The 6 Best Dating Apps of 2024

Don't be alone unless you want to be

The best dating apps allow you to customize your match preferences and the dates you go on. These apps let you control who and how you meet. Here are the six best dating apps that allow you to do just that.

01
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Meet People in Your Area: Happn

A screenshot of the Happn dating app's I'm free to.. feature. Here, you can announce to local Happn users what activity you'd like to do, like go to the movies.
What We Like
  • The CrushTime game allows you to guess who likes you from four profiles you crossed paths with.

What We Don't Like
  • It can take a while to load your timeline of fellow Happn users you crossed paths with. 

Most dating apps and sites allow you to narrow down your matches by location, but Happn's entire focus is on your exact location and whether you've crossed paths with a potential match.

As you go about your day, if you happen to cross paths with another Happn user, their profile shows up on the app's timeline. If you're interested, send a secret like and they'll only find out if they show an interest. 

The app is free to download. You can upgrade to premium if you want a long list of additional features: See who liked you, send SuperCrushs, send unlimited likes, hide specific profile items, remove ads, and more.

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02
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For Daters Who Love to Multitask: Bumble

A screenshot of the Bumble dating app and the Bumble Bizz feature that allows you to toggle from dating mode to career networking mode.
What We Like
  • Connect your Instagram and Spotify accounts to show your most recent photos and current favorite artists.

What We Don't Like
  • The settings only allow you to determine your gender preference for relations, age preference, and distance of your potential matches.

Bumble is for ambitious multitaskers who want to date, network, and find their new best friend all in one app.

The app allows you to find all of those people by letting you toggle between three modes: Bumble BFF, Bumble Bizz, and Bumble Date. Use the BFF to search for new friends and the Bizz mode for career-related networking.  

In Date mode, women must make the first move in hetero matches. For same-gender matches, either person within the match can initiate a chat, but it must be done within 24 hours. Otherwise, the match expires.

Bumble users can also access premium features through Bumble Boost or Bumble Premium. Boost provides unlimited swipes, five Super Swipes per week, and the option to undo swipes. Premium has lots of additional options, including unlimited advanced filters, and Travel and Incognito Mode.

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03
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Best (Serious) Relationship App: Hinge

A screenshot of one of the Hinge app's profile question prompts. This prompt says, "If loving this is wrong, I don't want to be right" and there is a green Answer button.
What We Like
  • Fun, thought-provoking profile question prompts to answer. 

  • Ability to hide certain questionnaire answers. 

What We Don't Like
  • You must have six profile photos.

If you're willing to put in the effort and you want a serious relationship, Hinge might be the app for you.

Of the dating apps on this list, Hinge may be the most traditional as it requires photos and questionnaire answers. Hinge is a minimalist app. The main focus is on your photos and responses, forcing you to put thoughtful effort into your profile.

Hinge is free to download, with Hinge+ available for premium features. Paying members can see everyone who likes them, send unlimited likes, access enhanced recommendations, and get priority likes.

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04
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The Most Inclusive Dating App for Queer Women: HER

A screenshot of Communities feature on the HER app. HER app users can choose to be a part of three communities to get news and status updates from other HER app users about their favorite topics. On this screen, two communities are shown: News and Entertainment and Artists, Musicians and Creators.
What We Like
  • The Communities feature allows you to keep up with current events on your favorite topics and connect with like-minded people.

What We Don't Like
  • Features such as changing your location require a subscription to the premium service.

HER is an inclusive dating app for queer women. It is not only a dating app for lesbians. HER includes those who identify as lesbians and other LGBTQ individuals who identify as female or non-binary. 

HER also functions as a social media app for queer women, as it allows you to share status updates, links, and videos. You can also see local queer events.

For $14.99 per month (it's cheaper if you prepay $89.99 for the year), you can get HER Premium which unlocks Incognito Mode, more search filters, the ability to see who's online right now, and zero ads.

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05
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Best Dating App for Online Dating Newbies: Coffee Meets Bagel

A screenshot of Chats feature on the Coffee Meets Bagel app. You can only chat with your Bagels once you have both liked each other.
What We Like
  • There are ice breaker questions that have responses that aren't shared on your public profile but are shared with your Bagels to help generate conversation.

What We Don't Like
  • The app requires you to authenticate your profile with Facebook to find matches for you. 

If you're new to online dating or dating in general, most swipe-happy apps like Tinder can seem overwhelming, especially with the number of possible matches. Coffee Meets Bagel, in comparison, is simpler. You can start slow with a few matches per day as CMB users are only allotted a few curated matches to browse.

In hetero matches, the men are shown curated matches, and the women are sent "bagels," which are matches that have shown an interest in them. In same-gender matches, everyone gets a few curated matches to browse.

Coffee Meets Bagel is free to download and use. There are premium features that can be accessed with a CMB Premium subscription. These include the ability to see all your likes, get unlimited suggested profiles, set relationship goals, boost your profile, and more.

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06
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A screenshot of the Edit Profile screen on the Badoo dating app. In addition to asking you about your preferences there is also the option to add videos to your profile.
What We Like
  • Add videos to your profile.

What We Don't Like
  • The app rates you on your popularity, and your popularity level seems to affect how visible your profile is to potential matches. 

Badoo is a global dating app with millions of users. It helps you find local matches, but its most notable qualities are its video chat and live stream features. With Badoo, you can video chat with matches, post videos to your profile, and live stream via the app to earn tokens that give you access to premium services.

Badoo is free to download and use. The premium option lets you see who liked your profile and who added you to their favorites, plus the ability to undo swipes and more.

Download For:

Prefer to match with potential dates using your computer? See this list of free dating websites for our favorites.

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