Search "app to find cycling partners" and you'll get lists padded with tracking apps that don't do the job. Here's an honest comparison of what each popular option actually delivers when the goal is company on the road.
Strava — social, but after the ride
Strava's clubs and feed are great for following riders you already know. But there's no map of joinable rides near you and no pace-labelled ride feed — it connects you with your past, not your next ride.
Komoot and Ride with GPS — routes, not riders
Both are excellent at planning and navigating routes. Neither answers the question "who can ride with me on it?" You still arrive at your perfectly planned route alone.
Meetup and Facebook groups — people, but slow
Real humans, real rides — buried under general-purpose tools. Events are sparse, pace is a mystery until you show up, and organising anything takes days of thread-scrolling.
CycleBuddy — built for exactly this
A map and feed of joinable rides near you labelled by pace and type, one-tap join, per-ride group chat, ride recording on iPhone and Apple Watch, and a ride planner that works out fuel, water, breaks and café stops for your body. It's the only app on this list whose entire job is finding you riding partners — and it's free to use.
The verdict
Keep Strava for tracking and Komoot for navigation. For the actual finding-people part, download CycleBuddy, open the map, and see who's riding near you right now.