The Best Dating Sites

Tuesday, May 13th

2025 Dating Site Reviews

Hinge

• Pricing from $5.05 to $24.99 per week
• 1-week, 1-month, and 3-month plans
• Free to join and meet
• Upgrades for extra likes
• Inclusive gender identities
• Helpful filters and "dealbreaker” selections
• 4.4-star average rating from reviewers

Hinge is a dating site that uses a Nobel Prize-winning algorithm to suggest matches based on your swiping habits. Basically, Hinge learns what you like based on how you swipe in the app. Hinge doesn't offer a desktop program at the moment, but it is well-crafted for mobile use with a seamless experience. Owned by Match Group, Hinge currently supports over 23 million users, and over 800,000 are premium members.

Quick sign-up and a profile in minutes

To set up your profile on Hinge, you need to give the app your basic details, select three prompts from a pre-made prompt list (for short response answers), and add six photos of yourself. You can also upload videos instead of photos to give a more "live action” look into your life. There isn't a quiz, which makes signing up for Hinge a breeze. You can finish a basic profile with photos and prompt answers within 10-20 minutes. Once you've created your profile, you'll be using a swipe left/swipe right process to like or skip a user you've been suggested.

Date anyone of any gender

There are tons of filters on Hinge, and you can display your sexuality, preferred gender, job, education, religion, and more. Hinge allows you to search for multiple gender identities including men, women, nonbinary people, and "everyone”. The free filters include age, gender, and location. If you pay, you can add filters like height, political affiliation, and drinking and smoking preferences to limit the profiles you're shown only members that fit your ideal partner.

Let Hinge handle your dealbreakers

One of the features we love on Hinge is the "dealbreaker” selection for filters. If you have a preferred age range, you can select the check box for it to be a dealbreaker, and Hinge won't go outside of your preferred ages even if you start to run low on matches. You can do the same thing with ethnicity, religion, and relationship type. This is available for even free users, so you don't need to pay to get more curated matches. To help make you feel more secure, you can block users who use specific offensive words in comments and profiles, and you can add to your personal list of "hidden words” from the settings menu to keep yourself safe from bad matches.

Pricing from $5.05 to $24.99 per week

There are three tiers of subscription at Hinge for each of its upgraded subscriptions. The highest tier is Hinge X. You can get a 1-week, 1-month, or 3-month payment cycle. The plans all give you the same full-access features but change in cost depending on how long you plan to be on the app. The 1-week plan costs $24.99 per week, the 1-month plan costs $11.66 per week, and the 3-month plan costs $7.77 per week. This offers you enhanced recommendations for your type, more tailored recommendations sooner each day, and your likes will get priority. You'll also be able to see who likes you and set extra dating filters. Hinge also offers Hinge+ which includes only the feature of unlimited likes which is $16.98 per week for 1 week, $8.16 per week for 1 month, and $5.05 per week for 3 months.

High success rates for matches vs. dates

Hinge is used most by singles in their late 20s and 30s all the way up to their early 40s. Many of the success stories through Hinge are from free users, meaning you don't have to commit money to succeed on Hinge. According to recent analytics, Hinge has a 90% success rate of matches that you're shown turning into first dates. Reports also show that around 72% of those first dates turn into a second date.

Customers on the app store love Hinge

Hinge has a competitive presence online with its members. Currently, the app holds a 4.4-star rating on the Apple Store. Reviews frequently offer comments about how Hinge is "amazing” and "simple to use”. Many singles mentioned that they found "The One” on Hinge. While there are a few customers who were frustrated by how much they needed to pay, the majority of feedback is highly positive. On the Better Business Bureau, the ratings are a little more balanced with a "B” rating overall.

A top-performing app for serious dating

With tons of free browsing, impressive filters, and a solid success rate, Hinge is one of the top-performing dating sites out there today. The only real drawback is that the app doesn't offer a desktop version, but the app is highly intuitive, making it simple even for those less familiar with mobile. Plus, for most users, the free version is perfectly fine to find your love-match. If you're looking for a competitive app for finding "your other half” you'll want to check out Hinge ASAP.

Plenty of Fish

• Pricing from $10 to $30 per month
• 1-week, 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month plans
• Free to join and meet
• Upgrades for extra likes
• Inclusive gender identities
• Offers livestreams and on-site "games”
• Large number of users

Promising the "most relaxed” way to date, Plenty of Fish wants you to join "exactly as you are”. Founded by Markus Frind in 2003, Plenty of Fish aims to create a community of singles rather than an impersonal dating site experience. Currently, the service is one of many owned by Match Group, like a few other dating sites in our review. The focus of Plenty of Fish is more conversation-based rather than relying on photos like many competitors. The site is free to sign up for, and you can use it on both the desktop version and mobile apps.

Sign-up is fast, but misses some nuance

To sign up, you'll be asked about your name and gender (though you can choose to hide your gender on your profile if the options "man” and "woman” don't resonate with you). You will also need to fill out your age and location before completing registration. Once you've got that sorted, Plenty of Fish will ask you questions about who you want to date, what kind of relationship you want, your intent for dating, preferences for smokers, drinkers, and individuals with children, and more. One part we didn't love though, was that in some of the "select what applies to you” sections, you are only able to select one option. For example, in the Personality Type section, you can't be both "artsy” and a "daredevil”. You can only pick one from a list of over 40 traits. The final step is to complete two-factor authentication by putting in your phone number, and then you're ready to go.

Date men, women, or everyone in between

You can choose to date men, women, or everyone on Plenty of Fish. Plus, all the questions you answered about hair color, eye color, height, number of siblings, and more during the quiz will translate to helpful filters to get you matched with the right folks. As soon as you're finished signing up, you'll get access to the Meet Me page, which shows you singles that match your most basic filters like location, gender, and age preferences. The more advanced filters are available with a premium subscription.

Fun ways to connect beyond chatting

There are lots of ways to connect on Plenty of Fish beyond the basic messaging. You can do a 90-second livestream to get to know other singles better (think TikTok but for dating). They also have an on-site game called "Cue'd Up” which lets you answer funny questions with other users. One feature we especially liked was the "Are You Sure” pop-up that will trigger if you try to send something questionable or NSFW to another user - to keep the dating site clean of unwanted, inappropriate advances, or distressing language.

