We’re all looking for love in one way or another. Nowadays, we can find a partner without leaving the couch, just via our mobile phone. But what makes the best dating app for serious relationships? Whether you’re looking for a life-long bound or want to start with something less intimidating, there is an app for everybody.
To save your nerves and to relieve you of the loneliness burden, I have tested these 27 best free dating apps for relationships and shared my insights. But before I reveal them, let’s review the main criteria that you need to evaluate when choosing a dating app.
What to Look For in a Dating App
With millions of users looking for relationships on dating apps and websites, matchmaking business is thriving. No wonder that you can feel overwhelmed with all the choices. But the task gets easier when you know what you’re looking for. So next time you try a new dating service, pay attention to the details.
Affordability
A vast majority of dating apps offer to use its basic functionality without paying for it. While in some cases it might be more than enough, you need to check whether you can send and receive messages for free. Without this function, the app becomes useless.
Search and matching system
If you like to be in control or look for a specific type of person, check if the app allows you to search for users. Apps like Tinder, which are based on the swiping system, are more suitable for open-minded people.
Popularity
You may think that the more popular the app is, the higher your chances to find love are. That’s not always the case. It often happens that the more choices people have, the less motivated they are to stop choosing. Apps with a smaller audience allow you to focus on fewer people and be more conscious.
Security
Safety always comes first. Pay attention if the website is fighting scammers and fakes. Also, check if the platform verifies users’ emails and pictures.
Now, let’s go on and review the most popular dating apps in 2020.
| 40 million members | 2 millions per week |
| 4/5 hookup chance | High Sex Chance |
| medium fraud risk | Verification email, phone number, Facebook |
| $9.99 - $120 subscription price |
Basic is free, Tinder Gold – $9.99/M, Tinder Plus – 14.99/M
They say this service has invented millennials’ swipe culture, so let’s see whether it is legit or not.
Advantages
- Spotify and Instagram to tell more about you.
- Analysis of your pics.
- Popularity boosting.
- Super likes to get a person’s immediate attention.
Disadvantages
- Swiping game.
- Unlimited matching only for those who pay.
- Some locations are silent.
- Verification doesn’t save from fakes.
- Regarded as a communication platform with no intention of dating somebody.
Is Tinder one of the best dating apps for relationships? Some think so. Merry-go-rounding in the same area is the key to chatting. Signing up takes a few minutes. Used to be pretty popular, but now users are more worldly-wise.
| 11 millions members | 300k per months |
| 4/5 hookup chance | High Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification email, phone, photo |
| $0.95 – $45.95 subscription price |
3 days for free, $ 29.99/M
A fresh unconventional invention with an extraordinary concept and many features to call it one of the best dating apps for open relationships. And if you’re both down for it, you may even start something serious.
Advantages
- Unique smart matching algorithm.
- Verification that works.
- Stylish minimalist design.
- No bugs.
- Self-destroying chats.
- Articles, blogs, and advice to navigate you in romantic life.
Disadvantages
- Messaging requires money.
- Private photos only on request.
Matching is based on location and mutual likes. No need to swipe through an endless line of profiles. You’ll have an hour to talk things through and to make it real. Registration takes up to 2 minutes. 100,000 users per day turn it into the most used dating app.
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| 5 million members | 150,000/daily |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification Facebook, phone numbe |
| $9.99 - $29.94 subscription price |
Basic is free, $ 9.9/M
The history of successes and failures makes it one of the most controversial dating apps for a serious relationship.
Advantages
- “Most Compatible” list.
- No bots, no fakes.
- Virtues, Vitals, and Vices blocks.
Disadvantages
- Free chats are limited.
- To get some advice, you need to pay.
- Lengthy “Compatibility” questionnaire.
The way you answer the questions during the registration influences your future matches with candidates. Quick signing up with Facebook. The number of users keeps on decaying, yet still Hinge is one of the best dating apps for serious relationships based on its design.
| 11 million members | 11,000 active/weekly |
| 4/5 hookup chance | High Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification phone number, Faceboo |
| $8.99 - $79.98 subscription price |
Basic is free, $ 24.99/M
Honey comb-looking girl power-oriented app for women to make the first step and to choose.
