Best Dating Apps For People In Their 20s
Even if you’re the kind of person who loves the thrill of the hunt, the seemingly never-ending dating carousel can start to feel like a bit of a drag. Bad dates can be extremely demoralizing, especially if you’re having the same kind of negative experience over and over again. You start to lose faith in humanity when it feels like people are disappointing you on a loop. But this might just mean that your current dating strategy isn’t serving you! If that’s the case, then you’re going to want to try one of the nine best dating apps for your 30s.
After a seven-year relationship unexpectedly ended in my mid-30s, I knew that I had no choice but to get on dating apps, despite never having used them before. Luckily, I had friends with plenty of experience in the online dating world to direct me to the best dating apps for your 30s. I was fairly certain that Tinder wasn’t right for me—it just felt like the kind of thing you use to have fun in your 20s—and most of my pals agreed. That’s certainly not to say that you can’t find lasting love on Tinder, it’s just that most people don’t use it to find something long-term and serious, so you might as well skip it (unless some temporary fun is what you’re looking for, of course!).
Anecdotal evidence shows that if you’re willing to pay for an app, then you’re more likely to match with others who are also serious about finding love. However, that doesn’t mean you have to shell out money to find your future partner. The best dating apps for your 30s give you the option to pay, but don’t force it. This way, you can bop around and see what’s right for you without committing to a monthly payment.
Scroll on to see the 9 best dating apps for your 30s:
Hinge
Tinder Tinder is the go-to dating app for women of all ages. The whole nature of Tinder is very casual, so you don’t. OkCupid OkCupid is one of the more popular dating sites out there and is definitely worth your time if you live in a. This could be a good dating app to use later on in life, but it may not be the app for college students looking for someone their own age. Match I had a similar experience with Match as I did with Zoosk, but the biggest difference is that I did find a few people I was open to meeting. A ton of people are on the app, too (around 20 million), and it’s mostly 25- to 34-year-olds, so it’s a great site for young professionals to find people in their age bracket.
Hinge’s motto is “Designed to be deleted.” The app and its users are goal-oriented: the said goal being finding a meaningful relationship. Hinge is one of the best dating apps for your 30s because you really get a sense that the other users are looking for a true connection. It’s not as oversaturated with users as more popular apps like Bumble and Tinder, so for the most part it all feels quite purposeful and earnest. The fact that there are fewer users does mean that you run out of swipes faster than on other apps, but that means also you waste less time scrolling.
If you want to expedite the process, you can sign up for one, three, or six months of Preferred Membership, starting at $19.99 for one month. I met my current partner on Hinge and am quick to recommend it to those looking for the real deal. What can I say, it worked!
Bumble
I’ve definitely spent a fair amount of time on Bumble and for the most part, found that the people who are on it are serious about finding relationships. There are a lot of people using this app, which is great because you never run out of potential lovers to check out. That said, because of the sheer volume of users, a ton of time can be spent swiping away with little to no success, so it’s definitely something to do while watching a chill show in the background.
In my opinion, Bumble has cuter prompt questions than Hinge, and you can up the ante by signing up for Bumble Boost for $14.99 a month or Bumble Premium for $32.99 a month. Each come with their own perks and benefits.
HER
HER is one of the best dating apps for your 30s for LGBTQ+ women and queer folks. I found it to be a safe and inclusive space to connect with queer women and find out about LGBTQ+ events. It can be tricky to navigate traditional dating apps as a queer person, and HER makes negotiating all of that much simpler.
It feels like a very grown-up app—the people on it are serious about dating and it has a fun, sweet, yet no-nonsense vibe. The app’s motto is “Find your person,” so it’s a good place to start for anyone looking to go beyond the hookup world. It also has a paid subscription starting at $14.99 a month that comes with additional features.
Match
Match is one of the OG dating sites from the mid-aughts that made the switch to an app-style platform but retained its subscriber-only model. Rates begin at $17.99 a month and go up depending on which features you prefer. The benefit of this price model is that the people who are on the app are serious about finding someone. No one is shelling out money who doesn’t actually want to get meaningful results, you know?
It’s one of the best sites for single professionals, so there are lots of high-quality matches to be found (their words, not mine—you cannot ascribe a monetary value to a human!) You don’t need to worry about wasting your time with people who are dabbling more casual scenarios because everyone on the app is on a mission to find love!
