The act of dating involves swiping until your thumb cramps, matching with people who never speak, and somehow still ending up on a first date with someone who says they’re “actually not really looking to date right now.” There are apps for every niche (farmers, gamers, people who really love astrology), and yet it’s still weirdly hard to meet a nice, human being who feels even vaguely genuine IRL. A lot of people need a third party to break the ice—and for a growing chunk of daters, that party is a dog.
Enter Frolly, a new dating app built entirely around the idea that “must love dogs” is not optional; it’s the whole premise. The Charlotte-based app launched in late October 2025 and is designed specifically for dog lovers who think the best relationships start with shared values and passions. Founder Cindy Himmel says the idea started when her daughter ended things with a guy because he “wasn’t that into dogs,” which, honestly, yes.
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Frolly’s whole thing is making online dating “more like our dogs”—joyful, honest, and actually excited to see you instead of leaving you on read for three business days. You don’t have to own a dog to join, but you do have to be a dog person: the app is open to both owners and “admirers,” with the assumption that if you’re here, you understand that things like vet bills and 6 a.m. walks are part of the package.
Where Frolly gets interesting is how it bakes dogs into the profile from the jump. Users create a profile for themselves and their dog, listing things like breed, size, energy level, whether they’re good with kids or cats, and even whether they’re allowed on the couch during movie night. The app then uses those details, plus basic lifestyle info, to match people based on compatibility for both human and dog, not just “you both said you like coffee and travel.” It’s still swipe-based, but the idea is that by the time you’ve matched, you already know whether your anxious rescue and their gremlin doodle stand any chance of co-existing.
There’s also a baked-in do-gooder angle: Frolly donates 25% of its profits to animal welfare organizations, and it’s tied to Himmel’s Artemis Cares Fund, which helps pit bull owners access affordable vet care. The app launched free in Charlotte with plans to expand to other cities and eventually charge a monthly fee, some of which will go to local rescues. So even if your date is a flop, you’ve at least thrown a little support toward dogs who are better partners than half your roster.
At minimum, Frolly feels like a logical evolution of where dating apps have been heading: away from the generic swipe firehose and into hyper-specific spaces where people can lead with the stuff they actually care about. If you’re going to hand your romantic fate over to an algorithm, it might as well be one that understands the most important question in any potential relationship: “Are you cool sharing your life—and your bed—with a creature who sheds, snores, and might just have more Instagram followers than you?”
That’s up to you to decide.
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