When economists say “There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” what they mean is everything comes with a cost — it just might not be in dollars, euros, or yen.

Savvy online daters may already be familiar with the hidden costs of a 100% free dating site. They may run into pop-up ads, or they may not have access to paid features, including messaging and viewing photos. Some free sites may cost $0 to join, but they can be taxing in other ways, and singles need all the information if they want to game the system and get results without wasting a lot of effort or racking up a big price tag.

We’ve evaluated some of the most popular free dating sites and apps out there to give singles an idea of what they can expect online and what their subscription options are, so they can decide what they’re willing to spend on an awesome dating experience. Take a look!

Overall Best 100% Free Dating Sites

We’re going to save you a lot of time and money by putting the most cost-effective dating sites right up top for your enjoyment. The following free dating platforms provide valuable matching features, search tools, and networking potential — without an enormous price tag.

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Match.com has come a long way since it launched in April 1995. This well-reputed dating site has honed its match algorithm to identify long-term compatibility and facilitate countless first dates, serious relationships, and successful marriages. Match.com's esteemed dating experts go to great lengths to guide singles to a seriously good match.

• Match is the world's longest running dating site
• The Discover section has search filters by interests, looks, lifestyle, and more
• Match is available in 50 countries and 15 languages
• Browse Match.com profiles 100% free»

Match is a free-to-join but pay-to-chat online dating site where singles can mix and mingle on their own terms.

Since 1995, Match has set high standards in the dating industry and inspired deep relationships based on mutual compatibility. Match used to offer a free trial period to singles who were curious about how it works, but now the dating site has a lifetime free membership option to kick things off. Free members can set up their dating profiles, add photos, browse matches, save their preferred search criteria, and exchange likes online with the perfect match.

Messaging is a premium feature on Match, but free members aren’t locked completely out of the conversation. Match allows singles to read and respond to messages from their Top Picks list, thus making the online dating experience more enjoyable and rewarding for everyone involved.

EliteSingles.com maintains a sophisticated network of young professionals seeking a relationship. Over 80% of its members hold a bachelor's, master's, or doctorate degree, and over 90% are over the age of 30. Elite Singles uses an intelligent matchmaking system to introduce daters to someone on their level.

• Over 2 million monthly users
• Premium members receive 20 wildcard matches a day
• Search features include age, height, education, ethnicity, and lifestyle habits
• Browse Elite Singles profiles 100% free»

Elite Singles sets high standards in the online dating scene, and its tiered membership appeals to people of all income levels. This dating site was designed to introduce relationship-minded professionals to one another, and we think it’s done a grand job so far.

You can start off with a free membership to see how things work, and then you can work your way up the ladder to a premium membership plan that fits your budget and meets your relationship goals.

Elite Singles creates thousands of love connections every week, and its commitment to quality over quantity has made for a selective dating environment. Over 80% of Elite Singles members have earned a college degree, and over 90% say they want to get in a serious relationship.

Zoosk is a socially savvy dating site known for its diverse membership base and behavioral matchmaking system. Over 40 million singles in 80 countries have joined the network so far, and it's growing larger every day. The platform offers many different ways to communicate and express interest in members, so it's easy to form a fast connection here.

• Send messages to premium members for free
• Over 3 million messages sent a day
• Premium perks include photo verification and sending virtual gifts
• Browse Zoosk profiles 100% free»

Thanks to its forward-thinking features, Zoosk has become one of the leading dating sites and apps in the world. In 2007, the platform draw inspiration from popular social media sites and took online dating to a whole new level.

Today, thousands of Zoosk couples have the site to thank for introducing them to a good match and giving them plenty of options to flirt.

Zoosk offers free match suggestions, free search tools, and a lot of free communication features to get singles on their way to a promising connection. The Carousel is the most efficient place to find viable dates because users can quickly swipe through profiles and create mutual interest on the fly.

Since its launch in 2000, eharmony has endeavored to find the formula for love. Its 32-dimension personality test uses psychological truths to identify areas of compatibility between two individuals. The dating site's mission is to foster relationships that last, and every potential match has a reason behind it.

• Over 2 million people have found love here
• Users can filter their match recommendations by age or city
• Compatibility Quiz identifies common interests, lifestyles, and goals
• Browse eharmony profiles 100% free»

The thing about eharmony is that it’s all about relationships. Not short-term dating. Not hookups. Not friendship. Its founding mission is to create lasting relationships that lead to marriage, family, and a fruitful life together — and that’s something the team takes very seriously. The team even offers a three-month guarantee to back its services.

Since 2000, eharmony has endeavored to identify true compatibility by using a psychology-based questionnaire that has been honed quite a bit over the years. It used to be over 150 questions long and take over an hour to complete. Now it’s much shorter, and singles can get through it in about 20 minutes.

The questionnaire is free and optional, but eharmony highly recommends singles answer each question honestly because that’s the basis for its match suggestions and compatibility ratings. You can browse profiles and see how you stack up with them without paying anything, but only premium members can view photos and send messages on eharmony — unless it’s a free communication weekend, which are rare but totally worth the wait.

