The 5 Best Dating Apps On iPhone

Dating and relationships have certainly changed over the years. Years ago, you might have been interested in a neighbor or someone in your community that you met, but in today's world, these connections have become somewhat rare. However, when an issue arises, technology is usually there with a solution, and dating these days often takes place through a third-party smartphone application -– the United States government has even used dating apps to promote policy. According to the Pew Research Center, three in ten adults in the United States report using a dating app, with demographics definitely skewing towards younger adults.

Their research also indicates that 53% of adults younger than 30 have used a dating app previously, while 37% of those aged 30 to 49 have done the same. In other words, many people are using dating apps these days, and each one seems to have its own gimmick or draw for getting out there and meeting new people. As such, here are some fantastic dating options that have free options and paid premiums that are available on iPhones.

Of course, one can hardly mention online dating without first mentioning one of the largest and most prolific dating apps – Tinder. Often synonymous with online dating, Tinder boasts over 70 million matches and is rated 3.9 out of five on the Apple Store. Signing up is easy enough, and after a few questions and some uploaded pictures, you are presented with other people's profiles. The process of getting a date is simple, and you either swipe left on people you aren't interested in, or swipe right on those that you are.

If the other party is interested as well, when they swipe right on you, you'll get a notice and communication will then open. At this point, it is on you (or the other party) to create and maintain a conversation, and hopefully, if things go well, eventually lead to a date — Tinder has even introduced features to reduce catfishing. Tinder is free for all to use, but they do offer several paid services. These paid services can either be one-off or reoccurring, and they have three tiers — Tinder+, Tinder Gold, and Tinder Platinum. Tinder+ has unlimited likes, unlimited rewinds, can set any location, and hide advertisements. Tinder Gold has all of these, plus five Super Likes a week, one free boost per month, daily top picks, and the ability to see who likes you. Tinder Platinum builds on Tinder Gold and can send messages before matching, prioritize likes, and have the chance to view previous likes. Tinder+ costs $7.99 a month, Tinder Gold is $24.99, and Tinder Platinum is $29.99.

While Tinder is often considered the gold standard for dating apps, with many copying the left swipe and right swipe formula, Bumble sets itself apart by putting the onus of starting the conversation on the female for heterosexual individuals and giving a 24-hour time limit to do so. Bumble notes that it has had over 50 million users, and while not nearly as large as Tinder, Bumble actually sports a higher rating on the Apple Store — 4.3 out of five. This means that if you are looking for a large online dating community, but want to stay away from Tinder, Bumble may be a great substitute.

Much like other dating apps, Bumble's basic features are free, but you can pay extra money for premium features. Bumble's paid options are robust, and they have services like Bumble Boost and Bumble Premium. Bumble Boost allows you to extend matches by 48 hours, rematch with expired matches, backtrack on left swipes, five SuperSwipes (which lets a potential match know that you really like them), and profile spotlights. Bumble Premium offers even more than Bumble Boost, with additional features like travel mode (which allows you to set your location), incognito mode, and the ability to play with filters with no limit. Bumble Boost costs $16.99 a month, while Bumble Premium is $39.99.

Another of the most popular dating apps on iPhone is Hinge, though, unlike Bumble and Tinder, Hinge puts much more of a focus on the pictures on your profile as a means of starting a conversation. All you have to do is create a profile, answer a few prompts, and load up some of your very best pictures. At this stage, Hinge users will notice that instead of just swiping left or right on a profile, they are given the ability to comment on a potential match's pictures. This is a great way of making sure that people check out a profile instead of just instantly swiping on face value. It also creates better conversations because both parties are given the opportunity to converse about a particular picture, which should create an organic dialogue. Hinge also offers a premium service, which costs $9.99 per month for a six-month subscription, or $20 for a single month.

In addition, Hinge is highly rated by iPhone users and currently has a 4.5 out of five — higher than both Bumble and Tinder. One user review spoke about the issues they had with using Bumble and Tinder and added that Hinge's picture-focused format resulted in much better results. They continued, "After a few days of downloading this app I saw completely different results for the reasons I mentioned above. There's so many features that allow a person to be able to follow up on people who like them without the use of a paid subscription. I've been able to match with several people and I am very interested to meet one of them. Overall I've been absolutely thankful for discovering this app."

If you are looking for a dating app with more of a global reach, Badoo is a great choice. Sporting an impressive 4.5 out of five on the Apple Store, Badoo is one of the largest dating applications in the world, second only to Tinder in terms of actual users. Badoo has well over 318 million users in 2023, meaning that much of the world knows of the application. It has been noted that Badoo has over 300,000 people sign up each day, there are 350 million messages sent and over 12 billion daily swipes. This certainly highlights that Badoo has plenty of interaction and plenty of user engagement.

Many of Badoo's services like messaging, searching, and matching are free, and Badoo also offers premium iterations. These paid services can simply display your profile much more prominently, offers higher limits, and an incognito mode for those that want to stealth browse. Badoo's premium options range from $2.99 to $19.99, with some micro-transactions only costing 79 cents. One user wrote in their review that they love that Badoo allows them to truly express their personality, and added that finding friends and relationships is easy and doesn't necessarily require you to purchase any of the premium features, though they did clarify that they themselves purchased some premium boosts and noticed an uptick in connections.  

Another popular dating application is one that has been around for quite some time, having been created way back in 2003 — over 20 years ago! Plenty of Fish is a word play on the old adage regarding fish in the sea, and it offers many of its services for free. However, much like other dating apps, Plenty of Fish has paid upgrades, like POF Plus and POF Premium. POF Plus translates into unlimited likes, profile spotlights, read receipts, extra profile pictures, no ads, and extended profile views. POF Premium is the next tier, and it includes all of the previously mentioned features as well as 50 first contacts every day, a username search, and the ability to see everyone who has liked you and viewed your profile. In 2023, POF Premium costs $59.99 for three months, though since it is available in many countries, this price depends on location.

As of the time of this writing, Plenty of Fish has around 150 million users, with around four million active daily. Plenty of Fish averages around 57 million connections, so that sounds like some good odds. Joking aside, Plenty of Fish has a 4.3 out of five for user reviews on the Apple Store, so this application is definitely viable, though it may not be as popular as some other choices.