Looking to find love this year? You’re in luck!
Studies have shown that 44% of U.S. adults use dating apps to find long-term partners. This means that there’s a high chance that the person you’re looking for is waiting for you on the other side of your screen.
It is possible to find the person of your dreams from within the comfort of your own home. These dating apps may help you do just that.
Still, there are thousands of dating apps on the market. Choosing the right one to meet your needs can be overwhelming.
I compiled this overview of the best dating apps for Android to help you make the right choice. They all have free versions, meaning you don’t have to part with a single penny to begin your search.
Each dating app listed here brings something special to the table. Scroll through to decide on the right dating app (or apps!) for you.
Best Free Dating Apps for Android
1. Tinder
When you think, “dating app” you most likely think, “Tinder.” Since its creation in 2012, Tinder has defined our expectations of what a dating app should be like.
Joining Tinder is quite easy. Simply download it for free to get started.
Upload a few pictures of yourself and come up with a short bio to set up your profile. You can make your profile as simple or as complicated as you like.
There are lots of options to help you flesh out your profile. For example, you can input your college or university, your course of study, your job, and your hobbies or interests.
Tinder has age verification features that are tied either to a voluntary ID verification system or your Facebook profile. Many users input their age directly when registering.
It’s not possible to change your age afterward. This rule promotes safety and reduces the number of fake or scammer Tinder profiles.
Another basic key feature is the swipe right/swipe left feature. This famous feature is what the general public associates with Tinder.
Swiping right means yes, and swiping left means no. Pick your best picture to display upfront, because your potential matches decide whether or not to ‘swipe right’ based on that single picture!
Tinder relies on geolocation technology to match users to one another. This means that matches select one another from within a set radius of their respective locations.
Each user decides their ideal radius. However, there are premium features that allow you to match with people from other locations and countries.
Simplicity is the essence of Tinder. Tinder’s simple yet durable features have made it the most popular dating app on the market by far.
Tinder has over 75 million active users worldwide! It is available in over 190 countries and 56 languages.
Although Tinder is completely free to use, there are different subscription tiers beyond the standard free tier. These are Tinder Plus, Tinder Gold, and Tinder Platinum, which give you access to many cool features.
The prices of these subscription tiers range from at least $3 per month to at most $35 per month, depending on the tier itself and on how many months you commit to subscribing. It’s cheaper if you commit for six months or a year.
Download Tinder here.
2. Bumble
Bumble is a lovely, innovative, and versatile dating app with a refreshing perspective on online community-building. It was founded in 2014 and has only grown in popularity since.
Bumble had 45 million users in 2022, making it the second-most popular dating app in the U.S. after Tinder. It is used in over 150 countries worldwide.
Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd created Bumble after leaving Tinder, Inc., where she’d worked as an executive. Bumble has been described as the “feminist Tinder.”
Bumble’s geolocation and swipe right and swipe left features are similar to Tinder. However, what makes Bumble distinct is that when a man and woman match, only the woman can reach out first.
This feature makes Bumble female-friendly by reducing spam and harassment. It also gives its female users more agency in the dating process.
After all, Bumble’s slogan is “Make the First Move.” When women have to make the first move, it takes the pressure off of the men.
Apart from dating, Bumble can help you find new friends and new career opportunities through networking. This happens through Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz.
These modes are an extension of regular Bumble. Simply switch between the three modes (Dating, BFF, Bizz) via the app’s settings.
Bumble also has premium features such as Bumble Boost, Bumble Premium, SuperSwipe, and Spotlight. You can pay for specific premium features, or pay for different subscription tiers (around $40 a month), including a lifetime plan for $229.99.
Download Bumble here.
3. OkCupid
Popularly known as OkC and founded almost two decades ago in 2004, OkCupid was one of the first dating websites ever created. It introduced many people to the concept of online dating.
Its original version is a dating website. However, in 2013, it was relaunched as a dating app for both Android and iPhone devices and integrated into the original OkCupid platform.
The OkCupid dating app retains some of the features that made it a standout dating website. For example, where other apps focus on images and brief bios, OkCupid encourages each user to create long and very detailed self-descriptions.
OkCupid has an algorithm that uses this information to determine your compatibility with any of its five million active users. It also has a swipe right and swipe left feature.
OkCupid offers options to express a diverse range of gender identities and sexual orientations. The dating platform popularized the term ‘sapiosexuality’ which means attraction based on intellect.
OkCupid is free to use but OkCupid Premium has a few extra features that enhance your OkC experience. It goes for less than $25 a month.
Download OkCupid here.
Also Read: Best Chatous Alternatives
4. Hinge
Hinge’s trademarked slogan is, “The dating app designed to be deleted.” Hinge lives up to this slogan by deploying the latest technology to ensure that you find your perfect match so that you can delete the app!
