Selecting a college roommate was a piece of cake, but in the real world, finding someone to live with gets a lot trickier. Outside of a university setting, locating a legitimate, sane, and actually cool roommate is daunting, whether you’re brand-new to a city or have been there for ages. As if moving isn’t stressful enough to begin with! Luckily, these four apps and websites put thousands of future froomies at your fingertips so you can find a stress-free living sitch for your first (or tenth!) apartment post-graduation, and regardless of your budget.

Roommates talking in the kitchen

1. Roomie Match: This website keeps it real perhaps more so than any other site or app. It boasts the fact that “actual humans” review each roommate profile before it is made public, and you can tell this group has a sense of humor too. With surprisingly frank multiple-choice questions about religious views, political affiliations, and hookup habits, each resulting profile is comprehensive and personal, which ultimately makes it easier to find a roomie that’s a fit for you. After you fill out the lengthy but worth-it questionnaire on the website, your interactions with potential roommates will be exclusively over email, rather than through the site directly, as any matches are forwarded to your email address.

2. Roomster (free on Android and iOS): Contrary to many other roommate-search sites, the well-established Roomster, which was founded in 2003, encourages the sharing of personal information — social media profiles, that is — as a means of verification. The app’s philosophy is that by viewing people’s profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., you gain insight about their friends, workplace, and history. Roomster also allows users to post lengthy (we’re talking 10,000-words lengthy) descriptions of themselves. This different take on transparency is what sets Roomster apart, along with its reach. With listings in 192 countries, from the United States to the United Arab Emirates, and available in 18 languages, this app is sure to have a place for every apartment-less person.

3. EasyRoommate: Finding a roommate on EasyRoommate is about as easy as it gets. Users simply submit their rent requirements, gender, occupation, age, a photo, and short description. Currently, there are over 8,000 rooms available on the site and over 25,000 people in search of roommates in the US. Unlike other websites that are strictly city-centered, EasyRoommate contains listings for rooms in urban as well as rural areas. Combine this with the immense number of ads listed, and you truly get your pick of your next permanent residence.

4. Roomi (free on Android and iOS): This app has an easy-to-use interface (Hint: You’ll be doing some swiping) that enables users to list amenities, house rules, interests, and more. In an effort to depart from the restrictiveness of the typical yearlong-lease arrangement, Roomi describes itself as a peer-to-peer marketplace that helps users find affordable and flexible housing options to fit a variety of needs. Roomi is slightly smaller than the other sites with a presence in only 21 cities, but you are encouraged to request your city be added to the site if it’s not already found on the list.

Would you use these sites for your roommate search? Let us know @BritandCo.

(Photo via Getty)

Annamarie Higley
Annamarie is a Californian who's been plopped in the middle of Missouri for her undergraduate studies in magazine journalism. She's a hiker, an eater, a lover of words. In her opinion, nothing beats a well-made breakfast sammy or a well-crafted sentence.