Lox Club
Lox Club is a relatively new members-only dating app primarily for Jewish people, though anyone can apply. They state that “The Lox Club is like a deli; it’s culturally Jewish, but you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy it.” I am not Jewish and I was accepted back when I was single and mingling. It’s primarily based in the states, but it is available everywhere, so members can see compatible matches from cities all over the world—perfect if you’re looking for a way to get an EU passport. (Wink, wink!)
The app specifically recruits non-douchey, funny, down-to-earth, ambitious people who are looking for something real. Compared to other apps it’s a pretty small pool of members to pick from, but we’re talking quality over quantity here.
OK Cupid
Similar to Harmony,(but much more affordable) OK Cupid matches users based on an extensive questionnaire and a math-based matching system that links you up with compatible potential dates. It’s a fairly successful and decently accurate system if you’re willing to be really honest about what you’re looking for and who you are interested in.
This dating site is insanely popular! Like Match, OK Cupid started out as a website that turned into an app, making it much more convenient. It also has a premium membership option starting at $39.99 a month if you want to really ramp it up and take advantage of even more features.
Raya
For reasons we needn’t get into here, I was blacklisted from Raya a few years back and wasn’t able to take advantage of this exclusive dating app while I could. Luckily, I have plenty of friends who have found long-term relationships on the members-only app and lived to tell the tale.
Raya used to be a secret dating app for celebrities, but now most people can get on it (present company excluded) if they have a friend pass and are selected by a mysterious committee. If you’re not put off by the slightly status-y vibe or the monthly fee, ($7.99) then you’ll be able to check out some seriously cool people all over the world.
Ship
Unlike most dating apps, Ship requires the cooperation of your friends—they’re the ones doing the swiping for you! My friend Jessie and I made profiles for each other last year and had a blast sending each other potential matches. You set up your profile, get matched to other users that your friends like, and then get to chatting!
Best Dating Apps For People In Their 20s
I found it to be an incredibly refreshing and fun take on the traditional dating app. It felt much less arduous—and since it’s still pretty small scale compared to other apps, there’s less wading through mud, if you know that I mean. By the time I got to my mid-late 30s, I knew it was time to recruit some pals to weigh in on my questionable dating habits, and this free app made it easy and fun.
Coffee Meets Bagel
One of the reasons that Coffee Meets Bagel is one of the best dating apps for your 30s is that users fill out an extensive profile that potential matches can see immediately. It completely eliminates the need for small talk, one of the most dreaded parts of online dating.
Coffee Meets Bagel pushes back against the notion that dating apps are for hookups, and actively combats ambiguity or confusion that can sometimes surround online dating. If you’re on Coffee Meets Bagel, then you’re looking for something serious.
People have a lot of opinions about dating in your 30s. Even though the whole idea of dating is much simpler when you are in your 30s, the actual process is tougher than you think. When you are over 30, you know that you aren’t as feather-brained and free-spirited as you were a decade ago, which makes it easier for you to understand your requirements from a potential partner. However, the exhaustion that comes with going out and rejecting losers and not having a bunch of single ladies to party with also limits your possibilities of finding said perfect date. This is why there exists some of the best dating apps for 30 somethings.
Suggested read: Does Online Dating Work? 13 Compelling Reasons Why It Might NOT
If I were writing this 10 years ago, I wouldn’t know what to tell you to increase your chances of meeting someone special. However, we have arrived at the thriving digital age, and there is nothing that you cannot accomplish online. There are a number of apps made just for people over 30 and some inclusive apps which aren’t brimming with immature and youthful energy that you could use to accelerate your dating life.
Here are some of the best dating apps for 30 somethings, which could save you an exhausting night out and a bad hangover, looking for potential baes.
- Coffee Meets Bagel
Image source: coffeeandbagels.com
This is one of the most sought after dating apps for people who are tired of the whole swiping culture. After all, swiping through people is like shopping for dates, which is a concept we can get on board with when we are in our 20s, but not when we are in our 30s. After a while, you tend to get picky and choosy about who you are dating.
Coffee Meets Bagel is an app that allows women and men to match with a limited number of people every day, which allows you to be more careful and specific about who you are dating. Because of this, the rate of success stories from this app is also higher than others, and is the perfect mature platform for 30 somethings to find love on.
- Match
Image source: match.com
Match is one of the most sought after dating sites and apps for 30 somethings. It is like Tinder, only more dynamic and much better, because the chances of you meeting someone you might actually vibe with is much more.
