The best dating apps for women to fall in love, find a plus one, or end a dry spell

The Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble trifecta is great for some situations, but they shouldn't always be your last stop.
By Leah Stodart  on 
Editors and writers independently select products unless marked Sponsored or Promoted. Sponsored content is a paid ad, while content marked Promoted is chosen by Ziff Davis leadership. We may earn an affiliate commission if you buy through our links. Promoted cards do not include input from individual authors.

Overview

Best overall

Hinge

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PROMOTED
For those looking for sex

Adult Friend Finder

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Best serious dating app

match

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Best for left-leaning people

OkCupid

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Best for queer women

HER

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Best for women-first messaging

Bumble

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Best for a quick meetup (and on vacation)

Tinder

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Best if you're dating to marry

eharmony

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Best for single women over 50

SilverSingles

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Best for quick, discreet meetups

Pure

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Best for singles who prioritize career goals

EliteSingles

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Best as a last resort

Zoosk

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Best for exploring polyamory, kinks, and more

Feeld

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See 8 More

Being a woman on the internet is hard. Being a woman trying to find a genuine connection on the internet is even harder. And when that internet is littered with emboldened creeps and AI profiles that pique more curiosity than the real ones, apparently, applying to be on Love Island may start to seem like a sane alternative.

That said, meeting someone great online isn't impossible. With a bit of common sense, a personalized list of dating non-negotiables, and a game plan (for which we've set some guidelines below), there's no need to rule dating apps out as a place to find romance, a wedding date, or an animate alternative to your sex toy collection.

So, which dating app is best for women?

Circling back to that common sense we just mentioned — there's no hard and fast answer singling out a single dating app as the one every woman will love. We can, however, provide recommendations based on your ideal entanglement situation: Don't want men to be able to message you first? Bumble. Don't want any cishet men to infiltrate your queer dating pool at all? HER. Simply want a less gamified feel than Tinder — or a free ride to the airport? Hinge.

But really, we know online dating is exhausting — so we've done the hands-on work to find dating apps that go beyond superficial swiping and generic profiles. Of course, if you are looking for superficial swiping, we have some options for that, too. Based on our personal experience looking for love, lust, and friendship online, here are the best dating apps for women in any situation:

Our Pick

Who it's for:

If you're over mindlessly swiping on Tinder, Hinge is the perfect alternative for women seeking more meaningful, potentially longer-lasting connections without the cloud of seriousness that match or eharmony might bring.

Why we picked this:

Having a profile on Tinder probably means you have one on Hinge and Bumble, too. But what makes Hinge feel more genuine is its "designed to be deleted" philosophy. Despite the validation and the thrill of matching with someone interesting, for many of us, the ultimate goal is to find a connection so meaningful that you want to delete the apps.

Hinge sets the stage for those more invested connections with several profile-making features that require more effort than writing a lame quip for a bio, from its infamous open-ended prompts to the ability to sort potential matches by filters like height, political party, and whether they drink or smoke (if you pay for Hinge+).

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screenshot of adult friend finder homepage
PROMOTED

Adult Friend Finder

For those looking for sex

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Four views of match dating app

match

Best serious dating app

Read our full review of match.

Who it's for:

If you're looking to make a genuine connection without the pressure of looming wedding bells, match is a great eharmony alternative. Whether you’re after a serious relationship or something more casual, match values meaningful conversations and compatibility based on personality traits.

Why we picked this:

Match (no more ".com") is a more laid-back dating app than eharmony, making it a pretty good option for anyone looking for a real relationship while keeping their options open.

Over the years, one of match's shining points of consistency has been its well-populated but balanced user base. There's a near-even split between men and women and users with and without children. And, thanks to its large user base, the platform is stacked with people to match with, even if you're looking for love in a less-populated area.

Match has totally reconstructed its questionnaire to be more conversational and less like a tedious interrogation. Instead of asking you a bunch of questions about your preferences, match now asks you how you would react to realistic situations — both with a partner and, say, a neighbor who needs help at 3. a.m. By asking these types of questions, match can get a better sense of how you think and how you handle conflict.

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okcupid app cards

OkCupid

Best for left-leaning people

Read our full review of OkCupid.

Who it's for:

OkCupid is for people who know that it's not just about finding someone who's hot. It's about finding someone who's hot who also won't give you the ick with their political takes. And with more than 20 gender identities and 12 sexual orientations, the OkCupid atmosphere is inclusive for folks who may have felt a less-inviting vibe elsewhere.

