2026 Hily Review [Is This Dating App Worth Your Time?]

Co-founded in 2017 by Yan Pronin and Alex Pasykov, Hily’s name is an acronym for “Hey, I like you.”

What sets it apart in the crowded dating app space? Machine learning. 

According to Pronin, the matching AI focuses more on compatibility than it does on attractiveness level.

The AI looks for mutual interests and identifies people with a higher probability of matching.

The algorithm also learns from all the ways in which you interact with the app, including your dialogue, who you like (and if they like you back), the photos you send, etc.

Theoretically, the more you use Hily, the better your matches should get.

Even though Hily doesn’t assign you an attractiveness rating, you do still get an internal score. In Hily’s case, it reflects your “risk” level. 

Factors that affect your Hily risk score include:

• How many levels of profile verification you passed
• How (and how often) you interact with the app
• What kind of messages you send
• Getting blocked, or any complaints other users have lodged about you

If your risk score creeps up into the danger zone, Hily essentially ghosts your profile - other users will be blocked from being able to interact with yours.

In 2024, the company underwent a rebranding. 

And their internal research showed that the name had recognition, so that’s one thing that hasn’t changed. The rebrand focused more on the visual aspects of the app.  According to Hily’s Brand & Communications Director, Julia Kolesnyk:

“Instead, we focused on the visual side. The old purple was intense - very millennial. We softened and modernized the palette to feel calmer, smoother, and more relevant today.”

The logo was updated as part of the visual rebrand and ties directly to the Hily message “Date as you are. You’re enough.”

Matching On Hily

Like Tinder, Hily has a mutual opt-in format. When two people like each other, they can exchange messages. Both halves of the match must send one message within 48 hours, or the match expires. You can choose to extend the match, or match with them again in the Finder section.

While scrolling through your matches in the “Discover” feed, you double-tap on the photo to open a picture, then click the heart button to “like” a profile. 

You can also use the X and heart-eyes emoji to like or pass on a potential match.

Hily has a compatibility test you can take that determines your matching score with someone - Ick or Click?

You must answer at least 7 questions to complete the quiz. 

Doing a compatibility check is a premium feature. You’ll get your match percentage, and also see a detailed breakdown of how it was calculated.

Filtering Your Hily Matches

Unless you’re a Premium subscriber (more on that coming up in a bit), Hily’s match filters are rather limited. 

Free users can filter by distance, but the range starts at 31 miles away.

The other free filters show only verified profiles, age and gender.

Chatting With Matches

You can exchange messages once you’ve matched with someone for free. 

Either tap the conversation icon on their profile to send one, or go to the Message section by tapping the conversation icon in the menu bar.

To start a conversation on Hily, you can send the suggested icebreaker, or use one of these proven conversation starters that work great on apps like Tinder.

If you want to video chat with someone, go to settings and turn on the Incoming Video Call option, open messages with the user you want to chat with, and tap on the camera button in the top right corner.  Keep in mind you can only video chat with a user who’s a mutual match.

You can use coins, the in-app currency, to promote your stream or “show appreciation” for someone else’s live stream. Coins can also be spent to boost your visibility in a Live Talk.

Want to look your best when using Hily’s video-based features? Check out these video dating tips!

Hily Events & Activities

This section shows you who you’ve matched with, who has “liked” your profile, and who you’ve already liked. You can interact with profiles from any of the screens. 

Hily’s core features are free. You can check out profiles, and message or video chat with your matches for free.

But like most dating apps, Hily also has an upgrade available. It’s called Hily Premium, and it costs $6.99 a week. A single month costs $29.99, and a lifetime membership is $199.99. (Pricing may vary by location.)

You can take Hily for a test drive with a free 3-day trial membership. That unlocks these daily features:

• 3 major crushes
• 100 likes sent
• View the most popular profiles
• Narrow your search to people within a 30-mile radius
• Control who can see your profile with Incognito Mode

When you purchase a Premium membership, you increase the daily usage of some features:

• 3 unblurs daily
• 10 major crushes daily
• 10 rollbacks daily
• Unlimited likes sent 
• Personalized finder
• Compatibility check
• Advanced filters
• Nearby search
• Global search
• Hide profiles
• Remove ads

Unblurs

This feature shows you what people who are interested in your profile look like. Unblurring a profile on Hily costs anywhere from 14 cents individually, if you buy a pack of 25 blurs or you can purchase just one for $7.99.

Major Crushes

Similar to Tinder Platinum's message before matching feature, a Major crush lets you send a message and react to someone's profile at the same time. Major Crushes cost $12.99 for 5 or $29.99 for 25.

Compatibility Checks

This feature reveals your match percentage, as well as how it got calculated. It also costs between 30 cents and $1.60 per check.

Rollbacks

This feature allows you to undo your last swipe on Hily.

