Once upon a time, we had to rely on good old luck, wit, and charm to find love. Today, it's a little easier to woo potential partners without putting ourselves out there, out there. Thanks to the ever-evolving landscape of dating, sex, and technology, finding love or a quick fling is as simple as downloading a dating app.
It's also becoming more common to meet serious, long-term partners on dating apps. 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.
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.
The best dating apps of 2024
After trying all of these apps and more, we narrowed down the best dating apps of 2024 based on our hands-on testing, customer reviews, availability (all are available on the App Store or Google Play), privacy, and overall user-friendliness: