The best dating apps for online dating can be hard to find. There are so many apps out there and so many people using them, it can be difficult to know what you want in a good dating app.
Luckily, we’ve taken the time to review all the top-rated dating apps out there and rank them according to what they are best at. Whether you’re looking for a long-term relationship or just an occasional hookup, we’ve got the best dating app for you.
What’s great about these apps is that they’re all free. You don’t have to pay any money to use them, but you will have to sign up for a membership plan first. We’ll talk about that later in this article.
Best Apps For Online Dating
If you’re looking for a romantic connection, you don’t have to look much further than your phone these days. In today’s hyper-connected world, it’s never been easier to meet lots of potential partners from the comfort of your couch. But the convenience of the dating apps presents a slew of other unique dating challenges: analysis paralysis, dating fatigue, ambiguous intentions, one-sided conversations that go nowhere, etc.
Although dating apps can be overwhelming, they’re one of the most popular approaches out there and for good reason—we’re all on them now. If you’re looking to optimize your time, it might be a smart idea to approach the apps with a sense of intentionality, which means, signing up for the apps that will give you the best chance to meet your kind of people. After all, you’re not looking to meet everybody—you want to meet the right ones. (Here are all our best online dating tips, btw.)
So, without further ado, we’ve rounded up the best dating apps for 2022, depending on what you’re looking for.
Quick list:
Best for quality interactions: Hinge
Best for meetups and hookups: Tinder
Best for kink: Feeld
Best for those looking for something specific: OKCupid
Best for serious relationships: eHarmony
Best for women: Bumble
Best for queer women: Her
Best for queer people: Lex
Best for gay men: Grindr
Best for Black people: Blk
Best for busy daters: Coffee Meets Bagel
Best for mature daters: Match
Best for professionals: The League
Best for meeting up right away: Clover
Best for traveling: Happn
Best for religious people: See below.
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Best for quality interactions: Hinge
Not sure how to start a conversation with someone? When you set up your profile, Hinge eliminates that problem with interesting conversation prompts. The built-in icebreakers give you plenty of opportunities to share specific interests and fun facts about yourself to facilitate better conversations with matches.
Hinge also comes with limited swipes (unless you pay for a premium account), but this feature is a good thing. A smaller number of likes will motivate you to slow down and see each profile as a person, instead of another face in a sea of faces, which helps avoid mindless swiping.
“This is a great option for those who are just entering the dating scene,” online dating coach Perri Schneider says. “It has a lot of great questions to get to know potential matches on the app and a new voice note feature. It’s immensely helpful to see if someone’s voice piques your interest.”
Best for meetups and hookups: Tinder
While you can meet people for casual dates or casual sex on any of these apps, Tinder reigns supreme in this category. The app is extremely straightforward to use, though that does mean people make quicker snap judgments, which can devolve into focusing more on someone’s photos instead of their bio and interests. To match the pace, try to pay attention to your pictures and how they can best represent your dynamic personality and what you’re all about.
Tinder also still has some viable dating prospects on the app; you may just have to weed through a lot of matches to find them. Although plenty of people these days have met their forever partners on Tinder, Schneider says it generally may not be the best app for serious dating due to its oversaturation. But its strong reputation is also its strong suit: “I find with my clients that it’s still widely used, which can be helpful if you’re not in a city and live in a more remote area,” she says.
Best for kink: Feeld
Feeld was created for people looking to approach love with sexual exploration and an adventurous flair. It’s inclusive in representing many sexualities and gender identities and those looking to explore threesomes, polyamory, swinging, casual sex, kink, and other alternative steamy encounters.
Because of Feeld’s transparency and refreshing openness, it’s simpler to have honest conversations about your sexual preferences without it feeling creepy or unsolicited. Feeld also has a powerful matching algorithm that makes it comfortable to connect with like-minded partners for casual sex and fantasy fulfillment.
Best for those looking for something specific: OKCupid
It’s been around for 18 years for good reason. OKCupid appeals to a diverse demographic for people looking for romantic connections and everything in between—friendships, flings, and alternative relationships. The site has additional gender and sexuality options for users and nonmonogamy options, so it’s easier to find people looking for the same thing.