2 tiers to select from

There are two tiers of upgraded features at Plenty of Fish. You can choose from POF Plus which includes unlimited likes, first looks at new members, message read receipts, up to 16 photos on your profile, extended profile viewing, and no ads, or POF Premium which includes all the features of Plus along with 50 extra "first contacts” every day, access to the username search feature, the ability to see who likes you, the ability to see who viewed your profile, and you'll show up first on "Meet Me”.

Premium Experience

Oddly, POF Plus is not available in all areas, so many users can only see pricing for POF Premium. Our experience was one of those, so we priced out the program based on the costs we could find:

• 1 week: $19.99
• 1 month: $30 per month
• 3 months: $20 per month
• 6 months: $15 per month
• 12 months: $10 per month

Good like and match rates for ladies

On the bright side, Plenty of Fish shows plenty of users on its platform. With around 170 million users at the time of our review, you won't have trouble connecting with new singles. Currently, Plenty of Fish is the third-most downloaded dating app. The actual success rates of likes to matches are lower for men than women at Plenty of Fish compared to other sites in our review. Women get around 1 match for every 2 profiles they like and men get 1 match for around every 40 profiles they like. The average user base of Plenty of Fish is 25-34 with around 3 million daily users.

Mid-tier feedback, but some folks found spouses

Plenty of Fish has a solid reputation compared to most of the competition, but it's mid-tier overall when you only look at the reviews. Currently, Plenty of Fish shows a "B” rating from the Better Business Bureau. On Trustpilot, Plenty of Fish has over 50,000 individual reviews from singles. The company shows an average of 3.2 stars out of 5 across the board. Customers say it takes some time to find a really good match. Many of the recent reviews mentioned finding their spouse or soulmate on Plenty of Fish, but also noted there was a decent amount of trial and error. Customers preferred it over other dating apps due to the interactive games and extras that aren't offered by traditional "swipe and go” style dating sites.

Unique way to connect with tons of singles

Despite some mid-tier ratings overall, Plenty of Fish has a competitive dating site with unique games and livestream content that helps it stand out from the pack. The prices won't break the bank if you grab a longer-term membership, and with a high number of users, you'll likely have a lot of "fish” to sift through as you search for your special someone. With all the positives, Plenty of Fish earns a commendable rating in our review.

OkCupid

• Pricing from $17.49 to $44.99 per month
• 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month plans
• Free to join and meet
• Upgrades for extra likes
• Inclusive gender identities
• Helpful filters and "dealbreaker” selections
• 4.3-star average rating from reviewers

OkCupid got its start in the online dating scene in 2003, and it has been a front-runner in the industry for years. In 2013, OkCupid was the first dating app to add 22 gender identities and 13 sexual orientation options for its singles. The company's process is based on a Q&A format where you answer tons of questions about every detail that might matter (and maybe even some that don't) to get an accurate read on your personality, your needs, and what you might be looking for in a partner. You can use OkCupid both on a desktop or download it from your preferred mobile app store.

Sign up with a detailed quiz

When you sign up, you start with the usual: your name, your location, and your gender identity. You can find everything on OkCupid from agender and androgynous to non-binary, pangender, trans, and more (and you can select up to five identities if you feel more than one applies to you). You can also choose what type of relationship you're looking for including just friends, short-term dating, long-term dating, hookups, and a specific selection for non-monogamous relationships. You'll be asked to add a minimum of 1 photo to get started, and then you'll need to write a quick self-summary. Then, the quiz starts. You can expect questions like:

• How long do you want your relationship to last?
• Do you enjoy discussing politics?
• Would you date someone in considerable debt?
• Are star signs important to you?
• Could you date someone really messy?

The quiz even asks about your feelings on major issues like reproductive rights and whether or not you have anxiety. From there, OkCupid will calculate your best matches and show them to you right away.

Date anyone and everyone

There are so many dating options on OkCupid. If you're interested in any specific genders or identities, you can definitely find them on OkCupid. This is easily one of the most inclusive sites in our review, and you can change your preferences at any time. OkCupid also allows singles to use the range of profile details to limit and filter potential matches with things like star sign, education level, diet restrictions, political affiliation, body type, and more.

Guided completion of your profile

One of our favorite features at OkCupid is that you can get the basics of your profile done in about 10 minutes, including the quiz. But if you want to go back and make your profile more detailed - and you should do that to get more matches - OkCupid offers a checklist for you to follow to keep track of all the steps you have left before your profile is 100% complete. And if you don't feel like it, you can start swiping right away instead.

Pricing from $17.49 to $44.99 per month

OkCupid offers two ways to upgrade your experience: OkCupid Basic and OkCupid Premium. With Basic, you'll be able to send unlimited likes, filter out people with "dealbreakers”, unlock unlimited rewinds, unlock intros, and never see any ads while searching for your special someone. Premium offers all those same features, plus you can see who likes you before you swipe on them, get three free super likes every week, and see all Q&A responses for other users. Both plans are divided into 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month payment frequencies. Here's how they compare:

• Basic
• 1 month: $34.99 per month
• 3 months: $23.33 per month
• 6 months: $17.49 per month
• Premium
• 1 month: $44.99 per month
• 3 months: $29.99 per month
• 6 months: $24.99per month

Impressive like-to-match ratio for ladies

Currently, OkCupid has around 70 million singles, and the majority of those are using the free version of the dating site. Most users on OkCupid are between the ages of 25 and 34. On OkCupid, women get around 1 match for every 2 likes they send, which is up there in terms of a solid like/match ratio. However, the news isn't quite as good for guys. According to the data, men generally get 1 match for every 40 likes they send. Now, this could be due to guys being a little less discerning than ladies in general, but it is something to keep in mind as you begin your journey on OkCupid.

Mixed reviews with praise for final relationships

The feedback on OkCupid is a little mixed. It has an "NR” rating from the Better Business Bureau. However, on mobile app stores like the Apple Store, the ratings average around 4.3 stars out of 5. Reviews include impressive stories like singles who are now married after using OkCupid and tons of praise from users of all ages on how easy the platform is to use. Some reviews note that it's easier to use the desktop version than the mobile app.

