The Best Dating App For Women

Hi, I’m Amy North. As someone who has been studying love and relationships for years, I’m keenly aware of how dating apps have completely changed certain aspects of dating forever. There are some huge benefits to online dating including the ability to reach a wider group of people, but it can be pretty overwhelming. I’m going to go through the benefits and drawbacks to each app and finally answer the question “Which is the best dating app?” once and for all. Let’s get into it.

Bumble

Bumble flips the script on Tinder, giving the woman all the power to make the first move. It functions similar to Tinder. You swipe through simple profiles that include a short bio and several photos. It’s different in that women have to make the first move. That’s right, men aren’t even given the option to send you a message until you’ve sent yours. This can work to your advantage–it lets you to start off in the driver’s seat. But now “don’t just say hey” cuts both ways. If you’re someone who has trouble breaking the ice or you want him to make the first move then maybe Bumble isn’t for you.

Another thing to remember is that both of you need to send a message within the first 24 hours or the match is over. For an additional fee you can recover old matches or send their equivalent of super likes.

Bumble also tends to be a bit buggy. Sometimes profiles don’t load and messages can’t be sent. Usually resetting the app is enough to fix these issues but it certainly is annoying. But all in all, Bumble is a good option because of the number of users. Bumble is decently popular with 5.4 million users in the US alone.

OKCupid

OKCupid has rebranded in recent years. Their audience skews younger and more social justice focused than ever before. If you consider yourself a card-carrying feminist or leftist and are interested in progressive causes then OKCupid may be the place for you to find love. They offer a whopping 12 gender identities and 20 sexual orientations so no one gets left out. That said, I’ve heard reports that they use screening questions to try to root out more conservative daters.

Hinge

Hinge positions itself as the “anti-tinder”. You scroll through profiles rather than swiping and it offers detailed questionnaires like Plenty of fish. The user base of Hinge is more drawn to relationships than one night stands and that’s one of the reasons it has exploded in popularity recently. I give Hinge a big thumbs up.

Coffee Meets Bagel

I find the aesthetic and interface of Coffee Meets Bagel to be clunky and difficult to manage. It’s aiming for a more sophisticated audience than Tinder but it still lacks the popularity of most other dating apps. And more bad news, its simplistic algorithm only gives you a limited number of matches a day. Not impressed.

POF

Plenty of fish has been a respected name in the dating game for a long time now. It’s popular among more mature daters and it’s simple design makes it easy to recommend.