Are you wondering what the difference between friendship love vs romantic love is?
Love comes in different forms and shapes.
Some people love you romantically and become soulmates. Others love you platonically, i.e., from a purely non-romantic perspective.
Both of them are equally important to make your life fulfilled.
So, to know the significant differences between the two, keep reading this article!
15 Differences Between Friendship Love Vs Romantic Love
Often, you may question whether a person loves you as a friend or has deeper feelings. To know what kind of love budded between two people, you must first understand the difference between the two.
But if you’re short on time, scroll down and read the chart below!
| POINT OF DIFFERENCE | FRIENDSHIP LOVE | ROMANTIC LOVE |
| 1. Sexual desires | There’s no physical or sexual desire. | It comes with physical or sexual desire |
| 2. Depth of emotions | It is calm. | It is passionate. |
| 3. Emotional pressure | It has no emotional pressure. | It requires pressure to keep the relationship going. |
| 4. Complications in the relationship | It’s not very complicated. | It can become complicated if a third person interferes. |
| 5. Patience in the relationship | It is patient. | It is aggressive. |
| 6. Relationship boundaries | It has no boundaries. | It has certain boundaries. |
| 7. Expectations and conditions | It comes with little or no expectations and conditions. | It often comes with certain expectations and conditions. |
| 8. People included in the relationship | It can include more than two people in the relationship. | It generally includes only two people in the relationship. |
| 9. Honesty between two people | It can be a little dishonest. | It requires absolute honesty and transparency. |
| 10. Effort put into the relationship | It requires lesser effort. | It requires a lot of work to make things go smoothly. |
| 11. Relation after losing touch | It can be started from where two people left off. | It cannot be started after a breakup since there is awkwardness. |
| 12. Involvement in each other’s lives | It has separate lives for two people. | It has intertwined the lives of two people. |
| 13. Notions about the relationship | It comes with no ideal notions. | It comes with ideal notions about the partner. |
| 14. Seriousness of emotions | It is almost always casual. | It requires seriousness. |
| 15. Being childish or mature | It is childish. | It requires partners to make mature decisions. |
However, it’s always better to know the differences in depth and have a clearer understanding. So, let’s get started!
1. Friendship love has no desire for sex, unlike romantic love
Friendship love has no expectation of anything sexual. When someone loves you as a friend, they’re not looking for anything that can lead to the bedroom.
But romantic love comes with a slight expectation of sex. And if it’s not anything sexual, it does involve getting physical.
2. Friendship love is calm, but romantic love can get passionate
Friendship love makes you feel at peace. You and your friend can feel calm and happy.
But romantic love often puts your feelings on edge. During the initial stages of a romantic relationship, your heart is filled with passion and intensity, and you keep feeling nervous.
3. Friendship love has no pressure but romantic love does
In friendship love, there’s no pressure to keep the friendship alive. It stands the test of time, no matter how far apart you are from each other.
In romantic love, there is a high chance that two people can grow apart. There’s also a constant pressure to keep the spark alive in a romantic relationship. You need to find new ways to keep your relationship strong.
4. Unlike friendship love, romantic love can be complicated
One of the best parts of the love shared between two friends is that it’s never complicated. You both understand each other well and give each other space. Even if you say or do something wrong, you won’t have to worry about it.
But in romantic love, things can often get complicated, especially if a third person gets involved between two partners. You also need to think before you act.
5. Friendship love is patient, but romantic love is sometimes aggressive
Friendship love stands the test of time simply because it is patient. For example, if your best friend doesn’t call or text you that often after moving to a new city, you won’t really be that agitated.
On the other hand, romantic love sometimes feels aggressive and suffocating, especially in a long-distance relationship. Even if your partner doesn’t call you for a day, you might get anxious.
6. Friendship love has no boundaries, but romantic love does
When you choose a friend, you don’t look at their race, color, gender, or any other boundaries. As long as you both have matching tastes, you’re happy being each other’s buddies.
But in romantic love, there are certain restrictions, especially in conservative households. Of course, it can also be blind to differences between these social factors.
7. Friendship love has little expectations, but romantic love comes with conditions
Here again, friendship love comes with much less expectations than romantic love. Friends don’t expect to cross mountains for each other.
But when you’re involved romantically, you expect your partner to give you extra love and attention. You want them to see a future with you and to settle down together.
8. Friendship love can include more people, but romantic love is mostly between two
Even if you have only one best friend, you wouldn’t really mind if they decided to hang out with someone else. So, friendship love can include multiple people.
But in a traditional romantic relationship, two people have to be devoted to only each other. There is no space for a third person to enter into the relationship and claim their space.
9. Friendship love can be a little dishonest but romantic love requires honesty
No matter how strong your friendship is, you can be a little dishonest with each other at times. And even if your friend catches you lying, they’ll be quick to forgive you.
On the other hand, romantic love generally requires absolute honesty and transparency. You must be clear with your partner, or else the relationship won’t work out. But in some situations, even romantic love can get dishonest.
10. Friendship love requires less effort than romantic love
In friendship or platonic love, you don’t really have to put too much effort. Friendship stays forever, whether or not you both stay close by.
But in a romantic relationship, both partners need to constantly work. Even if the relationship is going perfectly, you and your romantic partner will have to put in a lot of hard work to ensure that your relationship stays healthy.
11. Friendship love continues from where you left off, unlike romantic love
Suppose you meet an old friend with whom you had lost touch ages ago. Even if it feels awkward at first, you both will eventually settle into a comfortable rhythm.
This doesn’t happen in romance. Here, there will always be residual feelings or awkwardness between two people who have broken up. And these feelings stay, irrespective of time.
12. Friendship love has separate lives. Romantic love has intertwined love
In friendship, you and your best friend won’t necessarily have to share everything with each other. For example, your finances and other aspects of everyday life will be separate.
But if you’re romantically involved, you both have to make major decisions together. For example, you’ll have to take care of things like house rent or household chores.
13. Friendship love is not ideal, but romantic love has ideal notions
In friendship, there’s no such thing called being ideal. You both know each other’s flaws and love each other exactly the way you are.
The same can happen in a romantic relationship. But usually, people have idealized notions of how their partner would be.
This usually happens because everyone’s influenced by books, movies, and TV shows. Gradually, you think your partner is flawed but still beautiful.
14. Friendship love is always casual, romantic love can get serious
In a true friendship, you both are always bantering with each other. You both know that nothing serious will happen between you two, and that sets a tone of comfort.
But romantic love can often get serious. What starts as a small crush can suddenly turn into full-fledged love. And this especially occurs when you have a huge crush on someone close to you.
15. Friendship love can be childish, but romantic love needs to be mature at times
Sure, friendship also needs maturity at times, but look at the overall path. You both can be your absolute weird and crazy selves with each other.
The same is, of course, applicable to a romantic relationship. But there are times when you and your partner must be very serious.
For example, if you plan to expand your family or invest in a car, you can’t be childish about it.
A word from ThePleasantRelationship
With these major differences between platonic and romantic love, you can easily identify what kind of relationship you have with an individual.
However, if you’re lucky, you might find both friendship and love within the same person!
Are you interested to know more about ‘Signs Of Feeling Unwanted In A Relationship’ then click here?
