Free Dating Sites & Apps

Below is our complete list of all the popular free online dating sites and dating apps which our experts have reviewed. These services have surpassed our minimum criteria for inclusion in this list and are safe, have an excellent success rate, and a large number of members. These services are considered the best options out there today.

What is a Free Dating App or Site?

Our definition of a free dating service is one that allows members for no cost to find and communicate with other members for the purpose of dating. Many dating sites and apps say they are "free", but in reality are not since it is impossible to setup a date on their service as they do not allow sending and/or reading of messages unless the user becomes a subscriber (or buys credits). All of the services listed here allow you to communicate with other members and be able to setup a date. In our best of list you will find 3 types of free sites:

1. Services that are completely free and make money only through displaying advertising.
2. Are completely free only for a limited time and then require a subscription. For these sites to be listed here they must require at least 1 month of free service (full trial membership).
3. The majority of the free dating sites allow members to use their service for free and communicate with members but they do put some non-essential features behind a pay wall. With these sites you will most likely find online advertising and paid upgrade options (either one time or as a subscription). An example of a paid upgrade would be boosting your profile in the search results so you appear near the top.

This can be a confusing category as there are hundreds of free dating sites and apps worldwide. There can be almost zero cost to create a dating site these days (if you buy pre-packaged software). Unfortunately anyone can setup a free dating service and populate it with purchased profiles. This has created a very diluted dating industry and ultimately means most of these dating services have no active members even though they have many profiles. Fortunately with our Free Dating Apps & Sites category, you do not have to worry about these type of services being listed here.

Why is a Free Dating Service the Best Option for you?

The obvious advantage of a completely free dating site is the price. This means the only thing preventing someone to join is the time spent to fill out a form to register. With the sites and apps listed in this category, they range from having tens of thousands to millions of members. Oddly enough, the up side of free online dating is also one of its major downfalls. Since there is no real barrier of entry, people sign up just to see what the dating service is like. They have no real interest in dating and they may be just looking for a one night stand. You also tend to find a lot of married people on these sites. With no money paper trail leading to a dating site for their partner to find, it is easier for them to hide their infidelity. Scammers and fraudsters also love the free dating sites due to the zero cost of entry. No dating site wants them but the free sites usually do not have the resources to detect scammers and deal with the problem. Plus, if the site finds a scammer and then bars the member, the scammers have lost nothing as they will just log in the next day and create another account. Since these dating sites make their money off of the advertising on the site, this leaves little resources for important things like customer service and improving how the site functions for its members.

A large percentage of the members of these services are singles in their early twenties. Usually these people are in university or college and have little money to spend on extras like a dating service. Therefore these types of dating sites or apps are ideal for them. If you are older and are seeking a true relationship you may want to start with our dating site and app category list.

So in review, the disadvantages of a free dating services include:

• No barrier of entry, so a large number of people are on the site who are not interested in a real relationship.
• Scammers and married people.
• No customer service.
• The functionality of the dating site or app may be below standards.
• Geared more towards younger singles in their early twenties.

How does our Best of Lists work for Free Dating Services?

There are many free dating services to choose from. Our purpose here is to list only the best dating apps and sites that fit the niche you are looking for - ones that will work for you. Each of these free services passed our minimum criteria set out in this article.

Each of our reviewed dating services also allows for submitted reviews and ratings by our readers. Each user review contains a rating based on a possible total of five stars and a description. With the name of the dating services listed above you will find the Editor rating along with the average user rating.