OKCupid is widely known for its keyword search options, long-form profiles, and interactive personality quizzes to help find compatible matches. It’s a popular dating site if you want to get away from plain swiping and meet others with a high match percentage and shared interests. “OKCupid does an amazing job at being inclusive for all,” Schneider says. However, the downside is that some basic functions are locked behind a paywall.
Best for serious relationships: eHarmony
According to marriage therapist Omar Ruiz, LMFT, eHarmony is great for serious daters looking to connect with others similarly interested in a long-term relationship. The app requires you to fill out an extensive profile and complete various questions to help produce matches with a higher compatibility.
With eHarmony, you’ll learn a lot about someone before even beginning the first conversation. “The profile list is limited since it’s for [the people] who don’t want to deal with the ups and downs of dating app culture and want to settle down,” he says.
Best for women: Bumble
Made for women, by women, Bumble is a user-friendly app that strives to create a positive experience for its daters with its zero-tolerance policy toward hate speech and body shaming. “I find that Bumble has the most active users on its platform–which is great to increase the chances of matching with someone you really like,” Schneider says. “The women must initiate the conversation [when matching with men], but with same-sex matches, either can begin the chat.”
Because women have to make their first move within 24 hours, it adds urgency to the interaction, which minimizes conversations falling to the wayside. You don’t have to just look for a romantic match on Bumble either. They have other features for business and BFF connections, too.
Best for queer women: Her
Her is a dating and community app for lesbian, queer, bisexual, and straight women; GNC folx; and nonbinary people. It’s created for queer people, by queer people, making it one of the most popular lesbian apps on the market.
Her strives to create an inclusive interface that actively bucks against heteronormative narratives, with the app encouraging its users to be open about their intersecting identities and relationship orientations. The dating experience is relatively uncomplicated—you can view profiles, “like” other users, match with people, and get to know someone via chat. It also comes with an additional social networking segment where you can learn about queer events, local parties, find new friends to meet up with, and spaces to discuss your interests.
Best for queer people: Lex
Lex is a text-centered format inspired by old newspaper personals where users can post an ad about who they are and what they are looking for. There isn’t a huge emphasis on photos, and it’s mainly about connecting with others in a casual manner.
For that reason, Schneider agrees it’s one of the best LGBTQ+ social and dating sites out there. The open-ended possibilities help foster different connections of all types: a friend, new hookup, or someone to obsess over your favorite new TV show with.
Best for gay men: Grindr
“Grindr is a social networking app with a goal to connect its gay, bi, trans, and queer users,” Schneider says. Although any type of relationship can come from the app, one-night stands are typical for the user experience. “It is still very much notorious for being a hook-up-focused app.”
Grindr consists primarily of a bio, pictures, and an ability to favorite others to keep track of the people you’re interested in. It also has an efficient geo-social location-based feature to connect with others within a close radius.
Honorable mention: Scruff
Similar to Grindr, Scruff is popular among gay men but offers additional features for those looking for something more than a casual relationship. It has refined features to produce better conversations and offers varying filters to search for unique matches.
Best for Black people: Blk
“Blk is a culturally niche dating app catered and designed specifically to support and connect the Black community,” Ruiz says. It’s easy to use the app with a simple setup process, photo verification, and straightforward matching to help singles look for meaningful connections and friendships.
Blk offers many of its options for free. Every day, you receive a personalized group of profiles to vet and chat with other users who have liked your profile. If you do decide to pay for a premium account, you can briefly boost your profile to be a top profile in your area, send an unlimited amount of likes, and rewind on people to give them a second chance.
Best for busy daters: Coffee Meets Bagel
Exhausted by swiping? Coffee Meets Bagel can help you with that. “Unlike other dating apps where you can scroll through a listing of photos, Coffee Meets Bagel sends a list of suggested profiles (called bagels) every day,” Ruiz tells mbg. The suggestions are tailored to you based on your preferences. Once the connection is made, the app has an eight-day feature where you’ll both have to opt into the conversation again, which might encourage you to set up that coffee date sooner rather than later.
Once in a while, the app will periodically give you a few free likes for when you want to take your matches into your own hands. “Coffee Meets Bagel is best for those who have specific preferences in what they want from their match,” Ruiz says. It is a solid option for those who are looking for a relationship without wanting to spend a lot of time on the apps.