Christian Mingle is a faith-based dating website for singles who want a relationship grounded in Christian values. People of all religions and backgrounds turn to this site in hopes of meeting a good Christian man or a good Christian woman. Christian Mingle's claim to fame is that it has the highest percentage of Christian members of any dating site or app in the world.

• For singles interested in God-centered relationships
• Over 3.5 million monthly users around the world
• Available as an app on Google Play and the App Store
• Browse Christian Mingle profiles 100% free»

ChristianMingle promotes good Christian values in the online dating scene and encourages devout singles to find someone who shares similar beliefs and traditions.

While ChristianMingle isn’t a Christian-only dating network — people of all faiths are welcome to create a free profile — the site focuses on inspiring God-centered relationships, and it has been the salvation of Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, and other faith-driven daters.

Its heartwarming success stories are proof of the dating site’s impact on people’s lives. “God used ChristianMingle to cross our paths,” said Rhonda, who met her husband Woody on the dating site.

Since its launch in 2002, BlackPeopleMeet has created an African American singles network that stretches across North America. This niche dating site has 1.5 million members who are attracted to Black and biracial people. It takes less than two minutes to create a full profile and start browsing through profiles sorted by age, location, and orientation.

• One of the largest Black singles networks in existence
• Straightforward search and matching features
• Use Tokens to appear higher in search results
• Browse BlackPeopleMeet profiles 100% free»

When you sign up for BlackPeopleMeet, you can diversify your dating prospects and enjoy a colorful dating experience in just a few clicks. The niche site boasts having the largest network of black and biracial singles in the U.S., and it is a valuable resource for singles seeking dark-skinned dates.

BlackPeopleMeet is free to people of all ethnicities, skin tones, and racial backgrounds, and singles can assess their options thanks to the site’s free features, which include photo likes, flirts, and favorites. Messaging will cost a little extra, but it can make all the difference in your dating life, so it could be worth the $3 to $4 per week for a paid membership.

BlackPeopleMeet uses a token-based system to give singles access to additional paid features, including virtual gifting, special notifications, and a highlighted dating profile.

In 2004, OkCupid's founders decided to create a fool-proof formula for love, and they launched a free dating site to delve into what personal attributes made relationships work. OkCupid members can send unlimited messages for free. It's easy to discover mutual interests and compatibility on the platform's information-rich dating profiles.

• Free, unlimited communication for everyone
• Singles can swipe or search for a compatible date
• Over 91 million connections every year
• Browse OkCupid profiles 100% free»

When OkCupid launched in 2004, the website promised to remain forever free to everyone, and it has pretty much stuck to that. Messaging is 100% free and unlimited on this dating site and app, and you can like and favorite as many profiles as you want without subscribing as an A-List member.

OkCupid has a mutual matching system to help singles filter their inboxes, but it still allows singles to message anyone they like. Anyone can send a quick greeting here; however, the message will only appear in the other person’s inbox if/when they like you back. Until then, it’ll appear to them as a notification on your dating profile. It’s a good way to get someone’s attention and make new friends.

The mantra at OkCupid is “Dating deserves better,” and that’s what this number-crunching website and app aim to deliver. Every week, over 50,000 dates are planned on OkCupid, and you don’t need a paid membership to join in the fun on this flirtatious, inclusive, and quirky community.

Plenty of Fish prides itself on being one of the best dating sites for conversations. It supports 100% free and unlimited messaging for over 120 million monthly users in 20 countries. Since its launch in 2003, Plenty of Fish has developed a science-based matching system that has proven successful.

• Free registration, searches, and messaging
• The Chemistry Test creates a compatibility framework
• Over 1 billion messages sent per month
• Browse Plenty of Fish profiles 100% free»

Plenty of Fish (aka POF) is another free dating platform where communication doesn’t cost a thing. It offers an open-ended space where anything can happen and dates are up for grabs.

The POF community is full of activity with millions of messages being exchanged every day. The site sees over 4 million views per day, and it makes over 57 million new potential matches each week. “Because of POF, I met the love of my life,” said Courtney in a testimonial.

The abundance of free features on Plenty of Fish has attracted budget-conscious daters of all stripes. Mingling in a dating pool of 150 million profiles can be overwhelming, but the online dating site’s search filters can help you narrow things down quite a bit. Just be on the lookout for suspicious characters and fake profiles because the downside of free, unlimited chatting is that sometimes catfishers or scammers can show up in your inbox.

In 2012, Tinder pioneered a swiping-based match system that empowered singles to connect with dates who liked them back. Tinder users can message their mutual matches for free on this fast-paced dating app. Since its launch, Tinder has created over 60 billion matches worldwide.

• Supports active daters in 190+ countries
• The swiping system creates over 12 million matches per day
• Tinder Plus members have unlimited likes and 5 Super Likes
• Browse Tinder profiles 100% free»

You’ve heard of Tinder, right? It’s only the world’s most popular dating app and the creator of #SwipeLife. In 2012, Tinder took the dating world by storm by introducing a clever mutual matching system that has been duplicated by just about every dating site and app these days.

