That’s according to Lori Lawrenz, Psy.D., a sex therapist at the Hawaii Center for Sexual and Relationship Health, who adds, “Many of the clients I see have met on dating apps.” One 2017 study found a whopping 40% of heterosexual couples in the U.S. met online.
Given that healthy relationships are a key part of people’s well-being1, that’s as good a reason as any to try your luck on the apps and see what sticks. To help you on your search for that healthy, long-term love, we’ve gathered the best dating apps for finding serious relationships in 2022.
eharmony uses a comprehensive questionnaire to thoroughly map out your likes, dislikes, and values by answer more than 80 questions (and that’s just to start). The company uses these answer to pair you with potential matches, which are provided with a compatibility score.
Due to the sheer amount of time needed to create your profile on eharmony—at least 20 minutes—you’re less likely to run into someone that simply wants to hook up. The only downside is that your best experience, either on the app or website, will be with a paid membership; without one you’ll run across a lot of blurred features and limited chat functions.
In our full eHarmony review, our testers felt it was a solid pick for those who were ready to “financially invest in finding a serious relationship,” especially if other options simply aren’t working for you. Luckily, you can save 20% on any membership with code MBG20.
Price: Memberships are available in 6, 12, or 24 month increments. Prices start at $60/month for the most affordable membership and drop down to $30/month for the biggest bundle.
Match has been around since 1995 (that’s a long time!) and is regarded as one of the best sites for finding authentic matches and love, not least because it’s used by a whopping 39 million people—meaning, the odds are on your side. Unlike eharmony and its ilk, Match isn’t based on a long, in-depth questionnaire, but a quicker version, which it then incorporates into its algorithm to help it understand who and what you’re into as you swipe yes or no on people. (Here’s our full Match review for more details.)
Price: Subscriptions start at $19/month.
You can’t message people with just a free version of OurTime, so to actually start connecting with people, you’ll need to pay for a plan, which costs $12/month if you sign up for six months.
Price: $19.95 per month for a month-to-month membership
That in-depth questionnaire is what makes this dating app a favorite of sex therapist Aliyah Moore, Ph.D. “OkCupid’s full, detailed profiles let you show who you are and what matters to you. Its compatibility ratings are really helpful in helping to understand a potential date before you even meet them,” she tells mbg.
OkCupid is totally free to use, though there are upgrade options that you can purchase to get even more features and filters.
Price: Subscriptions cost $35 on a month-to-month basis or $17/month if you sign up for six months.
Because women take the lead on Bumble, and because matches are deleted if no message has been sent within 24 hours, the environment is super conducive to actually finding true and deep connections that can lead to long-term love. According to Shannon, “You get a pretty relationship-oriented crowd on Bumble.”
Bumble profiles are also pretty in-depth for a free dating app, and you can get a lot of important info from the jump (i.e., do they want kids, do they smoke, are they religious, etc.), so you won’t waste time on matches that weren’t meant to be. The free version of Bumble does the trick, but you can pay to unlock more features if you wish. Bumble currently boasts a 4.2/5 rating on the App Store, which is based on over a million reviews.
“Hinge also checks in after you’ve been matched with someone for a while to see if you’ve met and whether that person is the type of person you’d like to see more of,” Hartman points out, which means that the algorithm gets smarter and is therefore more likely to get better at showing you matches over time who you will genuinely click with.
To upgrade and access premium features, you will have to part with approximately $30/month, though they’re not necessary to enjoy the app. Price:
HER is good for those looking for love because it offers more than surface-level swipes as you can add a lot of different information according to the prompts the app provides. The premium version isn’t necessary to match and message, but if you want unlimited swipes and to see who’s liked you, then you’ll have to shell out $10/month for a six-month subscription.
Jdate is pretty costly: One month will set you back a whopping $60, but this comes down to $30/month if you choose to subscribe for six months. You need to subscribe to send the first message to the people you’re interested in, so it’s not particularly viable to stick to the free version. However, if you’re Jewish and looking for intrafaith love, this dating site is probably worth the money.
Not Jewish? Don’t worry—there are comparable dating apps for religious people of various faiths, like Christian Mingle and Salams, that also have an excellent track record and great features for serious relationships.
Dating apps like OkCupid, which have a big focus on mapping out their users’ likes and personalities, are also better suited to finding a relationship than dating apps like Tinder, which mainly focus on people’s appearances, notes Zrenchik.
Ultimately, what makes the most difference as to whether an app or site is good for a serious relationship is what you yourself are willing to put into the experience. If you project clearly what you’re looking for, you’ll be less likely to be met with people who want something different.
You can also use the following questions to help you figure out which app might be best for you:
