Social Media Online Dating The 8 Best Dating Apps of 2021 Find the partner you seek by Anita George Writer Anita George is a writer who has been covering technology since 2013. Her work has appeared in Paste Magazine and she holds both B.A. and B.S. degrees. our editorial process Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Anita George Updated on January 04, 2021 Yu Chun Christopher Wong / S3studio / Getty Images Online Dating Facebook Flipboard Pinterest Twitter Snapchat Instagram YouTube Online Dating Tweet Share Email There's an app out there for virtually any kind of dating experience. And yet the best dating apps allow you to not only customize your match preferences but also the dates you go on. Here are the 8 best dating apps that allow you to do just that. These apps will let you control who and how you meet. Here are the best dating apps of 2021 to help you find that special someone. 01 of 08 Hinge: Best (Serious) Relationship App What We Like Fun, thought-provoking profile question prompts to answer. Ability to hide certain questionnaire answers. What We Don't Like You must have six profile photos. Only available for Android (no iOS support). If you're willing to put in the effort and you want a serious relationship, Hinge might be the app for you. Of all the dating apps on this list, Hinge is probably the most traditional as it mostly requires photos and questionnaire answers. Hinge is a very minimalist app and so the main focus will be on your photos and your responses, forcing you to put some thoughtful effort into your profile. Hinge is free to download. The app comes with a free membership, but it does offer monthly subscription access to premium services called Preferred. A Preferred Hinge membership has features such as unlimited likes for matches and access to more match filters to help narrow down matches to your preferences. There are paid-for options of a 1-month, 3-month, or 6-month subscriptions. Download: Hinge 02 of 08 Bumble: For Daters Who Love to Multitask What We Like You can connect your Instagram and Spotify accounts to show your most recent photos and current favorite artists. What We Don't Like The settings only allow you to determine your gender preference for relations, age preference, and distance of your potential matches. Bumble is for those ambitious multitaskers who want to date and network and find their new best friend all in one app. The app allows you to find all of those people by letting you toggle between three different modes: Bumble BFF, Bumble Bizz, and Bumble Date. The BFF mode is for searching for new friends and the Bizz mode is for career-related networking. Another notable feature? When you're in Date mode, women are required to make the first move in hetero matches. For same-gender matches, either person within the match can initiate a chat, but it has to be done within 24 hours. Otherwise, the match will expire. Bumble users can also access premium features by either purchasing a subscription (Bumble Boost) or their in-app currency, Bumble Coins. Download: Bumble Download: Bumble 03 of 08 HER: The Most Inclusive Dating App for Queer Women What We Like The Communities feature allows you to keep up with current events on your favorite topics and connect with like-minded people. What We Don't Like Features such as changing your location require a subscription to the premium service. HER is a very inclusive dating app for queer women. It is not just a dating app for lesbians. HER includes those that identify as lesbians but also other LGBTQ individuals that identify as female or non-binary. HER also functions as a social media app for queer women, as it allows you to share status updates, links, and videos. You can also see local queer events. You can access premium features such as unlimited swipes and read receipts by paying for a monthly subscription called HER Premium. The prices vary quite a bit depending on your country, but it ranges from the lowest at about $10 for one month to an annual premium of $90 for 12 months. Download: Her Download: Her 04 of 08 Coffee Meets Bagel: Best Dating App for Online Dating Newbies What We Like There are ice breaker questions that have responses that aren't shared on your public profile but are shared with your Bagels to help generate conversation. What We Don't Like The app requires you to authenticate your profile with Facebook to find matches for you. If you're new to online dating or just dating in general, most swipe-happy apps like Tinder can seem overwhelming, especially with its sheer number of possible matches. Coffee Meets Bagel in comparison is much simpler. You can start off slow with just a few matches per day as CMB users are only allotted a few curated matches to browse. In hetero matches, the men are shown curated matches and the women are sent "bagels" which are matches that have already shown interest in them. In same-gender matches, everyone gets a few curated matches to browse. Coffee Meets Bagel is free to download and use. There are premium features that can be accessed with a CMB Premium subscription. Like HER, the monthly pricing may vary depending on the country but the range is as follows: It's about $35 for one month and nearly $200 per year. You can also purchase or earn Beans, which is an in-app currency that allows you to unlock premium features. Earning free Beans requires inviting friends to join the app and other social media-related tasks. Download: Coffee Meets Bagel Download: Coffee Meets Bagel 05 of 08 Vouch: Let Your Friends Do the Matchmaking What We Like Your trusted friends can help you pick matches and even send you tips and advice within the app. What We Don't Like The app's interface is not intuitive. iOS-only. Vouch is a dating app that lets your friends play matchmaker. With Vouch, you'll make a profile as usual but then you have to select and invite friends to become a Voucher. And once the app matches you with someone, your Voucher gets to review the match as well and then they get to decide whether or not you get to chat with this new match. If they approve, you're given 24 hours to chat with your match. Vouch is free to download and use. There are in-app items you can purchase to enhance your experience, such as the Restart Expired Match feature. Download: Vouch 06 of 08 Clover: Fastest Option for Dates and Hookups What We Like Live Mixers chat rooms allow you to connect with other people with similar interests. What We Don't Like Can be a bit buggy and slow at times. Clover gives you fast access to dates and hookups. Among all of its features, the most interesting is its On-Demand Dating feature which allows members to set up dates quickly. Clover also shows you local events and parties. But if you don't feel like venturing out, you can meet new people in Clover's themed chat rooms called Live Mixers. Clover is free to download and use. You can upgrade to its premium service to access features, such as advanced match filters and read receipts, by purchasing a Clover Premium subscription. Download: Clover Download: Clover 07 of 08 Happn: Meet People in Your Area What We Like The CrushTime game allows you to guess who likes you from four profiles you crossed paths with. What We Don't Like It can take a while to load your timeline of fellow Happn users you crossed paths with. Most dating apps and sites allow you to narrow down your matches by location, but Happn's entire focus is on your exact location and whether or not you've crossed paths with a potential match. As you go about your day, if you happen to cross paths with another Happn user, their profile will show up on the app's timeline. If you're interested, you can send a secret like and they'll only find out if they show interest as well. The app is free to download. You can upgrade to premium services (like being able to see everyone who liked you) with a paid-for subscription. Download: Happn Download: Happn 08 of 08 Badoo: Best for Social (Media) Butterflies What We Like Add videos to your profile. What We Don't Like The app rates you on your popularity and your popularity level seems to affect how visible your profile is to potential matches. Badoo is a global dating app that boasts almost 400 million users. The app helps you find local matches, but its most notable qualities are its video chat feature and Livestream feature. With Badoo you can video chat with matches, post videos to your profile and livestream via the app to earn tokens that give you access to premium services. Badoo is free to download and use. There is a Badoo premium service that allows you to have access to features like unlimited messaging. Download: Download Download: Badoo Best Dating Sites and Apps for People Over 40 Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit