusing solely on physical appearance, Datefit uses an intelligent matching algorithm that filters relationships based on lifestyle objectives and physical activity.
Several fundamental mechanics form the foundation of the system:
Weighted Preferences: Users can rank the significance of distinct factors in addition to listing their interests.
You can indicate, for instance, whether dating someone with different eating habits is acceptable or whether matching with a runner is a requirement.
Daily Selected Matches: Based on your unique fitness preferences, height, age, and lifestyle objectives, the mobile matchmaking platform offers a daily workout of matches, usually 50 selected connections each day for free users.
Dual-Sided Discovery: The system offers two different modes: “Friends” for platonic exercise partners and “Dating” for romantic interests.
To fill up several sets of matches, users can switch between these at any moment.
Social Feed Integration: Datefit enables matching via an activity feed, in contrast to static apps.
Direct messaging is made possible by liking someone’s fitness photographs or inspirational messages; if they like you back, this forms a “fit.”
In-Screen Profile Viewing: A new feature lets users read their whole profile, including fitness interests and health objectives, by swiping up on a daily match without ever leaving the main matching screen.
Reciprocity Requirement: Although premium users have more messaging choices, a direct message can only be started once a mutual “fit” has been established (both users have liked each other).
Pros and Cons of Datefit
Pros of Datefit
For people who prioritize leading an active and healthy lifestyle when looking for a companion or community, Datefit provides a number of advantages.
Key Pros:
Niche Focus: The main benefit is that it eliminates the gray area on general dating apps where fitness can be a minor interest by connecting you with others who share a core love for healthy living and fitness.
This guarantees a fundamental compatibility in ideals and way of life.
Friends Feature: Users can locate platonic exercise companions, fitness accountability partners, or general friends who share an active lifestyle through the dedicated Friends mode of the dating app, which goes beyond dating.
Community and Motivation: The social activity feed of Datefit, where users can upload exercise photographs, exchange ideas, and engage, creates a friendly community.
This fosters a supportive and inspiring atmosphere that promotes individual development.
Intelligent and Detailed Matching: The matching system does more than just apply simple filters.
You can make more exact and pertinent links by defining certain interests, like bodybuilding, yoga, or jogging, and nutritional preferences.
Events & In-Person Connection: Datefit hosts free in-person fitness events, such as yoga classes and singles HIIT workouts, in significant U.S. areas, offering chances to meet individuals offline in an enjoyable, active environment.
Free Core Features: Users can sign up, match, and chat for free, allowing them to give it a try without having to pay anything up front on the online matchmaking app.
Exclusive Discounts: In addition to dating, premium members receive exclusive discounts on nutritional items and exercise equipment from companies like Lululemon and Starbucks.
Encourages Healthy Relationships: It is believed that beginning a relationship based on similar health ideals will result in stronger bonds, support from one another, and more compatibility over the long run.
Cons of Datefit
Datefit has a number of issues that could affect the user experience, especially in relation to its user base and technological infrastructure.
Key Cons:
Technical and Accessibility Issues
Platform Inequality: iOS is the primary platform of the dating app.
A considerable number of smartphone users are effectively excluded from the Android version due to its long history of being either non-functional or severely lacking in functionality.
Performance Glitches: Technical issues, such as the app stopping, messages not sending, or trouble uploading photographs to the activity feed, are common issues.
Notification Issues: Lost or delayed push notifications are frequent issues, which can result in lost matches or sluggish conversation turnover.
User Base and Engagement
Low Rural Population: Due to the niche nature of the dating app, users who live outside of major cities like Miami, Los Angeles, or Cleveland frequently discover that there aren’t many active profiles nearby.
Stagnant Profiles: The dating site has a propensity to keep dormant or ghost profiles so as to give the impression that there are more users.
This can cause annoyance when your likes are never returned.
Gender Imbalance: Depending on the particular location or area, there can be a notable disparity in the male-to-female ratio, similar to many fitness-focused sites.
Subscription and Cost
Paywalled Features: Although the dating app is free to download, a premium subscription is required to access key features like sending limitless messages and seeing who liked you.
Auto-Renewal Issues: Using the interface of the matchmaking mobile app to manage bills or cancel subscriptions is not user-friendly in every instance.
Community and Content
Public Social Feed: The community can access the Instagram-style activity feed.
