Here's What Users Dislike The Most About The League Dating App

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the popularity of online dating has surged, per Vanderbilt. Meeting for drinks transitioned into FaceTime chats, and preferences surrounding masks and vaccination status allowed daters to quickly filter out incompatible options. According to TIME, the pandemic has led to more and more people looking to find long-term options.

In this age of virtual connection, there's a dating app for almost everything. It may not come as a surprise that Tinder remains the most popular dating app. In fact, of the 300 million people active on dating apps worldwide, 75 million use Tinder, per Business of Apps. 

However, despite a general reliance on old favorites like Tinder and Bumble, there are many more platforms to choose from. For instance, Dig and Tabby are designed specifically for pet parents, while vegans and vegetarians can search for matches on Veggly. Hardcore gamers even have their own platform, Kippo. There's also The League, an exclusive, application-based platform designed for those who prioritize education and professional achievement. Though some users have praised The League for its long list of success stories, still more reviews point to the app's inaccessible and borderline-exclusionary qualities.

Amanda Bradford, CEO of The League, founded the app in 2014 with the hopes of making women feel as empowered in relationships as they've become in their professional lives, per Linkedin. The League's first priority was to pair smart, career-driven women with men who would not only respect their partner's achievements but claim proportionate goals of their own. Today, both higher education and professional achievement are cornerstones of The League's policy. As Bradford claims, these requirements help promote equality between partners.

However, some singles have taken issue with the app's intensive application process. One Google Play reviewer lamented the lengthy waiting list, adding that the frustration is compounded by few potential matches once you are actually admitted to the app. According to BuzzFeed, the waitlist process can take up to six months, and the platform only gives you a few matches a day during what's called "happy hour." Perhaps the most inaccessible part of the app is its price. While there's the aforementioned long waitlist for a free account with far fewer features, the first tier of membership starts at $299.99 a month ($74 per week), while top tier monthly services total $999.99 ($249 per week) (via Healthy Framework).

Though The League verifies the identity of its users via Linkedin, simultaneously blocking awkward encounters with friends and coworkers (admittedly a bonus), it also rates singles on the app. How? The more you swipe right and don't message your matches, the higher your "flakiness score," per The League. The more non-committal you are, the more your profile is deprioritized in the algorithm. According to Lauryn Bayley via The Daily Targum, users can also get bumped from the app if they don't sign in every three weeks or act in accordance with The League's code of conduct. Singles on the app have the power to flag profiles, marking other swipers as disrespectful or unreliable depending on interactions (or lack thereof). 

The Daily Targum also notes a lack of diversity on the platform, an issue that has been highlighted in the press since the app's 2014 creation. Inc., for instance, writes about how users are asked to specify their ethnicity before submitting a profile. One Google Play reviewer exclusively came across "white men with finance degrees" on the app. The bottom line? Knowing the dos and don'ts of online dating can be difficult, and it's sometimes best to navigate singledom on a platform that doesn't cost hundreds of dollars a month.