Raya App Reviews

$50 a month for what?. This subscription needs to go back to $20 a month. $50 is actually unbelievable for how horrible this algorithm is. I would say it’s the worst out of any dating app. Why not put people who like you up front? Why are they hidden among people who haven’t liked you yet? The selection also makes no sense. I live in one of the biggest cities in the world, so why am I seeing people on the other side of the globe and people I’ve already said no to before I see new people in my area and people that have liked me? Not filtering by location is just ridiculous. That should be a choice. The dating pool is just as bad as (if less broke than) hinge, with a few celebrities sprinkled in to keep it interesting. This app could be great if it fixed those issues, and if it wasn’t 90% avoidant dudes who match just for the ego boost and don’t talk.

Disappointing and lame. Really confusing and not a whole lot of return on investment. Lots of issues with it. — I’ve updated my profile, but a pic I deleted is still there and won’t go away. —I can’t customize my search, so I’m seeing guys who don’t live in my city. —I can’t use location services unless I allow the app to track my location all the time. Then, even when I gave that a go, it didn’t allow me to look at more profiles, rather, it just showed me active users in different areas of the city —how do you actually match with people? If I heart a guy, is there a chance we will match like the other dating apps, or is it just going into the ether? —what exactly am I paying for? I can only see about 20 guys (MAX) a day, and a bunch of them don’t even live in my city. I can’t customize my search by profession, music, height, location, language—anything. If I want to reach out to someone I have to pay extra, and there’s no way to look at photos without going through their cheesy slideshow. Will NOT be renewing my subscription.

Get ready to pay…. Unless you live in a thriving major city like LA or NYC, this app isn’t great. I’m currently living in Phoenix, AZ. First of all - you have to be approved for membership which you’d think would give the membership pool some kind of advantage - “better” people? Not really - just a lot of them who are up their own a**es… for example a Brady who spells his name Braedey? 🤣 Secondly - you have to pay for a BASIC membership after you’re even approved for the app. Finally - if you want to send someone a message to express your interest - you ALSO have to pay for this too. You don’t get matched with anyone or even know who’s interested in you - unless they also match with you too. It’s just a huge waste of time and a lot to spend - for literally nothing IMO. Avoid the false thrill. Approve of YOURSELF and go out in the real world. This ain’t it.

Discriminatory Against Black Women. Racist and discriminatory selection process against black women. If you look at the screenshots provided by the app, no black female user (or model) is presented, at the time of this review. The one black guy used works for the company -apparently he fills the quota. I have multiple black female friends with noteworthy accomplishments in the entertainment industry who weren’t accepted on Raya, yet I know of multiple non-black women who literally have done nothing professionally, and have hundreds of thousands less followers on Instagram. Raya mentions it determines the applicants’ worthiness by the quality of the applicants’ followers. The black female friends I speak of have numerous verified accounts following them. For those who question if Raya’s algorithm can account for race, be reminded Instagram is owned by Facebook. I have created ads on both Facebook and Instagram in which I was able to select my audience’s demographics including race, income, education level, etc. When you allow an app or website access to your Instagram, they’re able to see all of the information listed above. Black women and Asian men are the least sought after groups on dating apps, and discriminatory behavior by apps only worsen the problem. Zero excuses for Raya’s racist and discriminatory behavior.

They discriminate. I was referred to this app by a vetted member back in 2021. I went on ONE date and then Raya banned me permanently with no notice or probationary period. Here’s what happened: During my date I had explained that I was mugged in Nashville a few days prior to the date. While I was telling her this story, I expressed that I felt fortunate that we live in a constitutional carry state because while I was being mugged I actually was able to present my self defense mechanism to the assailants which I believe saved my life. My date then asked if was “carrying” during our date. Which I promptly said NO as we were in a bar and per local laws you cannot carry while consuming alcohol. My date complained to Raya and they banned me with no questions asked over a constitutional right ALL Tennesseans are able to receive. I believe this is immoral and illegal discrimination. Beware of this before using the app. Because all it takes is one unvetted “complaint” and you will get banned.

This seat’s taken.. If you want to remember what it’s like to feel the shallow rejection of high school wondering why you didn’t make it into the group of mean girls, then you should “apply.” Only to find that if you do actually get in, the only thing measuring creativity and professionalism is the ability to appear cooler than your craft, unless your craft is spending your daddy’s money in Bali while managing to angle your subtle bikini body and fresh cut French bangs while pursuing a moderate influencer modeling career. The fact that it measures “creativity” based on another app’s social count in ratio with hotness or celebrity association without even asking for a website or profession is telling that this is basically a “hot or not” instafame app that reflects all the feelings of classism for those wondering on the waitlist. It is an excuse for perpetuating elitism culture and selection without substance.

User Interface is Poor. Been on here a couple months, and really just not impressed with what they have to offer. By having to pay for any type of subscription at all, the “limited” profiles to view is very bizarre. If someone has liked you, they are buried with other people and not shown in front and center. I’ve matched with a handful of people here and there, and they don’t really seem interested to communicate further. The experience of the app is very subpar especially when you’re having to pay a premium price. Seems you’d be better suited on any other regular app like Hinge. You’d be better off browsing LinkedIn and finding a mate.

Obsolete. Traditional dating apps don’t work for me. I kept running into people that felt either threatened by my success or were aggressively trying to take advantage of it. I feel safe in this space. I also find with my crazy hours/touring schedule, I could really only end up with someone who is equally busy and career driven. This app filters out the static. To me, it doesn’t matter if they only show people in my city because myself and (I’m assuming) most other people on the app travel so often that it doesn’t really matter. It’s fun and I’m having great conversations. It was frustrating being waitlisted for 4-5 days when all my friends were on it but it was worth it in my opinion. I don’t really want it to be accessible because then it doesn’t serve the same purpose. Honestly, being a “celebrity” completely takes away your ability to get in on the dating app fun and this has been so fun for my REALLY famous friends to do what everyone else is doing. Great app concept. Yes it’s kind of elitist but isn’t that *sort of* the point?

Just like all the other dating apps…. I felt it was a privilege to be approved for Raya, and it ended up being like every other dating site that matches you with people that don’t even live in this country let alone in your own area. In two months, I only had eight matches met with one, and all he wanted to do was just go for a walk with his dog not looking for something serious. Don’t take screenshots of the app because I think after 3 to 4 warnings, they close you out of the app. FYI, it’s not that . At this point probably best not to use any apps I just meet people the old-fashioned way.

Female of color perspective. Hardly any people of color on here. It’s 90% white and I’ve asked from a male perspective of friends that are on here. Guys said the same, hardly any women of color. I’ve even suggested some friends of color in entertainment and they are still waiting. 🤔 Also, Raya recycles the same guys, I noticed I’ve passed on guys and those same guys show up again. Repeatedly. Another issue, which is not a Raya issue, but you will connect with a guy and he won’t make the first move of just saying, “Hi!” You will connect with someone regardless of race and there is no response. You just match. Nothing happens. Not worth the money if you ask me, but maybe it was just my experience. Idk…

Never been in love. I never been in love my daughter wanted me to get on this app so I gave it a try. I don’t know how it worked. Today’s my first day I never my life been in love. I don’t even know what love is I just know to be friends with people and don’t give up my goodies until I know that that person is for me and sometimes it never happened so I never give up it. Gotta be at least six months to a year. Some people don’t like waiting that long so they move on that’s why I don’t believe in lovein friendship so I hope this one works if not, oh well back to the drawing board

Why all the suits?. Anyone dating and (actually) working in the creative industry know how hard it can be to find people that match with your schedule. Though to a lot of people, Raya was seen as a space for the “famous” I always felt it served a great purpose in allowing others in film, TV, music and media to find others in the field that understood the intense lifestyle, extreme hours, and constant travel it demanded. However lately I’ve feel like I’ve seen an influx of “suits” people with know actual creative output, resting on their wealth and attractiveness to exist on the app. Just like soho house started as a refuge for professional artists (notice the word artist not content creator) and became a club for the pseudo artistic tech and finance bros that continue to profit off the back of creative work. Raya has had an influx of people who’s only worthwhile quality is their ability to vacation in Santorini. It be nice if artists could still have a space, one where we can meet other people who actually understand our field, who actually work in the industries we say we do. Cause I’m getting a bit annoyed by the onsets of suits. If your looking for your “hustle” partner please just go to The League and leave the artists alone.