Best for mature daters: Match
“If you find yourself on the higher end of the age spectrum and you don’t vibe with the current dating apps, Match is a great choice if you’re willing to pay a membership fee,” Schneider says. “It’s a solid choice if you live in a suburb or somewhere remote since the site attracts users from all over.”
If you’re looking for a long-term relationship, Match is known as a site for serious daters. The more questions you answer, the more targeted your matches will be. The detail-rich site lets you search around the database and check out members with similar preferences as yours. It also displays when members were last active, so it’s likelier to match with someone who was recently online. Bonus: As a paid user, you can see who’s checking out your profile.
Best for professionals: The League
“The League is an exclusive dating app for the modern-day working professional. It’s [considered] the LinkedIn of dating,” Ruiz says. It has a short waiting list, and once you’re in, the matches are set up similarly to an IRL networking event. Every day at “happy hour,” you’re given a limited list of profiles to review. The success of the app may come down to your age and location, meaning you’ll probably have better chances in a metropolitan city.
He notes there’s a paid membership that can be much pricier than other dating apps, so it’s probably better suited for those who can financially afford the ongoing cost of a premium experience. For both free and paid users, it comes with a live feature where you can go on video speed dates.
Best for meeting up right away: Clover
As one of the highest-rated apps on the Apple app store, Clover has rapidly proven itself as a robust dating app due to its many features and hybrid focus on both swiping and compatibility. If you’re looking to meet someone right away, it has an on-demand feature for when you’re looking for a date on a specific night.
Ruiz points out there’s also a special feature to create a mixer, similar to a social event, and meet other singles that are part of the group. The interface resembles a social media website with icebreakers for easier conversations.
Best for traveling: Happn
If you’re crushing on someone at your local bookstore but you don’t know how to make the first move, this is the app for you. “Happn is the Google Maps of dating,” Ruiz says. “The app tracks users based on their physical location and matches users to those that are around them. This app can be best used for hookups or possible dates due to the ability to match with someone within close proximity.”
Happn has an element of kismet to it since it tallies how many times you and your potential matches cross paths with each other. Since you’re hanging around the same areas, it makes it exponentially easier to set up a date or grab a quick coffee at your favorite neighborhood coffee shop. Ruiz recommends Happn for consistent travelers or those who live in highly populated cities, so you’re not running into the same people repeatedly.
Best options for religious daters:
Although other apps filter for religious preferences, you’ll have to wade through a lot of conversations to understand the role religion plays in their life. If sharing similar beliefs is an important consideration, consider looking into religion-specific apps like Christian Mingle (for Christian singles), JSwipe (for Jewish singles), or Salams (for Muslim singles). These types of apps attract a database of faith-driven people who center their religious beliefs in their dating experience.
Christian Mingle, for example, asks for and culls information about someone’s upbringing, education, interests, and their relationship to spirituality, so it appeals to serious daters. It also has enhanced privacy features and the ability to sort through matches by age and location.
JSwipe is a leading dating app for Jewish millennial singles. The app boasts a strong database of users in their 20s and 30s, with many free basic features. One of the big negatives is that you’ll need a Facebook account to join.
Salams was originally created to matchmake single Muslims, but it’s since expanded into connecting others for friendships and networking. Per the matchmaking angle, Salams prioritizes your cultural background, family upbringing, core beliefs, and overall personality over looks—so much so that in certain countries, photos are blurred until you’re ready to reveal it to your match.
best dating sites
Whether you’re looking to dip your toe in the dating pool or are on the hunt for lasting love, these are the best dating sites to try
By
Katie Russell
23 March 2022 • 5:42pm
Best online dating sites and apps 2022
CREDIT: Getty
It’s springtime and, as the sun comes out and the flowers bloom, our thoughts turn naturally to romance. An online dating service is a good place to start.
Online dating and dating apps are now one of the most popular ways to meet a new partner and there are more than 1,400 sites in the UK alone, catering for people from all walks of life and interests.
Now is the perfect time to log on. One dating site, Zoosk, found that 34 percent more first messages are sent each day in the spring — and, interestingly, that mentioning sunny words like “beach” and “picnic” in a message boosted responses significantly. It stands to reason. Right now singles are going out more and feeling more confident with the dopamine boost that sunshine brings. According to dating psychologist Dr Karin Anderson Abrell, this is the time of year when people are most open to new relationships and having fun.
