Check out the 17 best free dating apps now (and they’re free). Whether you’re a serial dater or a newly single, the fact is that a lot of the action these days is on dating sites and apps. Tinder has taken a backseat to history in the days of waiting at your local coffee shop, hoping the right person will walk in and slap you in the eye. Not only is the stigma of online dating gone, but we’ve come to see virtual flirtation as a 21st century survival skill. And with good reason – apps allow us to connect and converse on the go from the comfort of our phones. Control is (literally) in our hands.

Whether you’re looking for a serious relationship, casual encounters, experimental dating, or just new connections, there’s a lot more than Tinder to help you. From mainstream to niche, you’re sure to find something that’s just right for you. Good luck friend.

MeetKing

As a brand new event-based dating app, you find a match by filtering the type of date, location, day of the week, and budget you’re looking for – either host or hostess. The app then matches you with someone looking for similar things or available at the time and place you are. You can then start messaging – but only if you’ve both ‘liked’ each other. Check out MeetKing.

 

eHarmony

You may not know that eHarmony has an app (it started as a traditional dating site), but it won a spot on our list for good reason. According to consumer research eHarmony scored the highest for most relationships at 57 percent, with 28 percent of those relationships lasting longer than a month. This makes sense, as they are known for an extremely accurate matching algorithm – the questionnaire includes about 400 questions. So, your go-to app if you’re ready to get serious about starting a relationship and not just looking for a casual hookup. Check out eHarmony .

 

Coffee Meets Bagel

Tagged on Shark Tank In the U.S., the creators, the Kang sisters, turned down a $30 million offer to buy the company. That’s how much trust the app inspires. Users sign up through Facebook to create their free profile and fill out what they are looking for (the questions are very simple and consist of age, height, ethnicity, and religion). Every day at 12:00pm you will receive a match (a bagel) from a friend of a friend. You then have 24 hours to like or pass on the daily bagel or even give the match to a friend. If you miss one of your bagel dates, you can request a rematch. The only downside? To watch more and more matches, you may have to earn money. Check out C. MB.

 

Taste Buds

There was a great Shakespeare quote: if music be the food of love, play on. Now you can #MusicMonday any day of the week with a potential date who shares the same musical interests as you. Like a dating version of Spotify (and it’s actually owned by Spotify), TasteBuds lets you meet people nearby and chat with those who share your musical tastes. But you’ll also discover new music on the site because you can see what other members are listening to. n Share playlists and more with your potential date. Check out TasteBuds.

 

Badoo

Contrary to popular belief, UK-based dating site Badoo, not Tinder, is the world’s most popular dating app . The location-based app, with 300 million users worldwide and 9 million in the UK, has only allowed users to add 15-second video clips to their profile (for you there with the dirty mind, they are rated by moderators before going live). The app shows you matches based on location and tells you which Facebook friends are in the app – good because you probably want to avoid people you already know, but bad because they see you’re also looking for a date . Once you and another user have liked each other’s profiles, you chat. However, the profile setup questions you answer are very simple (if you want to meet a girl or a guy or both and their ages), so the barrier to entry (start chatting with another user) is very low. We’ll let you decide if this is good or bad. Check out Badoo.

 

Once

Simple in both concept and practice, Once is an app with a one-track mind (wait for it). This app is focused on helping you find romantic matches that count. With this app, you can meet and greet only a new person per day, which could actually make things much easier (the paradox of choice and all). After your 24 hours are up, your match expires and disappears from the record. Unless you both decide to remove your connection from the app. While the overall feel of Once is still fairly casual, the expiration countdown provides a welcome incentive to start interesting conversations quickly, leaving less time for procrastination or circling. Once isn’t as action-packed as other dating or hookup apps. It’s a pleasant chill pill in the hustle and bustle of modern dating. Check out Once.

 

Result

There are few better ways to get to know someone than playing a game of 21 questions. Score is essentially a 21-question game rolled into a dating app. The app works by users answering a series of questions on topics related to their thoughts, interests and desires. (“You’ve just arrived at a place that just closed. The first thing you do is: a) Demand to be let in. NOW. b) Curse your luck in a NSFW way. c) Plan to come back tomorrow ‘) and assign each pair a score based on the compatibility of their answers. The more matching answers you have with a partner, the higher your score. The higher your score, the more features of the app you can unlock, such as profile information, additional photos, and the chat feature. Score lets you determine if you’re compatible before you have a conversation. Check out Score.

 

Bumblebee

Bumble, dubbed Feminist Tinder (whether or not this is the case is up for debate), was created by Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe after a dramatic departure from the original swiping app. While aesthetically similar to Tinder, the concept couldn’t be further from it. Bumble aims to introduce women to online dating by eliminating harassment from men. After swiping right on each other, the user must complete the first step before a conversation can take place. She has 24 hours to either start the conversation or reconsider her decision. In either case, the male user must wait for her green light before he can even say as much as hello. Check out Bumblebee.