Don’t waste your time or money.. The most frustrating aspect of Raya is the severely limited number of swipes allowed—just a few, twice a day. Once you’ve used up your swipes, the app disables the feature, claiming it’s to encourage users to engage with their current matches. This approach is flawed for two key reasons: 1) It assumes that users have active matches to converse with, and 2) it presumes those matches are actually responsive. Additionally, the app doesn’t prioritize showing you users who have already swiped right on you. This means you could have numerous potential matches waiting in the wings, but it might take days or even weeks to discover them, if at all. This inefficiency makes the entire experience feel more frustrating than it needs to be

Superficial with invites. I’ve been waitlisted for over a year. Mind you I’m a Celebrity Stylist, have Diplomatic ties, and my ex who is a model is on it. While my good friend was accepted in less than 24 hours, she has like 3k followers and is a regular psych student. The only thing I can think of as to why I haven’t been accepted yet is because of my looks. Which I am beautiful but not the “standard” western or even eastern beauty if you are following. It’s so hard to find people in the same industry as me on the same level, financially and status wise on regular dating apps. I’ve already put her down as my referral and she’s accepted but nothing. And I don’t want people I work with seeing me trying to get in. Anyways yea a bust bla

A waste of time…. What a waste of time. After hearing the hoopla for years, I decided to check it out. As an artist, this exclusivity with other creatives appealed to me. I heard about the infamous Wait List and their crazy criteria based on Instagram followers, etc. Well, I was immediately accepted as I took it as I have about 20K followers. Immediately there were the fees so I opted for the 1 month bit. Needless to say, I cancelled about 3 weeks in. Every single person on there barely had even 1K social media following (where was this 100K urban myth?!), most were just a bunch a kids interning or assisting in fashion or were hilarious wannabe social climbers. Where were the high profile roster of artists? The exclusive members who needed to meet their selective criteria? It was such a joke. I’m assuming at launch years ago it was the Soho House of the dating apps (which is what I was expecting). It’s basically a BYOB dance club in the Bronx. Raya. Um, nope.

If anyone wants to start a class action….. This is the most elite, chauvinistic, demeaning, judgmental app I have ever seen! Why should people over a certain income level or celebrity status be allowed to exclude based solely on income or looks?! This is discrimination at its finest! Still pushing to make the rich elite and in control of the lowely “people that actually have to work to make very little money”, and it’s disgusting! Anyone using this app should be ashamed and are obviously total narcissists! I’m sick and tired of the “rich” running the show and doing whatever they want because they have money to buy people off! It’s disgusting, it’s just like Adolff Hitler thought, and it’s going to be the end of the world as we know it. You rich people forget that without US…. You would be or have nothing!! Better remember that!

Update: LinkedIn for dating. My OG rating was 1 star due to a UX/UI issue that didn’t allow me to complete my profile. I deleted the app entirely, forgot about it then idly wondered as I’m single again maybe it was worth checking to see. Now that I’m on here, here’s a more honest review: I live in a major city so there are lots of people on here and honestly, yeah, that part of some great profiles lives up to what Raya aims for really well, but… The awful UI and paywalls are designed to limit your ability to interact with people under the claim of “luxury” “curation” and “community” but it just limits your ability to match at all or even use their directory to find people. I can’t match with people who I can’t see and they can’t match with me back. I don’t actually think there is an algorithm, so much as recommending you the few people on the app. Raya seems like it wants to respect privacy of their clientele which I kinda get but as others mentioned, we don’t have as many filters like religion or political beliefs, kids, race etc that could be majorly problematic or deal breakers. I have to get a read based off of looks alone for those red flags and judge more harshly than I do on other apps. I don’t want to find out the hard way what can easily be done by adding a filter or answering a question.

What happened?. I go off and on with online dating, giving it a shot here and there. I have stints of giving relationships a shot and then come back to it, all the while keeping the subscription active. I’ve been on Raya for a while, I’d say almost 2 years. it’s not without the same issues as all online dating platforms, people ghost, they match and don’t start conversations, etc. I’ve accepted those as now normal behavior on dating apps. But I do think Raya has more attractive and interesting people, so I don’t mind paying for it with the prospect of finding myself a beautiful and creative person. In the beginning I match pretty regularly, but it seems I haven’t matched with anyone in months on Raya, despite the tons of new users I’m seeing and liking. I’m wondering if it’s because I’ve been on there for so long they’ve simply stopped showing me? It certainly feels that way. I know they claim to be selective and sensitive to the community, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve deemed me undatable or something because of how long I’ve had the app. Def get in and get out with this app. Paying for it longer than a year seemingly puts you on their matching blacklist and becomes just a frustrating waste of money. I started up a different dating app recently and the matches are coming in hot. So, not to sound cocky, but I don’t think it’s me. Will not be renewing the next round.

All Hype - Little Delivered. For Raya to be this elevated dating app - they give you access to little more than pretty photos a location and a name on which to base a meaningful connection. They only roll out a few profiles at a time (mostly White) under the guise of forcing you to spend more time on existing connections. Raya lacks cultural diversity. There needs to be a greater set of filters to choose profiles based on more than just location. After 2 months I’m underwhelmed … Raya is hype at best. Like the club you couldn’t get into bc the bouncer was a jerk and now you finally got in and the club is trash truck juice. Take your chances meeting people in real life before you spend money on this trash app

My experience. This app sounds great in theory but doesn’t actually work. A friend sent me a pass and after 6 months I decided to apply. I was weary that this app wouldn’t get me and sadly my instincts were correct. Covid and wanting some social interaction was my motivation. It’s great to be discerning and to want to cultivate an interesting group of people. Unfortunately to Raya that equates with tons of followers on social media or being well known. The really interesting people of the world are not addicted to their smart phones and posting endless selfies. I am very under the radar, have a private social media and don’t like to obnoxiously name drop the famous people I know /have slept with. But because none of their people know who I am or care to beyond a superficial assessment of what I have to offer according to the internet they decided to waitlist me ( with a friend pass). Grateful I’m not on this platform.

tried it for a month, had no luck. I used this app kind of passively for a month and I literally got 1 match who never replied. I’m a 25 yr old bikini model and photographer from south florida, and I just feel like if I didn’t have any luck on here meeting people than I don't even know lol. I was excited to use this app at first, because my hometown is extremely small, and dating apps don’t generally “work.” I was interested about the prospect of meeting people on here from all parts of the US. There’s also not really many “creative” type people, I saw a lot of finance bros and other rich kid types. yawn. the app functions properly and I think the concept is cool in theory, but in practice it didn’t work for me.