The top pick for LGBT

While there could be a better review presence for OkCupid, it's fairly popular. With plenty of singles to browse and decent free content, it stands out from the pack. OkCupid has impressive inclusivity and filters if you're using the paid version. For this reason, it stands out for users with different gender identities and orientations. You'll want to check out OkCupid if you're looking for the best site for LGBT+ dating, and it earns a solid rating in our review.

E Harmony

• Prices from $35.90 to $65.90 per month
• 6-month, 12-month, and 24-month plans
• Free to join, upgrade for extra features
• Date men, women, and nonbinary
• Free browsing and matching
• Upgraded membership for more chats
• High match-to-date ratio
• 4-star average from reviewers
• "A” rating from the BBB

eHarmony is one of the most well-known dating sites in the world. Popularized through TV commercials, eHarmony boasts that it's helped create more than 2 million successful relationships across 125 different countries. Founded in 2000, eHarmony promises "best-in-class” customer service and an experience that supports you and your individual dating goals. You can browse eHarmony on a mobile app version or your desktop.

Take the compatibility quiz to get started

The sign-up process is simple. After putting in your email and password, you can select your gender and who you are open to meeting, and then you'll be asked to take a 10-20-minute compatibility quiz. You'll be asked questions like:

• Where would you most like to live?
• What are your main reasons for wanting a relationship? (up to 3 answers)
• What should your ideal partner do?
• What is most likely to make you interested in someone?
• Why are you currently single?
• How do you feel about cheating in a relationship?
• What does your ideal wedding look like?
• Do you play an instrument?
• What are your favorite types of travel?
• What's the ideal temperature for your house?

You'll also be asked to answer questions about your everyday habits, which photos you prefer emotionally, and how important things like marriage and sex are in your ideal relationship. Finally, you'll be asked to fill out your personal details (name, age, location) before your profile is completed. You can add up to 12 photos to represent yourself and add captions to help give more context to your adventures.

Browse all the options free of charge

eHarmony offers inclusive searches for different genders. You can identify yourself as a man, woman, or nonbinary, and select who you are searching for from the same list. Unlike some rival dating sites, eHarmony allows you to select multiple genders (bi-friendly), so you can search for just women, or connect with women, men, and nonbinary people in the same search. You can use search filters too like age, height, smoking preferences, and ethnicity free of charge.

Tons of free features

One aspect we love about eHarmony is the range of free features. You can view profiles, send and receive likes, and browse anonymously to see who has recently visited your profile - all without paying for a premium membership. However, messaging is limited with the free version, which could be a huge roadblock to moving from match to date without paying.

Pricing from $35.90 to $65.90 per month

eHarmony offers premium memberships in 6-, 12-, and 24-month plans. If you choose to upgrade, you'll get access to more individuals on the site, unlimited messaging, seeing all photos for each member, creating a "personality profile” to help you find more accurate matching, and dedicated customer service. The prices range from $65.90 per month for 6 months, $45.90 per month for 12 months, or $35.90 per month for 24 months.

High success rates for matching and dates

Recent stats show that eHarmony has been directly responsible for over 600,000 marriages in the past 16 years. There are over 15 million matches on eHarmony every day, and with over 37 million members, you're looking at a pretty substantial dating pool. Currently, eHarmony's success rate is listed at 71% of couples on the platform starting long-term relationships. 45% percent of matches result in a first date.

Issues with the site and price-locking features

eHarmony has a solid "A” rating from the Better Business Bureau. On the Apple Store, eHarmony has a 4-star average and plenty of positive reviews from users who found dates and permanent relationships that resulted in marriage. However, there are some complaints from users who are frustrated that you can't actually see all the photos of other users for free. Despite the promise of free features, there are a lot of "basics” that are blocked by the membership fee if you don't want to pay. Other reviews note the site is "clunky” and hard to use on desktop and mobile.

Solid matching, but needs some site and service updates

While some of the free features are competitive and the quiz is a great way to really challenge yourself to be honest about your relationship needs, eHarmony does do a fair bit of nickel-and-diming when it comes to basics like messaging or seeing profile photos. Regrettably, with a higher-than-average price and concerns about this being a clunky website, eHarmony doesn't rank as highly as it could. However, with plenty of analytics showing success stories and marriages resulting from eHarmony dating, it may still be worth your time to check it out.

Match

• Pricing from $21.84 to $40.41
• 1-month, 6-month, and 12-month plans
• Free to join and meet
• Upgrades for extra chatting and viewing
• Inclusive gender identities
• Helpful filters and search styles
• Popular on app stores

Match may be one of the most well-known dating sites in existence. Launched in 1995, Match is one of the first major services to really get the ball rolling on modern dating. The company operates in 24 countries, and Match is known as one of the most prominent sites for singles who take finding their partner seriously. This is a site for you if you want to avoid hookup culture and quick one-time dates that turn into ghosting. And, to make the process simpler, Match works on a desktop version and an app.

Quick sign in and build your profile

To sign up, you just need to select who you are interested in (men, women, or more options), the age range of your ideal match, and your zip code. Then, you'll be guided through a quick quiz with questions about how tall you are, your physical build, your marital history, whether or not you have/want children, your smoking and drinking habits, your ethnicity, and a few questions about what you're looking for in a partner. The quiz will also help you set up your profile with short response topics to predetermined questions.

Inclusive dating with tons of singles

Match has around 75 million users, and with dating options for women, men, and more, there is an opportunity to meet any gender identity on Match. There are a few ways to search for singles on Match. First, you can do a regular search (found on the top menu of the navigation bar) which allows you to use basic filters like gender, location, and age to find your special someone. You can also use "Mutual Search” which helps you sift through potential matches based on preferences, traits, or interests. These are based on what you provide in your profile. The final method is the "Reverse Search” which allows you to see singles who are searching for someone like you.

Limited features for free users

Some features and searches are limited if you're using the free version. If you don't want to pay for Match, you'll get to send unlimited likes and message your top picks. The rest of the features, like seeing who has viewed your profile, unlimited messaging, unlimited rewinds, and more, are limited to subscribers only.

