Everyone knows that online dating can be tough for women. And when I say tough, I mean incredibly irritating, tiring, and frankly boring. But everyone needs to make connections from time to time, right?
Whether those are life-long or just for one evening. And as real-life dating is now pretty much a thing of the past (I mean, who talks to strangers?) everyone kinda has to rely on doing it online.
And that is what has led to the creation of this list of the best dating apps for women! I know, as a not-a-woman I’m not automatically qualified to write this list, but I promise that I have not only done extensive research but also asked some real live women-I-know-who-date to help me make the selections.
I know, I’m dedicated aren’t I? Don’t answer that. It’s really the least I can do. Sorry about everything, everyone who isn’t a straight, white man….
And before we slip any deeper into social politics, here’s the Dude Hack list of the best dating apps for women!
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Eharmony
Click here to try eharmony for free
Best For finding the one.
Not For looking for something super casual.
The Lowdown
Let’s get this straight – I’m not putting eharmony at number one because I think all women are looking for serious relationships. I’m putting it at number one because it has earned its reputation as the most trustworthy dating site on the internet!
Admittedly, eharmony is a platform massively skewed toward finding someone to date quite seriously. If that isn’t your bag, don’t bother with it. If it is, though, eharmony is your best bet!
This site has a long and storied history, and its matches are based on psychology. With such a strong foundation for pairing couples up, eharmony takes a lot of the hard work out of finding a partner.
I know online dating can be exhausting for women (really, I gathered a lot of horror stories from friends when I was prepping to write this piece) and I think that eharmony takes a little of the burden off of your shoulder.
I mean, it has been repeatedly voted the online dating site with the highest quality dating pool. If that’s not a draw, I don’t know what would be!
Pricing
| Pricing | Total Cost | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Free | ||
| 6 Months | $395.40 | $65.90 |
| 12 Months | $550.80 | $45.90 |
| 24 Months | $861.60 | $35.90 |
What you get for your cash
The free version of eharmony is essentially a taster session. I mean, a dating site doesn’t really work when you can’t chat with your matches, and you can’t chat with your eharmony matches without full membership.
I’m very aware that at first glance eharmony looks quite expensive, but it’s important to take into account that this is a serious site with pretty much exclusively serious users. If you put enough in (including money, unfortunately) you’re likely to get an awful lot out.
As always, though, if you have to really stretch to afford a dating site try something cheaper first. There are dating apps at all price points on this list!
Busy? Here are The Key Points
- Eharmony is a serious dating site for users who are looking for love. It has been around since the early 2000s, so is tried and tested!
- The paid memberships do seem expensive at first glance, but the site has such a great success rate that if you’re looking for a serious relationship you can see the monthly cost as an investment in your future.
- Eharmony’s matching is based on psychology. The site was actually founded by a doctor of psychology. Plus, a couple meets on the site every 14 minutes!
Zoosk
Click here to try Zoosk for free
Best For: having fun while you look for someone you really click with.
Not For purely idle swiping
The Lowdown
Zoosk was one of the earliest location-based dating apps when it started up in 2007. Amazingly, it has managed to remain relevant for 14 years (that’s 300 years in internet time). More interestingly,
Zoosk was one of the first dating sites with an intelligent algorithm, something that has massively caught on in the last decade and a half. I mean, can you imagine if dating sites didn’t read your mind? Me neither.
To break Zoosk’s algorithm down though, it really just tracks who you spend the most time looking at and who you message and like, and combines that with your toggled preferences to deliver a specific, some might say a bespoke set of matches.
I like Zoosk because it has dating app vibes without the hell that can occur on a swiping app. It’s got a slightly older user base who range from 25-44 on average, and there are people looking for everything from hookups to a forever person.
And they’re mature enough to admit to it! Basically, Zoosk is a bridge to grownup dating if you need one (no shame, most of us did or do).
Pricing
| Pricing | Upfront Cost | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 1 Month | $29.99 | $29.99 |
| 3 Months | $59.99 | $19.99 |
| 6 Months | $74.99 | $12.49 |
What you get for your cash
Zoosk is another site where the free version is basically only usable as a taster. After that, a single-month subscription is pretty pricey, but if you go for 3 or 6 it’s reasonable!