Horrible Service. Raya charges the most money but has the absolute worst dating service. They don’t even let you filter people who don’t live in your area. They have no filtering on dating interest and even if you pay them $50 they won’t tell you who likes you. They tell you you can look for people by location but the search is limited and they only show you like 5 people and it never refreshes. Also the people they show you don’t even meet the minima filtering you put in your settings. I’ve emailed them about it and they told me they would escalate the feedback but nothing has changed. Yeah don’t waste your money. You’d be much better off spending the money on Hinge or Bumble. I know this app seems cool for the clout, but once you get in, don’t pay them a cent. Just get it so you can tell people you’re on it :)

Gatekeepy nonsense. This app is so lame. They say the goal of the app is to connect “exciting people”. What they mean is people who have a lot of Instagram followers. Unsurprisingly that means the douche level is high (tech bros etc). I’ve met multiple women on other apps who said they couldn’t stand the guys they were seeing on Raya so go to other apps to find “normal guys.” I’ve been referred by multiple women in the app and still haven’t been granted an account, I assume just because I’m not super active on social media. I’d be very curious to see what kind of people are sitting at a desk somewhere l getting off on deciding who is “exciting” enough…

Don’t recommend. Took only a couple weeks to get my application accepted, which seems better than most people I’ve heard. However, now that I have access to the service it’s clearly not worth paying for. The UI encourages people to swipe solely for pictures. There’s very little opportunity to share about yourself in text or with badges (like how Bumble let’s you pick religion, politics, drinker, etc…). You can write a “bio” but it seems like less than 10% of users do it. The “slideshow” functionality of showing you the photos of user is a terrible user experience. It’s difficult to navigate through the photos and also difficult to get back to looking at the profile. All of this for an app that requires a $20/month fee. Pretty absurd. After a week on it I’m still at zero matches (M28 NYC). I have a friend who’s been on it for a month and has only had two matches (F28 LA). Just doesn’t feel like it’s a service worth paying for. Edit: after one month I have had 2 matches, neither of which sent a single message.

Bicoastal. Honestly I like Raya. I love that you only see a few people per day, so it’s not just a numbers game. Have met a couple of hot, interesting, successful guys and dated both for a while. Have connected with other interesting men but haven’t met up due to travel schedules. I like pro athletes and it’s full of them which keeps it fun; and there then are other, unique and classy guys that pop up too. I travel so it’s great seeing high quality guys on there when I head go to a new city. I check it out around 2x a week and still have had great success with infrequent use. :)

overhyped / not great for queer (or non-white ??) women. I was curious about Raya because people refer to it as this app where you can meet other creatives, and everyone talks about it like it’s a dating app (but it seems more like networking). I was surprised when I first got in that I was only seeing white women, which was a bit of a red flag, and they’re all very polished, pretty girls but that’s really not my typical type (straight-passing white women). Also there’s no functionality for queer dating on the searches or world map because it shows you whoever, usually straight men and women. My last girlfriend was the lead in a band I used to be a fan of, and I really enjoyed that we had mutual respect for each other’s art, so I was just hoping to find something like that on here. But there aren’t many artists tbh. Idk just disappointing for a $25 mandatory charge, I could go through all my local likes on Tinder for that. And it’s annoying that there’s no way to set it to local. Around the holidays I’m not traveling out of state much and if I’m going to be dating someone I’d prefer their home base to be close to mine. And I knoww there are plenty of people on Raya in my city 🤨

A Joke. I was interested in this app to connect with likeminded, creative souls but when they say it’s for “artists” they mean “influencers” & elitist socialites. It’s hilarious to me that you must have an Instagram account to even sign up, yet when you go to their Instagram account there’s not even 1 post. Not all artists, creatives, entertainers or writers dedicate their lives to the overrated life of swipes, likes and follows. If an app is going to waitlist people, then maybe ask for an actual resume or proof that the person meets that criteria instead of basing it off of looks, followers & the ability to master a plethora of filters. From the other reviews you can see the app is Glitch City, white washed, shallow & a tiny pool of the same people over and over again. I’ll stick to art festivals, LA trips, book shops & real life where people can’t wear their filters or have a follower boosted ego.

I Want My Money Back. I cannot possibly say enough bad things about this app. It’s just awful. I will not be surprised if Raya faces huge lawsuits in the future or gets removed from the App Store for scamming users. I paid for a Premium membership ($50/month), so I’m guessing these issues are even worse for the general subscription (which is still $20/month). Probably my biggest complaint is that it doesn’t allow you to filter suggested users by location. In other words, if you only want to see people who live near you, you’re out of luck. I live in Texas... why would I want to match with people from South Dakota? Either the algorithm is completely off, or the quality of individuals is not nearly what Raya claims it is (or both). I have swiped through at least 200 men and I have found less than 5 that I liked. The app is not user-friendly at all. I consider myself very good with technology, and I keep having to google “how to _____ on Raya.” The app has countless bugs. I’ve tried to add new interests at least a dozen times, and it hasn’t worked once. As the icing on the cake, the app won’t let me email Raya Support for help fixing these issues. When I click “Help,” it tells me that there’s no email address associated with my account, which is hilarious, because right above the help button, it lists my email address. Plus, I have received multiple emails from them, so they clearly have my address. Biggest waste of money ever. Don’t even bother.

Worst experience. Terrible app. Absolutely horrible experience using this. Or should I say no experience. Unless you have a private jet or travel for work every week then this is not worth it for you. Nobody matches with you and the ones that do are kind of like ehh am I even that interested or were you just one of five profiles I was allowed to see. I feel scammed. I live in Charlotte and the same profiles kept coming up despite me saying I date men it was still showing me women. This app has so much potential but starting out at $25 a month and not providing a real legitimate service is insane. Sorry but I don’t believe that there are only 7 Raya users in Charlotte. Not to mention the profiles on here are so cocky, smug and conceited. Some of them don’t even look real. After not getting a single date I canceled before the month was up. I was only shown profiles in New York, California, Atlanta, and sometimes abroad. I’m not sure what they are going for here, but the majority of normal citizens want to date in their region/immediate vicinity. They do not tell you that this is a global dating app until you are inside as a member. Misleading. I truly have no idea who is benefiting from this unless you have tons of money and plenty of time to waste on dating someone multiple states away.

Big D competition. Are the people on this app hot? Yeah. Are there celebrities? Kinda. Unlike hinge, there are no prompts whatsoever and 95% of male users that I saw do not fill in their bio. If you find someone who looks interesting there’s almost nothing to go off to start a conversation. Unlike hinge, there’s no details like height, religion, dating intention, children status, political beliefs, etc. so it makes the whole thing an ego app. People aren’t looking for connections they just want to know if other people think they’re hot. If you match with someone the odds of them ever messaging you are almost 0. If you’re not a celebrity or public figure this app is not for you and it is definitely not work the money. I did it so you don’t have to!! Use hinge.

Basically instagram but looks like Tinder. I’ve been on the app for a month and a half. I got on immediately so I didn’t have to deal with the waitlist stuff. I was super excited but the app design has so many flaws. It shows like 10 people every 4 hrs and the guys are not even in the entertainment industry half the time or live in the city. The next month I paid extra for Raya + which literally is no different than the $25 one. There’s hardly anyone to match with and people just disappear after a few conversations or don’t even start a conversation. It just feels like instagram with giving people validation on their photos. Also the map thing with the people nearby is so confusing because it’s showing me women and I’m straight. Hopefully they can rebrand their app with a new design.

Good but faulty. there’s definitely more curated and more beautiful people on the app, everyone is in a realm of their own expertise. I think it’s a good intro but there are faults 1: it shows me matches from everywhere in the world in my daily card picks, since it’s trying to “foster high quality connections”, but it is unnecessary how many of those options are international, out of 20 daily options usually 2 are local and the rest are global, and I’m in LA. I’m not interested in a long distance relationship so this is wasteful and unecessary 2: in the global search, it isn’t tailored to your orientation even when u think it is in your preferences, so if you’re straight, you’ll see people to match with all over the world that are of the same sex…. Again, not very effective when this is a dating app and you’re showing people the wrong orientation.

Best dating app in my experience. Spent time a little time on a few other apps (The League, Hinge) but I haven't found another app that fosters deeper or more meaningful connections like Raya. The biggest difference I can decipher from my experience and friends who still use these other apps is that Raya offers an amazing filter of quality people that I actually enjoy talking to/spending time with. So worth paying for.