Pricing from $21.84 to $40.41 per month

The two upgraded plans at Match include 1-, 6-, and 12-month subscription lengths. You can choose from a Standard membership and a Premium membership. Here's how they compare:

• Standard: Includes all the free features plus viewing who likes and views you, and unlimited messaging.
• 1 month: $34.45 per month
• 6 months: $24.48 per month
• 12 months: $21.84 per month
• Premium: Includes all of the Standard features plus viewing read receipts, monthly boost, unlimited rewinds, and weekly super likes.
• 1 month: $40.41 per month
• 6 months: $26.51 per month
• 12 months: $23.11 per month

Impressive match rates for women and men

On average women get around 1 match for every two likes they send (a 50% success ratio) on Match. For guys, it's around 1 match for every 3 likes, which is a higher rate than many other dating sites. Since Match is considered the eighth-most downloaded dating app around the world, there are plenty of opportunities to find singles. The ratio of matches to dates is a little lower, with most singles saying they get about 1 in every 10 matches to turn into a real-life date, but all those dates were generally serious and focused on finding a long-term relationship.

A falling reputation

Regrettably, Match's reputation has fallen some in recent years. Currently, it holds an "NR” rating from the Better Business Bureau. On Trustpilot, the dating site only holds a 1.2-star average with complaints about fake profiles, dating scammers, and a lack of proper filtering for paid members. The only place that Match has a somewhat positive reputation is on the Apple Store where it holds a 3.9-star average. However many of the reviews echo the sentiments on Trustpilot with fake accounts or an inability to find matches.

Needs to step up its customer service again

While Match used to be one of our top picks, the feedback from customers knocks it down a few pegs in our ratings. However, there is a huge user base with Match and decent numbers for men and women to get matches, according to data reports. For these reasons Match still earns a good rating, but it may be better to try it for free before you commit and see if you feel comfortable with the process or the matches you're suggested. Match is still a powerhouse for dating, but it could work a little harder to improve customer experience going forward.

Tinder

• Pricing from $2.67 to $29.99 per month
• 1-month, 6-month, and 12-month plans
• Free to join and meet
• Upgrades for extra likes and travel privileges
• Inclusive gender identities
• Large number of users
• 4.1-star average from reviewers

If you haven't already heard of Tinder, you might be pretty new to the dating scene. Tinder is the app for swipe-style dating based on a few pictures and a quick personal summary. Surprisingly for a site that got popular through its mobile app experience, this dating site does have a desktop version. Known as a dating site designed for more casual relationships, Tinder is a favorite with 18-30 year olds (especially college kids). But Tinder isn't just about hookups. You can definitely find some high-quality dates here too; it just might take a while.

Quick sign up and start swiping

To join, you can choose to sign up with your phone number, your Google account, or your Facebook. You'll be asked to add your email and your birthdate to get started. You can select your gender from man or woman, or click the "see more” tab if you want to see the additional gender identities offered by Tinder. You can also select your orientation (up to three). Then, you'll be asked some questions to help set up your profile including your interests (be careful, you can only pick 5), and you'll need to upload 2 photos to get started.

Inclusive dating labels but not filters

While you can label your gender identity from things like trans, gender fluid, gender questioning, bigender, pangender, and more, and these will show up on your profile, they won't necessarily turn into helpful filters so you can find others that fit your ideal partner. What you end up getting in the filters is picking from "men”, "women”, or "everyone”. So, you'll have to do some of the filtering yourself as you swipe and check people's listed preferences, orientations, and identities before moving forward with a match.

Meet people internationally

If you're a fan of travel, Tinder offers Tinder Passport which is a program (part of the paid subscription) that allows you to meet new singles while traveling or exploring long-distance relationships. This is included in the lowest tier subscription, so you don't have to pay the more costly membership fee to explore international interests.

Pricing from $2.67 to $29.99 per month

There are three tiers of subscription at Tinder depending on what you need. Each offers a 1-, 6-, and 12-month payment period. The basic option is Tinder Plus which includes unlimited likes, unlimited rewinds, "passport" to any location, and no ads. Tinder Gold is the next level up, which includes all the benefits of Plus along with 5 super likes per week, and 1 free boost each month. Tinder Platinum is the highest tier and includes everything from Gold as well as features for messaging before matching, prioritizing your likes, and seeing the likes you've sent in the past 7 days. Here's how the prices differ:

• Plus
• 1 month: $7.99 per month
• 6 months: $4 per month
• 12 months: $2.67 per month
• Gold
• 1 month: $24.99 per month
• 6 months: $12.50 per month
• 12 months: $8.33 per month
• Platinum
• 1 month: $29.99 per month
• 6 months: $15 per month
• 12 months: $10 per month

The prices at Tinder are much lower than at competitors even at the Platinum tier, so this may be an affordable option for those who don't want to spend a lot on a dating site.

50% of users aren't serious daters

Tinder has around 80 million users, and only about 9 million of them pay for any kind of premium membership, so you can easily get what you need from Tinder without paying a dime. The average match ratios for men and women are about average for a dating app. Women were matched with 1 out of every 2 likes they sent and men were matched with 1 out of every 40 likes they sent. Most users on Tinder are between the ages of 25-34 with the average age being 26. However, only 50% of users are looking for a long-term relationship, so you may not find as many committed singles on Tinder as on other dating sites.

A fun site for hookups

While Tinder holds a decent "B” rating from the Better Business Bureau, it doesn't do quite as well on other third-party review sites. For example, Tinder shows just 1.2 stars out of 5 on Trustpilot. However, on the Apple Store, Tinder has an average rating of 4.1 stars out of 5 across over 1 million total reviews. Just keep in mind that many of the positive reviews are from those who were not trying to find a serious relationship and just use Tinder for fun. There were some outliers where folks found their spouse on Tinder, but reviews show that most people think of Tinder as a place to find hookups or short-term relationships rather than something permanent.

Best for singles who want something casual

While Tinder is well-reviewed on the app stores for its fun and quick way to find matches in your local area, most people looking for a serious relationship are going to want a different app. With 50% of the users looking for something casual, there may not be as many solid matches on Tinder compared to other more serious dating sites in our review. This is ideal if you're new to dating or just shopping around in your local area. For this reason, it earns a good rating in our review, but a high recommendation if you're looking for something low-cost and fun.

