When Cosmopolitan published their roundup of the 15 best dating apps for serious relationships, they included something unexpected alongside the usual suspects like Bumble and Hinge: a members-only platform built specifically for people who want to date with honesty, intention, and complete freedom to define what a relationship means to them.
That app is Beyond.
The recognition speaks to a larger shift happening in how people approach modern romance. Dating apps are no longer just about swipes and surface-level connections. According to Pew Research Center data cited in the Cosmopolitan piece, 44% of dating app users are now looking for long-term partnerships rather than casual flings. The landscape has fundamentally changed, and the apps that understand this are the ones gaining traction.
If you've spent any time on mainstream dating platforms, you know the frustration. Endless swiping through profiles that blur together. Conversations that fizzle before they start. The nagging sense that you're playing a numbers game rather than building genuine connections.
Clinical sexologist Tatyannah King, quoted in the Cosmopolitan feature, puts it simply: state what you're looking for upfront. While it might mean fewer matches, it filters out people who aren't aligned with your goals. The issue is that most apps don't make this easy. Their design rewards volume over quality, and their algorithms prioritize engagement metrics over compatibility.
This disconnect between what users want and what apps deliver has created space for platforms that take a fundamentally different approach.
Beyond earned its spot on Cosmopolitan's list for a specific reason: it's built around a philosophy that most dating apps ignore entirely.
The platform operates as a members-only community, which immediately changes the dynamic. Every applicant goes through a vetting process based on Beyond's core values: honesty, intention, consent, diversity, and self-discovery. This isn't about exclusivity for its own sake. It's about ensuring that everyone using the app shares a baseline commitment to dating with integrity.
King highlighted Beyond's community-focused approach in the article, noting that the platform's founders host consistent in-person meetups for users across major U.S. cities. This creates something that swipe-based apps fundamentally cannot: organic connections that naturally lead to solid relationships.
One of Beyond's most distinctive features is the ability to filter by relationship style. Whether you identify as monogamous, monogamish, polyamorous, or simply exploring, you can find people who share your approach to relationships. You can also filter by sexuality, gender identity, and relationship status, making it easier to connect with genuinely compatible matches.
This matters because modern relationships don't fit into a single box. According to recent surveys, roughly a third of Americans describe their ideal relationship as something other than strict monogamy. Platforms that acknowledge this reality are better positioned to serve what daters actually want.
Beyond also limits daily matches intentionally. Rather than overwhelming users with hundreds of potential connections, the app encourages you to be thoughtful about who you engage with. Members consistently report that this constraint makes them more likely to actually start conversations rather than treating profiles as something to collect.
Digital connections are only part of the equation. Beyond distinguishes itself through its commitment to bringing members together in person.
The platform regularly drops new events in cities across the country, from intimate gatherings to larger community meetups. Many of these events are created by members themselves through the app's Communities features. This ecosystem approach turns Beyond into something more than a dating app. It becomes a social club where meaningful relationships can develop naturally, whether romantic, platonic, or somewhere in between.
This focus on real-world community addresses one of the biggest complaints about modern dating: it can feel isolating even when you're constantly swiping. Beyond counters this by providing actual spaces where like-minded people can meet, connect, and build relationships at their own pace.
The Cosmopolitan feature includes insights from several relationship experts, and their advice consistently points toward the kind of experience Beyond is designed to create.
Dr. Rachel Needle, a licensed psychologist quoted in the article, emphasizes that any dating app can work for long-term relationships if users are honest and intentional about what they want from the start. This is precisely the foundation Beyond is built on. The application process and community values ensure that members arrive with the right mindset.
Mariah Freya, sex education expert and founder of Beducated, advises being specific about the type of relationship you're seeking and the qualities you value in a partner. Beyond's filtering system and intention-setting features make this kind of specificity functional rather than aspirational. You don't just write what you want in a bio and hope the right people see it. You actively filter for it.
Beyond's emphasis on consent deserves special attention. The platform defines consent as freely given, reversible, intentional, enthusiastic, and specific. This framework applies not just to physical intimacy but to the entire dating process.
In practice, this means members are encouraged to be upfront about their intentions when connecting with someone. After matching, Beyond shows each person's stated intentions to the other, removing the awkwardness of trying to figure out what someone wants. There's no guessing, no games, no misaligned expectations that waste everyone's time.
This consent-centered approach reflects a broader cultural shift. Daters increasingly want transparency and communication built into their platforms, not left to chance. Beyond delivers this by design.
Based on the Cosmopolitan feature and Beyond's own positioning, the platform appeals to a specific type of dater.
You're likely a good fit if you're tired of the volume-based approach of mainstream apps and want quality over quantity. If you value honesty and transparency in relationships, regardless of what form those relationships take. If you're curious about different relationship styles or already know what works for you and want to find others on the same page. If in-person community and events matter to you as much as digital connections.
Beyond isn't trying to be everything to everyone. Its members-only model and values-based vetting ensure that the people using the app are aligned in how they approach dating. For users frustrated by the aimlessness of other platforms, this focused approach is exactly the point.
The Cosmopolitan roundup includes apps that have been around for over a decade alongside newer entrants like Beyond. What separates the platforms that work from those that don't often comes down to whether they make dating feel like an opportunity or a chore.
Beyond's design choices consistently favor the former. Limited daily matches prevent decision fatigue. Clear intention-setting removes ambiguity. In-person events create natural contexts for connection. A vetted community ensures shared values. Each element contributes to an experience that feels more like building something meaningful and less like scrolling through an endless catalog.
This matters because burnout is real. Studies show that many dating app users report feeling exhausted, frustrated, or cynical about their prospects. Platforms that acknowledge this reality and design around it are more likely to deliver results.
Being included in a major publication's roundup of best dating apps for serious relationships signals that Beyond's approach resonates beyond its existing community. As more people seek alternatives to swipe culture, platforms built on intention, community, and transparency are positioned to grow.
The dating app market has long been dominated by a few major players. But the needs of modern daters are evolving, and the apps that evolve with them will capture attention. Beyond represents one vision of what that evolution looks like: smaller, more curated communities where quality connections are the explicit goal.
For anyone feeling disillusioned with the current state of online dating, that vision offers something worth exploring.
Ready to date with intention? Learn more about Beyond and apply to join a community built for honest, intentional, modern relationships.
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