 

Happn

While carefully calculated algorithms and left swipes have millennials wondering what the romance of yesteryear even means, Happn aims to bring the element of chance encounters into the age of digital dating. With only about 15 million users worldwide , it’s best for busy cities and downtown cores. Happn matches its users with users they have physically passed on the street – revealing their name, age and occupation or university course. Users can then privately like their preferences and, if the match is mutual, start talking. There are no algorithms or random profile pictures here. Happn prefers to bring chance and, as we say, fate back into modern dating. Check out Happn.

 

Twindog

Twindog is perfect for those who are tired of the traditional online dating scene. It offers a matchmaking service that is significantly different from the others: The main focus is on finding partners for dogs. In this case, finding a date through Twindog would just be a lucky coincidence (but dog owners know how effective finding a date through your dog can be). While Twindog isn’t particularly recommended for users looking for instant romantic matches, it’s perfect for city dwellers looking for companions to spend an afternoon at the dog park. Or more, if you’re lucky. Check out Twindog.

 

Flower

There is no denying that online dating is a great way to meet new people. Hundreds of thousands of couples are proof of that. However, the darker side of connecting with strangers online is ghosting, catfishing and much worse. Blume aims to change online dating for the better by enforcing a live selfie component in their matchmaking. After uploading a new selfie, like Tinder’s swipe feature, you will ‘Like’ or ‘Skip’. If the match is mutual, you’ll both have to take and send a live selfie to prove you’re both who you say you are before unlocking the private chat room. You will then have 7 seconds to decide if you both like each other’s selfies. Chat follows. This can be a great way to make sure you are actually talking to the real person behind their online persona. However, it also means you can’t surf for matches in bed if you don’t want to match yesterday’s pajamas. Check out Flower.

 

Squad

Billed as a tinder for groups of friends (before Tinder actually launched its own group hangout feature) Squad probably isn’t the app that’s going to revolutionize the way you socialize overall, but it’s a pretty fun alternative to Facebook chat or iMessage. Squad lets you create specific groups of friends based on your interests, then keep in touch and make plans on the go. All invitations to coffee, beer, pool, etc. expire after just an hour to encourage spontaneity. On the one hand, this can lead to missed opportunities, but on the other hand, the group dates that do come up are sure to be lively. Check out squad.

 

Fliqpic

For those who think photos leave something to be desired, Fliqpic offers the ability to get to know people not only by their pictures, but also by their videos and conversation skills. Although the layout of the app can be a bit busy, this app really emphasizes the compatibility aspect of app-based dating, which is clear from the detailed sign-up questionnaire. Once users have created their profiles, they can immediately browse others, either using the explore feature or by browsing their personalized matches. Once you find someone who seems interesting, you can use the app’s messaging system to make contact immediately, unlike other apps (like Tinder) that require a mutual attraction. Another thing we like about Fliqpic is that each profile clearly indicates what they’re looking for in an ideal match, which means you have a good chance of knowing in advance whether or not you have the potential to hit it off. Check out Fliqpic.

 

Align

Align was developed as a whimsical app that plays on the common (and hilarious) pickup line ‘What’s your sign?’ Rendition. Align is the dating app for the astrologically obsessed. The app matches users with other users who are well aligned in terms of their zodiac sign. Perfect for spontaneous free spirits who believe there is some truth in our horoscopes and what they can reveal about our personalities and relationships, or for someone who wants to meet new people from a different angle. Check Out Align.

 

Up there

While a dating app for pot smokers definitely sounds controversial, there is a strong need for such an app. High It was conceived after a date was spoiled when the creator’s partner learned of his pot smoking habits. Hoch’s goal is to help users avoid a similar situation by disclosing smoking habits and matching people who share the common interest of Smoking pot act as a welcoming place. They say that good relationships are based on common interests, right? Check out high there.

 

Grindr

If you’re gay, bisexual or curious, Grindr really works. It’s no secret that you can find a connection within minutes on this app that basically started the dating app revolution in 2009 by helping men who like men improve their sex lives for nearly a decade. Whether they are honest or not, every heterosexual internet dating app aspires to be the ‘Grindr for heterosexual people’. Has that happened yet? Not even close. Check out Grindr.

 

Hinge

Hinge is the app that lets you meet people you know through friends on Facebook. It’s great for managing the risks of catfishing or a blind date gone horribly wrong. You’ll always have someone in common, so your match is less likely to be a total waste of time, even if the only end game is friendship. The only catch? Your friends will definitely find out. Indiscretion is none of Hinge’s business. Check out Hinge.