Like some of the other consumable premium features, it starts at $1.60 per use when you buy 5 Rollbacks, and comes down to $0.30 each when you buy 100.

Profile Boosts

On Hily, a profile boost is an ongoing subscription, unlike on Tinder where boosting your profile lasts 30 mins. Boosting your profile on Hily costs $5.99 per week. There’s also an option to get 1 free boost with Hily Boost Trial, which highlights your profile for 3 hours.

If you purchase a Premium Hily subscription then decide to unsubscribe later, or if you participate in the free trial offer, it’s essential to cancel it via the store you bought it from. 

Keep in mind: 

• Uninstalling the app will not cancel the subscription
• Account deletion will not cancel the subscription
• Any unused portion of the subscription period will not be refunded to your account

If you take the new user offer of a free 3-day trial subscription, you must cancel it at least 24 hours prior to the end of its term to avoid being charged when it automatically renews at the weekly rate.

To decide, let’s take a look at Hily’s pros & cons.

Hily Pros:

• Hily requires all users to verify their account in at least 1 of 4 ways, so most of the users are likely legit.
• The app is rapidly gaining in popularity - in 2026, it officially surpassed Bumble and became the third most popular app in the US.
• The video-based features make it easy to get a true sense of a potential match’s personality and appearance.
• Hily lets you know when someone has “liked” your profile, and that’s a free feature.
• Like Bumble, Hily’s AI actively screens for offensive content. It has an explicit filter you can toggle on and off to block it located in the “Settings” menu.

Hily Cons:

• Unless you pay for Hily, your distance filter *starts* at 31 miles away. That means if you're in an area with a ton of users, you'll be seeing profiles for people it may be very inconvenient to actually date.
• With its “consumables” approach to limiting use of some premium features even when you upgrade, and turning others into a subscription model, the app seems to take every opportunity to upsell you.

Hily Dating App Review Verdict

Hily has two potentially big strikes against it: The 31-mile distance filter unless you upgrade and the fact that it isn't as popular as Tinder, Bumble and Hinge.

That means you'll get the best results if you live in a highly populated area like NYC or LA where more users might live. But driving 30+ miles for a date isn't that practical in those locations, so you'll need to pay for Hily to make it worthwhile.

If that's not a dealbreaker, here are a few other considerations.

It's not the easiest app to navigate. The "consumable" features require spending money or upgrading to Premium. And others, like Boosts, are a subscription model that automatically renews unless you remember to deactivate it.

The app offers a free 3-day trial, so you can sign up and see if anyone intrigues you. Just remember to cancel it following the steps outlined in the user agreement. If you don't, it automatically renews at the most pricey membership level.

Hily is available via the App Store or Google Play. 

Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can create an account via your Apple, Facebook or Snapchat account or with your mobile number.

First you’ll be prompted to select how you identify: male, female or non-binary, as well as who you’re looking to meet.

Follow the prompts to add your first name and date of birth, and to enable location features so you can see other users nearby. 

Next you’ll upload your photos, or take a new one via the app. 

Hily requires you to upload at least 1 photo or video to see all the available pics of your matches. In addition, you’ve got to go through a selfie identification process, which verifies your identity but is not seen by other users.

There is space for 6 photos in your lineup.

Your primary photo has the biggest impact, so consider these science-backed photo tips when choosing yours!

Then, select your education level, occupational field, and what type of relationship you’re on Hily to find. The app then asks ‘what vibe are you looking for’ and gives you a list of options. 

Now the focus shifts to your match criteria, which you can change at any time in the filters. 

While the app identifies your initial matches, you’ll be offered a chance to sign up for Hily Premium.

You can start checking out your matches right away, but first you’ll want to look like a hot prospect yourself.

Writing Your Hily Profile

Like Tinder, Hily bios have a max of 500 characters. You’re answering the question “What do others need to know about you.”

It’s the perfect opportunity to highlight what makes you good relationship material, but you want to do it in a way that’s natural and engaging.

For more inspiration and profile tips, check out these short dating profile examples that really work.

When it comes to other biographical data, Hily lets you get pretty specific. 

Your profile can display:

• Your education level and alma mater
• What you do for a living
• Your future plans regarding kids & whether or not you currently have some
• Pet ownership details
• Religious affiliation
• Body type
• The ethnicity you identify with
• Drinking habits
• Smoking habits
• Dietary habits (i.e. halal or vegan)

If you’re using Hily to find a serious relationship, taking the time to complete your entire profile signals that you’re committed to the process.

Your profile displays how many of the verification processes you went through.

Online dating has never been more popular than it is right now - and that means you have to work even harder to get your profile noticed.

Matching with the singles you want to meet most takes work. 

Your profile, your photos, the messages you send and when you send them - if you don’t have the skills and the strategy to market yourself effectively, you’ll likely get lost in the shuffle.

If you’re looking for a serious relationship, why leave anything to chance? 

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