Why we picked this:

OkCupid stands out for its commitment to empowering users to express their values and filter out potential matches with misaligned views. By answering deal-breaker questions like "Would you date someone who keeps a gun in the house?" or "Should the government require children to be vaccinated for preventable diseases?" users can highlight the issues they care about and weed out people they'd want to argue with. In fact, OkCupid's statistics show liberal women and politically engaged individuals have better success on the site.

Of course, politics are not the only determining factor in romantic connections. OkCupid provides detailed user bios that cover modern dating topics and explore love languages without resorting to clichés. Each profile is assigned a compatibility percentage, offering additional insight into potential matches.

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her app cards

HER

Best for queer women

Who it's for:

HER is a queer women-only dating app for women who are tired of being harassed or fetishized by men on other dating apps. It's a sanctuary where you can connect with other queer women in a safe and empowering environment, free from harassment or objectification.

HER welcomes all queer women with open arms regardless of age, background, or journey. Whether you're newly out or an LGBTQ+ veteran, HER celebrates your authenticity. This app provides a space where you can be unapologetically yourself while meeting like-minded queer women who share your passions and interests.

Why we picked this:

HER is an award-winning app created by queer women for queer women, offering a refreshing alternative to the limited dating options. With a rapidly growing user base of over four million, HER is carving out its spot as a go-to app for queer women who are over Tinder and Bumble — and are simply done with their dating pool maxing out at their existing social circles.

HER's commitment to inclusivity is evident in the expression opportunities when creating a profile. From sexuality, to pronouns, and even diet preferences like veganism, HER encourages users to showcase their uniqueness. The app also goes beyond the surface by providing space for a text bio, allowing you to infuse humor, describe your relationship preferences, and share specific details like being newly out or being in a relationship.

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Four views of Bumble app

Bumble

Best for women-first messaging

Read our full review of Bumble Premium.

Who it's for:

Bumble is the ideal dating app for women and non-binary individuals who want to take control of their online dating experience. If you're tired of waiting for someone to make the first move or sifting through countless unwanted messages, Bumble puts the power in your hands.

Why we picked this:

We hype Bumble because it addresses a common occurrence that both women and nonbinary people know all too well: receiving unwanted and creepy messages. With Bumble, women and nonbinary people are empowered to make the first move, creating a safety net of sorts that filters out having to deal with people you wouldn't have wanted to engage with otherwise. Compatibility features, like pushing interests and favorite Spotify artists to the top of a profile, make it easier to tell who you may get along with on Bumble than on other apps.

Matches on Bumble expire after 24 hours, encouraging active engagement and preventing your app from becoming cluttered with long-forgotten matches. Speaking of dead connections, Bumble is also anti-ghosting — IRL ghosting at least. If someone doesn't show up for a planned date, they risk being banned from the app if the other person reports it.

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Four views of features on dating app Tinder

Tinder

Best for a quick meetup (and on vacation)

Read our full review of Tinder Platinum.

Who it's for:

Tinder is something to have in your back pocket if you're looking for, well, pretty much anything more casual than a serious relationship. That doesn't necessarily have to be a hookup, though Tinder is an infamously successful no-strings-attached matchmaker. (Editor's note: If a hookup is what you're after, we have a guide for that.) It can also be a quick and convenient platform if you're simply looking to see who's out there in a new place or thicken the plot with an impromptu date whilst on vacation.

Regardless of your goals, anyone on Tinder will have to be down to do some digging. Unlike most other online dating platforms, Tinder's filtering options max out at age, gender, and proximity to you (based on miles). You'll have to have the patience to play the picture game that is swiping through everyone in those vague demographic categories, and probably a ton of fish pictures.

Why we picked this:

There's just something to be said for the instant gratification and lack of pressure that this OG swiping app provides. Based on numbers alone — over 75 billion total matches made in the app's history and 4.2 million GIFs sent between matches per week — Tinder's ability to put you in touch with people is hard to top.

However, Tinder is also one of the most innovative apps on the market. It's constantly rolling out unique features like Matchmaker, which lets friends and family recommend matches for you, as well as ways to tweak your swiping experience, like a relationship type indicator and the ability to block your ex.