This degree of social exposure could be a disadvantage for people who want a private dating experience.
Quality of Content: The feed can occasionally feel cluttered with repetitious gym selfies rather than meaningful engagement, while being meant to motivate fitness.
Free Features on Datefit
Datefit stands apart from a number of alternatives that paywall fundamental interactions because it is still free to download and use for all of its essential features.
Core Free Features
Daily Matches: Based on their food preferences, health objectives, and specified fitness interests, users are given 50 complimentary matches every day.
Friends Mode: A 100% free area specifically designed to locate fitness-minded buddies and platonic workout companions instead of romantic dates.
Activity Feed: An Instagram-style social media feed where you can share inspirational content, upload pictures, and engage in real-time communication with other nearby active individuals.
Matching and Chatting: You can like posts and profiles, and if you both have similar interests (a “fit”), you can send each other a free message.
Swipe-Up Profiles: This gesture-based feature lets you examine a user’s whole profile, including specific fitness passions, from the match screen without switching between screens.
In-Person Events: Information on free fitness events, such as beach volleyball and singles HIIT workouts, that the dating platform hosts in key markets.
Profile Filtering: The capacity to look for users according to fundamental parameters such as location, age, gender, and whether or not they are online at the moment.
Paid Features on Datefit
Datefit offers a premium subscription that includes lifestyle-related benefits, limitless contact, and increased visibility.
The paid tier, namely Datefit Premium, is intended to speed up the matching process, but core matching and the Friends function are still free.
Core Premium Features
See Who Likes You: Without having to scroll through the general discovery queue, premium members can instantly see which profiles have liked them.
Unlimited Messaging: Paid customers are able to send an infinite number of direct chat requests and messages, whereas free users are usually restricted to texting mutual matches or have a daily request cap.
Profile Boosting: Skip the line to get more views by increasing the frequency with which other active users in your area see your profile.
Unlimited “Undos”: Undo a pass or left swipe if you unintentionally missed a possible match.
Advanced Filters: Premium users on the matchmaking platform get access to more detailed search filters that allow them to focus on matches based on dietary preferences, fitness sub-niches, or relationship requirements.
Exclusive Lifestyle Benefits
Retail Discounts: Exclusive savings on exercise equipment and dietary supplements from companies like Lululemon, Starbucks, and LIV Body are a special benefit for subscribers.
Priority Event Access: Although a lot of in-person activities are free, premium members could be guaranteed entrance to popular singles HIIT or beach volleyball sessions or receive early notice.
YouFit System: Users can purchase the YouFit System, a six-week guide that includes fitness regimens, dietary tips, and relationship-building activities, for an additional one-time price (often around $99).
Pricing on Datefit
All of the key features of Datefit, such as its Friends mode and a daily cap of 50 carefully chosen matches, are still free.
The online dating service offers a number of premium subscription tiers and one-time purchases for improved access.
Premium Subscription Plans
Standard premium subscriptions generally range from $5.75 to $19.99 per month depending on the duration of the commitment.
1 Day Pass: $4.99.
1 Month Plan: $9.99 to $19.99.
3-Month Plan: $29.99 to $34.99.
1-Year Plan: $69.99 to $80.99.
Lifetime Access: Permanent premium features cost between $99.99 and $199.99.
Exclusive Deals and Extras
Black Friday/Promotional Offers: During seasonal sales, Datefit has provided substantial savings, such as $19.99 for a full year of access.
Credits: For certain in-app tasks, users can buy credits.
For example, they can buy 100 credits for $0.99 or 1,000 credits for $9.99.
YouFit System: For a one-time fee of $99 (usually $129.99), a separate six-week fitness and relationship program is offered.
A complimentary year of premium membership is occasionally included in this.
Safety and Security
Datefit uses double opt-in communication, stringent community gym rules, and technical encryption to put user safety first.
Key Safety and Security Features
Increased Data Security: To keep user data confidential and valid, the fully redesigned iOS app has improved encryption and security measures.
Double Opt-In Messaging: To avoid unwanted contact and spam, users can only message each other if a mutual “fit” is formed, which means both parties have expressed interest.
Reporting and Blocking: The internet dating platform offers in-app methods for quickly blocking or reporting profiles that exhibit questionable activity, harassment, or spam.