It's Just Lunch

• Pricing from $1,000 to $5,000
• Plans depend on your location, needs, and age
• Matchmaking is done for you
• Wide age range represented

It's Just Lunch, or IJL for short, is a dating site that highlights the importance of meeting face-to-face. With a feedback-based model where you can let IJL know how your date went, they'll update their matchmaking to better curate dates that suit your romantic preferences. Rather than putting your profile up on a public platform, IJL works on a matchmaking basis where their professionals take your interests and details and match you with someone similar. It's a much more personalized approach than other dating sites.

Sign-up is one phone call away

To get started, you just need to click the "Start Dating” button on the main page. From there, you'll be asked to fill out a basic form with your name, phone, email, age, gender, city of residence, and where you heard about them. From there, you need to wait for a call from IJL's concierge service. You can't sign up casually like with other dating sites and apps. This is a "white glove service” where a full conversation with you is the way that the IJL team gets to know you and your dating needs. You can expect to spend around 30 minutes on the phone and answer questions like:

• Why you are seeking a partner
• What your interests and values are
• Your experience with dating in the past
• What type of relationship and match you're hoping to find
• What your schedule looks like
• Your education and career background
• Any deal-breakers for dates

Mostly for straight relationships

IJL's service ranges across 200+ cities. However, the service is primarily for straight couples. There are some offices and locations that work with LGBT+ singles, but this is something the company is still working on expanding. So, this may not be the most inclusive relationship site depending on what kind of partner you're seeking.

Matchmaking lets you relax and meet new folks

The entire service is pretty unique. While most dating sites require you to do the digging for your soulmate, IJL does the work for you. You just need to answer the questions and your assigned matchmaker will introduce you to potential matches (you'll be able to see photos, personal details, interests, and more). Your personal contact information will be kept private. If you decide you like one of the matches, IJL will set up the first date at a restaurant, bar, or cafe.

Pricing from $1,000 to $5,000

IJL's costs will depend on your specific situation. The pricing and packages will change from client to client, but reports show that the prices generally range between $1,000 to $5,000. Factors that affect cost include what city you live in and how many dates you want to go on. Things like your level of flexibility with your preferences and your age may also play a factor in the final cost.

Reports show somewhat low success

According to analytics online, the match-to-love-match ratio isn't fantastic here. Somewhere under 30% of suggested matches through the service turn into a relationship. This could be due to the limited number of members, though. This isn't like the major dating apps where there are millions of users. At the time of our review, reports showed there were around 5,000 members on IJL. The age distribution was pretty even, with around the same amount of people from ages 25 up to 49.

Some concerning reports about quality and transparency

The reviews for IJL are average across the board. On the Better Business Bureau, IJL holds a "B” rating. From Trustpilot, the feedback is about the same with a 3.3-star average out of 5. The reviews show a fairly hit-or-miss approach to the matches. Some singles loved their dates (though many felt a friendship connection, rather than a love match), and others were extremely frustrated with the quality of matches overall. Some customers noted they felt that some of the dates suggested to them were terrible fits and rejected them without going on the date. However, they later discovered this counted against the total number of dates they paid for, despite not actually attending.

Not a good site for those just starting to date

Although this matchmaking service is a standout approach, the execution might not work for everyone. While the idea of having a personal matchmaker to take the stress out of finding dates can be exciting, singles are saying that actually finding love-matches and quality dates through IJL are limited. With high costs and no way to try the service for free, this is something you need to be pretty committed to from day one. For most singles, IJL is probably not a great starting point.

Friend Finder

• Prices from $19.95 to $39.95 per month
• 1-month and 6-month plans
• Free to join, upgrade for usability
• Date men and women
• Users can blog and chat online

Friend Finder is an online dating site that offers searches for more than just your next paramour. You can find friends and get to know others in your area (especially helpful if you've just moved). Founded in 1996, Friend Finder is one of the older dating sites in our review. However, compared to many of its competitors, Friend Finder is pretty mum on the details on its website, and it's one of the lowest membership rates we've seen so far. At the time of our review, there were only 81 members online and browsing. At this time, Friend Finder does not appear to have a mobile app.

Sign up with 5 simple questions

To register, you'll have to go through 5 sections of questions. The process is pretty fast and only covers the basics like who you are and what gender you're searching for, your birthday and location, setting up your email and password (oddly, Friend Finder offers you the chance to use a username rather than your actual name), a few questions about your race, body type, and sexual orientation, and the final section is to give yourself a short introduction.

Display your orientation to other users

While you can only select men and women for your dating pool during setup, there is a section of the site that allows you to detail your sexual orientation. You can select from straight, gay/lesbian, bisexual, and bi-curious. However, there are limited filters to help you find those that match your preferences on Friend Finder. This is just something that goes on your profile.

All profiles need to be approved

There are several unique features on Friend Finder to keep in mind. One feature that helps with security is that profiles need to be approved before you'll be allowed to start chatting. However, reports show that there are still a lot of fake profiles on Friend Finder. Friend Finder also lets you chat with live webcams if you prefer a distant but still face-to-face way to get to know a new match.

Pricing from $19.95 to $39.95 per month

At the time of our review, the prices for Friend Finder depended on which membership you chose. Friend Finder offers a Silver Plan and a Gold Plan. The Silver plan offers partial access to the blog features or pictures from users. You can contact anyone you like from the site with the Silver membership, though. Silver costs $22.95 per month for a 1-month subscription and as low as $10.95 per month for a 6-month commitment. The Gold Plan includes full access to every part of the site including the use of blogs and seeing everyone's photos. The Gold Plan costs $34.95 for one month or as low as $11.95 per month for a 6-month commitment.

Not a lot of details about its success

Despite claiming a large and international user base, there aren't a lot of details for Friend Finder's analytics. Several other sites like "Friend Finder-x” have plenty of buzz, but these are unrelated to Friend Finder which only has a handful of details online and no accurate or current data about membership numbers or how frequently matches and conversations on Friend Finder turn into dates.

Not many positives for Friend Finder

As for reviews, Friend Finder comes in as an average dating site overall. On Trustpilot, the average rating for Friend Finder is 3.6 stars out of 5. Customers who liked the site enjoyed the features and the messaging. However, many users complained about the clunky and old-fashioned interface. The news wasn't great on the Better Business Bureau either, where Friend Finder has a "C-” rating overall.

Not enough benefits to compete

Considering the far more competitive dating sites out there, Friend Finder sits just below average in comparison. There aren't a lot of users online at any given time, and the free content is extremely limited. With mid-tier reviews and a concerning "C-” from the BBB, Friend Finder earns a below-average rating in our review.

