At one point in time, finding love was a much more difficult process. It required you to commit to “putting yourself out there,” relying on good old-fashioned luck to find what you were looking for, whether it be true love or a quick fling. But nowadays, the dating scene is easier to get into thanks to the best dating apps.
The dating app glossary: The A to Z of terms you need to know
People today are meeting their soul mates on dating apps — something that’s becoming more and more common as society learns to navigate the ins and outs of online dating. A 2022 survey from the Pew Research Center found that out of nearly 6,000 respondents, one in 10 partnered adults (those who were married, in a long-term relationship, or living together) met through a dating app. For adults under 30 and members of the LGBTQ+ community, 20 to 24 percent found their partner on the apps.
A dating app for every desire
With so many dating apps out there, it’s easy to feel confused or overwhelmed by the options. While Match Group (Tinder, Match, Archer, OkCupid, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and The League, among others) continues to dominate the market, you don’t have to limit yourself to just one brand when looking for the best dating app.
There’s a bit of an abundance of choice when it comes to settling on the best dating app for you, which can make an already tiring process that much harder. While Match Group (Tinder, Match, Archer, OkCupid, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and The League, among others) continues to dominate the online dating market, you don’t have to limit yourself to just one brand when looking for the best dating app. We encourage you to expand your horizons while picking one out, and maybe test a few to figure out what you like and don’t like (kind of like dating, we guess?).
How to stay safe on dating apps
For example, First Round’s On Me (FROME) is a newer app that’s gained popularity for its date invitation feature. Choose a drink, date, time, and venue, and the app will send a personalized invitation to your potential match. Once a date is confirmed, it’s locked into both users’ calendars, and the in-app chat feature is activated 12 hours before the date.
Other apps like Pure cater to people open to ethical, non-monogamous relationships or threesomes. There really is something for everyone, including more traditional dating apps like eharmony, Facebook Dating (think Tinder Lite, for your grandma), and Christian Mingle that swap endless scrolling for compatibility quizzes and faith-based connections.
One alternative app that we did originally recommend but can’t anymore, though, is Feeld. The company’s Dec. 2023 rebrand brought with it a slew of bugs and, more importantly, some location-related safety concerns. Since then, we’ve heard additional rumblings about security. Until we have more information, we’d suggest avoiding it for the time being.
The best dating apps of 2024
After testing out each of the apps and putting them through their paces, we’ve narrowed them down to just the best dating apps of 2024. Through hands-on testing, customer reviews, availability (all are available on the App Store or Google Play), privacy, and overall user-friendliness, we feel confident that you’ll find your perfect match among these recommendations.