The Tea App Allows Women to Anonymously Judge Men, and Its Unsurprisingly Controversial

Let's be honest: If you're single in 2025 and don't see yourself starring on reality dating shows like Love Is Blind or Love Island, dating apps are the way to go. The digital way of meeting the potential love of your life has only climbed in popularity within the last few decades, especially if you don't prefer going to the club or any other activity that doesn't involve cozy socks and your favorite streaming service.

As more singles find themselves on dating apps, tech buffs have found ways to make the experience on dating apps more efficient by creating apps catered to its target audience. In July 2025, a surge of single women downloaded an app called Tea. Unlike its predecessors Tinder, HER, or Bumble, Tea allows women to anonymously dig up dirt on their love interest before they commit to seeing them in-person.

Here's all the tea on Tea's popularity.

In July 2025, Tea earned the No.1 spot on the US Apple App Store two years after it launched in 2023. The app was created by Sean Cook, an engineer and program manager who, according to his LinkedIn, previously worked for Salesforce and Shutterfly. Sean, who is a white male, was inspired to create Tea after personally seeing how tricky dating can be for women, including his own mother.

"Founder Sean Cook launched Tea after witnessing his mother’s terrifying experience with online dating—not only being catfished but unknowingly engaging with men who had criminal records," Tea's website stated. "Realizing that traditional dating apps do little to protect women, Sean knew something had to change.
That’s why he built Tea—the first-ever dating safety platform for women."

Tea's premise is similar to those ‘Are We Dating The Same Guy?’ Facebook pages where group members – usually straight women – post ‘reviews’ of men they’ve dated, often alongside screenshots of their social media profiles, or ask if any other members have any dirt to dish about them.

The app opens with a feed of eligible men who were posted by anonymous users with screen names. The women can then ask for the "tea" on any man they choose from the app and can read any information on them that another user may have, including detailed reviews on their experience with the man. Once users select the man they're interested in, the app asks for the man's name, age, and location, along with a caption and photos. They then publish the post by confirming "All statements are true."

The users are then able to judge whether the person they might want to match with is a "green flag" or "red flag" guy based on the information provided. Since red flags are typically a no-no in the dating world, many single women have appreciated learning as much of a man's drama beforehand.

According to Business Insider, Tea is free to use for most dating app users. However, there's a maximum of five free searches a month, after which users are given a choice: pay for Tea's $15 a month subscription or invite friends to the app and unlock features such as unlimited searches. Tea also has other features behind its paywall, including reverse-image search, background checks, and phone number lookup.

Although Tea was designed with women in mind, it seemingly caters to straight women and other women who are attracted to men.