Zoosk

• Pricing from $10 to $29.95 per month
• 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month plans
• Free to join and meet
• Upgrades for extra likes
• Inclusive with some genders
• Link with Facebook for photos
• 4.2-star average from reviewers
• "A-” rating from the BBB

Zoosk is a dating site headquartered in Germany claiming to be the "#1 grossing online dating app” in the Apple App Store, though we're not sure this is accurate. Founded by Alex Mehr and Shayan Zadeh in 2007, the company was recently acquired by Spark Networks. Zoosk is based on behavioral matchmaking technology, with recommendations that include your listed preferences and how you've rated other matches on Zoosk in the past. In other words, this dating site learns from your activity.

Sign-up takes just 10 steps

When you first sign up for Zoosk, you'll be asked if you want to sign up through Facebook, Google, or through your email. You'll need to have your location services on to proceed, as Zoosk will automatically read your location from your device (desktop or mobile). Your first step will be to choose your gender and the gender of those you want to be matched with. Then, you'll be asked to upload a photo. Finally, you'll be run through the basic questions:

• Do you have kids?
• What's your highest level of education?
• What's your ethnicity?
• What's your height?
• What's your religion?
• Do you smoke?
• What kind of relationship are you looking for?

The entire sign-up process is just 10 steps and can be completed in a matter of minutes.

Basic filters, but nothing special

Zoosk allows you to match with men, women, or everyone depending on what you're looking for, but there aren't more detailed features of other sexual orientations or gender identities. You'll have access to filters for age, education, and religion for free, but additional filters are blocked by the paywall. There is also a "Carousel” mode which allows you to swipe through potential matches nearest to you, and Zoosk asks you to vote on if you like or don't like them (which informs Zoosk's algorithm).

Add your photos directly from Facebook

Zoosk makes it especially easy to upload photos, as you can import them directly from your Facebook profile. Whether you signed up with a Facebook account or not, you can easily link your Facebook and upload up to 6 photos to create your ideal profile with photos you already love. This is a great feature for those who agonize over which photos to use, since you can rely on your most-liked Facebook photos to do the work for you.

Pricing from $10 to $29.95 per month

Zoosk offers its upgraded features in 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month payment cycles. The premium membership includes access to unlimited messaging, the Hide and Seek feature (so you can conceal your profile if you want), and a boost to make your profile more visible. The prices include $29.95 for 1 month, $19.98 per month for 3 months, $13.35 for 6 months, and $10 per month for 12 months.

Not a lot of detail on its success rates

There are over 40 million members on Zoosk worldwide. Most of the members range from 25-34 with a pretty equal presence of men and women. However, we couldn't find any success stories for Zoosk more recent than 2020. Further, there aren't really any analytics on how often likes and matches turn into dates at Zoosk, so its effectiveness is a pretty big question mark.

Zoosk seems to be getting worse over time

The reviews for Zoosk are mixed, with an "A-” from the Better Business Bureau (from its parent company, Spark Networks) being its highest rating across the web. On third-party review sites, the average rating is just 2.2 stars out of 5, with customers complaining that the membership doesn't help with visibility and there are too many fake profiles on Zoosk. There are also concerning claims about customer service, where users are unable to get into accounts or get hacked and have no support from Zoosk itself. Now, on the mobile apps, Zoosk is doing a bit better with an average rating of 4.2 stars out of 5. On the Apple Store, customers praise the number of singles and note that while there are some bad ones in the bunch, the overall app experience was solid. However, like with the success stories which were out of date, we could only find one review from the last year, and it was just 1 star.

Not a standout dating site

With ratings falling the closer we get to the current year, and missing analytics on how successful Zoosk is, we feel like this dating site is a little behind the pack. Unfortunately, it doesn't have any standout features, and the prices are about average. With mixed reviews (despite an "A-” rating for its parent company), Zoosk earns a lower rating in our review since it just doesn't stand out compared to the rest of the dating sites on the market.

Coffee Meets Bagel

• Prices from $37.99 per month
• 2 upgraded plans
• Free to join, upgrade for extra features
• Date men, women, and everyone
• Send flowers for a "super like”
• More detailed profiles get more dates

Coffee Meets Bagel (or CMB) is a woman-owned dating service only for singles looking for serious committed relationships. CMB is app-driven, so you won't find a desktop version, but with over 150 million matches so far, there are tons of opportunities to find love right in the palm of your hand. The company was founded by Arum Kang in 2012 to deliver curated matches that only follow your preferences.

Download to begin signing up

To begin, you'll need to download CMB on your favorite mobile device. When you first sign in, CMB will ask for your location and your phone number before you can start filling out your profile. CMB will ask a series of questions where you can select several traits from lists. You'll be asked about your values (things like "friends”, "emotional intelligence”, "creativity”), your personality including traits like "self-disciplined” or even details like your Myers-Briggs alignment.

Fun prompts

There are also short-answer sections of your profile where you can select the prompt and write a quick answer. Some of the fun prompts we saw were:

• What show do you never get tired of?
• My travel bucket list
• One item I can never part with
• Favorite weird food combo

You'll also need to fill out the standard information like your age, height, religion, languages, education, family plans, and how often you smoke or drink. CMB lets you post up to 9 photos of yourself to get the ball rolling.

Date everyone from any dating pool

You can date whoever you like on CMB. The filters include men, women, and everyone. The app also provides age filters, and you can select "this is a dealbreaker” if you want CMB to filter out anyone who doesn't fit in your desired age range. CMB also allows filters by ethnicity, religion, and relationship goals (all with a "this is a dealbreaker” button if you only want to see a certain demographic). These features are all free. Further filters (like filtering by height) require a premium subscription.

Send your date virtual flowers

One of the ways you can boost your likelihood of getting a date is by "sending someone flowers”. This button is kind of like the "super like” feature that may be familiar to users who have tried other dating apps. If you send someone flowers and they haven't liked you yet, you will be instantly shown on their profile as a potential match. The uses of the flowers are limited daily unless you have a premium subscription.