Tinder lets singles decide who they want in the dating scene, and it can be a powerful tool for picking up dates and building relationships. While Tinder may have the reputation of a hookup app, it has actually led to quite a few long-term romances, and some couples have even gotten into a serious relationship or marriage thanks to the free dating app.

Tinder sees over 2 billion views per day, and it leads to over 1.5 million dates per week, and it’s totally free to download, swipe, match, and chat here. What more could you want from a casual hookup app?

Since its launch in 2014, Bumble has positioned itself as one of the queens of the online dating world. The dating app turns gender stereotype on its head by empowering women to make the first move in a conversation with a man. Once you've made that mutual match, you have up to 48 hours to respond and make a connection.

• A feminist dating app puts singles on equal footing
• 60% of Bumble matches turn into dates
• Bumble Bizz and Bumble BFF spark non-romantic connections
• Browse Bumble profiles 100% free»

In 2014, Bumble set itself apart from other swipe-crazy dating apps by putting the needs and interests of women first. The free app has empowered women to make the first move (i.e. send the first message) when matching with men online.

Tech entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe Herd developed this innovative and progressive concept shortly after leaving an executive position at Tinder and striking out on her own. Today, Bumble has become one of the Tinder’s biggest rivals, and it has been widely recognized as “the feminist dating app” for singles seeking relationships, not hookups.

Bumble is a win-win for guys and gals in the dating scene. “Love that I don’t get bombarded with messages,” Cara said in a review. And a male Bumble user named Sidd added that he enjoyed meeting the high-caliber women in his inbox, saying, “Much more accomplished with much less random messages and matches.”

Best 100% Free Senior Dating Sites

The online dating world can be intimating for seniors who are recently divorced or widowed. They’ve been out of the game for a long time, and they may not know how mature dating works these days. Fortunately, senior dating sites and apps can offer a beginner-friendly space to learn, grow, and date again. We trust the following sites to help seniors and make them feel more confident about their romantic futures.

SilverSingles is serious about helping singles over 50 meet one another, and the site doesn't allow anyone under 50 years old to join the network. The secure signup process includes profile verification and fraud detection, so new members must portray themselves accurately to gain access to the platform. By fostering a safe environment, SilverSingles helps men and women meet mature dates in their area.

• An exclusively senior membership base
• Over 800,000 monthly users worldwide
• App available for free on Google Play
• Browse SilverSingles profiles 100% free»

SilverSingles has streamlined online dating for a senior audience, and it offers matchmaking that works without putting the user through a lot of hassle and stress.

As an exclusive over-50 dating site, SilverSingles can give singles the opportunity to meet someone special who’s in the same age bracket and looking for a second chance at love

SilverSingles recommends compatible dating profiles (up to seven per day), and it also has advanced search tools that allow singles to identify matches based on their own standards. Premium members can see photos, view their profile visitors, and send unlimited messages on SilverSingles, so you can get the full picture if you subscribe.

OurTime is an over-50 dating site with a lot of helpful features to facilitate friendships and relationships. Senior singles can look for dates themselves using the search tools, or they can view a curated list of matches to find compatible folks. Singles can send likes, flirts, and faves for free, but they have to subscribe to send messages to their online crushes.

• Open to straight, gay, and lesbian singles over 50
• Free match recommendations and conversation starters
• Use Tokens to promote your profile and send virtual gifts
• Browse OurTime profiles 100% free»

The OurTime dating site helps senior singles get to know one another and create solid matches online and offline. It’s free to register an account on OurTime and fill out an in-depth profile about who you are and what you want.

OurTime profiles cover the basics — appearance, age, occupation, education, smoking habits, etc. — but also give singles room to tell their own stories and show a little personality in the In a Nutshell section. Singles can choose to answer fun prompts, including “Go-to karaoke song,” “Do you enjoy cooking?” “The one I am looking for,” and “I’d just like to add.”

It’s free to create your profile, upload photos, search for matches, and send flirts on OurTime. However, you’ll need to sign up for a subscription plan if you plan on messaging anyone here.

Since 2003, SeniorMatch has built its reputation as one of the world's leading senior dating sites. The site offers free communication and searches to help singles over 50 find companionship and love. If you're interested in a mature dating experience, this dating site can meet your needs.

• Doesn't allow members under 45
• Available as a dating app in Google Play
• Dating advice and safety tips shared by senior daters
• Browse SeniorMatch profiles 100% free»

SeniorMatch has been around since 2003, making it one of the oldest dating sites in its niche, and all that experience has made it more efficient and effective. The dating site can help seniors meet pen pals, new friends, local dates, and potential partners in a welcoming and mature setting.

Over 1 million singles have joined SeniorMatch, and the site claims to host over 1.6 million monthly conversations. This affordable site ensures genuine singles can become acquainted without jumping through too many hoops.