Advantages
- Free chatting.
- Re-matching.
- Video chats.
- Cool concept.
Disadvantages
- Lefts and rights.
- No searching tools to be your own master.
- Tiresome coins currency.
- Only a day to initiate a chat.
One more swiping app, but a sweet-looking one. Matches depend on swipes. Signing up takes a few minutes. Unlike other dating apps for serious relationships, Bumble pushes you to initiate conversations right away if you don’t want to pay extra.
| 11 million members | 400,000 users per month |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification Facebook |
| $34.99 - $179.99 subscription price |
Basic for free, $ 34.99/M
A conceptual app that advertises itself as a place for females to choose, but has a definitely patriarchy way of coming for relations.
Advantages
- A chatroom to flirt with strangers.
- Free messaging.
- Names are not shown until you connect.
Disadvantages
- Extra features cost money.
- 7 days for a match.
- Users mostly look for no-strings-attached.
- Only a day for a chat to start.
- A day for a chat to start till. You pay for your time.
- Women see only those who have already liked them.
- Small audience, especially in small towns.
- Easy to get distracted from your main goal.
Men get 21 “Bagels” to like daily. Women chose only from 6 males who liked them. Signing up takes a few minutes with questions to answer. The primary audience consists of office workers. Probably not the best dating app for serious relationship if you’re a woman who likes to be in control.
Hily
7 day free trial, from $ 14.99/W
A males-oriented Tinder-like service with a disputable concept and features.
Advantages
- Chat requests without likes.
- Profiles with videos.
Disadvantages
- One-star rating.
- Same old swipe concept.
- Typical swipes.
- “Made to steal money.”
- Lots of fakes and people who want to blackmail you.
- Almost no women present.
- Blamed for its toxic-masculinity concept.
- Most users come for casual fun.
Matching is based on liking people of the preferred age in the needed location. Signing up takes up to 5 minutes. Yet another women-unfriendly service that promotes masculinity but it can still work if you look for dating apps for open relationships.
| 1 million members | 200,000/monthly |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification email |
| $29.99 - $89.99 subscription price |
Basic for free, $ 29.99/M plus credits
It has an option to arrange a date without talking to a person. Although the blind date concept works for some people, that’s not what people usually look for in dating apps for relationships.
Advantages
- Date in 2 taps option for real quick rendezvous.
- “Mixers” to chat publicly.
Disadvantages
- Communication costs.
- Most users have a single pic only.
- Subscription is hard to cancel.
Matching is typically based on likes in your location. Registration requires less than 2 minutes and can be done via Facebook or email. If you’re looking for a hookup and have no time to waste, Clover is the app to go to. But its core concept of quick matching with almost anybody available does not make it the best dating apps for serious relationships.
| worldwide members | millions every day |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification activate Facebook Dating |
| free of charge subscription price |
Free
A Facebook romantic service with a completely separate profile for you to make. Advertised as one of the best free dating apps for relationships, it is still not widely accessible. Although the app has arrived in South America, some parts of Asia and recently the US, the audience is still small.
Advantages
- A completely free service.
- No swiping to irritate you.
- An option to describe yourself.
Disadvantages
- For Facebook users only.
- Matching is limited to candidates for 100 km around.
- Limited likes to show your interest.
- A separate messaging inbox.
Suggested matches are based on location and messaging with no likes. To start, you need your Facebook account and 20 questions to answer. The infamous Facebook privacy issues make the whole “dating apps relationships” business doubtful.
| 450,000 members | 15,000/daily |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification Facebook, Instagram |
| $14.99 - $89.99 subscription price |
Basic is free, $ 14.99/M
An app focused on creating a safe environment for queer women.
Advantages
- Messages are limitless.
- Facebook sign-up.
- Local events for the singles.
Disadvantages
- Most options are not free.