The good news is, the range of dating sites has never been bigger. Whether you’re mad about dogs, passionate about green issues or a connoisseur of fine wines, you may just be a few clicks away from someone who shares your interests.
Here is our pick of the best dating websites and apps – not forgetting our very own website dating.telegraph.co.uk.
The best dating sites and apps in the UK
- Eharmony
Best for: serious relationships
Free membership (limited)
5 million users in the UK
Modern matchmaking service, eharmony, claims over two million people have found love through their site. Users are required to fill out a short quiz to determine their core values in relation to others, and this powers many useful tools to help them find love (including compatibility scores, personality profiles, and relationship advice).
It’s free to register and download the app, send ‘smiles’ and pre-written Icebreakers to get the conversation started. However, you need to subscribe for customised messages and unlimited access to your match’s profile. Subscription costs from £7.95 per month for 24 months.
eharmony.co.uk
- Match.com
Best for: getting back out there
Free membership (limited)
3 million users in the UK
Synonymous with online dating, Match.com has someone for everyone. Create a detailed profile, then find your potential partner through a criteria search. You can go on “zen mode” to be only contacted by those who meet your criteria.
It’s free to become a member but you can only send and receive messages if you are a subscriber. Subscription costs from £12.99 per month for six months.
match.com
- EliteSingles
Best for: educated singles in their forties
From £24.95 per month
170,000 users
Those averse to swiping left may enjoy EliteSingles – a site that uses a personality test to match users based on their compatibility. The comprehensive compatibility test takes into account looks, personality (with questions on how optimistic and ambitious you are, your social skills, how friends would describe you, and more), and what you’re looking for in a partner – including whether or not you want children. Most users are looking for a long-term commitment and intellectual match, and 85 per cent of users have a degree and are between 30 and 55 years old.
You need to subscribe to send messages to your matches, as well as see all of their photos and leave comments. Premium membership costs from £24.95 per month for 12 months; or you can trial it for three months (£44.95 per month) or six months (£34.95 per month).
elitesingles.co.uk
- Silver Singles
Best for: Over 50’s who are looking for love
Free membership (limited)
70,000 users in the UK
While Silver Singles is most popular in the States, it is starting to catch on in the UK, too. To register for the site, you must fill out a comprehensive personality test, which takes between 15 and 30 minutes and aims to partner you with your perfect match.
While profiles are quite detailed, they are kept behind a paywall. Likewise, you will need to pay in order to send messages to prospective matches. This premium membership costs from $24.95 for 12 months.
SilverSingles.co.uk
- Our Time
Best for: meeting a variety of over-50s singletons in your area
Free membership
150,000 active users
Our Time is a breath of fresh air for those who are tired of swiping and want to meet someone IRL (that’s ‘in real life’ in text speak). The site hosts regular events for mature singles in your area, where you can meet likeminded people. Feeling shy? You can bring up to three friends with you for moral support.
The app is owned by Match Group, meaning your profile will appear on other dating sites – which widens the pool for meeting your potential partner.
For more tips and advice on successful dating after 40, visit our Mature Dating section.
ourtime.co.uk
- Telegraph Dating
Best for: meeting like-minded individuals
Free membership (limited)
220,000 members worldwide
The Telegraph Dating site is a straightforward way to meet like-minded singles. As you set up your free profile, simply describe the type of person for whom you’re searching. Then, browse the site and view others’ profiles; once you find someone who you feel is a good match, send them a message.
A free membership allows you to read messages from potential matches and reply with a one-liner. Only paying subscribers can start conversations and write personal, customised messages. It costs from £12 per month for 12 months for a subscription. For an additional £10 per month, you can upgrade to Premium, where anyone can reply to your messages for free.
telegraph.co.uk/dating
- Parship
Best for: singles looking for a long-term commitment
Free (limited)
23,000 new members every week
Parship has a scientific approach to helping you find love. Relying on 40 years of findings on how to build a successful relationship, the site categorises users into 36 personality traits, and uses a matching algorithm of 136 rules. The compatibility questionnaire is extensive, and covers everything from what you look for in a partner to whether you sleep with the window open.
