The short answer: Sniffies is a live map in your browser. Apps people use alongside or instead of it include Grindr, a grid of nearby profiles; SCRUFF, Jack’d, and Hornet; ROMEO; Recon, for gear and fetish; Chunkr, a newer app with a grid and a cruising map; Squirt; and Adam4Adam. If you want to meet men nearby without appearing on a live map, AseeksB takes a different approach: you write an M4M personal ad, choose who can see it, and get replies directly, with approximate distance and no map pin. Posting and replying are free.
We checked Sniffies and 10 apps people compare it with on October 26, 2026, using each app’s US App Store listing and help pages, linked in each entry below. Prices are in-app purchases on the US App Store; several listings don’t say which price goes with which period, so we give only the ones that do. AseeksB publishes this page and is one of the apps compared.
| App | Built for | How you find people | Free | Paid (US App Store) | How your location shows | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sniffies (for reference) | Gay, bi, trans, queer, and curious guys | A live map of people nearby; browse as a guest | Free, including use without an account | Sniffies Plus, for Discreet Mode, Travel Mode, and no ads | An icon on a live map; Sniffies doesn’t publish how precise it is | Web; its iOS app was removed in May 2025 |
| Grindr | Gay, bi, trans, and queer people | A grid of nearby profiles; Right Now, a live feed for people available now | Dozens of nearby profiles in the grid; message from a profile | XTRA shows up to 500 profiles, Unlimited all of them; an Unlimited day pass is $9.99 | Approximate distance, which you can turn off; the Right Now map, in some cities, shows an offset area | iOS, Android; web for paid subscribers |
| SCRUFF | Gay, bi, trans, and queer people | Search and filters, plus SCRUFF Match, a daily stack of profiles to swipe | View, Woof, and chat | SCRUFF Pro, listed from $9.99; Messaging Pro $4.99 and Browsing Pro $3.99 | Distance, shown by default; you can hide it; trips show you in a city before you arrive | iOS, Android |
| Jack’d | Queer people of color, in its words the largest app for QPOC | Search, filters, and Location Search, plus Jack’d Match | View, wave at, and chat | Jack’d Pro, $7.99 a week or from $9.99 a month | Distance; you can hide it | iOS, Android |
| Hornet | Gay, bi, trans, and queer men | A grid of who’s online nearby, hashtags, and posts | Chat by text or audio; the grid has limits and ads | Premium, $19.99 a month or $39.99 a year; adds an unlimited grid and no ads | Distance, randomly altered; you can turn it off | iOS, Android, web |
| ROMEO | Gay, bi, trans, and queer people | People online now, nearby, and in other cities with travel search | Unlimited chat; search shows up to 150 results | PLUS, $10.99 for 30 days, for unlimited scrolling and more search options | Distance to within 50 meters; you can fix your profile to a spot within 100 km instead | iOS, Android, web |
| Recon | Gay, bi, queer, trans, and curious men into gear and fetish | Profiles online, nearby, or in other cities, filtered by fetish; an events list | Main-gallery photos only | Premium, $12.99 for 30 days, for unlimited profile views, all galleries, and advanced filters | Not published | iOS, Android, web |
| Chunkr | Gay men, in its words a modern dating app | A grid, an interactive map, and check-ins at spots | Every feature, with ads | Ad-Free, $2.99 a month or $22.99 a year | An approximate spot, never exact GPS; you can hide from Right Now | iOS, Android |
| Squirt (SQ Dating) | Gay, bi, trans, queer, and curious guys | A grid near you or a place you pick, search, and cruising places with check-ins | 20 profile views and 20 full-size photos a day | Fan Club, $9.99 a week or $15.99 a month | Grid by your city or zip code; check-ins at a place last up to an hour; Fan Club can show you offline | iOS, Android, web |
| Adam4Adam | A gay social network, in its words, for dates, chat, and friends | Five grids, including Near Me and Visitors, and more than 20 filters | Unlimited profiles in the grids and unlimited messages | VIP, $9.99 a month; removes ads and adds invisible mode | Near Me grid sorted by distance; you set the home location your profile shows in | iOS, Android, web |
| AseeksB | Everyone, any orientation; men looking for men post M4M ads | Personal ads from people nearby, sorted newest first | Post, browse, and reply; one active post, and post views that refresh every 24 hours | Supporter, from $7.99 a week, for up to 7 posts and unlimited post views | Approximate distance on each post, in miles or km; no map pin | iOS, Android |
“How your location shows” is what each app’s own help pages say other people see. Hiding your distance doesn’t make you untraceable: ROMEO and Grindr both note that in an app that sorts people by distance, others may still be able to work out roughly where you are.
