As a guy with confidence on the lower end of the spectrum, the odds were always against me. Never really popular in school, stayed within my group of friends in college, and when I got a job, it felt like the possibility of meeting new people just vanished.
When my relationship ended and I thought about starting dating again, it felt like being in high school all over again. I went out to clubs and bars only to feel like I was ignored by the popular kids.
But dating apps gave me hope. Perhaps I can find that person who can appreciate my kindness, my loyalty, my weird sense of humor and my passion for silly nerdy things.
I downloaded the free version of all of them. Put up my best profile pic and spent a considerable amount of effort in writing down an interesting profile..
And after weeks of swiping right, all I got was… crickets. I matched with a few people on Hinge but they never texted back. I matched with women on Bumble but they never texted. And somehow I only tend to match with OF girls and bots on Tinder.
The worst feeling was when I got just one word response even after I put a lot of thought and effort into the conversation.
Meanwhile, my colleague from work was matching with girls and going on dates every other day.
If I were to compare dating apps to the real world, dating apps make it easier to approach people, but they also make it easier to get rejected.
Then months later, when I had given up on dating apps altogether, I struck up a conversation on Hinge and met my now wife. She said she liked how much effort I put in my profile and that I matched her “no red flags” criteria.
My point is, dating apps are a bit of luck. It can work great for you but there are no guarantees. But if you want to try, the best thing to do is keep an open mind, be hopeful, and put your best foot forward.
I still wonder if I had not put in the effort in writing a profile, my wife would have swiped left and matched with someone else.
Like I said, it’s luck. But it only works for you if you make an effort.
And according to my wife, the best way to use these dating apps is the “No red flags” method, also known as the “Burn the haystack” method.
Essentially, you don’t swipe right on anyone who doesn’t match your criteria. If there are any red flags or even a hint of one, you swipe left or block them. This trains the algorithm to show you more suitable matches.
Best Dating Apps in 2025
I’ve tested a lot of these dating apps myself when I was dating back in 2024. But we also run a pool of testers who make sure these dating apps are worth it.
Remember, a dating app is only good as the people over there and the algorithm it uses to match you with them.
According to my experience and the experience of our pool of testers, these are the best dating apps in 2025 –
- Hinge – Usually has a lot of people. Allows you to see who liked you. The algorithm works great if you train it to show you the type of people you want to be matched with.
- Bumble – Great for women’s safety. As a woman, you get to message first. It has a lot of prompts to help you start a conversation.
- Tinder – The most popular dating app with the biggest number of users. In my experience, it’s very superficial and people don’t read the profile much. Great for hookups if you consider yourself traditionally attractive.
- eHarmony – A decent app with a great algorithm and good number of users. But it’s paid and pretty much useless unless you pay for it.
- Zoosk – Another old app. But it’s great for international matches.
- Facebook dating – A great free app often overlooked by people. We found that a lot of people find great dates with facebook dating.
- DateMyAge – Good for people over 40. Although, you can still find great matches at Hinge/Bumble.
- Kippo – Dating app made specifically for gamers. Has some cool feature if you are big on gaming.
- Match.com – A decent app. Match.com owns most of the dating apps on the list.
There you have it. The list of the best dating apps right now in the market.
I can tell you personally that some of our testers found great matches on Hinge, Bumble, Tinder and eHarmony. eHarmony was a surprise and the tester who found a match on eHarmony ended up marrying their match. So that’s one more anecdotal evidence that dating apps can lead to a healthy relationship and a marriage.
But it’s still a lot of luck. And luck starts working when you figure out what you want in a relationship, what you want in your partner, and who you are as a person.
I hate to say it because it’s been said probably a million times already, but before you can find love on these dating apps, you need to start loving yourself. You need to accept yourself for who you are, be proud of yourself and build a life that you can be proud of.
Almost all of these dating apps will start working for you once you are in a place in your life ready to receive love.