Quality people but doesn’t work!. Raya has higher quality people on it (attractive people doing interesting things in the world) but somehow it’s impossible to actually connect with anyone through this app. Their algorithm must be crap or something because it doesn’t work. I have several friends on there and I’ve asked them and they’re having the same experience. And, I see in the reviews that others are finding the same issue. So, Raya, you better find a way to make your algorithm work and actually manage to have people match and communicate with each other, or you’re not going to last much longer. Also seems like a pretty small dating pool, because they keep suggesting guys they’ve suggested to me before, and they limit how many people you can see in a day so it’s not like I’m going crazy on there, swiping through a ton of guys… they’re just recycling them 🤷🏻‍♀️

Eeh…. The functionality of the app is nice, but there are slim pickings when it comes to profiles. The app trends super young, mostly for 22 - 35 year olds. There has been so much ado about being approved to get on Raya as a public figure or extraordinarily successful person, but that’s not the case. I’ve been surprised to see medical assistants, nurses and just random entry level careers. If you want a wider selection, there’s an upcharge. I paid for an upgraded membership which did show me more than the basic in terms of options, but it didn’t make much of a difference in finding a good match. After a year, I had little to no interest in any of my matches and never went out on a single date. I would also see the same profiles over and over and over again. The selection has been extremely limited. I believe the app’s biggest pitfall is the lack of people of color. There are some absolutely stunning, modelesque people on Raya if you’re not seeking a person of color and if this is your preference, this will be the app for you. No shade at all. I would definitely recommend it in that case. I just don’t think it’s worth all of the hoopla. I could had a V8.

Please fix update battery burn. Decent service with a so-so/survivable app, but recently I’ve noticed that updating Raya doesn’t complete and burns massive amounts of battery while attempting to do so. I have (reluctantly) allowed location to be set to Always, so I suppose some component of the app is running at the time of the update. But other apps to which I’ve granted “Always” for the location setting update without this issue. I’ve now twice noticed that my phone got hot, Raya was stuck updating (indefinite progress spinner in App Store’s Updates view) and the Settings > Battery screen shows a gigantic amount of battery having been drained by Raya recently.

Not the best for matching. Guys will reach out to me on Instagram and say they liked my profile but I didn’t see their’s come up on Raya. Or I will like a guy but won’t match with him on Raya but will instantly match with him on another app. I’m not sure how Raya’s matching algorithm works but it doesn’t seem to work that great or maybe it has changed and it’s less efficient. Idk. A lot of matches don’t even write you and it’s the case with most people I’ve talked to. Like we’re just matching and too cool to message. It’s weird. Now the Instagram function isn’t working for me. An error pops up if you want to click through and see their Instagram profile.

Been on “Waitlist” for 3+ Years and NO SUPPORT. I downloaded the app and applied for membership during 2020, and got immediately put on a waitlist. Which is no big deal, but kept checking back for a few months and stayed on the “Waitlist” however had friends (women) that downloaded, applied and got an account within a day or two. I’m an actor, musician and creative person that’s single and dating in a complex dating world of being in this industry, which is the purpose of the app however can’t get a membership, while I know people that are not in the industry that are on the app and they keep asking me “dude, you should be on Raya!” I can’t get a reply to repeated emails to Raya and can’t reapply because it’s tied to your phone number. There’s zero support, and zero help available. Edit: finally got ahold of support to restart my account application and try again in 2023. So applied again, and same thing. Been on the waitlist for a year now. It’s pointless even trying when I see other people on the app, loving it, saying it was easy to apply and they arnt even really creatives. But a creative here trying multiple times and getting left on read basically. Thanks Raya

Waitlisted for 5 years.... I applied to Raya in 2017 and never heard anything from them. Fast forward to 2021 , I thought I’d try again. Well when I downloaded the app it says I’m still on the waitlist. I can’t change my application, or even view it! I honestly don’t remember what I put in my initial application 5 years ago and a lot has changed since then. I would like to be able to update my information- I’ve moved, changed jobs, changed my appearance- all factors I assume are important and after 5 years obviously they aren’t planning on letting me in but with my updated information maybe they would. There is no way to contact customer service through the app, or view my application. I’m an actor and model and have been recognized on apps like Hinge or Tinder and would prefer something more exclusive which is why 5 years later I’m still interested in trying the app. Come on Raya! What’s going on?!

So many bugs. I’ve been on this app for 7 years (also that should say the quality of people wanting relationships here) but now there are SO many bugs. The app freezes non-stop, matches and messages won’t load for days, and when you do see a match or a message it’s already 6 days old and then people won’t respond because you didn’t respond for 6 days. Or more than likely the app will just freeze and crash while you try to send a message. I’ve reached out several times to several different people and they always tell me to uninstall/reinstall, sign out/sign in, update. Yup. And when I tell them I’ve tried all that I get ghosted. Being ghosted by dating all members - expected. Being ghosted by the APP ITSELF? didn’t expect that! Save your money.

Zero stars. The hype around the app was the best thing because once you get in it’s all downhill from here. The engagement is terrible, the interface is bad, people don’t put a lot in a bio so all you do is swipe based on slideshow pics and IG handle. There is no real way to connect with people. If you 💜 an account that’s it….It doesn’t tell you anything else, but a few weeks later the same account gets suggested to you again. There are repeat suggestions… and a number of them are world wide. There is with no geographical option to narrow your radius unless you go into your city and with so few people on the app you see the same 7 people. I’m cancelling about 10months on here. I tried to give it a real shot but honestly you have a better chance of connecting with the cat at the bodega than anyone here. Save your money, go tap to the cat.

Raya is good at marketing a mediocre product. I’ll start off by praising the marketing team - simply brilliant. The issue is that the app itself is clunky and outdated. Do they even have a full-time development team? It feels like an early version of Bumble to me. Raya has attractive members, but I think everyone is just less engaged on this app. I certainly feel less engaged and there’s a weird sense of being in limbo, like we’re trapped somewhere between LinkedIn and Instagram. At least Bumble and Hinge are investing in tech to keep their apps interesting. I’m personally willing to pay for an app that facilitates the matching of serious, high-quality members through innovative tech. Here’s hoping Raya starts taking development seriously!

SMH “Tone down you harsh comments it’s a safe space”. I read a review that said something like this and I was confused because this sounds like it comes from someone who is already in the app. This app is discriminatory plain and simple. I understand it’s to create a safe space for people but what deems someone “worthy” of the app? All I wanted was to get away from the tinder BS and try to find something real but I can’t do that bc I’m not worthy of this app apparently. Y’all should be ashamed. When you really break it down the app is pretty messed up. You apply like a job, you wait for a response and more likely than not you’ll get turned away for one reason or another. It’s contribution so discrimination and it’s just not right. Like I’m sure their turning more people away than accepting. Unless I’m an outlier but doubtful

Poorly designed (from a technical perspective). I am not commenting on actually usage and dating and quality of matches. I am commenting from a purely technical perspective only (for reference, I am a software developer). The app prompts you to allow it to run in the background in order to track your location and better pair you with matches who visit similar places. After a week of using the app, I wondered why my battery has been dying so quickly. I navigated to the battery pane, and see that although I had used Raya for 4 minutes, it has been running for 18 hours in the last 24 hours in the background. This app alone consumed 33% of my batter. To me, this says it is poorly designed. I have downloaded and used other background location tracking apps in the past, and they have not used nearly as much batter.

Horrible UI and they don’t respond to help requests. For the amount of money you’re paying the user interface should be amazing. The way all the photos zoom in is horrible but the worst part to me is that people I’ve already passed on keep showing back up in my recommendations and so have people I’ve unmatched with. Don’t even bother putting in a feedback request about any questions or issues because they won’t respond. Also an annoying aspect, to no fault of the app, is that people will match but never reach out, a lot of people are just looking for more IG followers. For such an elite app it’s already seeming like a waste of money.