Hinge wants you to, “go on your last first date.” It uses a Nobel Prize-winning algorithm to help you go on dates with great potential.
Hinge maintains a team of experts to maximize your potential to form long-term relationships online. This team is called ‘Hinge Labs’ and it consists of researchers, behavioral analysts, and matchmakers.
At the center of Hinge’s mission are the core values of authenticity, courage, and empathy. It extends these values into its matchmaking process.
For example, Hinge shows you how many people have liked you, and why they liked you. This feature makes it easy to start a heartwarming conversation.
Hinge also shows you your most compatible matches, which it defines as the people you’re eight times more likely to go out with. Hinge is able to do all this because of the quirky yet detailed questionnaire it makes you fill out in the beginning.
Hinge is free to use. The pro version, which starts at $19.99 per month, gives you a few extra features like advanced control over your profile and more likes.
Download Hinge here.
5. Plenty of Fish (POF)
Just like the name implies, Plenty of Fish is built around one foundational concept: there are plenty of fish in the sea! This dating app is perfect for when you want quick low-stakes connections with other singles.
When using Plenty of Fish, you can contact other users without matching with them or subscribing to the app. As soon as the basics of your profile are down, you can begin chatting for free.
Plenty of Fish allows you to send almost an unlimited number of messages. Not only are there very few message limits, but the app also provides you with lots of fun and useful prompts to start a conversation.
Commonly known as POF, Plenty of Fish was founded in 2003. Although the POF mobile apps were launched in 2010, the app’s simple interface and UX design still retain the feel of early 2000s chat rooms.
Plenty of Fish lives up to its name. More than 2.5 million daily conversations happen on the dating app, which is more than any other dating app on the market. It also has a fun video chat feature.
Plenty of Fish has 150 million registered users and 65,000 new daily users. It is available in 11 languages and more than 20 countries.
The free version is more than adequate. However, for as little as $8 per month, you can get a few extra features such as knowing who likes you and unlocking the extended profile of all users.
Download Plenty of Fish here.
6. Zoosk
Zoosk has been around since 2007. It began as an integrated Facebook app and has over 40 million active users. It is available in 25 languages in 70 countries.
It was founded by two Iranian immigrants who studied computer science at the graduate level in various U.S. universities. This computer science background is clear in the unique way that Zoosk works to find you dates.
For example, Zoosk uses Behavioral Matchmaking technology on its database of users to get better matches for them in real time. You don’t need to have a detailed profile to benefit from this technology.
Instead, Zoosk’s behavioral technology watches your clicks, messages sent and messages responded to in order to determine which profiles you see first. This approach also means that you won’t have to trawl through thousands of profiles just to find your ideal match.
To get started, simply connect your Facebook or Google account, or manually fill in your profile. That’s all that Zoosk needs in the beginning.
From there, explore potential dates in three ways. Use either the Carousel method to view algorithmically selected profiles one-by-one, the Search method to directly input your criteria for a date, or wait for Zoosk to show you one profile every 24 hours using its unique matchmaking technology.
A premium subscription to Zoosk costs less than $35 a month depending on the length of your commitment. This premium subscription allows you to message any member, unlock who’s viewed your profile, use the SmartPicks feature which helps you search profiles better, et cetera.
One really cool feature of the premium version is the Great Dates virtual dating feature. Through this feature, you can access interactive virtual date experiences in fun locations around the globe.
Download Zoosk here.
Also Read: Best Social Catfish Alternatives
7. Grindr
Grindr is one of the largest dating apps in the market today. It’s the most popular gay dating app in the world with around 11 million active monthly users.
Grindr was launched as a geosocial app in 2009. It originally catered to the gay and bisexual male demographic but has since expanded to include transgender and nonbinary people.
Grindr facilitated casual hookups within the users’ vicinity. This focus allowed it to pioneer the geolocation technology we’ve come to associate with most dating apps today.
In 2012, Grindr was awarded TechCrunch’s Crunchies Award for Best Location Application. Some people have speculated that the name ‘Tinder’ is loosely based on Grindr.
Like Tinder, Grindr allows you to create a personal profile and use your GPS position to browse other profiles sorted by distance. Unlike Tinder, it does not have a swipe right or swipe left feature.
Instead, profiles are placed on a grid cascade which you scroll through. When you select a profile picture, a member’s full profile is displayed.
You will be able to see all their photos. You will also see an option to chat, send a “tap” or pictures, make a video call, and share your location.
Although Grindr is used in nearly 200 countries worldwide, it has either been banned or declared unsafe to use in a good number of other countries, so please remember to be careful.
Grindr is also free to use but its subscription tiers (starting at $3.99/month) have excellent advanced features that you may choose to consider.
Download Grindr here.
Also Read: Best Sites Like Omegle For iPhone
8. Coffee Meets Bagel
Coffee Meets Bagel is a charming app that was founded in 2012 by three sisters called Arum Kang, Dawoon Kang, and Soo Kang. Arum and Dawoon are currently co-CEOs of the company.