Once you do pay for Zoosk you can send unlimited messages, maybe to some of the SmartPicks chosen for you by the site’s award-winning algorithm!
You can also play around on Zoosk’s swipe game, Carousel if you want that good old-fashioned Tinder thrill.
Busy? Here are The Key Points
- The algorithm still used at Zoosk was designed by ex-NASA scientists – I mean, I have no idea how good they were at dating personally, but they must be good at math, right, and that’s pretty much what an algorithm is?
- You do have to pay for Zoosk Premium to fully utilize the site, but it’s pretty great value if you sign up for 3 months or more.
- Zoosk users tend to fall between 25-44 – AKA still a pretty fun crowd but with plenty of users looking for relationships too.
- Zoosk is a dating site that I would describe as occupying a middle ground. Not too serious, but not just for hookups.
HER
Best For: Those with sapphic tendencies
Not For men. Anyone but men is welcome
The Lowdown
What’s the worst bit about online dating, I asked a good friend. The men, she said. Which I suppose I had set myself up for, but she gave me a withering look all the same.
Anyway, if you’re queer, bi, or curious, and identify as anything except male, HER might just be the dating site for you.
Her is a thoroughly modern dating app, with a beautifully designed interface and glowing write-ups in everything from Vogue to Buzzfeed to The Guardian.
It describes itself as a community rather than just a dating site, presumably to get away from the very goal-oriented world of straight dating and especially straight dating apps for the Tinder generation!
HER profiles are detailed, allowing users to be quite nuanced in describing their gender, sexuality, and interests. The app also boasts both in-app communities where specific interests can be celebrated and connections made, and real-life events to encourage, you know, actually leaving the house and meeting people.
Good old-fashioned face-to-face fun! HER also puts a premium on safety, which makes sense as it caters to communities who are often made to feel unsafe both offline and online.
There are real, flesh-and-blood moderators working 24/7 to support HER and to respond to any issues that arise in the app.
Pricing
| Pricing | Total Cost | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Free | ||
| 1 Month | $14.99 | $14.99 |
| 6 Months | $71.99 | $11.99 |
| 12 Months | $89.99 | $7.49 |
What you get for your cash
Her is totally usable for free members. In fact, the company is quite proud of the accessibility of the app, including financial accessibility.
If you want to get additional features, though, you can pay for a premium. With a premium, HER membership you get to see who is ‘online now’, see who has liked your profile, rewind profiles, change your location and receive read receipts.
These are all decent additions to the app’s usability, but none are totally essential.
Busy? Here are The Key Points
- HER is a dating and social media app for women and nonbinary people.
- HER was launched in 2013 but has gained popularity in recent years after changing its name from Dattch. Good move if you ask me!
- The app puts a premium on friendship and positive interaction over dating, with various ‘communities’ available to join for womxn interested in say, travel, or a specific sport.
- HER holds IRL events. They’re not dating events, just fun activities that allow users to get to know one another.
- This is one of the few apps that is really usable for free members.
Silver Singles
Click here to try Silver Singles for free
Best for: women of a certain age, no matter what sort of dating they’re looking for
Not for daters who aren’t interested in connecting with over 50s
The Lowdown
Silver Singles is a dating app built exclusively for over 50s. Well, almost, you can join if you’re under 50 but interested in dating someone older than yourself.
It’s a great choice for women of a certain age, as a lot of the bravado and gameplaying of dating sites for youngsters simply don’t exist on Silver Singles.
By the time they’ve been around for 5 decades, people usually start to know what they want or at least learn to be honest about not knowing.
Silver Singles makes matches based on a personality test. Silver Singles’ personality test is 100 questions long, so the algorithm learns plenty about you before it starts suggesting matches!
Of course, no algorithm is perfect, and neither is any personality test, but having matches chosen for you removes a lot of the stress of online dating and gives you a pool of matches that should all be interesting to you in one way or another.
Mostly a US site, Silver Singles is pretty popular with over 50s throughout America, and therefore the dating pool is a decent size. In fact, Silver Surfers matches an amazing 2000 new couples each month.
That’s 4000 people (okay, you could probably have done that math yourself…). Silver Singles members are looking for a variety of relationship types.
Most would prefer something serious, but as is often the case there are plenty of users who are flexible about what they want as long as they find someone they get on with!