There is a fairly even male/female split in the users, and 52 per cent of them are graduates. The site welcomes 23,000 new members every week, and almost four in 10 find their partner through Parship. However, whilst it is free to sign up, take the comprehensive personality test, view your matches and send them ‘smiles’, you have to pay to be able to message your matches. Membership costs from £14.90 per month for 12 months, but you can trial the site for six months (£19.90 per month) or three months (£29.90 per month), too.
uk.parship.com
- Original Dating
Best for: Singles who want a quirky way of finding The One
From £10 per event
Over 250,000 users
Tired of swiping right? Original Dating is unlike other apps in that it focuses on singles meeting up in real life. There are speed dating events (including virtual options) where you will typically meet between 15 and 20 people in one night. Unlike the speed dating events of old, Original Dating ensures there is an even ratio of men:women by asking all attendees to book online. You can subscribe for discounts and access to more exclusive events, or just give an event a go (prices start at just £10).
originaldating.com
- OkCupid
Best for: quirky and open-minded singles
Free membership
4 million users worldwide
OkCupid has an extensive personality questionnaire, designed to increase compatibility. You can then inject personality into your profile by answering quirky questions, such as “Do you make your bed every day?”
Instead of being bombarded with messages, you can only message those with whom you have matched. Downloading the app and speaking to users is free but you can upgrade to Premium for extra features.
In 2014, the OKCupid app was the first to introduce 22 genders and 13 sexual orientation options. This inclusive outlook has made OkCupid particularly popular, making 91 million connections every year according to their site.
okcupid.com
- Bumble
Best for: empowering women
Free membership
22 million users worldwide
To redress the gender imbalance of dating apps, women have to begin the conversations on Bumble. Profiles are not as detailed as on some apps, but you can make video calls and get to know your match before you meet.
Lazy users are penalised on Bumble, as you only have 24 hours to initiate a conversation before the match expires. The app is free to use but you can upgrade to Bumble Boost, where you can see users who have already ‘liked’ you, for £11.16 per month for 6 months or even just £2.49 for the day.
bumble.com
- HER
Best for: meeting like-minded queer women
Free membership
4 million members worldwide
HER is a much-needed breath of fresh air on the dating app scene, as it’s dedicated to helping queer, bisexual and lesbian women find their ideal partner. The app is free and you can view profiles, add friends and start chats at no extra cost. Upgrade to HER Premium to filter users by sexuality, see who is currently online and more.
HER also shares LGBTQ+ news and events taking place in your area, and there are smaller chat groups where you can meet other users.
weareher.com
- Inner Circle
Best for: young professionals
Free membership
3 million users worldwide
The adverts for Inner Circle look like promotions for Glyndebourne, featuring couples in black ties and cocktail dress. This dating app is selective and there’s even an application process. In 2016, there were 450,000 applicants on the waiting list.
Tailored to matchmaking ambitious, career-savvy young professionals, Inner Circle now has 4 million singles on the app, spanning 66 cities in 29 countries. The app is free to download, but you can upgrade to premium packages. There are also exclusive members events. Polo in the park, anyone?
theinnercircle.co
- Happn
Best for: busy people
Free membership
50 million users worldwide
In the films, people lock eyes on the train, start a conversation and then fall in love. In reality, we are too awkward (and British) to act on impulse. That’s where Happn comes in. If you have crossed paths with another user, they’ll show up at the top of your Happn page. If you like what you see, you can send a heart and, if they send one back, instigate a conversation.
Your exact location is not shared – just the approximate area. The app is free but you can upgrade for Premium benefits including up to 10 ‘Hellos’ and access to the list of people who like you.
happn.com
- Hinge
Best for: young people looking for love
Free membership
5.5 million members worldwide
Hinge is the new kid on the dating game block, known amongst millennials as ‘the relationship app’. To set up a profile, you need more than just photos and a one-line bio. Instead, you must answer three questions (e.g. “My childhood crush?…Andrew Garcia”) and potential matches can ‘like’ your answers and start up a conversation.
