Tinder is a great app, and it’s going nowhere. In fact, as one of the first location-based swiping apps, and the first universally popular dating site built for use only on our phones, Tinder changed the world of online dating.
I don’t want to perform queer erasia here – Grindr and Scruff got there first, but Tinder brought things mainstream. And for that, we will, of course, always be grateful. Thank you, Tinder, for all you have given us.
But at a certain point… well… most people find themselves all Tindered out. The new users just keep getting younger (this is not what is happening by the way – they are all over eighteen – you’re just aging, sorry), the swiping just keeps getting more frantic, and you start to feel a little strange saying, once again, that you’re going on a ‘Tinder date’ of an evening.
And yet… what’s the alternative? What else is there but Tinder?
That’s a silly question. There are plenty of dating sites out there, and plenty of dating apps, which fulfill the same functions like Tinder. Only, they often do it better!
There are apps that have the same feel and basic setup as Tinder – aka modern swiping apps – but a slightly more refined user base, or more interesting features.
And there are also plenty of dating sites that are built for finding no-strings hookups but are more straightforward about that than Tinder. Bottom line: there’s a lot out there that isn’t Tinder.
And if you’re not sure about moving on, you don’t have to delete Tinder right away, it’s perfectly acceptable to be on multiple apps. So why not give one (or more) of the best dating apps like Tinder a go?
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AdultFriendFinder
Click here to try AdultFriendFinder for free
Best For: Anyone looking for fun, either online or off
Not For Daters in the market for only serious relationships, or anyone with a negative attitude towards sex
The Lowdown
AdultFriendFinder has been around for, literally, decades. This site is a veteran on the dot-com bubble. Of the earliest online dating trends. Of the dial-up years. And yet, somehow, the site is still going strong and pulling in new members.
This might be because of the sheer number of features on the site, and the fact that it’s always packed with fresh content. Content, you ask? Yes, AdultFriendFinder is not only a sex-positive dating site where you can find playmates, hookups, and more but also hosts user-submitted videos, erotic stories, and live cam sessions.
Maybe that all sounds like a little much. Don’t be intimidated though, plenty of AdultFriendFinder users are simply looking for someone like-minded (and hot) to spend a night (or more) with.
If it’s hookups you’re in the market for, you can look at AdultFriendFinder-like Tinder without the faff.
You don’t have to do the whole awkward date thing before you get to the hookup part – on AdultFriendFinder you can ask for what you want, and find someone who is excited to make it happen.
Pricing
| Pricing | Total Cost | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Free | ||
| 1 Month | $39.95 | $39.95 |
| 3 Months | $80.85 | $26.95 |
| 12 Months | $239.40 | $19.95 |
What you get for your cash
As I mentioned, AdultFriendFinder has a huge library of features, from private photo galleries to live videos to forums and groups focused on various predilections or interests.
You can access quite a few of these features with a free membership to the site, but crucially you will need to pay if you want to send and receive messages.
This means that you can have a certain amount of online fun for free, but to actually interact with other users or take a relationship IRL, you need to pay for membership.
As you can see, if you commit for three months or more the site is pretty great value, so why not use the free version as a sort of taster?
If you like what you see, you can get yourself a three-month membership. Remember plenty of users are up for getting to know one another online, so you end up getting a lot for your money with AdultFriendFinder, using your membership without even leaving the house.
Plus, you’ll save money skipping the Tinder dates and the three drinks you would have to buy on them. Try it here.
Busy? Here are The Key Points
- One of the longest-running hookup sites still online – AdultFriendFinder has been helping daters have a bit of fun since 1996.
- Loads of features including options for video chatting, live streaming, forums, and private galleries. There’s a lot of scope for online play as well as IRL dates with AdultFriendFinder.
- A sex-positive environment where you can be as wild or as vanilla as you like.
- You do need a premium membership to access key features like messaging, but prices are very reasonable if you choose a 3+ month plan.
Hinge
Best For: Tinder lovers who are looking for a little more
Not For People looking exclusively for hookups
The Lowdown
The Hinge was designed for millennials who aren’t into Tinder-style dating culture. It aims to facilitate dating app users to dig a little deeper, making real connections with potential dates rather than swiping based only on looks, age, location, and (if you’re lucky) a pithy couple of lines of bio.
As you can tell from Hinge’s tagline, ‘Hinge, the app that’s designed to be deleted’, this app was built with its users finding serious relationships in mind. In reality, though, people on Hinge are looking for all sorts of things, from hookups to serious dating.