If you want proof that SeniorMatch works, you can read through its 36,000 success stories and get a sense of how many people have fallen in love on this platform.

Best 100% Free LGBT Dating Sites

Online dating has become one of the most popular ways for same-sex couples to meet one another. According to a Match.com survey, 56% of LGBTQ+ singles have dated someone they met online. In fact, LGBTQ+ singles use dating apps at about twice the rate of straight singles because it’s easier to identify queer dates and come out as a gay dater online.

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The following gay-friendly dating sites can allow singles to pursue anyone they want and make the most of the dating scene.

Since 1996, MenNation has connected over 93 million men around the globe. This men-only dating site measures its success by the number of conversations and dates it facilitates with its intuitive matching system. Gay men love having a site to call their own, and its helpful features keep members engaged and entertained as they look for a hot date.

• One of the largest gay hookup sites in the world
• Search filters for age, location, physical attributes, and more
• Available in 12 languages and counting
• Browse MenNation profiles 100% free»

MenNation is a men-only hookup site where singles and couples can flirt, match, and solicit sex 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The site offers an anonymous and private forum for guys with sex on the brain. Its one-on-one chats can facilitate intimate encounters and lead gay men to the hot guy of their dreams. All it takes is a like or message to stimulate interest and get something going.

Millions of men are in the MenNation database, and that means a world of opportunities for guys bold enough to enter this sexual terrain.

HER is a women-only (or 'womxn' as the team says) dating app that helps cis, trans, and non-binary identified singles come into their own. This is a strict no-boys-allowed zone. HER encourages LGBTQ+ women to mingle by commenting on photos or events in the Feed, or they can like profiles to initiate a private conversation with a mutual match.

• A quirky and unapologetic womxn-only dating community
• Queer events get users connecting IRL
• The constantly updated Feed facilitates social networking
• Browse HER profiles 100% free»

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Designed by a lesbian for singles like her, HER supports a womxn-only dating network that’s friendly, active, and worth your attention.

The dating app is free to download, and free members can browse a newsfeed of profiles, comment on photos or stories, and RSVP to local queer events (everything from parades to picnics). HER fosters a dynamic dating scene where womxn can feel safe, comfortable, and confident — and that means everything to the HER couples around the world.

Over 4 million lesbian, bisexual, queer, and trans womxn have joined HER so far, and we expect that number to grow as more LGBTQ+ people discover the incredible value offered by this upstanding community.

LesbianPersonals.com is powered by Friend Finder Networks, so it encompasses a vast network of sexually active women. The female-friendly dating site allows women, couples, and groups to create a profile and find online and offline romance. With over 2 million women in its community, LesbianPersonals is fast becoming one of the most popular lesbian dating sites around.

• Free membership includes viewing profiles and sending likes
• Exchange revealing photos and videos privately online
• Simple search filters by interests and appearance
• Browse LesbianPersonals profiles 100% free»

LesbianPersonals has basically become the go-to dating space for women with a high sex drive and few inhibitions. The hookup platform is free to join, and you can get a feel for what it has to offer by browsing profiles and sending likes.

The LesbianPersonals membership base includes lesbian singles, lesbian couples, straight couples, and groups, and they’re all looking for a special lady to join them in the bedroom. The fast-paced dating scene has led to hookups, threesomes, and orgies, bringing satisfaction to thousands of horny women out there.

Grindr became the world's first gay geosocial app in 2009, and it continues growing its all-male user base more than a decade later. The app uses real-time GPS data to locate nearby date prospects and give gay and bisexual singles a chance to connect while they're out on the town.

• Social networking for gay, bi, trans, and queer men
• Location-based matches spark instant chemistry
• Grindr Equality advocates for LGBTQ+ interests on the global stage
• Browse Grindr profiles 100% free»

We couldn’t end this list without mentioning Grindr. Since 2009, the gay dating app has become one of the most popular matchmaking tools for men seeking men, and its membership base includes over 27 million profiles in almost every country in the world.

Grindr is free to join, and it has the free matching and chatting features singles need to land a hot date, but some users say upgrading to Grindr XTRA gave them even more options and opportunities on the app. The premium features including additional filters, no banner ads, personalized push notifications, unlimited blocks and favorites, quick-send photos, and viewing up to 600 profiles.

Grindr XTRA Lite is a more cost-efficient one-month subscription. It’ll remove banner ads and allow singles to view up to 300 profiles, and that’s it. Upgrading is optional, and it is possible to make a match with a standard Grindr membership.

Best 100% Free Hookup Sites

Looking for a dating site that’ll give you the most bang for your buck? We’ve got a few good options for your browsing pleasure. These reputable hookup sites have satisfied singles and swingers with a fast-paced interface, sexy membership base, and affordable live messaging tools. Take a look at what they have to offer by reading our reviews.

BeNaughty invites singles to walk on the wild side and explore their sexuality in a fun, free-wheeling environment. This adults-only dating site is full of X-rated content, but users can blur nude photos if they'd prefer to leave some things to the imagination. Premium subscribers get the most bang for the buck because they can send messages, browse incognito, and receive alerts when their messages have been read by someone special.