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Four screenshots of tabs on eharmony app

eharmony

Best if you're dating to marry

Read our full review of eharmony.

Who it's for:

If you've officially moved out of "casually-dating-but-open-to-something serious" into "definitely dating to marry" territory, eharmony might be your secret weapon. This is the app for all of the Charlotte Yorks out there who are ready to dive into the deep end of marriage or long-term commitment and would prefer that goal to be a common (even if unspoken) understanding with the people being shown in a dating app feed.

Why we picked this:

While this longstanding site's success rate may not have been in question much, the "who" making up those successful couples may have made younger potential members wary. However, the platform's user base has seriously diversified in recent years. The number of LGBTQ members grew by 31 percent between 2022 and 2023, and over half of eharmony users are now millennials or members of Gen Z. With the help of GLAAD, an August 2023 update also expanded the gender options in the sign-up process (both for yourself and for setting filters to narrow down your dating pool). Crucial updates like this, plus a larger less-mushy rebrand in 2020, aim to distance eharmony from its corny, conservative roots.

The comprehensive questionnaire still covers more than 30 dimensions of what makes a happy relationship, but rather than straight-up asking if you're emotionally stable (a real question asked before 2020), eharmony now asks more natural hypothetical questions to draw more authentic responses, plus some fun ones to cover interests, views, and other conversation starters.

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silversingles app cards

SilverSingles

Best for single women over 50

Who it's for:

SilverSingles is a dating site for people who are over the age of 50 and know what they want in a relationship. They're experienced, they're confident, and they're ready to find their happily ever after.

SilverSingles uses a personality test to match you with other users who are compatible with you. This means that you don't have to waste time swiping through profiles of people who you're not interested in.

Why we picked this:

Dating over 50 means that, more than likely, this is your second or third attempt at love. When match or eharmony's user bases still pose too much of a never-married-with-no-kids crowd, SilverSingles is here to let you know that putting yourself back out there doesn't have to be scary. 

You're not alone: 50% of marriages in the US end in divorce. Unsurprisingly, many men and women are finding themselves in the online dating world during their golden years. Because SilverSingles wants to ensure that your next relationship is your happily ever after, the sign-up process and questionnaires will take a good bit of time to assess the type of partner you are. The site will use your info to send you five of its best matches per day.

A sister site to EliteSingles, SilverSingles uses the same intense compatibility system that EliteSingles does, bringing in the popular big five personality traits to assess five levels of your being: Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. If you've heard of Senior Singles Meet in the past, SilverSingles is that same site with a rebrand — so they've been working on mastering the five-factor model in tandem with senior dating for about two decades.

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Four views of features on Pure dating app

Pure

Best for quick, discreet meetups

Who it's for:

Pure is a dating app designed for individuals who want to skip the games and get to the point: casual encounters. There are no fancy algorithms, no mushy messages, and no time to take your time.

Why we picked this:

Women freely expressing their sexuality online is a beautiful thing that can be soiled quickly by male entitlement. Whether you're not comfortable with putting "sex only" in your Tinder bio for the locals to see or you're simply a practicer of non-attachment with the people you bang, Pure is a safer, hip solution that gives all the vibes of a hookup-centric site without the nasty ads everywhere.

App rules urge you to "pretend like you're strangers afterwards," making no-strings-attached connections the name of the game here. If you see an ad (a profile) of someone who seems to have similar date ideas or turn ons as you do, you can like them or start a conversation. You'll have to act fast, though, because likes self-destruct every 24 hours, and you won't know their name after the fact. Nudes aren't allowed on profiles but are allowed in chats, and you can send them with confidence that they'll self-destruct and can't be screenshotted.

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elitesingles app cards

EliteSingles

Best for singles who prioritize career goals

Who it's for:

Elite Singles is a dating app for educated singles over 30 who are looking for long-term relationships.

Why we picked this:

Differences in work ethic and professional schedules can throw a wrench into even the most head-over-heel relationships. For those unwilling to budge on their partner's educational values and career goals, EliteSingles attempts to offer more specificity related to where a person is career-wise and family-wise than eharmony and match.

Elite Singles' matching system utilizes 29 algorithms rooted in the Five Factor Personality Test, ensuring compatibility in attachment style and personal values. And don't worry; the process includes engaging questions like "Do you like sleeping with the window open?" and "Which of these foods do you like the best?" to add some fun to the mix. Unfortunately, you may not get many open-ended answers about a person past how they've answered these questions, as several Reddit users have noted that many profiles appear unfinished (or even seem downright spammy).

