Tinder has been around for a very long time and it is the first name that comes to mind for many when they think of the term “dating app”. Although it is not even close to being the oldest online dating platform, it is certainly the platform that made dating on the internet go mainstream. These days, it is more rare to hear about couples meeting from real life events rather than through online dating, and Tinder has a lot to do with that. Obviously Tinder no longer holds the entire market hostage as many other dating apps have entered the scene and grown in size (such as Bumble, Hinge, OkCupid, eHarmony, and many others). While it is still heavily used and has a massive amount of swipers, Tinder has slowly been spiralling out of control and many users report that it is long gone from its ‘glory days’ that took place between 2014 and 2016. Let’s take a look at the best dating apps like Tinder that are also better than Tinder in many ways.
What Made Tinder Special In The First Place?
Tinder was great at one point in time because it actually worked. Your profile was visible to other users without having to pay for boosts, gold, platinum, silver, or whatever precious metal membership they’re using these days. As a user of their app, you were shown high quality users and when you liked their profile, you were also shown to them. Sometimes this resulted in a match, other times it didn’t. Many of Tinders’ users today will confirm that their experience on the app has gone downhill after the initial ‘new profile boost’ (also known as the noob boost). Although there’s no way of telling for sure since Tinder and Match Group does not disclose how their algorithm works, many suspect that Tinder will purposely avoid showing your profile to users you like (or delay it) in order to have you sign up for their premium paid memberships. After all, how can they continue to make money as a privately owned company if you’re getting matches left, right, and center?
Best Tinder Alternatives: Apps Like Tinder To Use Moving Forward
Although it’s difficult to find apps that have the sheer volume of users that Tinder has, you can most definitely find viable apps that are geared for both relationships and hookups that don’t break the bank. Most dating apps these days offer both a free and paid variant of their platform, with the latter obviously being a bit better. Here are the best Tinder alternatives out right now.
1. AdultFriendFinder 5.0 out of 5.0 stars
AdultFriendFinder has been around for a very long time. Before there was Tinder, there was AdultFriendFinder. This is the main app that people used when they wanted to hookup and have one night stands. Having been around for over two decades now, they offer a reliable and consistent service that is aimed at connecting people of all walks of life – straight, gay, trans, black, white, etc. Boasting millions of users worldwide, you won’t have to worry too much about not finding users when on AFF and that is one of the biggest selling points of using this dating site. They do have an application for Android but you can only use AdultFriendFinder through your mobile web browser on iOS devices. This is because Apple does not permit ‘adult-themed’ apps on their App Store. If you’re interested in learning more about this site and why we think it is clearly the best alternative to Tinder right now, check out our review of AdultFriendFinder.
What We Liked:
- Millions of users worldwide
- Great UI/Features That Are Easy To Use
- Tremendous Male/Female Ratio
- Offers Both Free And Paid Memberships
- Something For Everyone
What We Didn’t Like:
- No dedicated app for iOS devices
- Limited usability on free membership
2. Ashley Madison 5.0 out of 5.0 stars
At this point you might be thinking, “seriously? Ashley Madison?”. Several years ago, you’d be right to be skeptical but Ashley Madison has completely revamped their platform. In general there is still a heavy focus on cheating and affairs but it is now much more than that. The best way to describe Ashley Madison these days is an even raunchier, more secretive, and more debaucherous version of Tinder. This is the dating app to use if you’re actually looking to just “hit it and quit it” or if you are looking to hookup with someone and not necessarily exchange names or social medias. It is very much geared towards secret hookups and affairs so if that is something that turns you on, you should definitely look into signing up to Ashley Madison. Women can sign up and send messages for free, while men can sign up for free but only actually engage with the app by using credits which can be purchased in several different packages. Click here to read our recent review of Ashley Madison to understand why this is one of the best Tinder replacements right now.
What We Liked:
- Great For Hookups
- Reliable & Secure
- Women Can Register For Free
- Diverse Set of Users
What We Didn’t Like:
- Men Must Purchase Credits To Engage
- Some Outdated Features
3. Seeking Arrangement 4.8 out of 5.0 stars
Many will be surprised to see that we have Seeking Arrangement on this list of best Tinder alternatives out right now. To be fair, Seeking.com is not a traditional dating site that anybody can hook up on – this is a sugar dating platform. This means that men and women using this platform are looking to have a specific arrangement in which the man typically pays money to enjoy the females’ time and affection. Although this is not what most men are looking for when signing up to a dating site or app, it is definitely a viable substitute to Tinder if you’re looking to find the hottest girls. It’s no secret that this is the platform used by many influencers and ‘Instagram models’, which is why countless men are willing to spend money here. Everyone who uses Seeking Arrangement knows the drill and hooking up is pretty much standard once an arrangement has been agreed upon. The ratio of men to women is also quite fantastic and this makes it an ideal choice for men who are willing to spend a bit of money (which most men are going to do anyways regardless of the dating platform – seeking.com is just more direct).