• Sexually active adults in 10 countries
• Browse the Like Gallery for hot singles
• Stimulate conversation in intimate private messages
• Browse BeNaughty profiles 100% free»

When it comes to hookup sites, BeNaughty is almost always on top. Put simply, the site has a lot of game, and it fosters instant connections and matches between sex-oriented men and women.

BeNaughty users can either search for hot dates by age, location, appearance, ethnicity, and other characteristics, or they can go to the Like Gallery and see which profiles the site recommends based on their preferences. The Like Gallery is a fun way to decide who’s cute and who’s not, creating romantic opportunities with every swipe.

Really in a hurry to hook up with a local man or woman? Then send a mass flirty message to everyone online who meets your search criteria. BeNaughty encourages flirty conversations morning, noon, and night, and it’s never too late to woo someone on this dating website.

In 1996, Friend Finder Networks began harnessing the power of online networking to help adults meet sexually active singles in their area, and it has now grown into a global X-rated phenomenon with over 93 million profiles. Adult Friend Finder provides a safe, anonymous dating platform where singles and swingers can hook up with another.

• Among the largest online sex and swinger communities
• Completely free no-obligation registration
• Live chat rooms and discussion forums open 24/7
• Browse Adult Friend Finder profiles 100% free»

Since its launch in 1997, Adult Friend Finder has surpassed 97 million profiles and brought about a sexual awakening for countless individuals and couples.

The hookup site offers a lot of free forums and chat groups where members can mix things up. The AFF community has sparked more than 14 million group discussions, and it has published over 19 million blog posts full of erotic stories and X-rated content.

Browsing Adult Friend Finder can be an arousing experience, and the excitement doesn’t end online. Many AFF members are actively seeking an sexy playmate for IRL adventures and a casual hookup.

FriendFinder-X specializes in delivering hot dates to your inbox. For the last 20+ years, this hookup site has amassed a huge following around the world and led to countless sexy encounters. Millions of people have created an account and searched for singles, couples, and groups who can satisfy their deepest desires.

• Open to casual daters in the U.S. and abroad
• Free members can browse profiles and watch sexy videos
• Chat anonymously in the forum or private messages
• Browse FriendFinder-X profiles 100% free»

Last of all, FriendFinder-X makes it easy to enjoy a naughty dating experience and woo local hotties without leaving home. The hookup site characterizes itself as a place “where good girls do bad things.”

The anonymous nature of this free casual hookup site probably contributes to the bold and outlandish behavior of FriendFinder-X members. Singles, couples, and groups head to this platform when they want to mix things up and find the object of their desire.

If you’re interested in no-strings-attached sex, you can’t do much better than FriendFinder-X. It’s not completely free, but it is awfully exciting to view an X-rated dating profile and flirt with new people here.

What Is the Number 1 Dating Site

This is obviously debatable, and it depends heavily on who you are and what you’re looking for in the dating scene, but, if you want our opinion, we rank Match.com as the #1 dating site for just about anyone seeking love online.

Why do our dating experts love Match so much? Because we’ve seen it work. The site has serious street cred in the industry and countless love stories to its name.

Match has become a trusted name in the online dating industry by catering to quality singles looking for love and romance. Since 1995, the dating site has developed a time-tested matching system to facilitate deep connections between men and women who share similar goals in life.

• In-depth matching appeals to women with high standards
• Video chat tools help online daters establish a rapport
• An established singles network in 50 countries worldwide
• Browse Match.com profiles 100% free»

Over the last 20 years, Match.com has been responsible for more first dates, relationships, and marriages than any other online dating site, and that makes it the best of the best in our book.

What Is the Best Dating Site for a Serious Relationship?

Beyond a doubt, eharmony has the market cornered when it comes to relationships. The dating site has a time-tested, personality-driven matchmaking system that can seriously save folks a lot of time searching for a soulmate.

The free dating app isn’t 100% free to use — you need a paid membership to access the chat feature on eharmony — but this is a quality dating space for meeting new people who are authentic and loyal, and that makes it great for serious relationship seekers who are willing to invest in their love lives.

It may take some time to fill out eharmony's 32-dimension personality test, but the results are well worth it. This dating site goes the extra mile to get to know its members and deliver quality matches to their inboxes. Every profile has a compatibility rating to let you know your essential similarities and differences. Plus eharmony has inspired more than 2 million love connections since 2000.

• Designed to satisfy marriage-minded single women
• In-depth compatibility quiz generates high-quality matches
• Personalized Match Preferences on gender, age, income, religion, education, and more
• Browse eharmony profiles 100% free»

Over the last two decades, eharmony has given hope to marriage-minded singles around the world, and it is responsible for bringing over 2 million couples together in the U.S. alone. This is definitely a great place to find your happily-ever-after love story.