Unlike on Tinder though the app does force you to engage in more in-depth conversation and with a minimum of 6 photos per user and a whole slew of prompts to answer on your profile a certain amount of getting to know one another is almost enforced.
I see all this as a good thing personally – I mean, even if you’re not looking to settle down and get a dog asap, isn’t it nice to actually know who it is you’re going on a date with?
If you can have a laugh with your date, for example, you will definitely have more fun than if you go out with a supermodel who has no sense of humor and can’t move her face anyway because of the pro-active botox she’s passionate about and tells you about in grotesque detail for 45 minutes.
Hinge is generally populated by a young millennial and Gen-Z crowd, and it’s a swiping app, so scratches similar itches to Tinder.
Unfortunately, as Hinge isn’t as huge and universal as some of the other swiping apps it can range from basically be Tinder overflow to being somewhat overly serious depending on where you are, but in my opinion, it’s definitely worth a go.
Pricing
| Pricing | Upfront Cost | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Free | ||
| 1 Month | $19.99 | $19.99 |
| 3 Months | $39.99 | $13.33 |
| 6 Months | $59.99 | $9.99 |
What you get for your cash
The main benefit of Hinge Preferred is unlimited likes vs the pretty measly 8 you get daily as a basic member. Preferred members can also see all the users who have liked them without having to swipe to find out whether or not it’s a match, and they can set various advanced preferences not available to other users to narrow down their search.
Busy? Here are The Key Points
- A Tinder-esque swiping app for built real connections, the app that’s ‘designed to be deleted’.
- In reality, it’s basically just Tinder with better profiles, more pictures, and fun prompts. Oh, and in many places fewer f*ckbois/girls.
- Hinge preferred is about $20 per month and gets you unlimited swipes and a feed of all the users who like you.
- Free users get 8 likes per day, which is fine if you’re picky, and can message to their hearts’ content.
Zoosk
Click here to try Zoosk for free
Best For: Anyone who doesn’t quite know what their type is (don’t worry, the algorithm will work it out).
Not For Daters who are afraid of the AI uprising. The Zoosk algorithm will likely lead it.
The Lowdown
Okay, so Zoosk isn’t at first glance very comparable to Tinder. This is an old stalwart of the online dating game, and until just a few years ago was purely a desktop site. Now, though, Zoosk has an excellent mobile app complete with a swiping game, Carousel.
But Zoosk’s real draw is its NASA-scientist-developed algorithm (yes, an actual NASA scientist came up with it, but it wasn’t designed for moon-dating or anything, he had left NASA when he started working on the algorithm).
This algorithm learns what draws you to potential dates by collating data points on all the users whose profiles you hover over, click on, and interact with. This means that Zoosk ends up knowing you better than you know yourself!
This is a total boon for indecisive daters or anyone who is less than perfect self-aware when it comes to working out what they want. And let’s be honest, most of us suffer from at least one of those two issues.
Don’t be put off by the fact that Zoosk has been around the block. It’s sleek and well-designed, and its multiple matching options mean that you get that dating app buzz without having to swipe through hundreds of profiles a week.
The user base for this app is a little older than for Tinder, but if you’re trying to move on that’s probably a good thing. And we’re not talking blue-rinse brigade, most Zoosk users are between 25 and 44, and they’re looking for everything from hookups to marriage.
If you’re a millennial or Gen Z dater looking into getting a bit more serious about it, why not give my full Zoosk review a look?
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
Unfortunately, nonpaying Zoosk users can’t send messages. You can get access to everything else, including SmartPicks, the algorithmically chosen matches that Zoosk delivers daily, but without messaging, that’s something of a tease.
I like to see the free version of the site as a taster – you can create an account and check out what Zoosk has to offer, and if you like what you see you can fork out for membership.
The pricing is really reasonable, especially if you opt for a 3 or 6-month package, and as always with dating sites, the financial barrier to entry means that everyone on Zoosk is actually looking to date rather than just kill time swiping and chatting.
Busy? Here are The Key Points
- This old favorite has kept up with evolving dating trends and has an excellent app, as well as swiping options if your Tinder-obsessed thumb needs a workout.
- Matches are based on a proprietary algorithm that takes into account all your activity on the site.
- The free site is just a taster, but paid membership packages are very reasonable.
- Zoosk has a slightly more mature user base than Tinder, with most users between 25 and 44 years of age.
Bumble
Best For: Daters who like Tinder, but are tired of the drama
Not For Anyone looking to move away from swiping-based apps
The Lowdown
Bumble was designed by a disgruntled ex-Tinder employee who wanted to make dating apps safer, more inclusive spaces for women.