Sniffies describes itself as a free, map-based cruising app for gay, bi, trans, queer, and curious guys. People appear as icons on a live map, and you tap someone to start a chat; you can use it without an account or an email address, according to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner. Sniffies doesn’t publish how precisely the map places you. A paid plan, Sniffies Plus, adds Discreet Mode, Travel Mode, read receipts, and no ads. Apple removed its iOS app in May 2025, and in April 2026 Bloomberg reported it was web-only, the same month Match Group invested $100 million for a minority stake, with an option to buy the rest. Match Group put its users at about 3 million a month.
Grindr calls itself the largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people. Its home screen is the grid: free accounts see dozens of nearby profiles, XTRA up to 500, and Unlimited all of them, and you message people from their profiles. The grid shows an approximate distance, which you can turn off in settings. Right Now lets you signal that you’re available to meet, in one-hour sessions, with free sessions that reset every Friday; in some cities, a Right Now map shows an offset area rather than your exact spot. Profiles hold up to 5 photos, each reviewed before it shows, and Grindr uses a face-scan age check where the law requires one, including the UK, Australia, and Brazil. Grindr Web is only for XTRA and Unlimited subscribers, and accounts have to be created in the app.
SCRUFF, from Perry Street Software, says it is for gay, bi, trans, and queer people. You find people with search and filters, or through SCRUFF Match, a daily stack of profiles where a mutual right swipe makes a match, and you can view, Woof, and chat with people. Your distance from other members is public by default, and you can hide it; trips show you in a city’s Visiting Soon grid before you arrive. Photo verification is optional and adds a badge. SCRUFF Pro is listed from $9.99, without periods, alongside Messaging Pro and Browsing Pro.
Jack’d calls itself the largest dating app for QPOC, queer people of color, and has belonged to Perry Street Software, SCRUFF’s company, since 2019. It works much like SCRUFF: search, filters, Location Search, and Jack’d Match, with optional photo verification. You can hide your distance, and Jack’d says it then randomizes your location on its servers. Jack’d Pro is $7.99 for a week or from $9.99 a month.
Hornet says it is a free gay dating app for gay, bi, trans, and queer men. It has a grid of who’s online nearby, hashtags, and posts, and you chat by text or audio. Hornet randomly alters the distance it shows, and you can turn distance off entirely; paid plans add Travel Mode, which sets your visible city for an hour. Optional ID verification adds a badge you can filter by. Premium, $19.99 a month or $39.99 a year, adds an unlimited grid, no ads, and seeing who viewed your profile.
ROMEO, from PlanetRomeo, is for gay, bi, trans, and queer people nearby and worldwide, on iOS, Android, and the web. You can search people who are online now, discover people nearby, and look in other cities with travel search. It shows distance to within 50 meters, and for more privacy you can fix your profile to a spot of your choice within 100 km, which its App Store listing counts among the free features. Chat is unlimited on the free tier; PLUS, $10.99 for 30 days, adds unlimited scrolling, more search options, and visitor history. Free search shows up to 150 results.
Recon calls itself the world’s biggest kink and fetish dating app and community, and says it is exclusively for gay, bi, queer, trans, and curious men into gear and fetish. You browse profiles online now, nearby, or in other cities, filtered by fetish, and it lists events; it has retired its Travel Plans feature, and doesn’t publish how it shows distance. Free Standard members can see only photos in a profile’s main gallery; Premium, $12.99 for 30 days, adds unlimited profile views, all public galleries, and advanced filters.
Chunkr, from Homie Lab, calls itself a modern dating app for gay men. It launched on iPhone in April 2026 and is now on Google Play too. It combines a familiar grid with an interactive map and check-ins at favorite spots, so you can see who’s around. Its safety policy says exact GPS coordinates are never shown to other users: your location is fuzzed to an approximate radius, and the position shown may be randomized within it, and you can hide from Right Now while staying active. Every feature is free, with ads; Ad-Free is $2.99 a month or $22.99 a year. An optional selfie check adds a badge.