What is the Best Dating Site for 50-Year Olds

Silver Singles is our favorite dating site for singles in their 50s. It caters to a mature crowd of singles, and 50-year-olds will actually be the youngsters on this seniors-only network.

The Silver Singles dating site and app offer a completely free membership option so singles can test the waters before diving into the senior dating pool.

SilverSingles offers a secure dating experience for singles of a certain age. Anyone over 50 is welcome to join the network and browse for dates by using the simple search filters and match recommendations. Every month, over 800,000 senior singles join the dating site and start their journey toward love.

• Global membership base of exclusively single seniors
• Free members can browse matches, send smiles, and favorite profiles
• 24/7 online customer service
• Browse SilverSingles profiles 100% free»

Silver Singles has a lot to offer as a free dating site with a premium matchmaking feature to help locate the perfect match. If you’re looking for age-appropriate dates, SilverSingles can introduce you to many singles who share similar backgrounds, experiences, and values.

The Silver Singles dating website and app automatically remove fake profiles from the network, so seniors can set their worries aside when meeting new people through this reputable dating service.

Are There Any Real Dating Sites?

Actually all dating sites are mere figments of your imagination. You’re probably having a fever dream from watching too many rom-coms.

I’m kidding. Yeah, a lot of dating sites are the real deal and can offer real opportunities to meet singles. You can tell a site is legit if it has good reviews (both from customers and third-party reviewers), offers some sort of profile verification system (via email address, social media, etc.), provides contact information for the customer service team (online contact form, email, and/or snail mail), and shares success stories on the site.

We’ve listed many real dating sites on this list already, but we’ll reiterate a few here for you. OkCupid has been around since 2004, and it is responsible for 1 million real-world dates on a weekly basis.

OkCupid inspires dates and relationships by identifying specific areas of compatibility. The dating site and app has an endless questionnaire that allows single men to express who they are and what matters to them. OkCupid uses this treasure trove of information to generate highly accurate match recommendations and compatibility ratings.

• Men can leave a message to anyone they fancy
• A sophisticated match algorithm developed by Harvard math majors
• The site and app facilitate over 50,000 dates every week
• Browse OkCupid profiles 100% free»

Bumble has staked its reputation on authenticity and integrity, and its team doesn’t hesitate to remove unsavory characters from the app. Its serious approach to online dating has helped countless real singles go on real dates and get in real relationships.

Bumble has embraced its role as the world's feminist dating app. The app launched in 2014 with the unique premise that women should send the first message and take the lead in a new romantic relationship. According to Bumble, over 85% of its users are looking for a long-term relationship, and less than 4% are looking for hookups.

• A female-friendly dating environment puts women in control
• Zero tolerance for bullying, misogyny, and rude behavior
• Conversations expire in 24 to 48 hours
• Browse Bumble profiles 100% free»

Even on a trustworthy dating site or app, you should still be on the lookout for the rotten apples that can sometimes slip past the security walls. Trust your instincts as you browse dating profiles online and vet potential matches before you agree to meet in person. Things to look out for include bad grammar, broken English, and pleas for money, gifts, or favors. These are all warning signs that the person you’re talking to isn’t trustworthy and may be trying to con you in a romance scam.

Does Online Dating Really Work?

Yes, online dating really, truly, and honestly can work for singles seeking everything from a casual hookup or a long-term relationship. How can I be so certain? Because I met my boyfriend on a dating app last year, and we couldn’t be happier with how our swiping experience went.

Online dating gives you instant access to a world of romantic possibilities, and it can spark relationships with that perfect match if you play your cards right. If you haven’t had much luck on dating websites and apps so far, maybe try beefing up your dating profile or working on your online conversation skills to up the odds of finding something real.

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Why do I date white women? Black women have told me it's because I'm a sellout. The white men who can get past the mental anguish of my black penis tarnishing 'their' women think I'm making some latent admission that their race has the most attractive women. White women range from those so intrigued by black men that it veers into fetish to those so reluctant to date black men that it feels more racist than preference-driven. These are generalizations, of course, but they are attitudes that I've personally encountered. Skepticism towards black men/white women relationships is a longstanding and well-documented part of our cultural fabric in America.

Most people have it wrong. I'm not a 'black man' who 'dates white women.' I'm a person. I have my own unique experiences and some of them include having dated women who are white, but because interracial dating is such a historically tense and loaded subject, it's hardly ever looked at with any understanding or compassion for the people personally involved. The concept of a black man in a relationship with a white woman is a 'thing' that people have an opinion on, and that opinion comes with an entire set of stereotypes, fueled by racist ideology, a complicated past, and sometimes even pop culture. Kanye West once rapped about how successful black men will 'leave your ass for a white girl,' and then put himself into that box by marrying a white woman, furthering the pervasiveness of flawed, generic ideas about interracial relationships.

That swath of generic ideas has an actual impact on culture and society, too. How many jokes have been made at Kim Kardashian's expense because of her history of dating black men? Twenty-two-year-old virgin psychopath Elliot Rodger just killed six people in California and left behind a paper trial of racially charged sentiments like, 'How could an inferior, ugly black boy be able to get a white girl and not me?' The most visible criminal trial of the 20th century centered around a blonde white woman who was presumably murdered at the hands of her black husband, O.J. Simpson. White reaction to The Verdict may have been one of shock and rage, but it's also largely oblivious to the history of disenfranchisement, partially as it relates to interracial relationships, of blacks in this country.

Part of the reason why black people celebrated the O.J. verdict is because it was a rare example of a black man finally beating the system that was so unjust to his people for so long. It was cold, hard, classic revenge. Throughout this nation's history, unfathomable numbers of innocent black men have been hung from trees and burned because of often fabricated stories of their fraternizing with white women, and there were usually no consequences for the white men lynching them.

I was taught the story of Emmett Till by my mother at a young age. I don't think she did it as a warning as much as to be like, 'This is something you should be aware of.' He was 14. It was 1955. He got dragged out of his uncle's house and tortured and killed because he maybe flirted with a white woman. A racist jury acquitted his murderers, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, despite overwhelming evidence, and, to rub salt in the wound, both admitted to killing Till in Look magazine the next year. O.J. getting off brought a twisted, but understandable feeling of justice. The shoe was on the other foot for once and so be it if two white people wound up dead. We'd lost many more. That's harsh, but that's the historical context of black men dating white women that I unfortunately have to consider when doing the same.

Though those events are something of which I'm always cognizant, I didn't adhere to them as any sort of cautionary tale. The story of Till's murder didn't scare me as much as it made me want to piss off racist fucks even more. And I was only six years old when the O.J. verdict was read. Even then, I understood that it was racial, but there was a disconnection from my personal reality. Nothing about my worldview was sexualized yet. Whatever I learned from the trial was tucked away as something that I should know as a black man, but it didn't have a life-altering impact on my own development. I'm not going to murder anyone. For whatever implications the trial had, that shit also had nothing to do with me. The idea was always to live my life however I wanted to live it.

I don't say that as some guilt-ridden rationalization for dating white women. There was no rationalization. I grew up how I grew up. I never consciously set out to date white women. My attraction to them was likely a natural response to my environment. The year after the O.J. verdict, my dad was now getting enough money to move his wife and three children to a nice house in a Chicago suburb. Nobody was trying to assimilate with white people, but sometimes that's just the way things go when you want a better home and better schools for your family. But it does have an unforeseen effect on your outlook when you're one of the few black families in town.

Before I was even 10, I started having crushes on girls, trying to get my first kiss, and all of that. All I saw around me were white girls. I thought this girl was hot because of her freckles and I thought that girl was hot because of her soft hair or whatever and I just wasn't in fifth grade thinking about the racial ramifications of features that I found attractive. Other people think about that, though. I was consuming all of this media and I could just sense from the adults around me that, as a black person, when I was watching TRL, it was expected that I be more attracted to the girls in Destiny's Child than Britney Spears.

By middle school, and especially high school, those expectations were even more apparent. I started to see what it really meant to be in an interracial relationship. Sometimes white girls hid me from their family, especially their father. That was normal. I had one girlfriend in high school who strictly forbade doorbell ringing. I'd let her know when I'd be outside. She was not going to go through the trouble of calling attention to the fact that she was going out with a black guy. I can't say that my own mother has never asked, 'When are you going to bring home a girl who looks like me?' Running around with white girls comes across as a rejection of your blackness to the women in your family, even though that wasn't the case. To me, it was simple. The girls who showed me the most attention at school were white. The world made it complicated and assumed I had an ulterior motive, and it sucks, but I understand why.

There are self-hating black men who date white women for contrived and pathetic reasons and I hate them. They're so upfront about their exclusive attraction to white women and they'll give you a list of reasons why. It is deliberate for them. They smugly go out of their way to put down black women based on stereotypical notions about their attitude, or hair, or something equally stupid and it's corny and disgusting. That's one of the issues with interracial dating. Any time a black man walks around with a white woman he's giving off the impression that white women are his specific preference and that he has a problem with women of his own race, and because that applies to some black men who date white women, it becomes a label that all of us are subjected to. It's nothing to walk past a random black woman on the street and get a death glare and maybe even overhear something like, 'They're taking all of our men.' I was out with my white girlfriend at The Graham in East Williamsburg sometime last year and a black woman came up to me and asked me why was I dating a white girl when she can't even get a man. Shit is crazy out here. I promise.

There are self-hating black men who date white women for contrived and pathetic reasons and I hate them.

I totally get where black women are coming from, too. Truth be told, it's important to me that they also get where I'm coming from and know that I'm not one of these sellouts who views them as undesirable. But because I know I'm not one of those sellouts, I feel no guilt about dating white women. If anything, I just hate that there's such a vast misconception about my intentions from people who don't even know me. I've been with many black women. But I don't feel obligated to be with them. A lot of white women have been extremely accepting of and loving towards me my entire life and that's all there is to it. Though this very article was written in an attempt to bring context to these consistently misunderstood relationships, I don't have to explain who I date to anyone. The reason why I do anything is because I want to.