This is where their signature feature – women being tasked with sending the first message – came from, and the central aim of creating a kinder, fairer space for online dating has been carried through most of what the app has done over the five years since its launch.
As well as letting women take control, Bumble aims to prioritize the sanity of its users with a couple of other features. There’s ‘Your Move’, which is an icon you can deploy in a chat if you feel like you have been doing all the heavy lifting and want your partner to take a turn asking the questions/telling the hilarious bad date stories/making the drinks plans, and an excellent Snooze function that you can deploy for fixed periods or indefinitely when you just need a break from the swipe of it all.
Bumble isn’t a million miles away from Tinder in what it offers, and the users are of a similar demographic (mostly 18-35, though very few are under 22 and most have college degrees, make of that what you will!) but Bumble at least makes an effort to safeguard its users’ sanity and make online dating a little less frantic!
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 offers two paid subscription options, Boost and the newer and more expensive Bumble Premium. Boost backtrack, which lets you rewind your left swipes, the ability to extend time on matches, unlimited swipes versus the standard 25, one Spotlight (that’s a profile boost in layman’s terms), and, 5 SuperSwipes per week (super likes, basically).
Premium gets you all that, plus Travel Mode, Beeline (a feed of everyone who likes you), and access to additional filters to narrow down your matches plus the ability to toggle on as many filters as you like.
As Bumble’s free swipe allowance is pretty generous at 25 a day, paying for Boost is a nice luxury but in no way essential to use the app.
Premium might be a good upgrade if you were going on a trip and wanted to have Travel Mode for a month, but unless you’ve got Scrooge McDuck and his swimming pool-style money it doesn’t seem worth it all the time.
Busy? Here are The Key Points
- In some ways a Tinder spin-off, Bumble was created by an ex-Tinder employee with a grudge. She wanted to fix sexism inherent in dating apps, and she did that by building an app on which women have to make the first move.
- More than a one-trick pony, Bumble has added a whole bunch of features over the last few years that put mental health front and center. These include a Snooze setting and instant photo verification.
- With 25 free right swipes available every 24 hours, you can have a pretty full Bumble experience without paying a penny.
Flingster
Click here to try Flingster for free
Best For: People looking to have a good time, especially if leaving the house sounds like a drag to them.
Not For Daters looking for love, and anyone squeamish about sex.
The Lowdown
Flingster doesn’t exactly resemble Tinder, except in its color pallet of deep reds, but it does recreate a couple of elements. This site is all about fun, low stakes, and connecting with new people. That sounds a lot like Tinder, right? Or at least what Tinder used to be.
Unlike Tinder, Flingster is a video-dating service. If you’re ancient like me (aka the late 20s or early 30s) you might remember Omegle and Chat Roulette.
That’s Flingster’s basic premise, but the vibe is less creepy and sexier, and you won’t run into any groups of 12-year-olds using their dad’s laptop at a sleepover.
Flingster matches you with another dater at random over video chat. With users all over the world, you really could find almost anyone popping up on the screen.
Luckily, you can select what gender you are interested in and there’s also a decent translation feature for typed messages.
Plus, you can hide your identity with a digital mask if you’re worried about running into, say, someone from the office. Flingster is popular with couples as well as individual users, with a lot of paired-up users happy to perform for those with voyeuristic desires.
Of course, everyone on Flingster is going to want something individual to them, and some might just want to chat and get to know you. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, but consent is key even over video chat!
Pricing
| Pricing | Upfront Cost | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Free | ||
| 1 Week | $6.99 | $27.96 |
| 1 Month | $19.99 | $19.99 |
| 6 Months | $89.94 | $14.99 |
What you get for your cash
You can use Flingster without paying, but Premium members get a range of benefits that feel worth $20 a month. Firstly, paying allows you to be verified.
Verified users get a badge on their profile that’s visible in chats and videos, and this leads to more trust from other users.
You also get a back button as a premium member in case you get knocked off a chat or accidentally click past someone you liked the look of and, maybe most importantly, paying for premium gets rid of the ads that can be extremely distracting in certain circumstances…
Busy? Here are The Key Points
- Flingster is a randomized video chat site aimed at users who want to make sexual or romantic connections.
- The site is easy to use, modern, and sex-positive.
- Flingster users are spread all around the globe, and around 15,000 users are usually online at any given time.
- The basic service is free, but a reasonable monthly subscription gets rid of ads and gives you a couple of extra features.