Pricing from $20 to $27 per month

There are two upgraded options for paying at CMB: Premium and Platinum. The two options offer a variety of upgrades to your CMB dating experience. Here's what we found:

• Premium: $20 per month
• Unlimited suggested matches
• See everyone who likes you
• Send up to 8 flowers per month
• Premium preferences (for filters)
• 1 profile boost per month
• Unlimited rewinds if you accidentally say no
• Activity reports
• Read receipts
• Platinum: $27 per month
• All the features of Premium
• Priority likes
• Infinite boost
• Control who sees you

Get more matches by being more detailed

The majority of users on CMB are adults between the ages of 30-49. The second largest group is 18-24. CMB offers its own analytics for Platinum subscribers, so you can see the percentages of like-to-seen ratios. According to data posted online, being seen turns into a match around 27% of the time. This number reportedly went up for users who spent time building out their profiles properly. Those with short or missing answers were skipped over more frequently on CMB.

Users are running into catfish accounts

Regrettably, Coffee Meets Bagel is not a popular site among reviewers. It holds a concerning "F” rating from the Better Business Bureau and only 1 star on the BBB. The scores are about the same on other third-party review sites. For example, on Trustpilot, CMB only has a 1.3-star average. Customers complain that the app has too many "catfish” or fake profiles. Further, customers noted there isn't a refund policy which makes it hard to get your money back if you don't succeed with their upgraded membership plans. While there are only 70 total reviews for CMB (so this may not be indicative of everyone's experience) the poor reviews are extremely concerning.

Needs an upgrade in customer service to compete

While there are some nice features on Coffee Meets Bagel, the overall experience according to reviewers just isn't what it should be. You can use some filters for free (which sets it above many other free dating apps), but the number of reported catfish accounts and issues with refunds raise some concerns about CMB's customer service. For this reason, it earns a lower rating in our review with the opportunity to increase that score if its customer service improves in the future.

Bumble

• Prices from $1.99 per day to $199.99 for a permanent subscription
• Daily, weekly, monthly, and 6-month plans
• Free to join
• Date men, women, or everyone
• Filters for subscribers
• Add your Instagram and Spotify for matches

Bumble is a popular dating site that's women-owned and frequently used by fans of dating apps. The app puts women first by allowing them to make the first move (for f/m searches), so ladies don't feel bombarded by messages and can be more comfortably selective with the guys they want to match with. Bumble is an app-based dating site, but you can use it on your web browser if you want to. It's just a little less optimized for desktop use.

Sign up with mobile or online accounts

You can choose to either sign up with your existing Google account, or existing Apple account or put in your phone number. From there, you'll be asked to fill out a basic profile, choose which part of Bumble you want to search (Bumble Date, Bumble BFF, or Bumble Bizz), and choose your preferred gender for yourself and which gender (or genders) you want to be matched with. Bumble offers a basic "about me” profile section, where you can write a little blurb about yourself, a field for your work and education, personal details like height (don't lie about this one, fellas), how much you exercise, your star sign, whether you drink, smoke, or want kids, and your religious and political preferences. Bumble asks for six photos of yourself and requires account verification to prove you are who your pictures say.

Free filters for age and distance

For the dating portion of the app (Bumble Date), you'll be able to choose between women, men, or everyone. Without paying, you'll have access to age limit filters and distance filters too. For those who subscribe, you can use the additional filters for items you fill out in your profile. You can limit by height, what kind of relationship others are looking for, whether they have (or want) kids, religion, politics, and more. While you can put in your gender identity or sexualities beyond gay/lesbian and straight, Bumble doesn't allow filtering through those preferences yet.

Add your Insta and Spotify to your profile

As a special feature, you can link your Instagram to allow potential matches to browse the real you (and get chatting off the dating apps if you like). You can also connect your Spotify, so if you ever wanted to find your special someone through similar taste in music, now's your chance. These features are free for non-subscribers too.

Upgrades from as low as $1.99 per day

There are two kinds of upgrades you can get on Bumble: Boost and Premium. Here's what you can expect from each upgrade:

• Boost: Allows you to rematch with expired matches and extend your time with current matches. Your profile will also be boosted and shown to more people. There are five levels of frequency:
• 1 day: $1.99
• 1 week: $12.99
• 1 month: $23.99
• 3 months: $49.99
• 6 months: $84.99
• Premium: This allows you to see who has swiped right on you before you match. You get access to the advanced filters, and you'll also get all of the features of Boost. There are six frequencies to subscribe to:
• 1 day: $3.49
• 1 week: $19.99
• 1 month: $39.99
• 3 months: $79.99
• 6 months: $119.99
• Lifetime: $199.99

Good match rates for women, but no date results

There have been more than 2 billion matches made since the launch of Bumble. On average, women get matched with 1 out of every 2 likes (right swipes). Most users on Bumble are around 25-34 years old, and over 80% of users are looking for a long-term or stable relationship. However, some statistics say that most of the matches on Bumble don't result in an actual in-person date. So, the final success rate is lower than your likelihood of matching.

Terrible reputation for payments and support

Bumble holds an "F” rating from the Better Business Bureau, and there's an alert on the BBB noting that Bumble shows a pattern of complaints from customers who could not complete a billing dispute. On Trustpilot, the news is just as bad. Customers rated Bumble just 1.3 stars out of 5 on average. The primary complaint is that Bumble removes photos that users post claiming that they violate community standards (but the photos do not). Some customers had trouble with the Premium subscription too, where the likes that they were shown before paying disappeared after paying.

Not worth the hassle

While Bumble is considered a "popular” app socially, it may not stack up against more serious dating sites when it comes to actually turning online chatting and swiping into in-person dates. Regrettably, with so many complaints online as well as a poor "F” rating from the Better Business Bureau, Bumble stands out as a place where you want to use caution before spending your money. It may be worth it to join the free service just to see what kind of matches you get, but there isn't a lot of benefit to subscribing.

Elite Singles

• Prices from $13.95 to $29.95 per month
• 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month plans
• Free to join, upgrade for usability
• Date men and women
• Users almost all have advanced degrees
• "A-” rating from the BBB

Elite Singles is a service designed to help American singles look for a long-term relationship. This site is a subsidiary of Spark Networks (and a sister site to JDate, Christian Mingle, eDarling, JSwipe, and others). The intelligent suggestions on Elite Singles help show you partners that align with the preferences indicated on your dating profile. Usable on desktop and an app, you can browse for your special someone wherever it's most convenient for you. The personality profile at Elite Singles is based on the Big Five Model of Personality which covers the five personality dimensions: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. However, to do more than browse Elite Singles, you'll need to subscribe.