I never really think about race while dating unless somebody else makes it an issue or I notice that the way a white woman I'm with looks at something is flawed because of her upbringing. But that's not a dealbreaker. I view it as an opportunity to educate and eradicate even a small amount of ignorance. If I explain some racially complex subtlety of life to my white girlfriend, that's one more white person who knows why using 'ghetto' as a pejorative is cringeworthy and offensive. That's one more white person who knows why I'm going to arrogantly list off my academic and professional achievements if some white person asks me if I play basketball. And I do play basketball. But don't assume that that's how the fuck I got by in life because I'm black and tall. And I'm going to go off if you say some dumb shit like that to me. But outside of those situations, I'm not thinking about race like that. I've always just dated women who made sense for me. I've never gone into it thinking, she should be white.

The thing is, I have to consider that while I've hooked up with women of other races, just about all of my girlfriends in life, since I was 13, have been white. What does that even mean? Am I secretly one of those black guys who thinks white women are better and hotter and I'm just not ignorant enough to admit it? I've never gone out of my way to reject black women; I just have way higher success rates with white women. I went to a black high school and I wasn't on any of that thug shit and I'm not saying all black women want thugs, but at my high school, a lot of them did and they didn't really care about me. And that's fine. I wasn't like, 'Oh my God, black women don't want me,' because I'm not entitled to any woman. But there were white girls at school who were fucking with me and that's who I went with.

Still, I can't help but wonder if I've been brainwashed by the Eurocentric beauty standards that dominate the world. I've had varying degrees of romance with women of most races—beyond the black and white binary. Personality is always decisive, but we know that physical attraction is important. I'm very honestly and legitimately attracted to the features of black women, and Latina women, and Asian women, and Indian women, and any other type of woman, but I definitely like the straight, light hair and fair skin and colored eyes you get with a lot of white women.

It's not like I think that type of beauty is superior, but motherfuckers try to make you feel guilty for being attracted to those types of features at all. Let's be real, blonde hair and blue eyes are fucking attractive and thinking that doesn't mean you're a piece of shit who gives those features inherent value over the features of other races. Rihanna is hot and so is Blake Lively. Lupita N'yongo is hot and so is Allison Williams. Sue me for not allowing my race to limit what I find attractive.

Maybe knowing how much a diverse range of attraction upsets people is part of the appeal of interracial dating. No matter how much more commonplace relationships between black men and white women become, the historical context always gives them a rebellious, taboo component that, honestly, kind of adds to the fun and excitement.

Interracial marriages weren't even legal in every state 50 years ago. I've never gone into an interracial relationship outright trying to rebel against anything, but I've always enjoyed making people uncomfortable because ignorant, close-minded fucks need to have new ways of thinking shoved in their faces so they understand that they're wrong and shit is different now.

That's why you hear references to white girls next to signifiers of wealth on recent hits like Chris Brown's 'Loyal' or Wiz Khalifa's 'We Dem Boyz.' To invoke Kanye again, he said 'champagne wishes, 30 white bitches' on the best-reviewed album of this decade. White women are sadly some type of trophy and marker of success, and that's a huge fucking problem. As a black man, it invalidates the authenticity of any relationships I have with white women. It's depressingly superficial and it's dangerous. This ideal is why Elliot Rodger felt he had a right to start shooting—because he couldn't get a white woman to go with his BMW.

That said, I understand where the ideal comes from. Whites are privileged in this society and having what they have serves as validation for a lot of people. Successful minorities love to say, 'You're privileged but I'm so smart and awesome and financially secure that I have the same, if not better, house, car, and woman as you.' That says some unfortunate truths about our society, but when black men date white women, we're put in a position where we have to think about that, whether we choose it or not. Even if you're smart enough to look at the woman you're dating as a human and not a prized object, that mentality is still going to be cast upon you.

White And Black Dating Site Forum In Canada Today

You can be completely forthright and fair about whom you date but society will force you to consider these extra circumstances. I don't walk around like, 'I'M DATING A WHITE WOMAN!' I never have. I fall in love indiscriminately, but third parties will never let it be that simple for me. They'll always question my motives, and despite having no agenda, I have to think about beauty standards and how they influence me, subconsciously or not. Black men who are confused and self-hating muddle this further, and even more so if they have biracial children who turn out to be the same way.

White And Black Dating Site Forum In Canada Now

The same goes for the opposite side of the spectrum. A white woman can blindly fall in love with a black man for who he is, but society will never let her forget that she's DATING A BLACK MAN. That's just how it is. That comes with the territory. If you've been doing it long enough you're used to it and it doesn't faze you because it's all you know. But you still get looks. You still get questions. And all you can do is continue not giving a fuck and hope it won't be that way someday.

That's the reality.

Ernest Baker is a writer living in New York. Follow him on Twitter here.

White And Black Dating Site Forum In Canada Today

[Art by Jim Cooke]