It’s basically just The League now. I used to really enjoy Raya. You’d see some really interesting and creative people. The conversations were always fun and everyone seemed on the same page. Recently there is an influx of finance bros and basically just people that don’t put effort into crafting a cool profile that Raya is typically known for. It feels dumb if you’re paying for an app that claims to offer a place for creatives and the artsy types but instead you get an app like all the rest and bordering on being the league. If I wanted suits I’d be on the league. Also the diversity of the app has really plummeted with the influx of suits. I used to see so many people from all over and all different from the other and now I’m seeing the same chad over and over. I’ve cancelled my subscription because I don’t see a worth in this app anymore.

Dispensable, no added value. I’m in the top 5% of income earners in the U.S. with a creative/entertainment industry background, fit, get compliments in person, and people I know try to set me up… but I have zero social media presence, and no friends who use Raya (they’re in relationships). Apparently, that won’t cut it for Raya, so after being waitlisted for 4 months, I deleted it. I don’t have an ego, but I figure if someone as decent as I am gets waitlisted, that’s true for other people, so for sure I’m missing out some other decent people if I’m holding out for Raya. I have met great people on other apps, and don’t feel like I’m missing anything without Raya in my life. It seems completely dispensable.

Sketchy. After being approached by an employee or “ambassador” of the app to join - she asked for my info and some recommendations on any friends of mine who also might be interested in joining. From there she had her boyfriend follow up via text message (weird right??) claiming that he would be here to assist me and answer any questions I might have. Keep in mind this girl was directed to me from a high profile friend of mine...so I trusted it. Shortly after responding to this guy, he told me to keep an eye out for a text that would get me right onto the app, no wait line etc. After a week or two of hearing nothing and I followed up with the two “ambassadors” who to this day have not sent a single response back. I don’t care for dating apps and I could care less to be involved with this one. They hire small influencers to run around on Instagram taking info from high profile people with zero follow up or regard for privacy - an app such as this can only work if people like myself trust it. I have zero trust in this app or their staff. This is a very bad look and a sketchy system.

Good but a few complaints. Not sure where the ‘slide through photos while music auto played’ feature went, but I felt that it was cool and different from other apps. The ‘tap through and hold-to-hide UI for each photo, while zero music plays’, feature is annoying. Another annoying aspect is that since they updated it to where no music auto plays on profiles, you still aren’t able to play music from your music app which makes the experience sometimes stale. At least give the option to auto play profile’s music, or allow our own background music to play. Otherwise, cool app

This app fell off. The quality went down and the price went up. This app used to be $7.99. There were some pretty interesting people on here and you could swipe through a lot of them. Now the app is $9.99 I only saw about 10 people before the app told me I have to pay $4.99 to see more people. That’s ridiculous! That’s the kind of behavior you expect from a free app. And even a free app lets you see about 100 people before they cut you off. They claim they want you to form “meaningful relationships” but they don’t let you see enough people to find someone you want to get to know. This app is a ripoff and I’m definitely disappointed. I will stay for this month but I’m canceling after that. The nerve charging me $10 per month and not letting me swipe through more than 10 people! I thought when you pay you get all the features. 🙄🙄🙄 stop taking advantage of people!!!!!

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Love it but location targeting would be better. Loving the app so far, however I can go 3-4 days without being shown profiles in Australia, which makes it difficult. If you live in Europe or America I can see it would be fantastic. I can’t see me matching with someone who lives 15-22 hours on a plane away, however good a match they might be.

Check it out. Waiting to be reviewed, but hit me up on Insta _floata ,Sydney Australia.

Worst customer service. Worst customer service ever! They take over a week to reply when they do

I don’t have an Instagram account. Is that the only way to sign up ⁉️

Too many people overseas. Literally only getting shown people in the US now, and I’m in Australia. No point, need geo targeting.

Waste of time. No one messages you or talk or connects. I’ve matched and messaged people and no one responds, they add you on instagram and don’t talk to you. I don’t know what this app is trying to achieve. Disappointed because I was excited to see how this app would change the dating

Easy to use. Never any glitches or bugs. Easy to navigate. Hope to find a husband soon :)

Raya 2nd Attempt. I would like to say this is my second attempt at Raya as I did find a partner on Hinge and we dated for 6 months. As I just moved back to Melbourne from Dubai. I was recommended to join Raya as I would find more people of similar lifestyles and so. First time I found it hard to engage as it was partially my fault as I also didn’t give it much effort but I didn’t find people as friendly or actually trying or wanting a relationship. Now I’m feeling more connected and have been receiving more connections. It would be nice to trial some of Raya+ instead of paying for things directly most of the time.

Still on waitlist. I’m puzzled by the purpose of this app’s lengthy waitlist. It feels like people are left waiting so long that their interest starts to wane. While I understand the allure of exclusivity, it’s baffling why anyone would choose this over other dating apps when they’re just stuck waiting. This is frustrating.

Haven’t been approved. I have been waiting months to be approved, it’s really annoying

Hi I’m still waiting. Hi I’m still waiting to be reviewed please check me out thank you

Haven’t been able to access yet in Aus 🇦🇺. Not sure how the review process works. In the meantime you’re welcome to matthew.edwards.aus if you’re a ltr focused guy looking for another ltr focused guy ✌️

N. Still in its early stages and given its picking up global profiles… harder to connect locally if not upgrading to a higher plan. Otherwise not bad.

Not worth the energy. Don’t even bother if the wait list doesn’t get updated...

Doesn’t work properly. Firstly, you wait ages, over a week to be accepted. There are no updates so you have no idea what’s going on. Then it’s really buggy. I had to upload images a few times because they wouldn’t upload at first. Then when I get to the payment section it said there is a problem. No idea what the problem is. Emailed them straight away. No news back yet. Pretty frustrating & clunky experience. Especially when there are really easy to use dating apps available that are more well known. 🙄

Waitlisted for almost 2 years. I was waitlisted for almost 2 years. Waste of time.

won’t let me cancel my subscription. won’t let me cancel my subscription. tried emailing to cancel it manually but the support team were useless and kept trying to instruct me to cancel via app store, which i obviously would’ve done if i was able to.

If I could rate 0 stars I would.. Absolutely rubbish and a scam, who wants to connect with people overseas? All other dating apps have that feature. The women on here are all gold diggers and aren’t wanting a genuine relationship, this app is a joke, I’ve had nothing but troubles with the app itself. Everybody I implore you to use tinder, bumble or hinge instead

Still waiting. Still waiting to be let in despite the fact I was given a friend pass. It’s been over a month and no reply when I contacted them to enquire

Too Many Overseas Options. At least half of the suggested people are international nationals which is a negative feature when trying to find the one.

waiting. hey I submitted a request im still on a wait list ( miaaa.__ insta // mia rose is my name on the app :,(

Wait list? Heard great reviews!:). Hello, I know youtubers and influencers who l ove raya and i know a few of them personally yet im still on the wait list?:(, please accept me:) I am Jessica Burne. Thank you:)

This app won't be around for long. If you can't join because you don't know anyone who's already on it, then this will fail.

Why. Why are you showing me people that are in a completely different continent? How is that even relevant when you’re trying to find a connection.

Racist. 2 years I’ve been on this “waiting list”. Whilst all my white influencer friends are accepted within weeks. Clearly don’t want aboriginal people on your racist platform.

Scam. The fact that you can’t just look at your area and instead shows you people on the other side of the world makes this app a joke, shows you one person from your city a day basically, I think they don’t want you to actually find someone so you keep paying.

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Unless you are in certain cities don't bother. This app only really services New York, LA, Atlanta, Miami Beach, Nashville, Chicago and a couple of random European towns. Anywhere else and you will find no one from your area or so few as to make no difference. Signed up for a month, got no matches as I'm in Toronto. It's a borderline scam. Plus the silly wait time, they only show you a few matches at a time and just about everything useful you have to pay an additional fee on top of your monthly subscription.