Hinge app
Hinge is known as ‘the relationship app’ amongst millennials – partly because of its advertising slogan CREDIT: Hinge
The app is free to download and you have unlimited access to profiles, swiping and sending messages. However, you can upgrade to a Preferred Membership, which allows you to better filter results.
hinge.co
- Tinder
Best for: casual dating
Free membership
Over 50 million users worldwide
It’s the Godfather of dating apps. Tinder, the photo-heavy app with 2 billion views per day, allows you to swipe right to potential partners, then message and arrange a date. The app is responsible for 1 million dates per week, according to the site.
Tinder seems geared towards casual dating. Profiles are not as detailed as on other apps, but you can include your name, job, company, education, location and links to your Instagram and Spotify accounts.
tinder.com
Tinder app
Tinder is just one of many dating apps where you could potentially find your future partner CREDIT: Tinder
- Badoo
Best for: keeping your options open
Free membership (limited)
Over 497 million users worldwide
If you want to be spoiled for choice, give Badoo a go. When you sign up for the app, you select what you’re looking for – just to chat, casual dates, a serious relationship or stay open-minded.
The app has a swipe function but it’s also possible to drop in on people’s live video chats. Profiles consist of basic personal information and you get notifications when someone likes or messages you. This, however, can be overwhelming as there are so many users. Premium prices depend on the package and subscription you sign up to, but start at £4.99 for a week.
badoo.com
- Coffee Meets Bagel
Best for: romantics
Free membership
7 million users worldwide
As you can probably tell from its moniker, this app’s main fanbase is in the States. However, it certainly brings something different to the dating game. Its stand-out USP is that the site only sends you one match every day, which means you have to really consider whether this person is a good match, as opposed to swiping left without giving them a second thought.
That being said, you can click on the ‘Discover’ tab and like a handful of people per day. If you match, the app suggests a personalised icebreaker (e.g. “Ask Thomas about his recent trip to Thailand!”). It’s free to download the app and speak to your matches. However, you can upgrade for a Premium membership to see if your messages have been read and to access stats on your match – how long they typically take to reply, for instance.
coffeemeetsbagel.com
- Qemistry
Best for: Young TikTok-obsessives looking for love
Free membership
Designed for 18-35 year olds of all genders and orientations, Qemistry is a breath of fresh air on the dating app scene. It’s still in its infancy (it only launched on September 3 this year) but it has great potential. To use it, you upload videos to your profile – whether that be TikToks, Instagram Stories or a video of you telling a joke or having a boogie. Unlike curated photo profiles (with their emphasis on abs) this lets your personality shine through.
qemistry.co/
Best religious dating sites and apps
- Christian Connection
Best for: Christians looking for long-term commitment
Free membership (limited)
110,000 users worldwide.
On Christian Connection, users can create detailed profiles, outlining their jobs, political views, dream holiday destinations, favourite films and, of course, religious standpoints.
If you find someone you like, you can ‘wave’ at them and send a message. Membership is free but this only allows you to match, send waves and preset replies. There is a free 3-day trial for a taster of the subscription service; if you subscribe, from £24 per month, you can send unlimited messages and get discounted entry to social events.
www.christianconnection.com
- Muzmatch
Best for: single Muslims looking for love
Free membership
1 million members worldwide
You may recognise Muzmatch from their fun advertising campaigns (“Halal, is it me you’re looking for?”). Yet the free dating app has plenty of other stand-out features which may explain its 25,000 success stories. Firstly, it protects your privacy – you can use an alias and keep your photos hidden or blurred until a later date, so there’s no danger of friends or family stumbling across your profile.
All users are verified and you can opt to have a chaperone (a ‘Wali’) in your chats. The app is free for you to swipe, match and chat. However, you can upgrade to Instant Match, where you can talk to someone before they have liked you back.
muzmatch.com
- JDate
Best for: Jewish singles
Free membership
The net’s biggest Jewish dating service, JDate, has been around for nearly 20 years. Following its redesign in 2017, it is now a more streamlined service. After uploading a bio (typically 100-150 words) and up to 6 photos, you can browse others’ profiles to assess their physical features, hobbies, religious practice and what they’re looking for.
It’s easy to keep track of potential partners with the Look Book, a list of who has liked you back. Plus, there’s a community feel to the site due to the Kibitz Corner, where the site provides daily questions and you can compare answers with your matches.
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