Online dating as the standard way to meet someone isn’t even news anymore. Nowadays, “We met on Hinge” is far more plausible than “We met at a bar.”
Still, looking for love online comes with nervousness, catfish paranoia, and doubtful looks from nosy family members. To that, we ask: Is waiting around to stumble upon your soulmate in public really any better? According to a GQ piece about Bumble, your chances of finding love on a night out in London are three in one million. (Don’t hit us with “but that’s not in the U.S.” excuse. Meeting people is hard everywhere). We love reality TV like The Bachelor/The Bachelorette and Love Island as much as the next person, but we can’t all put our full-time careers on hold to find a fiancé.
Consider our reasoning for Why Online Dating Is Worthwhile™: Statista predicted that the online dating audience will grow to 37.5 million in 2023, compared to 33.9 million users in 2018. (TechCrunch calls the surge the Tinder effect.) A study from Stanford released in 2019 asserted that online dating is officially the most common way for U.S. couples to meet, rounding out at nearly 40% of couples having first met online.
By 2040, that number is expected to reach 70% — a prediction came before social distancing-related spikes in dating app signups happened. 2020’s lack of access to bars, live music events, and other flirty indoor activities certainly put a damper on the first date market. But the festering loneliness and horniness also led to positive changes in dating app habits. Match’s most recent Singles in America survey found that more users are spending more time actually getting to know partners, and are being more honest about intentions.
You don’t need advice from a data analyst for these numbers to make sense. Technology is giving you the chance to meet thousands of nearby singles you’d never know existed otherwise, and using filters to hone in on those values, personality traits, and physical types can be done before you even meet the person IRL.
However, that statistical promise still requires patience and a game plan, the game plan being choosing the dating app with features that best fit your lifestyle — and the lifestyle of the type of person you’re looking for. An app strictly for sex? An app more serious than Tinder but less serious than eharmony? An app where queer women aren’t relentlessly sexualized by creeps and pestered by unicorn hunters?
Related Video: How to go on a virtual date during the coronavirus pandemic
The convenience of dating without actually having to socialize is only heightened when it can be done on your phone. Because it’s not 2007 anymore, the need for mobile-friendly online dating isn’t just a millennial thing —people over 40 don’t have time to sit around at their home desktop, either. The ability to check out cute local single people while you’re in line at CVS is a seamless lifestyle integration that can’t be argued with. Dating sites that are older than most members of Gen-Z (like Match and eharmony) have been forced to give serious attention to their smartphone counterparts if they don’t want to be outgrown.
When it comes to choosing the dating app that’ll work for you, remember that not all apps are good just because they’re, well, new. Every year, a slew of trendy apps try to set themselves apart from Tinder and Bumble: In 2017, apps like Hater (which matched people based on things they disliked, like slow walkers or Donald Trump), and The League (a snooty, members-only matchmaker with a ridiculous waitlist) were expected to be game-changers. Hater has since disappeared from the App Store while The League’s reviews have gotten increasingly questionable. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason as to why such promising ideas didn’t make the cut — but whether they were too exclusive, too niche, or begging for catfish, it’s clear that there’s a very special ingredient that makes apps like Hinge pop off.
This handy guide breaks down what the deal is with each of these online dating experiences and who they’re best suited for. Here are the best dating apps to try in 2021:
