All reviews

Every option in our Best Dating Site Reviews ranking, reviewed on its own terms.

• #1 OkCupid 7.2/10

  The most usable free account of the eight. You can browse, match and message without paying, which means you can find out whether the pool near you is any good before money enters the conversation.

• #2 Bumble 7.0/10

  Free to use in the way that matters - you can match and start conversations - with paid tiers that buy reach rather than access. The price is still invisible until you are inside the app.

• #3 Hinge 6.8/10

  Same shape as the others - usable free, priced invisibly - with a design that pushes towards fewer, longer conversations rather than volume.

• #4 Zoosk 5.5/10

  Documents its two tiers more plainly than most of this list - you can read exactly what a free account does before you make one. What it will cost you is still invisible until you register, and messaging is behind the paywall.

• #5 Match 4.8/10

  The oldest name in the category and the one with the longest history of billing complaints. Nothing about what it costs or how it renews is visible before you register.

• #6 InternationalCupid 4.7/10

  Cross-border dating with over four million claimed members. It publishes long, detailed terms - and puts every actual number, including what a subscription costs, behind registration.

• #7 EliteSingles 4.6/10

  Positions itself at graduates and professionals. In practice the pattern is the same as the rest of the subscription tier: no price until you are registered, and no messaging until you pay.

• #8 eharmony 4.5/10

  Sells a long questionnaire and a matching algorithm, then puts the price behind registration. The free account shows you matches you cannot talk to.