The only dating apps worth downloading in December 2024

The dating world is changing, again. Even though more young people are so over endless swiping, the best dating apps are still the easiest way to find...well, everyone. Whether you love 'em or hate 'em (and let's be real, it's kinda both), you need to know which apps are actually worth your time.

While you could ask a friend to set you up, look for other single people at bars, or rely on good old-fashioned serendipity to find true love (or a quick fling), dating apps let you find a match without leaving your couch.

No matter how you feel about dating apps, you can't deny that many couples now owe their relationship to online dating. A 2022 survey from the Pew Research Center found that out of nearly 6,000 respondents, one in 10 partnered adults (those who were married, in a long-term relationship, or living together) met through a dating app. For adults under 30 and members of the LGBTQ+ community, 20 to 24 percent found their partner on the apps.

What is the best dating site?

Dating apps can be a lot, and with so many options, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. While Match Group (Tinder, Match, Archer, OkCupid, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and The League, among others) continues to dominate the market, you don't have to limit yourself to just one brand when looking for the best dating app.

For example, First Round’s On Me (FROME) is a newer app that's gained popularity for its date invitation feature. Choose a drink, date, time, and venue, and the app will send a personalized invitation to your potential match. Once a date is confirmed, it's locked into both users' calendars, and the in-app chat feature is activated 12 hours before the date.

Other apps like Pure cater to people open to ethical, non-monogamous relationships or threesomes. There really is something for everyone, including more traditional dating apps like eharmony, Facebook Dating (think Tinder Lite, for your grandma), and Christian Mingle, which swap endless scrolling for compatibility quizzes and faith-based connections.

The best dating apps of 2024

We take dating app research seriously. To find the best options for every kind of dater, including introverts, single parents, budget-conscious singles, working professionals, and LGBTQ+ users, we created profiles, swiped (and swiped, and swiped), and even sprung for premium features to see what they really offered. We also enlisted our own writers and editors to test these apps in their actual dating lives and report back with their findings. After all that, we factored in customer reviews, privacy features, and overall user-friendliness to create this definitive guide to the most reliable dating apps.

Good luck, babe.