- One of the buggiest apps.
- Only paid members can see profiles.
- No verification to protect you from numerous impersonators.
Registration takes a few seconds but the audience is not that big. The app is quite buggy and not widely accessible and yet HER is one of the best gay dating apps for relationships between queer women.
| 400,000 members | 80,000/weekly |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification Faceboo |
| free of charge subscription price |
Free
A gay Tinder with controversial characteristics.
Advantages
- Absolutely free.
- “Sexy” and “Cute” types of users to show your intentions.
Disadvantages
- Only for facebookers.
- Conventional swipes.
- Ugly redesign from the 90s.
- Lots of ghosts.
- Most users are interested in hookups only.
Matches happen in the same way that Tinder has. Sign up is quick, but the search can take much longer because the audience is small. Not the best gay dating app for relationships.
| 10 million members | 3 million/daily |
| 4/5 hookup chance | High Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification email, Facebook |
| $9.99 – $47.88 subscription price |
Basic is free, $ 5/M
An app for queer-males with things to reflect about.
Advantages
- No adds.
- Photo editor.
- Relatively low price.
Disadvantages
- Numerous fakes.
- Sexual harassment flourish.
- Easy to get banned for nothing.
- Design.
Sign up takes seconds, matching is based on mutual interest, but people typically look for a quickie, so it’s not on the list of the best dating apps for relationships.
| 7 million members | 40,000 active users monthly |
| 5/5 hookup chance | Extremely High Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification email, Facebook account |
| $14.99 – $75.60 subscription price |
Basic for free, $ 29.99/M plus credits
A service for religious people interested in a spiritual and reliable soul mate.
Advantages
- Up to 6 pics to upload.
- A chatroom to make friends.
- Searching can be filtered.
Disadvantages
- Too primitive features, especially on the app.
- Messaging costs money.“Cold” and strict design to keep you too withdrawn for love.
The concept is to connect decent hearts without swiping. Registration takes 5 minutes. If you don’t mind the outdated design and look for a partner who shares the same values, that app should be on your list of dating apps for serious relationships.
| 300,000 members | 50,000/weekly |
| 4/5 hookup chance | High Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification email, Facebook |
| $59.99 - $179.94 subscription price |
Free registration, $ 59.99/M
An exclusive app for Jewish people interested in serious relationships.
Advantages
- Events for members.
- A chat room to talk on different topics.
- No swiping we are fed with.
Disadvantages
- Not all users are genuinely Jewish.
- Only paid users can get in contact.
- The highest price on the market.
- No matching algorithms.
You can like an appealing person after you sign up, but if you want to get in touch, you need to pay for the app. Jdate is among the best dating app for serious relationships for senior people.
| 300000 members | 15,000/weekly |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification Facebook, phone number |
| free of charge subscription price |
Free
The app’s creators believe people can be easily connected by the things they hate with a brand-new concept to test and underdeveloped options to detest.
Advantages
- No money needed.
- No ads.
- “Icebreakers” to start a chat.
Disadvantages
- Boring.
- Only one DM per 12 hours.
- Swipes.
- Only 5 pics to upload.
Registration is quick, matching, though based on standard swipes, is tricky. Love-seekers tend to come and go, for our hate-related things are chameleons. Is it one of the best free dating apps for relationships? If they had a bigger audience and worked on user experience, it could be.
Tastebuds
Free basics, $ 10/M
Come together, love now – that’s the most musical dating app with features to think of.
Advantages
- A chatroom.
- Linked to Spotify.
- Verification.
Disadvantages
- Only neighbors.
- No app for Android.
- Unlimited private messages are only for subscribed members.
It is easy to sign up and to search for the one with the same music tastes. Definitely the best dating app for relationships between music junkies.
Quiz Date Live
Free
Smart knights intellectually fight for a bachelorette.
Advantages
- Unique concept with live streams.
- Users from all over the world.
Disadvantages
- Nothing serious to offer.
- Just 3 times a week.
- Still is developing while some basic features are not ready.
