Comparison

Lavalife vs Sonderwave

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Lavalife

Discover local singles and enhance your dating experience with this mobile application. Browse profiles, set search preferences, and connect through instant messaging. It simplifies dating by bringing back the fun with a new, user-friendly design.

Highlights
  • Browse profiles in grid or list view
  • Set and save search preferences
  • Like profiles to break the ice
  • Exchange instant messages
  • See profile viewers
  • Add favorite profiles
Read full description

Lavalife is Where Singles Click... Meet great, local singles on-the-go with the official app of Lavalife.com. Lavalife offers singles exciting and fun ways to enhance their dating experience. With its easy to use mobile app, you can: - Browse profiles in grid or list view - Set and save your search preferences to narrow down results - Break the ice by "liking" other profiles - Exchange instant messages - See who's viewed your profile and when - Add favorite profiles to your "Favorites" list to check back on them later - & LOTS more Lavalife takes the stress out of dating and brings back the fun with its new, simplified design.

About

Sonderwave

Read full description

Connect with the people you care about and the places near you. Sonderwave is social media for conversations and local community. You can post your writing, share opinions about current events, or start a public group chat with friends. You can filter the feed to see what interests you, follow live conversations, or watch the wave feed move from community to community, all without recommendation algorithms or ads. Try it out: • Chat You ever just... want to talk to people? Modern social media is like going to a movie or a concert or a stand-up show. There's the performer and the crowd (and every once in a while someone in the crowd makes some noise and everyone's like... "this guy..."). That's fun. Shows are fun. But you ever go to a party? Like a good one, with conversation and possibility, where everyone's just together in the moment? Does the internet have that? Welp idk. This app has public group chats. • Share You ever just... write a poem or lyrics and then never show it to anyone like ever because sharing that part of yourself would change how everyone perceives you? Welp. Here you can post your poems or lyrics or fiction or bad knock-knock jokes you came up with. You can even post under a pseudonym if you want. Or like maybe you don't write poetry, you can post about your life or opinions or whatever. And we allow long posts that people can flip through like an eBook and the comment section is like texting and is divided into tabs for contacts, locals, and everyone (and mentions if you mention people). And on your profile page, you can share your interests. So like, be yourself I guess. • Make it your own You ever just... scrolling your feed and you're like, how did I end up here, why does the algorithm think I want to see this, what does this say about what the algorithm thinks about me, etc.? Welp. This app has no recommendation algorithm, which might make it hard for you to find anything interesting, so you're going to have to do some work to make it show you what interests you. But there are some quick buttons that will show you what's happening in your city/town or near you, so maybe start with those and then when you want to get more complicated ask your grandkids for help once they're born in 30 years. Well after they get a little older so like 40-50 years. • Experience sonder You ever just... realize everyone you encounter is having a life as full and complex as your own? So why does social media that shows us so many people's lives somehow make us less connected and less empathetic? And how do we move from content to content? (See what I did there? It's called a heteronym [I thought it was a homonym too but it's not because they're pronounced differently].) Welp. Probably can't fix social media with more social media but this app has a special feed that temporarily moves from place to place to show you the most liked posts from there from the past week. In other words, it gives every place its time to say something.

Screenshots

Lavalife2 screens
Sonderwave4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sonderwave at none against Lavalife's 3. Sonderwave also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Lavalife sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Sonderwave asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lavalife ships an update every 6 weeks, Sonderwave every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Lavalife versus Sonderwave: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLavalifeSonderwave
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.416.4
Further details — not scored
Size69 MB37 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperFMG Inc.Andelser LLC

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Lavalife

Subscriptions3
  • Lavalife$19.991 Month
  • Lavalife$49.993 Months
  • Lavalife$89.996 Months
None

Sonderwave

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lavalife free?
Lavalife is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sonderwave free?
Sonderwave is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Lavalife or Sonderwave have ads?
Neither Lavalife nor Sonderwave shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lavalife or Sonderwave?
Lavalife ships an update every 6 weeks, and Sonderwave every 2 weeks. Most recently, Lavalife was updated on November 1, 2026 and Sonderwave on November 5, 2026.

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