Pricing
| Pricing | Upfront Cost | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Free | ||
| 3 Months | $149.85 | $49.95 |
| 6 Months | $227.70 | $37.95 |
| 12 Months | $335.40 | $27.95 |
What you get for your cash
You can only message on Silver Singles if you pay for a premium account.
Without premium you get 20 daily wildcard matches (singles from your area you might not normally go for, meant to mix things up), all messages have read receipts, you can check out who is interested in you by looking at your profile views, and you can view all member photos and, unusually, you can also view your own personality profile as compiled from your personality test!
Of course, as you have to have a premium account to message Silver Singles free is just a taster, though you can flirt with smiley faces and you do get matches.
The app is on the more expensive side, but that tends to keep away users who aren’t serious about finding someone.
Busy? Here are the Key Points
- Silver Singles is a dating site for over 50s.
- It’s designed for older users, including a simple layout and large text (I know, sexy!).
- As the crowd on Silver Singles is mature, most people are straightforward about what they want.
- Matches are based on a personality test and are personal to you.
- You do need to pay to message on Silver Singles, so if money is an issue it might not be the site for you.
Bumble
Best for: women who want to swipe, but avoid Tinder
Not for brainless bros
The Lowdown
You’ve probably heard of Bumble. And to be honest, it’s kind of impossible to write a Best Dating Apps for Women list without mentioning Bumble (in case you’ve been under a rock, here’s my full article on Bumble).
The app was created by women, for women. Or more specifically, by disgruntled ex-Tinder employee Whitney Wolfe, who wanted to create a safer more respectful online dating environment than her previous employer provides.
Over time, though, Bumble’s mission has evolved. The app is for women, for everyone. In fact, Bumble has now branched out with Bumble BFFs and Bumble Bizz, for users looking for friends and business opportunities respectively.
That’s all a little secondary to the point of this article, of course, so let’s get back to dating. While Bumble has moved its focus away from just being the best dating site for women, it has managed to become a pretty safe and respectful dating environment for everyone. At least, more safe and respectful than Tinder.
With a Snooze feature to allow you to step away for a while or, as Bumble put it, digitally detox, instant photo verification (which you can request a match do as well as choosing to verify yourself), and icebreakers to keep the conversation flowing, these days Bumble is the closest thing in the app world to a mindful and, dare I say it, pleasant dating experience.
Oh, and it does still have the ‘women make the first move’ feature that made its name, so don’t worry about accidental right swipes!
Pricing
Bumble Boost
| Pricing | Upfront Cost | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Week | $9.99 | $39.99 |
| 1 Month | $14.99 | $14.99 |
| 3 Months | $39.99 | $9.99 |
| 6 Months | $47.99 | $15.99 |
Bumble Premium
| Pricing | Upfront Cost | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Week | $19.99 | $79.96 |
| 1 Month | $32.99 | $32.99 |
| 3 Months | $66.99 | $22.33 |
| Lifetime | $199.99 |
What you get for your cash
Bumble is the most generous of the swiping apps when it comes to the likes you get for free. The basic user’s daily allowance is 25, refreshed every 24 hours.
You also get unlimited free messaging without paying, so you can really occupy yourself on the app all day if you’ve got that kind of time to burn. But, if you’re so inclined, there are two types of paid subscriptions on Bumble.
With Boost, you get unlimited likes, a backtrack button for undoing an accidental left swipe, and a few ‘super swipes’ to use on users you’re really into (though I maintain, no one uses those things on purpose.
The more expensive paid service is Premium. With Bumble Premium you get all the features of Boost plus Beeline, which shows you users who have already liked you.
Premium also includes Travel Mode, which is pretty cool, allowing you to swipe and match in places you’re traveling too soon, and possibly arrange dates before you even arrive if that sounds good to you.
You can have a great Bumble experience with free, Boost, or Premium memberships, so it’s really up to you how much you’re willing to spend.
Busy? Here are the Key Points
- A location-based swiping app of the Tinder generation
- Bumble is designed by women and aims to create a safer and more inclusive online dating experience than the one offered by most apps.
- Women make the first move – they have to send the first message in male/female matches.
- There are a bunch of new features that make online dating more bearable, from conversation starters to the option to Snooze your account.
- Bumble is totally usable without paying, but there are also two premium membership options with additional features.
