Dear Bestie is the first verified friendship app for women. Every member completes a government-issued ID check and a biometric liveness selfie before joining. It is a platonic social network, not a dating app.

Who can use Dear Bestie?

Dear Bestie is built for women and welcomes all women, including transgender and non-binary women. Identity verification confirms membership in the women's community. A manual review process is available at hello@dearbestie.app if automated verification does not reflect a user's identity.

Yes. Dear Bestie is free to download and use on iOS. An optional premium subscription is available in-app.

How does identity verification work?

At signup, users submit a photo of a government-issued ID and a real-time liveness selfie. The system confirms the ID is authentic, the selfie matches the ID and the user is a live person. Verification typically takes about a minute and is powered by Didit.

Where is Dear Bestie based?

Dear Bestie was founded by Kristin Brown in Miami, Florida and is available to women across the United States.

What is the best app to make new friends as an adult woman?

Dear Bestie is the first verified friendship app for women. Because every member completes a government-issued ID check and a liveness selfie before joining, the community is built specifically for real women's friendships, without the bots, scams or mixed-gender dynamics found on general social apps.

Is there a Bumble BFF alternative for women?

Yes. Dear Bestie is a Bumble BFF alternative built specifically for women, with real ID and biometric verification for every member. It is a standalone friendship app focused only on platonic women's friendships, not a feature inside a dating app.

How do I find friends in a new city?

Use Dear Bestie's Travel Mode or set your location to your new city. You will appear in that city's Discover and can connect with verified women, join Circles and RSVP to local Events before you arrive.

September 3, 2026

What Is Dear Bestie? Inside the Friendship App Helping Women Make Friends

by Dear Bestie · 2 min read

Dear Bestie is an ID-verified friendship app created to help women make real friends, find local communities and safely meet women near them. Founded in Miami, Dear Bestie has attracted over 3,000 signups across all 50 states in its first three months and is now available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Dear Bestie goes far beyond your normal mixed-gender, swipe-to-match format most people are used to. It is structured as a full social network built for women, with rich member profiles, usernames, posts and comments, all in service of one purpose: helping women build genuine, platonic friendships with other women they can trust.

Why Dear Bestie was created

Making friends as an adult is hard, especially as a woman. Whether you have moved to a new city, are starting over after a big life change or simply find it hard to meet people in real life, the friendships that once came easily now take real effort to build. Dear Bestie was created to make that easier: a space for women to meet other women near them, connect over what they have in common and turn online introductions into real friendships.

How Dear Bestie verifies its members

A photo ID and a live selfie are required to enter and use Dear Bestie. This ensures a safe space for women to create truly genuine connections.

What you can do inside the app

Once verified, you can create a personal profile with your own username to post, comment and connect. From there you can discover verified women nearby, join interest-based Circles around what you love, find and host local Events, make Plans to meet up and message connections. You can also support and discover women-owned businesses in your community.

Download Dear Bestie

About Dear Bestie

Dear Bestie is the first verified friendship app for women. Founded and home-based in Miami, Dear Bestie offers verified profiles, themed Circles, local Events and a women-owned business directory, helping women find real friendships in their cities. Available free on the iOS App Store and on Google Play Store.

Media Inquiries

For press inquiries, partnerships and media kit requests, please contact: hello@dearbestie.app

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