Find people to do something with. Now, here.
Vriendenzoeken.nl shows you who nearby feels like a drink on a terrace, a game of Risk or a run. All spontaneous, today, not next month. It is for those loose hours you would love to spend with someone, but end up spending with Netflix. Go find some friends instead! You say "Ik ben bij!" and off you go.
What is Vriendenzoeken.nl?
Vriendenzoeken.nl ("friend finding") is a web app from the Netherlands for meeting people in your direct surroundings by doing something together. Strangers, friends or vague acquaintances, it does not matter. No endless chatting, no swiping through profiles: you see on a map which sessions are happening NOW near you, and you join. Or you start one yourself and see who shows up. Still on your own? Send out a lokroep, a call to everyone nearby. And anyway: nothing ventured, nothing gained. If it turns into a great experience, we have done our job.
It works in the browser on your computer or phone, and for push notifications you can install the web app (recommended!). Note: this is not a dating app. It is an app for good company. For spontaneous, genuine social contact in a pleasant setting, something that is getting scarcer these days. It is for everyone aged 18 and over who simply wants to do things with people more often. Or for someone alone in an unfamiliar city who would rather sit on a terrace or in a park with a nice bunch of people found through vriendenzoeken.nl.
How it works
Look at the map
You see sessions nearby: what, roughly where, what time and how many people are already in. A terrace, a walk, a study session, a board game.
Say "Ik ben bij!"
You join with one tap. Then you see the exact spot and the codeword, so you recognise each other on the spot right away. That way you know the person crashing your session is really the person you see in the app.
Go there
That is all. You meet, and the rest is history. I find it hugely valuable to make that possible, but you are the one who inspires and joins the people around you.
What can you do with it right now?
Look around your neighbourhood
Start something or join in. Open to everyone, only for your group, via a link, by invitation or on request. With a time, a place, a codeword and a waiting list when it is full. Create an account now and you can start a session straight away.
No plan yet, but in the mood? Send out a lokroep: a message to everyone within a few kilometres. Whoever responds invites you or asks you to start a session. That is how enthusiasm without a plan still turns into fun for many.
Made for existing groups of friends
Your football team, your year at uni, your street. A group has its own invite link and its own sessions, visible to members only. Use it when you are tired of those endless WhatsApp threads about who, where, what and how tonight's drinks were supposed to go. Everyone keeps calling around: are we even going? Where? What time are we welcome? Imagine how much time you save when you do not have to ask the same questions over and over.
Check vriendenzoeken.nl and you immediately see every group session and lokroep from people in your group. It works better, faster and easier, and all it still needs is you to get started!
Friends without an account?
Forward a session link any way you like. WhatsApp, Gmail, Discord, Teams. As far as I am concerned you copy it by hand and pass it under the table to whoever-happens-to-read-it. When people tap that link they land on vriendenzoeken.nl, where they can fully take part in their first few sessions without an account.
Whoever has no account joins a few times as a guest and then sees for themselves why an account is handy. On top of that, especially relevant in this age of AI, I want to guarantee everyone on vriendenzoeken.nl that they are always dealing with real people. Creating an account helps you show who you are and brings you into contact with real, verified, but above all good-natured people.
Why I built vriendenzoeken.nl
The problem is simple: bring people into contact with each other. But do you know who your neighbours are? How many people live in your street, in your building, whom you have never spoken to? How easy would it be if, whenever you feel alone, you could check whether someone in your street wants to hang out? How great would it be if that stranger suddenly became a wonderful friend?
I noticed that "we should get together some time" almost never becomes a date. I noticed that even when you do have plans, in the best case you keep asking the same questions: what are you doing tonight? Do you have a moment? Shall we go for a quick walk?
In the worst case, sadly the most common one, you do not ask those questions at all and simply stay on the couch. Everyone walks past each other. Everyone is up for it, nobody has a plan, and the first free slot in your calendar is three weeks away. While right now, within a kilometre, someone is sitting on a terrace or in a park who would also like some company.
Vriendenzoeken.nl removes that threshold. Not with needless planning or logistics, but with very simple things you can do about it NOW: one map, one button, one codeword. The rest happens outside, at the table, in the park.
Who am I?
I am Max and I live in Eindhoven, where the first sessions of Vriendenzoeken.nl are currently being tested. Almost daily I am confronted with the fact that being close is not the same as being together. From my apartment at Strijp-S I see hundreds, maybe more than a thousand people a day. Some of them go for a drink together, lovely, but most walk straight on with their headphones on, eyes on the pavement. If you do not go looking for it, nothing happens. And somehow we all get stuck there. Plenty of people around you, and still alone. One of the liveliest places in the Netherlands, and the loneliness remains.
My vision is to make exactly those places buzz again, for everyone. Not just for people who already have friends, but especially for people looking for old-fashioned good company who do not quite know where to start. Analogue contact. Vriendenzoeken.nl makes that real.
I would find it really great if vriendenzoeken.nl helps people actually meet up. I first built it for myself, my neighbours and my friends, but it quickly became a vision I could not leave alone. New accounts are still checked by hand, so there are only real people. What are you waiting for?
Where this is going
The goal is simple: wherever you are, find someone within a few minutes to do something with, however small. A city where you do not have to plan to have company. A city you are visiting, where you can still find a group of friends.
Vriendenzoeken.nl is built as a platform with modules. Sessions and Lokroep are the first. More will follow, for other ways people run into each other. Without ads and without selling your data. All I want is to be sure you are a human with good intentions! That, and only that, is what your data will ever be used for.
Frequently asked questions
Is Vriendenzoeken.nl free?
Yes. Creating an account, starting sessions and joining is free. There are no ads and your data is not sold.
Is it a dating app?
No, it is an app for good company. Vriendenzoeken.nl is about doing something together: a terrace, sports, a walk, studying, a game. Strangers, friends or vague acquaintances, it does not matter.
Where does it work?
Anywhere in the Netherlands. The map shows what happens within your radius, so it works as soon as people near you join. The first sessions take place in Eindhoven.
Do I have to share my location?
Your location is used to show what is nearby. You only see the exact spot of a session once you join, and a lokroep appears a few hundred metres off, never at your real position.
Who is it for?
Everyone aged 18 and over who simply wants to do things with people more often. New accounts are checked by hand, so you always deal with real people.
Can I join without an account?
If someone sends you a session link you can join a few times as a guest with just your name. Starting something yourself and browsing the map require an account.
What is a codeword?
Every session has a word that participants can see. Say it when you arrive and you know right away you are with the right people.
Is it an app?
It is a web app you use in the browser and can add to your home screen, on iPhone and Android. Nothing to download from a store.
Is the app available in English?
This page is. The app itself is in Dutch for now, with short, plain words. An English interface is on the list.
Feel like doing something?
Create an account, add the app to your home screen and see what is happening near you tonight.