What We Liked:
- Intuitive, Easy-To-Use Website
- High Level Of Security (Picture/Income Verification)
- Great Male/Female Ratios
- Easy To Hookup On
- Few Flakes
What We Didn’t Like:
- Money Is A Requirement, Not An Option
- Sugar Babies Can Be Picky Depending On Location
4. Fling.com 4.6 out of 5.0 stars
Fling.com is similar to AdultFriendFinder in many ways. This is an adult-themed dating site (meaning it’s geared towards hookups and not building long-term relationships). It has a large and very diverse user base so it can be used almost anywhere in the world with quite a bit of success, but it is limited in that free users cannot really do much. That is another way it is similar to AdultFriendFinder and many other niche dating sites. However if you’re willing to play ball and pay for their membership, you can find quite a bit of success when using this dating app. One great feature of Fling.com is its advanced search tool. With this tool, users can search for others in their area in a very granular way – height, weight, hair color, body composition, ethnicity, cup size, and many other things are included in this advanced search tool. If you just want to hookup in the same way you would on Tinder, Fling.com is certainly worth taking a look at.
What We Liked:
- Users Are Looking To Hookup
- Great Search Feature
- Open To People Of All Genders And Sexualities
What We Didn’t Like:
- Many Fake Profiles & Bots
- Can’t Do Much With A Free Account
5. Hinge 4.3 out of 5.0 stars
Hinge is probably an app you have already heard of by now. This is a decent Tinder alternative, although it is also owned by Match Group just like Tinder, so it is pretty similar in many ways (for better and for worse). Many would describe Hinge as basically being Tinder but with a focus on building ‘real’ relationships that are meant to last. While that is all fine and dandy in theory, it isn’t exactly perfect because Hinge will also try to corner you into buying their memberships just like Tinder will. The initial noob boost is great and you might find a couple of good matches within the first few days but you can expect that to die off rather quickly. One of the biggest differences between Hinge and Tinder is that Hinge only allows you to like 10 people per day which represents just 10% of the amount that Tinder allows you to swipe right on (100). Not really ideal if you’re looking to have a lot of volume.
What We Liked:
- Easy To Use With Free Membership
- Quality Users That Don’t Flake
What We Didn’t Like:
- Difficult To Hookup On
- Only Allows 10 Likes Per Day
6. Reddit R4R Subreddits 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Now, I know what you’re thinking – how could a geeky site like Reddit be one of the best Tinder alternatives when it’s not even a dating app? Well, you’d be surprised. With the downfall of Craigslist personals many have migrated to Reddit in order to live out their fantasies. Think about it – geeks and nerds are oftentimes some of the horniest people and Reddit is a platform that is absolutely filled to the brim with pornography. What are all these users searching for? Probably the same things as you. One of the big benefits of using Reddit is that its users are quite freaky so if you’re into things like BDSM or crossdressing, you won’t have to feel embarrassed about opening yourself up on Reddit as many people are just like you.
What We Liked:
- Very Sexual/Freaky Users
- Very Easy To Find People To Hookup With
- Always Free
What We Didn’t Like:
- Flakey Users
- Hard To Find Users In Small Cities
- Poor Male/Female Ratio
7. BangLocals 3.9 out of 5.0 stars
BangLocals is a dating service that you most likely haven’t heard of yet because it is not even close to being a mainstream dating app like Tinder. While there are certainly disadvantages to this, there are a couple of advantages as well. For starters, users on BangLocals aren’t nearly as picky or selective as they are on Tinder because there just aren’t many users to begin with. It’s easy to swipe left 1,000 times when you know that there are 20,000 more users to swipe on. It’s not easy to swipe left 1,000 times on BangLocals because you might not even find 1,000 users! Of course, this depends a lot on where you live, and this obviously won’t be the case in a city like New York City or Chicago. BangLocals provides access to relationships that feel more authentic because of the fact that it isn’t a mainstream platform. You do have to pay to use this platform, but that’s the case with virtually all dating sites now so that shouldn’t be news.
What We Liked:
- Authentic Relationships
- Less Selective Users
- Geared Towards Hookups And Sex Only
What We Didn’t Like:
- Not Enough Users In Many Cities
- Clunky Interface
What Happened To Tinder?
Tinder today is functionally identical to the app that was built many years ago, but the quality of the service has went downhill quite a bit due to over-monetization. The focus on squeezing money out of its users has resulted in the app losing users at an alarm rate, and now thousands of people look for Tinder alternatives or substitutes every single day. Tinder is obviously a private business and they can choose to implement all of the memberships they want, but it has become very clear to many people that the app throttles your visibility and refuses to show you often to users in order to make you pull out your wallet and pay for boosts or “priority likes” (which make other Tinder users see your profile first). So while you can spend a ton of money and give yourself a better shot at getting likes/matches, you can also just use a dating app like Tinder that offers a higher quality service.
Is Tinder Still Viable Or Usable?
Although the quality has went down a lot, Tinder can still be used and plenty of people are still finding decent amounts of success with it even today. They made sure to not go too overboard with the monetization as that would essentially kill the app. Tinder is still a viable app today, but it is highly limited. You won’t have the amounts of success on it that you might’ve had years ago.