10-15 minute quiz to get started

To get started, you need to select your gender and the gender you're looking for and put in your email and password. Then, you'll be walked through a quiz by Elite Singles to help match you with the best possible partners. You'll be asked about your marital status, your level of education, how important your partner's education is to your dating life, and answer some questions about what pictures (supplied by Elite Singles) you feel resonate with you most. You'll also be asked about how you feel about your appearance and how important appearance is for your partner, what role you would like your partner to fill for you, and dating questions like where your first date might be, how likely you are to initiate a first kiss, and what kind of weekend places you're likely to make. The entire quiz takes about 10-15 minutes to complete.

Limited options for LGBT+

The only genders available on Elite Singles are Female and Male. There are no additional "everyone” or "nonbinary” options, so this may not be the most LGBT+-friendly dating site. There are plenty of other filters (including religion, ethnicity, and more) that you can add to make your experience more tailored.

See who is checking you out

If you are a premium member, you'll be able to take a peek at who visited your profile. You can filter those who checked you out by photo, filter by those who you've pinned, and filter by new members. However, most features (including "smiles” and chats) are unavailable until you subscribe.

Pricing from $13.95 to $29.95 per month

There are payment cycles to choose from when you subscribe to Elite Singles. All of them offer the same features; the prices differ only due to the lengths of time. The features include unlimited communication, intelligent matchmaking, viewing all member photos, seeing profile visitors, and getting read receipts for messages. The 3-month subscription costs $29.95 monthly, the 6-month plan costs $16.95 per month, and the 12-month membership costs $13.95 per month.

Supposedly has an 80% success rate

Elite Singles itself claims to have a success rate of over 80% with over 2,000 people each month finding love through the Elite Singles platform. 90% of the members are over 30 years old and have higher education degrees (master's degrees and higher). Currently Elite Singles has over 13 million members around the world. However, many users state that the dating pool does not reflect their interests and the matches may not be as accurate as Elite Singles reports.

Customers are fearful of scams

Speaking of customer reviews, we checked out Elite's Single's reputation across third-party sites. Currently, Elite Singles holds an "A-” rating on the Better Business Bureau, but a shocking 1.6-star average on Trustpilot. According to singles, they find it impossible to cancel their subscriptions here. Some customers don't get access to premium features after paying, and the word "scam” is used frequently in reviews for Elite Singles. Considering that you can't get anything done without paying, these reports are especially concerning.

Use caution and check free sites first

We never want to see the word "scam” in reviews. So, despite Elite Singles' "A-” rating from the BBB, it falls almost to the bottom of our list. With almost no free features, this site feels a bit like a dating cash grab. Due to the shocking red flags regarding subscription cancellations and issues with features not unlocking once users have paid, Elite Singles falls to one of our lowest ratings.

Chemistry

• Prices from $37.99 per month
• 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month plans
• Free to join, but pay to chat
• Date men or women
• Extra messages for subscribers
• Add photos through Facebook

Chemistry is a premium dating site offered under the parent company of Match. Chemistry is designed specifically for those who want some extra help getting to know someone online, to make simpler and more comfortable first dates. Over 8 million people around the world are using Chemistry, which is fairly low compared to other dating sites. The site is free to browse; you'll just have to use the top navigation bar to get off the subscription page (which is optional, but seems like a necessary step in the process at first glance).

Sign up with a quiz

When you sign up, you take Chemistry's personality test before setting up your profile. This is a fun and in-depth way to make sure potential matches know who you are and what you want out of a relationship. The first step to signing up is to choose your gender and what gender you're seeking. Chemistry will also ask about where you reside. Then, the fun begins. Chemistry will ask some interesting questions like:

• The shape of your right hand
• What your typical "bored” doodles would look like
• Which person's smile do you think is real vs. phony (with photos)
• What you dislike at your job
• What is your main work objective?
• Smoking and drinking preferences
• What are your top three interests?

Chemistry will also help you create a conversation starter for your profile before directing you to the payment portal.

Missing inclusive browsing for bi-individuals

For different dating options, you can join as a man seeking a woman or a man or a woman seeking a man or a woman. At the moment, there isn't an "all” or "everyone” option, so singles who are bi may need to change their preferences in the settings menu from time to time.

Upload your photos via Facebook

One of the special features of Chemistry is that you can directly connect your Facebook account to upload photos for your profile. This makes the process of selecting photos and uploading them much simpler than scrolling through your entire phone or desktop library for photos you love of yourself. Oddly, though, you can complete your profile and start matching with no photo (which could be a problem if you run into new members yourself and can't see what they look like).

Prices from $37.99 per month

The free services on Chemistry are limited. You can browse for free and send messages for free, but you can only read the first message in your inbox for free. After that, you need to subscribe. The billing cycles range from monthly to 6 months at a time. One month costs $37.99, 3 months costs $21.66 per month, and 6 months costs $12.49 per month.

Only about 40% of users get dates

There are around 350,000 members on Chemistry, which is one of the lower numbers in our review. Most folks are on Chemistry to find love and a long-term relationship. The majority of members are aged 50+, though there are a significant number of members in the 35-49 age range too. According to recent reports, a little less than 40% of members at Chemistry get dates from their matches on the site, which could be a drawback considering how few members there are to begin with.

Concerning ratings and claims of malware

Chemistry has an "NR” rating from the Better Business Bureau, and only 1 star out of 5 based on BBB reviews. On other third-party review sites, there are almost no reviews at all for Chemistry. On Trustpilot, there was exactly one review that gave the company 1 star. The user claimed that Chemistry was "installing malware” into his browser, which is deeply concerning. Even on app stores, Chemistry has only a 3.6-star average, and that is out of just 5 total reviews... yikes!

No positives from those who've used the site

While Chemistry is supposedly the brainchild of Match, the actual delivery of its dating services doesn't stack up against its competitors. With zero positive reviews out there and some concerning claims about malware, you'll want to stay far away from Chemistry. It's too bad since the quiz portion of the site was a fun way to create new connections, but unless Chemistry raises its reputation in the future it's a no-go for us.