Top 20 Dating Apps in the UK - Top Things In The UK

Dating in the UK has been transformed by technology, with millions of Brits now turning to apps to find love, companionship, and everything in between. Whether you are looking for a serious long-term relationship, casual dating, or something more adventurous, there is a dating app designed for you. The UK market is one of the most active in Europe, and the range of options available continues to grow. Here are the top 20 dating apps in the UK, covering everything from the biggest names to innovative newcomers that are changing how people connect.

1. Hinge

Description: Hinge markets itself as the dating app "designed to be deleted," and it has rapidly become the go-to choice for singles in the UK seeking meaningful relationships. The app encourages users to engage with specific profile prompts and photos rather than simply swiping, leading to more thoughtful conversations and higher-quality matches.
Popularity: The fastest-growing dating app in the UK over recent years, now rivalling Tinder and Bumble in terms of active users. Particularly popular among professionals aged 25 to 40 who are serious about finding a partner.
Special Features: Profile prompts encourage personality over photos alone, the Standouts feature highlights the most compatible profiles, and detailed preference filters help users find people who match their values and lifestyle.
Link: Hinge

2. Bumble

Description: Bumble revolutionised online dating by giving women the power to make the first move in heterosexual matches. Founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd in 2014, the app has grown into a global phenomenon with a strong UK user base. Beyond dating, Bumble also offers BFF mode for finding friends and Bizz mode for professional networking.
Popularity: One of the most popular dating apps in the UK with millions of active users. Especially favoured by women who appreciate the empowerment-focused approach and the safer, more respectful conversations it tends to foster.
Special Features: Women message first in heterosexual matches, matches expire after 24 hours to encourage timely communication, video and voice calling within the app, and the multi-mode platform spans dating, friendship, and business networking.
Link: Bumble

3. Tinder

Description: Tinder is the app that popularised swipe-based dating and remains the most downloaded dating app in the UK and globally. Launched in 2012, its simple swipe-right-to-like interface made mobile dating mainstream and accessible. While often associated with casual dating, Tinder has evolved to cater to users seeking all types of connections.
Popularity: The largest dating app in the UK by total user numbers, with millions of active profiles across all age groups, demographics, and regions. Its ubiquity makes it the default choice for many first-time dating app users.
Special Features: Passport feature allows swiping in other cities before travelling, Explore tab offers curated collections based on interests and intentions, Top Picks highlights the most compatible daily profiles, and Tinder Plus and Gold subscriptions offer enhanced features.
Link: Tinder

4. Feeld

Description: Feeld is a London-founded dating app designed for open-minded individuals and couples exploring non-traditional relationships, ethical non-monogamy, and diverse sexual identities. What began as a niche platform has grown into a mainstream app celebrated for its inclusive approach and progressive values.
Popularity: Rapidly growing in the UK, particularly in London, Manchester, and Bristol, among millennials and Gen Z users who value sexual openness, inclusivity, and authentic self-expression in their dating lives.
Special Features: Pair accounts allow couples to browse together, extensive gender and sexuality identity options, the ability to hide your profile from Facebook friends, and a community built on respect, consent, and exploration.
Link: Feeld

5. Thursday

Description: Thursday is a London-born dating app that takes a radically different approach to online dating by only working on one day of the week: Thursday. The concept is designed to combat dating app fatigue and encourage users to move from screen to real-life meetups as quickly as possible, and it organises weekly in-person events to facilitate this.
Popularity: A cult favourite in London and expanding to other major UK cities, particularly popular among young professionals tired of endless swiping who want to meet people face-to-face in a fun, low-pressure environment.
Special Features: The app only activates on Thursdays, creating urgency and excitement. Weekly in-person events at bars and venues across London give members a natural way to meet matches, and the weekly reset means no stale profiles or dormant conversations.
Link: Thursday

6. Happn

Description: Happn connects people who have crossed paths in real life, using location technology to show you profiles of people you have physically been near throughout the day. This unique concept adds a layer of serendipity and real-world connection that purely algorithm-based apps cannot replicate.
Popularity: Popular in dense urban areas across the UK, particularly London, where the high volume of daily encounters creates a rich pool of potential connections. Appeals to romantics who like the idea of reconnecting with someone they noticed in passing.
Special Features: Real-time crossing paths mapped on a timeline, CrushTime game that reveals mutual admirers, audio and video messages before meeting, and a unique blend of digital and physical-world connection that sets it apart from competitors.
Link: Happn