Squirt, from Pink Triangle Press, has been a cruising website for gay and bi men for about 25 years, and launched its first app, SQ Dating, on Google Play in February 2026 and on iOS in April. It has a grid of guys near you or in a place you pick, search and filters, and a list of cruising places that members add, where you can check in for up to an hour. Free accounts get 20 profile views and 20 full-size photos a day; Fan Club, its paid tier, is $9.99 a week or $15.99 a month on the App Store and lets you appear offline. Its terms say it doesn’t verify identity, and it runs age checks in some regions.
Adam4Adam, from A4A Network, calls itself a gay social network, on iOS, Android, and the web. It sorts people into five grids, including Near Me, sorted by distance, and Visitors, for members traveling to your city, with more than 20 filters, and you set the home location your profile shows in. Free accounts get unlimited profiles in the grids and unlimited messages, though inactive chats are deleted after 10 days; VIP, $9.99 a month, removes ads and adds invisible mode and unlimited history. Its user agreement says it doesn’t screen members or verify what they say.
AseeksB is a text-first personal ads app, open to every orientation. Instead of a grid or a map, you write an ad in your own words, M4M or anything else, choose who can see it by gender and age, and people reply to the ad directly: one message until you reply, then the conversation is open. Each post shows approximate distance, in miles or kilometers, but nobody sees a pin with your location. Photos are optional, and must be of you. Posting, browsing, and replying are free, with one active post; Supporter, from $7.99 a week, adds up to 7 active posts, unlimited post views, traveling mode, and the option to require a photo before someone can message you.
Also on people’s lists. GROWLR, for bears and bear chasers, was bought in October 2026 by Perry Street Software, SCRUFF’s company; GROWLR PRO is $9.99 a month. BEARWWW describes itself as a dating app for gay and bisexual men. Taimi, which now describes itself as for all LGBTQ+ people, works by swiping, with a chat after a mutual match.
For more open apps, see our page on apps like Feeld; for kink apps, kink and BDSM dating apps compared; and for Reddit’s M4M boards, our guide to Reddit personals.
Meet somewhere public the first time, tell a friend where you’re going, and keep the conversation in the app until you trust the person. Be wary of anyone who pushes you to move to another app right away, and never send money to someone you haven’t met. On AseeksB, you can report anything against our guidelines, even after someone unmatches you, and even if it happened after you’d moved to another messaging app.
AseeksB isn’t a cruising map. It’s personal ads: you say what you want first, and the men it’s meant for reply. Post yours and become part of the community. If there’s a feature you’d want, tell us through the app, from the profile tab; we’d love to hear it. And if you know guys who’d like a text-first way to meet, share this page with them.
Write what you’re looking for, choose who sees it, and reply in the app, with approximate distance and no map pin. The key features are free, and Supporter is there when you want more.
Sniffies is a live map in the browser for gay, bi, trans, queer, and curious guys. Apps people use alongside or instead of it include Grindr, a grid of nearby profiles with a Right Now feed; SCRUFF, Jack’d, and Hornet, also nearby grids; ROMEO, with travel search; Recon, for gear and fetish; Chunkr, a newer app with a grid and a cruising map; Squirt, a cruising site with an app called SQ Dating; Adam4Adam; and AseeksB, where you post a personal ad in your own words.
Not in Apple’s App Store: Apple removed its iOS app in May 2025, and in April 2026 Bloomberg reported that Sniffies was web-only. It runs in the browser on any phone or computer, and you can use it without an account.
Chunkr combines a grid with an interactive map and check-ins at spots, and its safety policy says exact GPS coordinates are never shown. Grindr has a Right Now map in some cities that shows an approximate area. Squirt’s app lists cruising places where members check in. AseeksB shows approximate distance on each post instead of placing you on a map.
Yes. Grindr’s settings let you turn off showing your distance, though its help center notes that other people may still be able to approximate it. Incognito, which hides you while you browse, is part of Grindr Unlimited. SCRUFF, Jack’d, and Hornet also let you hide your distance, and ROMEO lets you fix your profile to a spot of your choice.
Grindr itself has a free tier that shows dozens of nearby profiles. Adam4Adam’s free tier includes unlimited profiles and messages, Chunkr keeps every feature free with ads, ROMEO’s free tier includes unlimited chat, and AseeksB lets you post, browse, and reply for free, with one active post. Most of these apps charge for more profiles, filters, or extras.
Only with a paid plan. Grindr’s help center says Grindr Web is available only to XTRA and Unlimited subscribers, and new accounts have to be created in the app.
Yes. AseeksB is open to every orientation: you write an ad in your own words, choose who can see it by gender and age, and people reply to the ad directly. Each post shows approximate distance, with no map pin.