The thing about young people dating sites like Tinder and Ok Cupid is that people on there are mostly looking for flings and hookups and short term dating. Match.com only guarantees potential dating candidates how are looking for something more serious, and I am assuming that you are tired of casual flings and one night stands when you are in your thirties. Even though this is paid platform, one cool feature about this is, you get the next 6 months of your subscription free if you don’t find someone special within the first 6 months of you using this app.
Dating Apps For Young 20s
- Bumble
Image source: bumble.com
Bumble is in the same league as Tinder and Ok Cupid when it comes to popularity. However, just like it is highly sought after by the youth, it is also a great place for people over 30 to find love. The pool of people that you will have access to on Bumble is so large that it takes away some of the exclusivity of the app. However, one good thing about it is that once you match with someone, you have to message them within 24 hours, or they have to do the same in order to keep up the conversation.
This ensures that you don’t have to deal with a lot of the time wasting elements that you find on other dating apps.
Suggested read: These Words In Your Online Dating Profile Will Find You Love
- Happn
Image source: happn.com
This one ranks high on our list of some of the best dating apps that you can use if you are 30 and above. Apps like Tinder and OkC have a lot of problems and clauses that you just don’t have time to deal with when you are 30 and above. Happn fixes most of those problems, which is why you should totally check this one out if you are getting into the world of online dating.
It connects you to people that you have interacted with in some way or the other in the virtual world. In big cities, where you have a lot of online connections, it feels somewhat real and organic to talk to someone you might have interacted with before. So even if you are meeting online, you get the feeling of dating in real life.
- Elite Singles
Image source: elitesingles.com
In your 20s, you are still figuring life out. You are completing your education, trying out different jobs and testing the waters of life to see where you fit. By the time you are 30, hopefully you have figured out most of these things and are at a relatively stable place in your life.
You don’t want to deal with ambiguity and experimentation when you are dating, which is where dating sites like Elite Singles comes in. This is a site which connects you with professionals in the same field as you, and those who have the same level of education as you do, if that is an important factor in your dating agenda. It is also a wonderful place for the LGBTQ community to meet people in the same professional sphere as them.
- First Met
Image source: firstmet.com
In Your 20s
Even though this is a platform that can be accessed by people belonging to any age bracket, a survey by the company showed that less than 3% of its users belonged to the 18-29 age bracket, while most of their users were 30 and above.
This is perhaps because of the way this site is designed- to be simple, straightforward and effective, things which might not be very exciting for the youth, who are looking for casual but exciting encounters with strangers. First Met helps you match with people who have similar tastes and likes and hobbies as you do, which seems like a string premise to meet someone over and vibe with them and start a conversation with them.
- Sparkology
Image source: sparkology.com
People in their 30s and above are usually looking for something serious, this is something we have amply established. Most dating sites and apps don’t have a way to determine whether the people who are on their site are genuine or not, or whether they are serious or not. This problem is solved when you use Sparkology, which only allows highly qualified and educated men on their website.
It is a little weird because women are not asked about their professional or educational qualification on here. Men are also assigned points, according to how serious they are, and unless you have an active dating profile on Sparkology, you get kicked off. This is a good thing, and we can see a number of serious single 30 years olds getting on board with this.
- eHarmony
Image source: eHarmony.com
eHarmony is another very popular dating site which is accessed mostly by people who are above the age of 30. This is because it is more of a matrimonial site, where people are either looking for a very serious relationship, or a person they can actually get married to. This is the perfect site for those people who are tired of getting played, stood up, not taken seriously, taken too seriously, etc.
The only con of this site is the sheer number of people who are on here. Getting access to this many options can be slightly overwhelming if you are trying to be subtle and quiet about the whole online dating thing. Other than that however, there are no major cons that may put you off this site.
Suggested read: 12 Common Misconceptions About Online Dating That Are Far From True
- The League
Image source: theleague.com
As you grow older, your workplace becomes a more serious and formal place where you have to function on a daily basis. However, you also have to be on dating sites and online dating apps, which will allow you to meet people. You don’t want these two worlds to collide, and when you make yourself available on public platforms like this, your world are bound to overlap.
If you are very uncomfortable with your peers and co-workers finding out about your personal life and especially your love life, then you can check out The League, which is considered a premium dating site for people who are 30 and above. The best thing about it is that it blocks all your contacts from Facebook and LinkedIn, so that your goings on, remain private.
As you can see, there is no dearth of options when it comes to dating in your 30s. We have listed for you’re the best dating apps for 30 somethings, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding someone who is not only special, but also legit!
Featured image source: Google, copyright-free image, under Creative Commons License