7. Badoo

Description: Badoo is one of the largest dating networks in the world with a significant UK user base. Founded by Russian-British entrepreneur Andrey Andreev, the platform offers a range of features for meeting new people, from dating and chatting to live video streaming and social networking.
Popularity: One of the most widely used dating platforms in the UK with a particularly strong presence among diverse and international communities. Its large user base means a wide range of people to connect with across all regions.
Special Features: Encounters feature for quick matching, live video streaming, People Nearby location-based browsing, verification badges that help users identify authentic profiles, and a freemium model that offers substantial functionality without payment.
Link: Badoo

8. Hinge (Standouts & Roses)

Description: While Hinge is listed above, its Standouts feature deserves special mention as a distinct experience within the app. Standouts surfaces profiles that the algorithm predicts you will find particularly compelling, requiring a Rose (a premium currency) to like them. This creates a curated, high-intent matching experience.
Popularity: The Standouts section has become one of the most talked-about features in UK dating app circles, with users reporting that matches from Standouts tend to be higher quality and more aligned with their preferences.
Special Features: AI-driven curation of your most compatible profiles, Roses add a premium signal of interest, the feature refreshes daily with new Standouts, and recipients know that a Rose requires more effort than a standard like.
Link: Hinge

9. OkCupid

Description: OkCupid is a veteran dating platform that has been connecting people since 2004, distinguishing itself through an extensive questionnaire system that matches users based on compatibility across hundreds of topics including politics, religion, lifestyle, and values.
Popularity: Maintains a dedicated UK user base, particularly among intellectually curious daters who appreciate the depth of the matching system and the ability to filter for values alignment before starting a conversation.
Special Features: Thousands of matching questions generate detailed compatibility scores, extensive gender and orientation options, the ability to see who likes your answers to specific questions, and a data-driven approach to matching that goes far beyond surface-level attraction.
Link: OkCupid

10. Inner Circle

Description: Inner Circle is a selective dating app that screens every profile before granting access, aiming to create a curated community of eligible, ambitious singles. Founded in Amsterdam with a strong UK presence, it targets professionals who want a more refined dating experience with verified, high-quality profiles.
Popularity: Popular among career-driven professionals in London and other major UK cities who are willing to wait for approval in exchange for a more curated dating pool and exclusive social events.
Special Features: Manual profile screening ensures quality and authenticity, regular members-only social events at premium venues across London, travel concierge features for meeting people while abroad, and a professional community focus.
Link: Inner Circle

11. Match.com

Description: Match.com is one of the original online dating platforms, founded in 1995, and it continues to be a major player in the UK market. Known for attracting users who are serious about finding long-term relationships, Match offers detailed profiles, advanced search filters, and a reputation for facilitating genuine connections.
Popularity: One of the most trusted dating platforms in the UK with a large user base skewing slightly older than app-only platforms, particularly popular among users aged 30 to 55 seeking committed relationships.
Special Features: Detailed personality profiles and matching algorithms, organised events and meetups across UK cities, profile verification, and a reputation built over decades as one of the most successful platforms for long-term relationship formation.
Link: Match.com

12. eharmony

Description: eharmony is built on a scientific approach to matchmaking, using a comprehensive compatibility quiz developed by psychologists to pair users with highly compatible partners. The platform is firmly focused on serious relationships and marriage, making it ideal for users who know exactly what they are looking for.
Popularity: A leading platform in the UK for relationship-minded singles, particularly popular among professionals aged 30 and above who are ready to settle down and want a platform that prioritises compatibility over casual browsing.
Special Features: The detailed compatibility quiz analyses 32 dimensions of personality, the platform sends curated matches rather than enabling open browsing, video date features, and guided communication tools help users build meaningful connections.
Link: eharmony

13. Grindr

Description: Grindr is the pioneering location-based dating app for gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. Launched in 2009, it was the first app to use smartphone GPS for same-sex dating and remains the dominant platform in this space with a massive global and UK user base.
Popularity: The most widely used dating app among LGBTQ+ men in the UK, with millions of active profiles and a presence in every city and town across the country.
Special Features: Grid-based display showing nearby users, filters for tribe, body type, and relationship intent, LGBTQ+ health resources and information, community features, and the Grindr for Equality programme supporting social causes.
Link: Grindr

