About

The Tea App is an anonymous dating-advice app for women launched in 2023 by founder Sean Cook after witnessing his mother's traumatic online dating experience. The app works by requiring women to verify via a selfie and official ID card, after which they can post photos of men they've dated for community review, background check, catfish detection, and geolocation alerts. The app also blocks screenshots to restrict the spread of photos and reviews of men outside the app. The app is inspired by Are We Dating the Same Guy Facebook groups, and as of July 2025, it has over 1 million users, comprised mostly of Gen Z women. However, the Tea app has also faced backlash from the public over concerns about the app invading people's privacy, promoting "defamation," and perpetuating a surveillance state. In July 2025, an all-gender version of the Tea app called "Tea Born" was rumored to have launched and shut down due to men posting revenge nudes of their exes.

History

According to a press release from March 11th, 2025, San Francisco tech founder Sean Cook launched the "Tea" app in 2023, which allows women to give each other anonymous feedback about the men they have dated.^[1]

In 2024, Cook collaborated with social media creator Daniella Szetela to create the app's online strategy. The app reached over 500,000 users by March 11, 2025, and ranked #1 on the App Store^[2] after gaining over 1.6 million users by July 2025.

On July 8th, 2025, Fox News Detroit posted a segment about the Tea app on YouTube^[3] and interviewed a 22-year-old woman about her reasoning for joining it. The video gathered over 9,000 views in two weeks.

Features

The app features a searchable community-run database where verified female users can upload a man's photo or phone number to see if others have left comments. Women can flag a man for criminal behavior, or simply discuss their experience with dating him. The app also sends real-time alerts when someone nearby has been flagged and allows users to share stories, warnings, or endorsements.

TIkToker^[4] @haseeblegal posted a video detailing all the different features available in the app on April 29th, 2025, gathering over 1.6 million views and 30,000 likes in four months.

On July 21st, TikToker^[5] @___queenbre_ posted a video scrolling through the Tea app, gathering over 900,000 plays and 30,000 likes in four days.

Online Presence

Videos about the Tea app began going viral in July 2025, with TikToker^[11] @therealangelinagiselle posting a video on July 20th, 2025, about her partner getting posted on the Tea app, and joking about how he "ate fists for breakfast." The video gathered over 3.5 million plays and 400,000 likes in four days.

On July 23rd, TikToker^[10] @ok.br3 posted a video about being on the waitlist for the Tea app, writing, "how i feel waiting to get into the tea app so i can find out if my lil shi going or not," and gathering over 400,000 plays and 60,000 likes in a day.

Tea Born App

In early July, an all-gender Dearborn, Michigan based app called "Tea Born" was launched and immediately shut down after male users reportedly began posting revenge nudes of their exes.

A July 9th, 2025 Instagram^[6] post by @teaborn.app announced the shut down of the app in a post that read, "RIP THE DEARBORN TEA APP JULY 9 – JULY 9 💔💔" The creater wrote, "I took it down because you guys don't know how to fck!ng act 💔🥀," adding that he would publish faces and IP addresses of anyone found posting nudes on the app.

TikToker^[7] @_ashbae posted a video about the news on July 9th, 2025, gathering over 700,000 plays and 80,000 likes in two weeks.

Tea Apps For Men

The Tea app received criticism online in late July 2025, with some internet users launching alternatives for men to discuss women. On July 23rd, 2025, X^[8] user @Mid30sManhattan tweeted, "Gonna make an app called “coffee” where the boys can warn each other on which girls are absolutely ran through," gathering over 100,000 likes in a day.

On July 24th, X^[9] user @tolly_xyz announced their new app release, writing, "Introducing BoxScore, a man-only app where users anonymously share info and warnings about women to spot red flags and get feedback." The post gathered over 19,000 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References