Buggy. So many issues with the latest update. Roll it back to the previous version.

Scam!. Charged me 175$ on my credit card for a membership i never took and refuses to refund me.

Got bored after 10min. How the hell does this app even work? I couldn’t even make an account without making seven other accounts on other social network sites.

Homophobic. Is this app homophobic app?

Waiting!!!. Iv been waiting a year to get in. My whole family is already in.

They want to much money for what it is. Not a lot

Don’t get this app!!!. I’ve been waiting for months on the wait list they hardly accept anyone and I hear their very homophobic and won’t let a lot of lgbt people on their app so just don’t it’s a waste of time horrible trash shouldn’t have a biased wait line 🤷🏼‍♀️

Better for networking I wouldn’t use for dating. If

I see the vision but the execution is not it. The lack of filtering absolutely ruins the experience. It might be because I don’t live in one of the major cities but I’m seeing everybody and their grandma.

If you support hook up culture. If you want people to treat you like meat and only ask you to get coffee or a drink only to sleep with you then use this app.

InCorrect age. I’ve emailed customer service multiple times to correct my age and no one has gotten back to me. Just unfortunate

Great app!. Did not like any other app. This is definitely the best one out there 😊

Bad. Yes, I know, I waited a year for an answer back. Still no answer. Very bad.

A dating app that doesn’t really deliver.. This is my second “round” on Raya. While I did meet 1 or 2 people who were decent to me, I have to admit that more of the people who I met and went out on “dates” with misrepresented themselves in some way, ie., had a different age on their profile then what they told me in person, said that they wanted one thing while their actions told a different story as well as using techniques such as “lovebombing”, telling someone what they want to hear, and changing up their behaviors in a short period of time. While I can appreciate the screening process that Raya makes it’s members go through in their application, I’m not sure that it is any different than most of the other dating apps out there.

Application demand. Hurry up and process my freaking demand, I’ve been waiting for a year++

takes too long. the way i’ve been waiting for over a year to get an account and yet it’s still on the “waiting list” is ridiculous.

best dating app. it’s slim pickings but honestly since i got on here i haven’t wanted to go back to tinder/hinge

This app is…. No one I know seems to enjoy their time on this app. I’ve been off and on for a couple years now and the functions seem so primitive. There is no consistency with seeing matches and the people I see frequently are rarely in my area or country.

Racist. Haven’t gotten accepted it’s been almost a year. Guess they also don’t like black folks on there

Girl. Been waiting over a month on the wait list..😭 just take my money

Waste of time. On the waiting list since 2 years.. friends sent referral codes and still nothing.. very pretentious…

The app tracks you - hence the waiting list. Wait list 🤣😂 I’m pretty sure this is a scam bc I don’t get wait listed for anything - VIP all the way, which I thought was the theme of this dating app. They track your contacts, location, purchases, etc etc thru the app (check the privacy rating in the App Store). If your waitlisted I suggest you delete the app immediately otherwise you are allowing them to track you while you wait 🥱 No thanks

Application never got reviewed. I waited a year. Very qualified.

Not worth it in Canada. If you are based in Canada, don’t waste your money. 1) All the attractive people are in the US, 2) Not a lot of competition in Canada, which brings the bar pretty low.

Lol… 25 dollars to swipe. It’s not like there aren’t other options out there. So pretentious!

i wish there was a height filter lol. :)

Not worth the money. This app is the worst. It’s impossible to get matches. It only allows you to swipe on like 20 people every 5 hours, even with the premium membership which costs $60 a month fyi. And seriously, Raya claims to be super exclusive? but I got approved within a week and I have less than 1000 instagram followers. How does that even make sense when some people have to wait for months or even years? And let's be real, most of the people on here are pretty average so not exactly sure what the criteria is to get approved. Plus, there’s barely any options from your own city. It's definitely overhyped and a complete scam.

Worse User experience and even worse quality of men.. To Raya team: If you’re gonna take time to vet and charge 30$ at least work on the UI please it’s not that hard, look at the other dating apps for reference maybe. The fact that this app just has people just put their insta in place of their bio what they are looking for is really sad as half the people here are saying their personality is based on their social media and looks…. Which like please… However if your personality is based on looks and how many places you have traveled to this is the perf app for you…

Not worth your money! Don’t subscribe!. It’s been less than a month that I subscribed. First, it took them 3!!!months to assess just my application, like it’s a rocket science! Second, I live in Toronto and had priorotize my dating choices from the beginning, 90 percents of the people suggested to me live outside not only Toronto, but also North America!! So ridiculous! Third, when I tried to narrow down the matches by location in search, it brings me just girls!!! and I am only looking for men!!! I unsubscribed in less than a month!! Not worth your money!

Total waste of time. We’re all fools for paying for this app

a scam. I literally just spent $$$ on a 3 month membership only to find out the app gives you about 5 swipes (not likes, swipes) A DAY. And on my second day it didn’t give me any choices at all. The only way to get access to more options is to pay extra. It’s a straight up scam.

Glitchy. Extremely glitchy app

Deleted - do not buy. This app has only white males. About ten people to view daily. Not user friendly at all. Its LinkedIn except you can actually ask someone out after you meet and it won’t be totally inappropriate. No preference options…I have no idea where these ppl live, their height, what they are on the app for. Why is “here for friends” even a feature 🤔 This app is absolutely useless. It took me over a week to find a person of colour and they were no where near what I’m looking for. I’m noticing a lot of white males with extremely average jobs on here..that aren’t attractive and no offence to them but why was I waiting months for that? I can find better on hinge and it’s cheaper and you can customize it to exactly your type. Also…… you try and search your area and it shows me women only when did I ask to see women?

🙂. No one really messages and I’ve gone on zero dates but wow everyone is very good looking

Waiting 3 weeks already. Hurry up and accept my application.

Waste of time. Waste of time, not worth the waiting time!

Ugh. I’m decently known on TikTok, IG and even monetized on Snapchat but still can’t get accepted

On waitlist. Have been on a wait list for about a month… I’ll stick to hinge and tinder where everyone is welcome and people aren’t discriminated.

Waiting for months!. No idea how they review the applications but it what’s the point? Or you guys just collecting peoples’ information for other purposes.

Okay. The odds of talking to people are slim but still kind of fun

No geo-specific matching. Unfortunately this app provides little value because the matches are global - the quality of matches is good, but I’m never going to meet (let alone date) someone in a country hours away from me. I really hope geo-specific matching is integrating into the system, otherwise I’d happily cancel my membership because it’s a waste of time and money.

Improvements. More profile recommendations needed in a day Add prompts to improve profiles Improve algorithm

Still waiting on my application to be accepted you get 0 stars till this is fixed. It’s been about a year…

How are you even supposed to start using this app?. I've never met a single person that's used this app. It's not popular at all yet it needs referrals to use? What? That makes no sense. 99% of people can't even use it.

Waste time to waiting.. It wasted time to waiting for on Raya because on wishlist and keep people waiting.

I’ve been on the waiting list for 5 months. Can you please accept my application I have over 14.6k followers on Instagram My application is @xoxodiamondz

What a great app. Amazing

It’s a never ending wait list apparently. Been almost a year and no update on the waiting list. Like a millennial ghosting you instead of being an adult and saying you didn’t make the cut, or asking for more details. Just let us know we didn’t make the cut, so I can free up space on my phone for better apps.

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Not as exclusive as you think. They approve almost everyone now! The majority of the people on there are nobodies. I became a member 7 years ago when it was extremely exclusive and difficult to get in and there were mostly celebrities. It has become such a downgrade now because you can tell they are desperate for money so they accept average Joe Shmo’s off the street. Not sure why I pay for this when all the same men on there are also on the free apps. Also, everyone is so pretentious on there that nobody really reaches out to you.