How We Ranked These Dating Apps Like Tinder
There are quite a few things that we took into consideration when compiling this list. Because there are many different kinds of dating apps, we wanted to make sure that the platforms we recommended emulated a service like Tinder as closely as possible. Obviously something such as eHarmony doesn’t quite fit the category of being a good Tinder alternative so that isn’t something we would have even considered placing on our list.
The Hookup Factor
It was very important for us to recommend services which are easy to hook up on because quite frankly that is the whole appeal of using Tinder. Do people find love or get married using Tinder? Sure, but for the most part, that’s not what the app was intended for (or at least, that’s not how it’s been used by the vast majority of people). The apps we recommended here on our list are either as sexually explicit or more sexually explicit than Tinder. AdultFriendFinder and Ashley Madison for example are very explicit about the fact that they are advertising their service which is intended to help people hook up and have one night stands. If you are trying to find your lifelong soul mate, then these platforms might not be ideal for you.
Volume And User Base
One of the biggest selling points of Tinder has been just how many users are using it. If you’re trying to find a lot of people to swipe on, then Tinder is obviously the #1 most recommended dating app and can’t really be beat out by anything else. With that being said, the dating sites we have recommended on this list of the best Tinder alternatives can hold their own in most cases and have several million users each. You most likely won’t struggle to find users on AdultFriendFinder for example if you live in a city with a population greater than 100,000 (and in some cases, even below that).
Pricing
Outside of Reddit, all of the sites/apps we’ve listed have a paid option on their site. This is the new digital marketplace; all viable dating sites are pretty much offering paid memberships which is less than ideal but we cannot change that. We took pricing into consideration and wanted to make sure that the prices were not outrageous on the platforms we recommend. For the most part, these services are priced fairly regardless of whether they have a subscription model or if they have purchasable credits (such is the case of Ashley Madison). We also wanted to make sure that it was at least free to register on some of these sites.
Ease of Use
Clearly we weren’t going to list any sites which are difficult to use. This is an underrated factor which other blogs did not take into consideration (at least to the level we did). When you’re trying to use a dating site, the last thing you want to do is struggle to even get going – what you’re trying to do is get matches, send messages, and eventually meet up to hookup. Some dating apps make this an easy process while others don’t; we’re glad to say that AdultFriendFinder, Ashley Madison, Seeking Arrangement, Fling, and the others we have listed as the best apps like Tinder are easy to use and almost nobody should struggle to get going on those sites.
Who Should Sign Up To These Tinder Alternatives?
Not everyone should sign up to sites like these because they all offer different things. People who used Tinder to find genuine connections and to build long-lasting relationships might want to stay away from something that is called ‘BangLocals’ for obvious reasons. You probably won’t find your future wife/husband on a site like that. However it wouldn’t be all that shocking to find your future spouse on web platform such as AdultFriendFinder or even Fling.com; while the users are looking to hookup, you might be lucky enough to find someone on there that is interested in the same things as you. If you’re just fed up with Tinder and how it has been spiralling out of control over the last couple of years, you need to consider signing up with a few of these sites and going on some dates. Tinder is not the end-all-be-all to online dating.
Bottom Line: Online Dating Can Be Done Without Tinder And Other Mainstream Apps
While Tinder is a popular dating app, it’s not the only option out there. Online dating sites like Zoosk, Plenty of Fish, and Coffee Meets Bagel offer free dating services and cater to like-minded people who are looking for love. These dating websites provide matchmaking services that match individuals based on compatibility, personality tests, and other criteria. They allow users to create dating profiles, browse other profiles, and messaging each other to meet new people.
One reason to consider using a different dating site or app is to find someone who is more compatible. Many online dating services offer more comprehensive personality profiles and matchmaking tools that take into account a person’s interests, hobbies, and goals. This can help singles find a long-term relationship, rather than just a casual fling. Additionally, some dating sites cater to specific demographics, such as Christian singles, senior dating, or Asian dating. This allows users to find a special someone who shares their values, beliefs, and interests.
Another reason to use a different dating site is to avoid scams and scammers. Online dating is not immune to scams, and it’s important to be aware of them. Some dating sites and apps have measures in place to prevent scams, such as requiring users to fill out detailed profiles, verifying personal information, and offering video chat. Pew research has shown that about 30% of US adults have used a dating app or site, so it’s important to take steps to protect personal information and avoid falling victim to scammers.
In conclusion, there are many dating alternatives to Tinder, including free online dating sites and matchmaking services that cater to specific demographics. Using a different dating site can help singles find a compatible partner, avoid scams and scammers, and make meaningful connections with like-minded people. Whether you’re looking for love online or just dating casually, there’s a dating site or app out there that can help you find the one.
After graduating with a bachelors of psychology from Columbia University in 2006, Alexander decided that he would choose to go down the path of self-employment rather than traditional employment as most graduates do. Since then, he has rigorously studied how online dating platforms work and has cemented himself as an authority in the space. Readers respect him for his tremendous and brutally honest insight on various dating apps, adult products, and guides.
