Online dating sites have been a favorite meeting spot for single people for almost as long as the internet has existed. It’s easy to see why.
As technology has improved, so have dating websites, where people don’t have to just trade emails but can text each other and video chat before actually meeting.
“Online is still one of the best ways to meet people who are seriously searching for love,” says Amy Schoen, a professional life, dating and relationship coach in Rockville, Maryland, and the founder of the website Motivated to Marry.
If you go the online route, deciding what type website or app is right for you is a little like finding the right partner. Every dating site is different, and you might find some that aren’t a good match for you.
Read on for a list of eight popular free dating sites, but keep in mind that not all are absolutely free — most simply have free components that may be worth your consideration.
1. Bumble
Best for: people in a hurry
Bumble is pretty simple to use and navigate. It enables users to find a match by swiping right if they like the person or left if they don’t. For heterosexual couples, the woman must send a message first, and with same-sex couples, either person can initiate contact.
Bumble is free. You can search profiles, make matches and send messages. It also offers premium upgrades that allow you to do things like screen matches based on certain qualities or criteria, like level of education.
Prices vary by location and membership tier; listed prices can be hard to find until you actually sign up for the premium upgrades, and those prices vary, but the average user is said to pay $21.37 a week. You can also pay for a lifetime subscription of the premium service, reported to be around $250.
2. Facebook Dating
Best for: those who like Facebook and want more of it
With this free service, you can set up a dating profile, which won’t be shared with anyone outside of the Facebook dating app. As a bonus, you can use your Facebook profile to automatically fill in your dating profile. Note that you need to have a Facebook account in good standing to use this free app.
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Facebook makes a big effort to make sure that your Facebook friends won’t know you’re on Facebook Dating. But it does have a feature called “Secret Crush.” You can list up to nine people from your Facebook friends and Instagram followers as a secret crush. If they ever put up a Facebook Dating profile, they’ll see somebody has a crush on them — but they won’t know who. If they add you to their crush list, you’ll both be matched.
3. Hinge
Best for: creative thinkers
Hinge is technically free to use, but like many services on this list, you can navigate it more easily if you pay for a premium version. Prices vary, but mtembership starts at $32.99 a month, and the price per month goes down after that if you get a three- or six-month membership.
Hinge, so far, is available only on phones and not on desktops or laptops. Its advertising tagline is, “designed to be deleted.” In other words, use Hinge to find your significant other and you’ll never have to use a dating website again.
Hinge has some fun ways to build a profile and possibly determine if you’re a good match with someone, like prompts for sharing your virtues, vitals and vices.
Virtues include interesting things about you, vitals include things like whether you have kids and where you live and vices reveal if you smoke, drink, do drugs or engage in some other type of activity that may be a turn-off or turn-on for potential matches.
4. Match
Best for: serious daters
Match is one of the best-known and oldest dating sites. While its full services aren’t free, it’s on this list because it offers a free 72-hour trial period.
You can set up your own profile and search through others’ profiles for free, indefinitely, but if you want to contact someone, you’ll have to pay for the service unless you’re still in the free trial period.
Prices vary, and good luck getting a straight answer on what you’ll pay until you sign up. Match has premium prices and standard prices. You may, for instance, pay for a three-month standard package (reportedly around $35.99 a month. But you can get longer plans that last up to 12 months, in which case you’ll pay less money per month.
Of course, with Match and other dating sites for which users pay for several months or a year at a time, there’s a risk that you could pay for a standard plan that lasts a year and actually meet your match in the first month. But that’s a good problem to have.
5. OKCupid
Best for: people who want to know a lot about their date before meeting them
This popular dating website and app is free, allowing you to browse profiles and reach out to anyone you want to connect with.
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That said, you can pay for premium services, which can make the site considerably easier to navigate. For instance, with the paid version, there are unlimited “likes” and no ads. You can also see who “likes” you before you “like” them.
However, with the free version, you don’t know who has clicked “like” on your profile unless you also “like” them. Prices vary depending on whether you’re going to pay for a three-month or year-long membership, but if you pay for one month, it will likely run you around $45.
OKCupid offers questions that people can answer after they’ve put together their profile, and they can add personalized comments to their answers. With many members, you may feel that you know just about everything you can possibly know about them — before you actually send a message.
6. OurTime
Best for: seniors
OurTime is for people 50 years old and up. It isn’t the only dating site for seniors, but it’s one of the most well known. Like Match, OurTime is a paid service.
While it isn’t free to message other users, you can browse profiles for free, which is the loophole that gets this site on the list.
Prices vary, but you can expect to pay $35 a month, with the price dropping to around $16 per month if you sign up for the six-month plan.
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7. Plenty of Fish
Best for: people who are open to international dating
As its name suggests, the app features a wide selection of dating profiles. And it is free, but you’ll probably find it far easier to use if you pay for the premium services.
Prices vary, and you won’t know how much you’ll pay before you set up a profile, but reportedly you can expect to shell out in the neighborhood of $20 a month for three months or $10 a month for 12 months. You’ll pay for those months in one lump sum at the start of the membership.
You can send and receive messages for free; the premium membership is an ad-free version that allows users to search more easily, using filtering options like education and income.
8. Tinder
Best for: people who don’t need much information about a date before making a decision
Similar to Bumble, you can swipe through profiles but you won’t find much information on each potential match. As you look at photos, you can select a heart icon or an X; alternatively, you can swipe to the right if you like a profile or swipe to the left if you don’t.
If you like somebody who also likes your photo, you’ll be alerted that you have a match, and you’ll be able to message your potential date.
While the app is free, you can pay for Tinder Plus, Tinder Gold or Tinder Platinum. The website, like many of the dating websites on this list, is not overly transparent about its pricing, however.
You’ll reportedly pay between $20 and $40 a month, depending on which tier you choose. But it’ll be unclear until you set up a profile and whip out your credit card. There’s a $500-a-month subscription that got a lot of press when Tinder began offering it about a year ago, but it’s by invitation only.
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8 Best Free Dating Sites in 2024 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 08/26/24: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