Do not recommend. This app is not worth paying for. $20 a month and it still limits your swipes. Its not very interactive and its all based on photos, not any prompts to add a bio or make it more personal. And the community doesn't feel very “exclusive” since the same people are on other apps. It shows people from all over so that limits your options as well. And ultimately, no one initiates a convo..

Profile pictures glitch. I can’t give it a proper rating it because I have not been able to use it since I have been accepted. There is a bug in the set up process. you have add 4 photos for your slideshow. Every time I go to add the photos it doesn’t add then I try to go to the next screen and it tells me to select 4 photos. I already did that multiple times. They told me to restart my phone. Nothing works it’s super annoying and they aren’t doing anything to fix it.

Gives you the same unattractive people. This app just recycles the same unattractive people from around the world over and over. You might get lucky once a month to find someone that is actually decent and chances are they don’t live near you. Also they want to make it “exclusive” so you only get to click a few people a day, I think it’s because they don’t have enough members since I see the same people over and over again. 🥴

Extremely buggy!. It took me 4 attempts to get past the input of my email as the app locked up repeatedly. I was later stopped and not able to proceed because I don’t have an Instagram account. This is the problem today with so many apps. They really or insist that you have some other social media affiliation. I don’t believe in social media and especially something as stupid as Instagram. I am a professional business and a professional photographer. My work is very important to me and privacy is paramount.

Same people in multiple batches. Getting the same people in multiple batches, sometimes even the same batch (no joke). You get a limited number of people in each batch, and it's disappointing to get the same people over and over. I would feel differently if it was someone who swiped right on me, but these are people who either swiped no or haven't seen my profile yet. What a waste!

Wasted potential. The app needs to learn a thing or two from Bumble and Hinge. The slideshow format is so strange and the profiles don’t allow a lot of room for personality. It’s frustrating that they limit how many profiles are shown to you because I’m literally already paying for the subscription. There’s a lot of potential and I think it would work 10x better if it’s modeled like other dating apps but still keeping the exclusivity part

Quality People. Really impressed by the range of people, personalities, and stories within this app. I’ve met people I never would have encountered otherwise! Highly recommend for both romantic and platonic connections.

Great App, in Theory. Lots of talent on this app and I have made many connections. However, there must be a high percentage of dormant accounts, along with people who aren’t serious about dating. There are far too many people with the following joke in their bio, “let’s match and never speak”, and unfortunately this almost always happens. I have not been on a single Raya date. Going to cancel my subscription.

Been on the waitlist for years. I have applied and reapplied and I’m still on the waitlist. Yet I’m a film producer and have been in the industry since I was a teenager. I also have several referrals. I have no idea why I’m still not approved. This seems borderline discriminatory.

Strange UX & positioning. I am an attractive and well traveled person. I’ve been on Raya for two weeks and had zero matches, despite being presented with dozens of celebrities? It’s exclusive and predatory towards people who are looking for quality matches. I don’t need a star on the Hollywood walk of fame to be dangled in front of my face. I would just like to meet someone with their own ambitions.

It’s nothing like it’s made out to be. Let’s start with the UX & UI are terrible, you can’t filter anything, the search feature is terrible it literally shows random people from all over the world. It’s extremely white washed. Not many people of color on the app. Yes there are a few celebrities but literally no one actually talks on this app it’s a waste of time and money. Oh did I mention the basic plan is $20 a month. Yes it sounds cool but it’s really not.

Best dating app. This is the only dating app I’ll use. My only complaint is why show people who live across the world? We are in a pandemic and need to connect with people who live near us for future safe distanced meetings. I would not want to waste my swipes on people who live across the planet, especially because there are only small batches of swipes at a time.

Slow image loading. Recently tapping to see the next image takes multiple seconds to load. My Internet is fast and everything else loads quickly, but the images on profiles take forever to load and it’s killing me.

Quality people!. Love this app. A way better quality of people. They adding more options now and it’s only getting better.

App is a rip off. When you consider that the app is not free and that you must be accepted to join, it is most definitely a sub par experience. First off, they limit the amount of people they show you in an effort to make you pay to see more people, even though you already pay for the app. Additionally, I often cycle through the same people, many of which are located nowhere near me so when it comes to actually meeting someone, your options are somewhat limited. Lastly, it seems that many people are not on the app for the purpose of meeting and/or dating new people but rather as a way to gain Instagram followers etc. Just know what you’re paying for.

Hint or bag?. After registration I’ve got a notification that decision was made, suggesting to go see it. Once I click ‘view decision’ the app freeze on the starting page. If I delete and reinstall it, I again see invitation to check the decision and app is freezing again. Is it a hint or a bad? 🙂

an app for nobodies who want to feel like somebody. the whole concept of this app doesn’t really make sense to me. my application was on a waitlist for over a year. who has time for that? an approval process should be speedier and swifter. it’s not that hard to approve someone since we know this is 98% based on your appearance, should be quick and easy. however when i contacted raya about why my application was on the waitlist for so long, they didn’t have an answer except for “they have no way to tell when a profile will get approved.” sounds like a watered down and weak way of just shirking your entire purpose for creating the app. either way, there are apps out there that seem to be more useful and better customer service. so i had them remove my personal data and i’m glad my name isn’t attached to something that’s going downhill anyway.

Do you guys discriminate against people of color?. Still waiting to be accepted after I don’t know how many months. As a public figure with a large following I’m often surprised that people who are unknown and usually fit the mold of the skinny white woman, only leads me to believe that this site discriminates against people of color. Prove me wrong and accept my application. I want to see what all the fuss is about. I’m tired of regular dating apps and as someone who has lived half their live on television, I’d like a little more discretion, hence why I tried to get on this app

You can’t use this app if you don’t have Instagram. I don’t use any social media whatsoever because it’s toxic and pointless to keep up with people I don’t care about. I downloaded this after hearing good things and I can’t even sign up because I don’t use Instagram?? I’m not sure if they partner with them or what, but there should be other ways to verify your identity like Tinder which I honestly think works better. Someone can easily still catfish if Instagram counts as “identity verification”. Immediate undownload for me and probably many other users who are digitally off the grid.

serves its purpose. Meeting some great people (friends and otherwise) and getting more matches than any other dating app. People are messaging me so I don't understand all the complaints. I like that it's exclusive and is therefore way less stressful than run-of-the-mill free dating apps. Thanks Raya 🙌

Scam cancelation policy. The app purposely glitches when you try to cancel your subscription. I sent customer support an email asking for them to help cancel my subscription and they took over a week to respond. By then, I had been charged another $20 and they would not offer me a refund. Terrible customer service and unethical business model when it comes to cancelations.

Better than most dating apps. It’s a solid app and they’ve done a good job of selecting people who are hot and/or smart. My only suggestion would be they allow for twitter handles in the bio as that would really broaden how people are able to show themselves off.

Chances of meeting someone are low.. Raya is such a waste of money, its not social at all. It’s been 2 months and simply no one talks on it to the point that you’re discouraged to start conversations because you’re going to get ignored. They need to find a way to encourage people to talk to their matches more than just limited swiping. I’m on almost all the other dating apps, yeah conversations are always a challenge but Raya is the only one that NO ONE talks on.

Paying for an app I can’t use?. I understand why they limit the amount of people you can go through in one sitting, but it’s like 10 options and then you have to wait up to 12 hours to get another batch...? Why am I paying for something I can’t use throughout the day. Wack.

Female of color perspective. Hardly any people of color on here. It’s 95% white and I’ve asked from a male perspective of friends that are on here. Guys said the same, hardly any women of color. I’ve even suggested some friends of color in entertainment and they are still waiting. 🤔 Also, Raya recycles the same guys, I noticed I’ve passed on guys and those same guys show up again. Repeatedly. Another issue, which is not a Raya issue, but you will connect with a guy and he won’t make the first move of just saying, “Hi!”