14. HER

Description: HER is the largest dating and social app specifically designed for lesbian, bisexual, and queer women and non-binary people. The platform combines dating with community features including events, forums, and content, creating a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQ+ women to connect.
Popularity: The leading dating platform for queer women in the UK, with a growing and active community in London, Manchester, Brighton, Bristol, and other cities with vibrant LGBTQ+ scenes.
Special Features: Community feed for sharing thoughts and connecting beyond dating, curated in-person events across UK cities, identity-inclusive profile options, groups and forums for specific interests, and a strong moderation team ensuring a safe space.
Link: HER

15. Coffee Meets Bagel

Description: Coffee Meets Bagel takes a quality-over-quantity approach by sending users a limited number of curated matches (called Bagels) each day at noon. This intentional design reduces decision fatigue and encourages users to give each profile genuine consideration rather than mindlessly swiping.
Popularity: Particularly popular among busy professionals in the UK who appreciate the curated approach and do not want to spend hours browsing profiles. The limited daily matches create anticipation and make each connection feel more significant.
Special Features: Limited daily curated matches reduce overwhelm, icebreaker prompts facilitate conversation, the Discover section allows additional browsing, and the emphasis on quality over quantity leads to more intentional and focused dating behaviour.
Link: Coffee Meets Bagel

16. Plenty of Fish (POF)

Description: Plenty of Fish is one of the longest-running dating platforms, offering a free and accessible way to meet people across the UK. With a large and diverse user base, POF provides extensive search, messaging, and matching features without requiring a premium subscription for core functionality.
Popularity: One of the most widely used free dating platforms in the UK, with a particularly strong user base outside London in regional cities and towns where other apps may have fewer active users.
Special Features: Extensive free messaging capabilities, Chemistry Predictor personality test, live streaming features, Ultramatch algorithm for compatibility matching, and a large user base that provides extensive options across all UK regions.
Link: Plenty of Fish

17. Raya

Description: Raya is an exclusive, membership-based dating and networking app popular among celebrities, creative professionals, and high-profile individuals. Known for its strict vetting process and emphasis on privacy, Raya has become the dating app of choice for those in the public eye.
Popularity: Highly exclusive with a reported acceptance rate of under 10 percent, popular among UK-based creatives, entertainers, athletes, and media professionals. Its exclusivity is a significant part of its appeal.
Special Features: Application-based membership requiring referral, strict privacy policies that prohibit screenshots, a social component for professional networking alongside dating, and a curated community of creative and influential individuals.
Link: Raya

18. Lumen

Description: Lumen is a dating app specifically designed for singles over 50, addressing a gap in the market that has traditionally been underserved by dating technology. The app features a clean, easy-to-use interface and encourages genuine conversation through mandatory opening messages that go beyond a simple hello.
Popularity: The leading dating app for over-50s in the UK, with a rapidly growing user base as more people in this demographic embrace technology for meeting new partners after divorce, bereavement, or simply starting a new chapter.
Special Features: Age verification ensures all users are genuinely over 50, mandatory thoughtful opening messages prevent low-effort approaches, photo verification reduces catfishing, and the app is designed with accessibility and simplicity in mind.
Link: Lumen

19. Wingman

Description: Wingman is a unique British dating app that lets your friends play matchmaker on your behalf. Instead of creating your own profile and doing your own swiping, your friends set up your profile, write your bio, and swipe on potential matches for you, adding a fun social element to the dating process.
Popularity: A novel concept that has gained traction in the UK particularly among friend groups and social circles who enjoy the collaborative and entertaining aspect of helping their friends find love.
Special Features: Friends create and manage your dating profile, the social matchmaking element adds fun and reduces the pressure of self-promotion, group chats allow friends to discuss potential matches, and the concept often leads to more authentic profile descriptions.
Link: Wingman

20. Veggly

Description: Veggly is a niche dating app designed for vegans and vegetarians in the UK and beyond. For people whose dietary and ethical choices are central to their identity and lifestyle, Veggly removes the guesswork by connecting them exclusively with like-minded plant-based singles.
Popularity: The largest vegan and vegetarian dating app in the UK, growing alongside the rapid expansion of plant-based lifestyles. Particularly popular in cities with large vegan communities like London, Brighton, Bristol, and Manchester.
Special Features: Filter by vegan, vegetarian, or plant-curious dietary preferences, a community of ethically aligned singles, the Veg-Level feature indicates how strictly plant-based each user is, and the app donates to animal welfare charities.
Link: Veggly

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