Quick registration supposes you will open up during the stream, of course, if you win. A funny, but a very niche concept. Not the best dating apps for relationships but an alternative way to spend a boring Sunday night.
Pickable
Free sign-up
An app for shy people to make new contacts anonymously.
Advantages
- Nobody will know you are here till you choose a candidate.
- Women-Women-Empowering concept.
Disadvantages
- Bad reviews.
- Chatting costs.
- Useless filters.
- Bugs.
- Anonymity can be pretty creepy.
A quick registration, matching is based on females’ preferences, and men get profiles of girls who have liked them. The app is not popular and won’t make it to our list of dating apps for serious relationships.
| 750,00 members | 100,000/monthly |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification |
| $8 - $30 subscription price |
$ 7.99/M
This app is amazingly popular among celebrities.
Advantages
- Videos.
- Stars are here.
Disadvantages
- Only 8% of applicants get accepted.
- A small number of users.
- Only for Apple devices.
Sign up process is easy, matching is based on preferences. Career-oriented sophisticated people will probably call it a decent dating app for serious relationships.
| 400,000 members | 100,000 currently in the waiting list |
| 4/5 hookup chance | High Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification Facebook, LinkedI |
| $29.08 - $349 subscription price |
From $ 99/M to $ 199/M
A controversial young professionals-oriented service.
Advantages
- Cool design.
- No fakes or bots.
- Add your Linkedin.
- Free messaging.
Disadvantages
- Studio-quality picture obligatory.
- Only 5 matches a day.
- Super expensive.
- Females outnumber males.
- Almost nobody looks for serious relations.
Sign up process is easy, matching is based on preferences.
| 13 million members | 900,000 daily |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| medium fraud risk | Verification email |
| $12.99 - $107.88 subscription price |
Free registration, $ 27.99/M
A service with an ambition to make you married.
Advantages
- Boosting for an hour.
- 6 months more for free if you don’t find a match within your first 6 months.
- Detailed profiles.
Disadvantages
- All forms of communication cost money.
- Privacy asks for your purse.
- You can’t see whether a member is a subscriber.
7 matches per day based on your compatibility and quick registration. Many people use it to look for hookups, not the best dating app for serious relationships.
| 29 million members | 16 million active weekly |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification email, Facebook |
| $34.97- $431.38 subscription price |
Free sign-up, $59.95/M
The child of a relevantly known app which is divided into toads according to its clients’ sexual orientation.
Advantages
- No fakes.
- Free messaging.
Disadvantages
- App has fewer functions than a site.
- Pay to see your matches pics.
- Great price.
- Discount campaigns that fail.
- Old-fashioned design.
Basic questions and adjectives to describe your work as the sign-up process to provide you with suitable matches, but the app is still pretty old-old-fashioned and boring.
| 10 million members | 1 million daily logins |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification Facebook |
| $7.95 - $23.70 subscription price |
Basic for free, Premium – $ 24.9/M
A service advertised as the place to make the hearts meet for different forms of love.
Advantages
- Lots of genders and sexual orientations.
- Matching is based on a non-typical questionnaire.
- Boosting.
Disadvantages
- Lots of ads till you pay.
- Mostly females present.
- Easy to get banned.
- Swipes.
- Fakes.
This app’s design is excellent, registration takes time, tolerance as the dominant principle. OkCupid is truly one of the best dating apps for relationships.
| 78 million members | 2 million logins daily |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification email |
| $19.35 - $81.40 subscription price |
Free sign-up, $ 19.35/M
An app that consists of other services’ features to help you fish.
Advantages
- You can show your intentions.
- No robots.
- Conversations exist for. 30 days.
- Digital gifts.
- Mostly validated profiles.
Disadvantages
- Impersonators are numerous.
- 20% more males.
- Extended profiles take money to see.
- Hard to deactivate your account.
- Clients are mostly into no-strings-attached relations.