Best App For Real Connections.. Raya has been one of the best Apps I have used to get connected with incredible people worldwide. Not to mention the flawless user experience and interface, I can only highly recommend Raya!

For spoiled, classist narcissists. I give it one extra star for the clever idea, trick a bunch of self-centered spoiled rich kid narcissists, I mean “influencers” and similar types of people, to waste their money and time on this elitist app. I think they should charge more since those types can afford it but obviously they want to also trick the (often poorer) wannabes as well. Most of us want nothing to do with those types of people though so there’s no reason to bother with this app. Most of these 4/5 star reviews are probably fake, sort by Recent and it’s mostly negative reviews.

Cool concept… but there is no way to cancel your application or withdraw. I have been on the waitlist for over a year, which is questionable since I am well educated, successful, and attractive (amongst other things, but not famous). I am no longer interested in participating (or being considered), but there is no way to remove yourself from consideration! Please fix this, Raya!

Purposely Misleading for Bisexual Femmes. When your settings are for both men and woman — there are many potential matches generated by Raya of people who do not share the same/ compatible sexual preferences as you. For example, I was shown several folks (some I actually knew) who are not interested in women but we’re shown on my feed as interested in women. Not sure if we should be paying so much for something not thoughtfully curated for modern dating. Would like some money back.

Two years on the waitlist. It’s been an interesting experience. I downloaded the app at a friend’s recommendation given my creative background and interests. Uploaded my information and profile background. And promptly was told that my application was on a waitlist. That status hasn’t changed. I am attractive and I am successful at what I do. But somehow the team or algorithm at Raya doesn’t think so. And because the waitlist doesn’t let you go beyond one screen in the app as a user you have absolutely no way to provide any feedback. It creates an unpleasant and rather elitist brand image that frankly is not that appealing.

Why can’t you edit an application?!. I applied a long time ago and a lot has changed in my life since then such as moving cities, changing jobs etc. I’ve been sitting on a waitlist I guess which is fine but it’s so incredibly stupid that you’re unable to make changes to your application when changes in your life occur. I wish I could just delete my application and account all together but of course you can’t do that either!

Shallow - don’t waste your time. Very strange application process. From what I’ve heard this app seems to be for extremely shallow people who have no real purpose in the world. I don’t feel bad for being waitlisted or rejected as I work in the medical field and actually do something purposeful with my life and am not a self-centered moron. I don’t use instagram because I have better things to do with my time other than wait for likes. Get off your phone and go get a real life. Try looking for like-minded people around you, not on your phone. Tried this at the suggestion of a friend; yikes what a waste of time.

Not impressed at all. So far the app is 100% lack luster, there are not details collected or provided, they limit the amount of profiles you can view and block you for hours, the app presents people I have zero interest in or in common with and none who are remotely close by, it’s not a great app for dating or connecting with people at all…highly do not recommend…total waste of money…I regret the purchase!

Best app for real connections.. Unlike your typical dating app you can use this one for work and dating. I also like that you can’t screen shot or you get removed from the app. I’ve been on it since it started and I personally don’t use any of the other apps such as tinder. Thanks Raya

Dont waste your time/money. Interface is confusing. The combination of network/looking for love is not well thought out or easy to navigate. The quality of options is sorelyyyyy lacking and the search limitations make that feature almost completely useless. This app feels like its still in beta. The PR makes this app sound super exclusive and premier. Pay your PR people less and your engineers/product/UX people to make this worth anyones time.

Bugged App - can’t match with anyone that “liked” me.. I got approved for Raya about two months ago. Initially, it worked as expected, I was getting matches and was able to talk to them. I even went on a date with one. After about one month of using the app. The app suddenly seemed to lock me out of matching with any profiles at all, even if they claimed that they “liked” me. I emailed customer support multiple times and they did not even respond to me. This is quite frustrating as I paid for premium service ($350)!

Terrible Dating App. Not worth the monthly service fee. It’s an app based off hype. I always get notifications that there’s no matches in lower Manhattan. The politics behind who gets approved and who doesn’t is annoying. Not many people of color get access. If you want to feel included by all means download but you’re better off with all the other free dating apps. I’ve had this app for over a year and I’m finally canceling my membership. It was pointless.

Classism at its Worst. I’m not going to lie, in order to get in you need to be successful and be well known enough, not particularly famous but renowned. You’d think that with this elitism entry barrier that the app wouldn’t be reduced to pretty high school swiping and meaningless vain connections? I guess maybe get this app and get waitlisted for five years so you can meet a moderately successful DJ from New Zealand, but otherwise come back down to earth and meet people like a normal human being instead of stroking your ego with this app

No support & I bought the biggest tier. I paid for the top tier service with this app, it doesn’t show any of my matches any longer and I’ve been contacting support since December multiple times & no response. Each time I do match with someone it disappears and never shows up. Waste of a lot of money. They also after a few months of me complaining they decided to cancel my membership & no money back. AWFUL!

Okay pool of men. But not enough incentive to start a conversation.. If you’re looking to only hook up, or if you have a location based job and want to network it’s a good app. But I get so many matches and the men don’t respond or initiate conversations. Seems like come on here and swipe for fun and leave. It’s a waste of time sadly it’s not even easy to meet friends for this reason

Ego stroking app but make it cute 🤭. This app is really great for networking and maybe meeting the one.. in theory. Everyone looks amazing on the app and are doing really well for themselves according to their job titles but it’s seem as though most people don’t like starting the conversation first?

No response. I have been waiting for a for a response and not to toot my own horn but as a business woman of wealth, a global philanthropist, 4x author, model and mentor I’m confused as to why where I’m from (22 years ago) & my social media matters. If we are looking into backgrounds why not just do a background check or ask for news articles. No I don’t carry a blue check on IG but there are TONS of broke IG blue check carriers, ijs. I truly believe that the everyone weighs heavy on the wrong things.

Connections. Sometimes I feel being shown a person super far away is frustrating because the likelihood of us meeting each other is super low but we could be very compatible.

Really confused by the application process. So I filled out a short application with my name, city, Instagram, and work information. But no where was I asked to upload any photographs or answer any questions relating to my interest / personality. Is there a way to go back and do this? Do you do it later? Very strange application process if they don’t ask for direct pictures or any other information beyond work, location, and social media…

Waste of Time / Money. Lol I want / need a refund. It renewed my subscription despite the fact that I only selected one month to pay for services. Now I’m being charged for a second month even though I NEVER use the app. I would really appreciate a response to this review as I’m very unhappy with the charge. It says “email Raya” on the app but doesn’t even navigate me to do such and there is no way to reach customer service outside of the app. Socially, the app is boring. People are boring. I want my money back.

Great App - More than just dating. Great way to meet interesting people, either romantically or for collaborations. The maps feature is really helpful too for figuring out where to go on a random Tuesday to see where the community is at in the real world.

Creative Director. I think the prevailing sentiment is that you need to be famous and or have 10k+ Instagram followers to be accepted. This isn’t the case. It’s just a more curated dating/friendship/connection app. I read a ton of negative reviews before I joined. So far I’m not experiencing any of the gripes. If you approach anything with unrealistic expectations, you’ll be disappointed.

Confused by this app. I don’t understand why I have to pay for an app that barely let’s me see enough matches and makes me wait forever between swiping after a certain amount of swipes. This app just seems like it was made by bro’s who wanted another way to take advantage of people. I wish they’d make this app more user friendly and worth the amount of money it costs.

No new matches / frustrating experience. I am on Raya for friends and potential creative business connections. However, the app has not shown me any new people in weeks - the option no longer exists to swipe right or left. I am having a few light but active conversations, yet am not able to expand my network as I simply don’t even have the option despite paying the monthly fee.