After a long day at work or in school, the least anyone deserves is a good night’s sleep in the comfort of their own home. At least that’s how it should be. But what happens if you’ve just moved to a new city and can’t find an affordable apartment? Or maybe you did get one, only to find that you and your roommate are incompatible and now you’re feeling uncomfortable and unsafe in your place.

That’s where roommate finders like Roomi and Roomiematch come in. They can help you find the best roommate possible. But which roommate finder should you go for? Let’s do a Roomi and Roomiematch review to see which one is the better choice.

Pricing: Are roommate finder apps free or paid?

For the most part, roommate finding apps are free.

Roomiematch allows you to join for free but charges you $19.95 for their “Cheap” roommate finder service. This gives you access to the contact info of matched roommates so you can reach out to them.

With Roomi, there’s even more on offer. As a free user, you can message/swipe up to five times per day. You can also post or activate two listings. If you think that sounds great, it gets even better!

Roomi recently launched new subscriptions and the pricing varies based on the tier you’re in (Gold, Solo Agent or Business Unlimited). With these plans, you get a verified badge that gives you unlimited messages with potential roomies, up to five times more messages, and a boost in ranking. These perks help you reach more people, and get better matches than most other roommate search services.

Related: 3 Best Features In A Roommate Finder

Security: Can these apps help me find roommates I can trust?

Nothing beats having a safe roomie and while people don’t come with guarantees, roommate finder services like Roomi can verify the identity of your potential roommate and ensure safety from rental scams. You must be wondering, how? Well, Roommate finders do thorough background checks and ID verifications to ensure that your potential roommate is who they say they are. However, not all roommate finder portals are created equally, so let’s find out how Roomi and Roomiematch verify the users of their app?

Verification of Roommate Contact Info

Roomiematch requires you to verify your email when signing up. They also collect info on the IP address of the user when submitting a profile. On the other hand, Roomi is more thorough with the verifications.

Roomi uses Global ID Verification, and the email, phone number, and government-issued ID of every user are verified and kept private.

ID Verifications for Potential Roommates

Roomiematch uses human verification specialists to verify responses given by users when signing up. But that’s about it. They don’t use anything like ID verification for potential roommates. Roomiematch’s alternative, Roomi, does this extra step, ensuring that for a small extra fee, IDs are verified. With Roomi, you can be sure that your potential roommate has gone through an extensive vetting process.

Privacy & Security of Profiles

Private information in the public space has always been a tool internet fraudsters use to commit identity thefts. So it’s understandable you’ll be wary about sharing your information online. Rest assured that Roomiematch will only share your profile with matched roommates who have also paid for an upgraded service.

But if you’re looking for a roommate finder that goes the extra mile to secure your profile and ensure your privacy, check out Roomi. Roomi allows its users to see the following information on your profile — age, profile photo(s), preferred location and budget (if entered). It also includes information about your preferred move-in date, a bio, work information, your interests (if connected via Facebook), roommate preferences (if completed), and a profile video.

But you’re in control of what you want to share, and you can make changes or delete your data at any time you choose. The secure in-app messaging option also allows you to contact potential roommates without sharing any unnecessary private information. How good is that!

24/7 Support & Content Moderation

Roomi has an in-house content moderation team that identifies bad listings and spam messages. There’s also a support team you can reach out to when you need a hand with something.

Roomiematch also has a content moderation team, to verify applications and prevent scammers from the platform, but it doesn’t offer much on top of that.

Criminal Background Check

Roomi doesn’t require you to obtain a background check to use its roommate finder services. However, upon request, it will carry out a criminal background check against several criminal databases. Once completed, you get an ID verified badge which increases your chances of finding a perfect match and helps you find reliable and safe roomies. Roomiematch doesn’t come near in this regard as it offers no such service.

Related: 10 Important Factors For An Ideal Roommate

User Profiles: Which App Makes It Easier to Find Your Perfect Roommate?

Roomiematch displays no user profiles. Matching roommates who have paid for the upgraded service are connected via email. But Roomi, on the other hand, is designed to make your roommate finding experience easy, safe, and quick.

Roomi’s roommate matching algorithm uses preset filters to determine who your best roommate will be. This is based on a wide range of preferences you can set. For example, would you prefer a senior as roommate? No worries! Just make sure you select the appropriate filter and Roomi will look for someone that matches your preference. What if you want an LGBTQ or a non-binary roommate? Roomi doesn’t discriminate, so you can input that into your filter and the roommate finding algorithm will take care of the rest. Some other filters you can set relate to preferred neighborhood and house rules.

What’s more? The app is also easy to navigate, guaranteeing the perfect user experience.

So, Which is the Best Roommate Finder for You?

If you had to choose a roommate finder, what would you be looking out for? Something affordable? An app that secures your information? Guarantees your privacy? Something easy to use? Or maybe you’ll choose all of these?

While Roomiematch sure has its perks, Roomi is your best bet because it has all the basics, and then some! With Roomi, you can be sure you’re not alone in your search for the perfect roommate.