Coffee Meets Bagel’s charming nature is rooted in the team’s mission to “create meaningful connections that spark hearts and inspire people to share themselves authentically and enthusiastically.
The Kang sisters created the app because of their frustrations with dating. They realized that many other chronically single women were in a similar situation.
They found out that there were way more men than women active on dating apps. The percentage of men to women on the app sometimes reached 85% versus a meager 15%.
The Kang sisters realized that this lopsided ratio created an unsatisfying experience for everybody. They created an app aimed at women to create a more satisfying experience.
Coffee Meets Bagel works by algorithmically recommending six people for each user every day around noon. These recommended people are called “bagels.”
The app emphasizes in-depth profiles and real conversations. Combined with the lack of a swipe feature, Coffee Meets Bagel encourages a more meaningful online connection.
In 2015, the Kang sisters appeared on Shark Tank, a business reality TV series that offers investing capital to aspiring entrepreneurs. They made history when they rejected a $30 million offer to buy the company – the largest offer in Shark Tank history.
The Kang sisters are still directly involved in the day-to-day running of Coffee Meets Bagel, which helps keep it true to its mission. While it’s not the largest dating app out there, it hit 10 million users in 2019.
It’s completely free to use. The cost of the cheapest premium version begins at $10 a month.
Download Coffee Meets Bagel here.
9. Facebook Dating
Facebook Dating is integrated into the Facebook app. Facebook Dating is not an application separate from the free Facebook mobile app.
Unlike other free dating apps that have paid premium versions, Facebook Dating is completely free. You can access every single feature of Facebook Dating for free.
You need a Facebook account to use Facebook Dating. Unfortunately, there’s no desktop version so you will need to have the Facebook app on a mobile device to enjoy Facebook Dating.
Apart from being completely free, Facebook Dating is convenient for many reasons. For example, you are likely to find a match amongst people either already in your network, or people who know people you know.
This feature is underrated because a lot of the other dating apps often match you with total strangers. Additionally, because Facebook insists on having users’ full names, there is more safety built into the matchmaking process.
It’s also integrated with Instagram, the popular photo-sharing mobile app that is owned by Facebook’s parent company, Meta. This integration, in addition to your Facebook profile information, makes it easy to set up a detailed and personal profile.
Facebook Dating was launched only a few years ago, in 2019. It is therefore not yet available in all of the countries where Facebook is available.
Although Facebook Dating is nowhere near as large as the largest dating apps in the market, its main advantage comes from the fact that it draws its users from Facebook’s gigantic user base (7 out of 10 Americans are on Facebook). It therefore always has room to grow.
Download the Facebook app here.
10. Happn
Have you ever been taken by someone out on the street or on the train? Did the memory of this person stay on your mind longer than you intended?
You aren’t alone! James Blunt once sang, “I saw an angel, of that I’m sure. She smiled at me on the subway. You’re beautiful. I saw your face in a crowded place. And I don’t know what to do. ‘Cause I’ll never be with you. She caught my eye, as we walked on by. We shared a moment that will last till the end.”
What if there was a way to stretch a shared moment? Happn was created for this purpose alone.
Matching on Happn is based only on proximity. Other factors like interests, values, personality, etc. are not taken into consideration.
Happn only shows potential matches who have been in the same location as you. It’s truly a romance movie in the form of a dating app.
The users on the app are called ‘Happnrs.’ Happnrs can send voice messages or Spotify songs in the chat.
Happn is free to use with a paid subscription for premium features starting at $9.99 a month.
Download Happn here.
Wrapping Up
It can be difficult to let your guard down when the time comes to meet somebody new. Dating apps were created to change that.
Whether you are looking for something fun or serious, I hope that this list has shown that there’s something for you. The best part is that you can start exploring right from your couch.
We can’t believe that dating apps used to be looked down on as a way of finding serious partners. Still, some of that caution was justified.
Remember the infamous Tinder Swindler? Internet safety tips apply even when you are looking for love.
Don’t share personal information and don’t respond to requests for financial help. Look up your date before the meeting, and when you do meet, meet publicly and tell somebody close to you about your plans.
Dating used to be limited by location, religious and cultural customs, educational background, socio-economic status, and other surface-level concerns. These days, dating apps allow you to find love beyond these limitations.
Here are a few more free dating apps for Android that I did not get to mention that are still immensely valuable to the groups of people they serve.
Upward creates a community for Christian men and women to connect.
OurTime is a free app for mature singles (50+) to find love.
HER is a geosocial dating app geared primarily towards lesbian, queer, and bisexual women. WooPlus is another free app for plus-size singles to find love.
BLK is for members of the African American community, while East Meets East is for members of the Asian American community.
There’s truly something for everybody. Happy Dating!
Enjoyed the post?