Age Verification: To participate, users must be at least eighteen years old.
When registering, the date of birth is requested for this purpose of verification.
Community “Gym Rules”
To preserve a positive atmosphere, the dating app enforces a stringent set of rules; infractions can result in instant and permanent removal:
Photo Content: Clearly forbids images that are naked, improper, sexual, violent, or grotesque.
Exercise attire must remain on.
No Harassment: It is totally forbidden to engage in any kind of bullying, hate speech, or locker room chatter.
Prohibited Behavior: Specifically, S.E.T.S. (spamming, excessive contact/stalking, teasing/bullying, and scamming/catfishing) are prohibited.
Privacy and Data Use
Automatic Data Collection: To enhance matching and security, Datefit automatically gathers data, including IP address, device kind, location, and usage trends.
Social Linkage: If users opt to connect their Facebook accounts, Datefit may gather shared friend information and photographs based on their Facebook privacy settings.
Third-Party Advertising: The dating service may display advertisements through approved vendors.
Non-personally identifiable hashed data may be utilized for targeted marketing even when they don’t give these parties personally identifiable information.
Data Retention: Datefit may preserve some data even after an account is closed so as to maintain records, stop fraud, and enforce conditions of use.
Customer Support
Email and in-app tools are the main ways to contact Datefit customer service.
For general questions, the dating platform does not have a public customer care phone number.
Contact Methods
General Support: For technical issues, account help, or reporting violations, send an email to Support@Datefit.com.
Community & Feedback: If you have any general or community-related questions, you can contact team@datefit.com.
Data Requests: If you have any issues concerning data deletion or privacy, send an email to support@datefit.com with the subject line “Data Deletion Request.”
Partnerships: If you have any inquiries about business or partnerships, send an email to partners@datefit.com.
Help Center and In-App Support
Online Help Center: Datefit has a Zendesk Help Center where users can watch community discussions, browse FAQs, and utilize a web form to file a support issue.
In-App Settings: To report issues or content violations, users can get in touch with support directly through the mobile app’s Settings area.
Billing and Cancellations
Apple or iOS Users: Only the Apple App Store is used for iOS refunds and subscription cancellations.
Users need to pick Report a Problem after viewing Purchase History in their Apple ID settings.
Android or Google Play Users: Email support@Datefit.com with your Google Play order number if you need assistance with a Google Play subscription.
Written Notices: Datefit, LLC, Attn: Cancellations, 131 Continental Dr., Suite 305, Newark, DE, 19713 is the administrative address where formal cancellation notices can be mailed.
The Verdict
Datefit is a high-potential niche dating app that is hindered by platform inconsistencies and geographical restrictions.
For certain users, it’s a great additional dating app, but it can’t yet take the role of popular dating platforms.
The Verdict: “Yes” if…
You reside in a large U.S. metro area: In areas like Cleveland, Miami, Los Angeles, and New York, where there are enough users to support the daily 50 matches, the app works incredibly well.
You utilize an iPhone: The experience is primarily designed for iOS.
The dating app is only consistently updated and stable on this platform.
You prioritize lifestyle above appearances alone: Datefit’s filters are better than Bumble’s or Tinder’s if your main attractiveness triggers are similar eating habits (vegan, keto) and fitness objectives.
You’re trying to find a workout partner: Its best feature is the Friends mode, which lets single people locate a local community without the stress of courting.
The Verdict: “No” if…
You are an Android user: In contrast to the iOS standard, the Android version continues to be inconsistent despite additional financing, resulting in frequent crashes and login issues.
You reside in a rural area: The user base in rural areas is frequently too tiny to support a paid subscription, as is the case with most niche dating apps.
You’re looking for a completely free experience: Although matching is free, the dating app strongly promotes its Premium Subscription, which costs between $4.99 per day and over $80 per year, in order to access important features like the ability to see who liked your profile.
You put privacy first: The Activity Feed, which is similar to Instagram, promotes public sharing; if you would rather date discreetly, this social media-style setting could feel too public.
Final Assessment
Datefit effectively bridges the gap between an online dating app and a social community, making it the top niche fitness dating service in the United States.
However, you should evaluate the local user density for free before committing to a paying service because of its “Ghost Profile” problems and limited reach outside of major cities.