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zoosk app cards

Zoosk

Best as a last resort

Read our full review of Zoosk.

Who it's for:

Zoosk is a dating site that anyone can use, but it's last on our list for a reason. Although Zoosk has a large user base, the app is loaded with spammy and fake profiles. We only recommend Zoosk if you've tried other dating apps and haven't had any luck.

Why we picked this:

Originally launched as a Facebook app in 2007, Zoosk has since expanded into a global dating platform with 40 million users across 80 countries. Rather than asking its users for dating questions, Zoosk picks dates for its users based on quick questions about physical appearance and religion, and then keeps tabs on who you talk to the most to get a better idea of what you're after. There are many flirty little ways to spark a conversation without actually giving an opening line, but you'll know next to nothing about the person going into it.

When Zoosk switched from a social media app to a legit dating site, it was more or less in a league of its own. Incorporating "liking" photos and having a similar look to a Facebook feed was super attractive to young, single people... in the early 2000s. The problem is that Zoosk hasn't changed much since then. It's plain, riddled with dead or fake profiles, and there certainly aren't any modern tweaks like OkCupid's politics-related icebreakers or Match's overhauled questionnaire. The whole "Zoosk coin" thing is old, too.

Zoosk is free to sign up, but you'll need a paid subscription to do basically anything. Not only is there a fee at the end of every message, but Reddit users complain about random charges to their accounts and ignore requests to cancel their subscriptions. The company also uses its own form of currency, "Zoosk coins," which are available for purchase. Daters can use these for features like adding a "boost" to their profiles in search or sending another user a virtual gift like roses. The whole coin system feels less like romance and more like you're playing some pop-up ad game, but they're there. 

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four views of features on feeld dating app

Feeld

Best for exploring polyamory, kinks, and more

Note: As of Dec. 13, we are in the process of reevaluating Feeld's place among our recommendations after the app's recent update arrived with bugs and location-related safety concerns. Feeld has since told Mashable that locations shared were not users' current exact locations, rather the name of a city, town, or borough.

Who it's for:

Feeld is a modern, inclusive dating app designed for people interested in exploring their sexuality and embracing consensual non-monogamy. It's an app to try if your experience with finding a threesome (or more-some) hasn't gone so smoothly on Tinder, or if you don't want non-monogamy to feel like a dropped bomb at all.

This safe space caters to diverse identities, including the queer community, non-binary users, or just anyone who feels like they don't vibe with the mainstream mold seen on other dating apps.

Why we picked this:

Feeld refers to itself as the dating app for the curious, which could mean literally anything. And that's exactly it: The way that Feeld fosters the safe expression of "literally anything" when it comes it relationship goals is such a breath of fresh air.

This open-minded community has more than 20 sexual and gender identities to choose from and profiles have a spot for listing your desires. Polyamory, consensual non-monogamy, homo- and heteroflexibility, pansexuality, asexuality, aromanticism, voyeurism, and kink are all options here, making it way easier to find compatible matches. Partners can also pair their profiles, making it easy for users to find a couple and/or search as a couple.

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Topics Dating Sex

Leah Stodart
Leah Stodart
Senior Shopping Reporter

Leah Stodart is a Philadelphia-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable where she covers essential home tech like vacuums and TVs as well as sustainable swaps and travel. Her ever-growing experience in these categories comes in clutch when making recommendations on how to spend your money during shopping holidays like Black Friday, which Leah has been covering for Mashable since 2017.

Leah graduated from Penn State University in 2016 with dual degrees in Sociology and Media Studies. When she's not writing about shopping (or shopping online for herself), she's almost definitely watching a horror movie, "RuPaul's Drag Race," or "The Office." You can follow her on X at @notleah or email her at [email protected].

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Tabitha Britt
Freelance Writer

Tabitha Britt is a freelance writer, editor, SEO & content strategist. Aside from writing for Mashable, Tabitha is also the founding editor-in-chief of DO YOU ENDO — a digital magazine by individuals with endometriosis, for individuals with endometriosis. She has a Master's degree in Creative Publishing and Critical Journalism from The New School of Social Research and is a grad of Sextech School. You can find more of her work in various online pubs, including National Geographic, Insider, Kinkly, and others.


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