To become its member, you need to complete a personality test which will show you your chemistry predictor and ultra matches.
| 40 million members | 1,600,000 users daily |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| medium fraud risk | Verification email, Facebook, Google |
| $29.95 - $89.98 subscription price |
Free basic features, $ 29.95/M
This app aims to solve a puzzle of your personality but has no exact formula.
Advantages
- Behavioral data matching technology.
- Digital gifts.
- Mostly validated profiles.
Disadvantages
- “Faceless” members.
- Sending messages requires an upgraded version.
- Pay to see who has liked you.
- Numerous ads.
The app has its particular way of connecting people seen on the site only. Registration is easy, members’ activity is high. If you’re tired of boring look-alike apps, it can become your new best dating app for relationships searches.
| 5 million members | 900,000 weekly |
| 3/5 hookup chance | Medium Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification email |
| $37.95 - $239.40 subscription price |
Free registration, $ 37.95/M.
An app for mature love-seekers who are here for a permanent partner.
Advantages
- Clean design.
- Personality test.
- “Have you met?” swiping extra option.
- Mostly mature and well-educated users.
- Different ways to start your communication.
Disadvantages
- Only paid members can answer questions.
- Profile pics are not free to see.
- Pay to comment.
- Two genders only.
- All types of interaction, except for the winks, cost money.
- 20 minutes or more to start.
Matching is based on your personality survey, that’s why registration takes time. The design is good, while the price leaves with high expectations.
| 1.5 million members | 40,000/weekly |
| 4/5 hookup chance | High Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification email, Facebook |
| $29.95 - $143.95 subscription price |
Free basics, $ 29.99/M
An OkCupid for bisexuals who are searching for relations with different genders and different targets.
Advantages
- First date idea as the main connector.
- Different forums to explore.
Disadvantages
- Not all users are bisexuals.
- Messaging works for the paid members only.
- Lots of fakes to steal your attention and money.
- No matching systems.
- Mostly males present.
The concept is to bring OkCupid more efficient for those who love people regardless of their sex. The registration process is quick, other things depend on you.
| 600,000 members | 45,000/monthly |
| 2/5 hookup chance | Low Sex Chance |
| medium fraud risk | Verification Phone number, facebook |
| $19.99 - 74.98 subscription price |
Free registration, $19.99/M
The concept is based on slow dating to attract only people with serious intentions.
Advantages
- Easy to use.
- Nice neat design.
- Strict application for the mature only.
Disadvantages
- Flirting is limited.
- Contacting others only for users in “crowns.”
- You can see only your matches’ profiles.
- Highly outnumbered by females in their late 20s.
Matching is based on the way you rate others’ photos and gives you only one match daily. Registration is a smooth process; however, it takes time to prove you are not a fake. Popular among females, but has almost no men to choose from.
Pure, platform with no bots and fakes: most used dating app for relationships
In Pure, the algorithm will delete your account an hour after you start searching for a partner. If you match, you have another hour to talk in the chat — then it will also be automatically deleted. This makes the service inaccessible and uninteresting for bots, fakes, and crooks.
Pure users are alive personalities who do not hide their desires and want to find a partner in the next hour.
Download Pure from Google Play or App Store
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Dating apps for serious relationships – video review
Now you are acquainted with 27 dating apps for serious relationship. Reflect on them, hold on tight, and start your romantic search. Still in doubt? See our exclusive review of top adult dating sites.
3 Comments
As for me, the so-called best gay dating apps for relationships are simply not working. Grindr is all about quickies, Chappy is kinda silly. I would rather use regular apps like OkCupid to look for fun people who are not focused only on getting laid.
When I broke up with my girlfriend I wasn’t looking for something serious straight away. So everyone told me to go on Tinder. Apparently, it is one of the best dating apps for open relationships and many girls are down-to-anything. Turned out, half of them used the app to make a living.
I feel like I’ve tried almost all the dating apps for relationships already. Match, Hater, JDate, even Facebook Dating, you name it! You never know which one will finally close the deal, but I suggest cutting your chats short and if you like him, go meet the man in person.