What are the best hookup apps? What are the most reliable and serious dating sites? What apps are free and which do you have to pay for? Below, we will answer some frequently asked questions about the most popular hookup apps and dating sites in Europe, Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries.
The best 12 hookup apps an dating sites
The applicability of each hookup app depends on the preferences and characteristics of the users and if they are willing to pay for the service or not. However, our list compiles the best hookup apps and dating pages in Europe, and it also mentions what their intended demographics are.
1. Tinder
Tinder is one of the best hookup apps purely for being the most used: it is the most popular dating application, and it has so many users that it is relatively easy to get a match. The fact that so many people use Tinder reveals that their interests are equally varied. However, in general, the preconceived idea is that Tinder is a strictly hooking up app which requires its users to agree on sex as soon as possible.
In this sense, it is useful to give some information about what your intentions are in the description to prevent misunderstandings. The probability of success increases significantly if, instead of using the free Tinder version, users turn to the paid option and invest in so-called "boosts," which increase their visibility for the people who are located within a 30-mile radius from them.
2. Badoo
Badoo is one of the oldest and most used dating sites that exist (especially among very young people, even teenagers, and for casual flirting), but it has lost much of its popularity in recent years due to the rise of Tinder and other more modern and easy to use apps. Like Tinder, Badoo works better for paid users since premium members have access to exclusive services - including the ability to send messages without having to "match" previously.
3. OkCupid
OkCupid is one of the most used apps for flirting around the world, and in fact, not speaking English can be a handicap for users from Spain, Mexico and other places since it is not translated.
Users who register with OkCupid have to answer a variety of questions and complete a compatibility test. Based on the results, compatibility percentages are generated with other users so that when you are looking for a date, you see your "best matches" first. This is possible on Tinder as well, but can also be achieved by applying multiple filters.
OkCupid users stand out when compared to other hookup apps aficionados because many of them identify as not explicitly monogamous. This feature was implemented to show others what type of connection people are looking for in a particular way - for example, if we have a primary partner currently or if we are simply looking for new friends.
4. Happn
The defining characteristic of Happn is that this hookup app focuses on matches with people that we cross paths during the day since it uses the GPS coordinates of mobile phones. For this reason, it does not work as a dating page but only as an app. Paying is not especially important in Happn.
You can use this app for free without problems because, in short, we will run into the same people whether we pay for it or not. In the case of Happn, the factors that determine the number of matches are mainly physical attractiveness, the photos that are chosen, and the description offered.
5. Adoptauntio
Adoptauntio is a hookup app and a dating website in which women control communication more than men; for example, only ladies can send messages directly or report other users. Men who use this free app can send 5 "spells" per day, but if you pay, the number increases considerably.
People who use Adoptauntio look for very different relationships, and expressing it is relatively easy due to the emphasis of this feature on the page. To clarify, Adoptauntio does not fit so much the profile of "exclusive hookups" apps such as Tinder, but instead, it would be closer to OkCupid's approach.
6. Meetic
Meeticis the oldest and the most used dating sites and is considered one of the best hookup apps and also one of the most efficient dating site. Most, if not all, of Meetic's users, wish to find a stable partner.
The main disadvantage of Meetic is that this dating page is intended almost exclusively for paid users, meaning that the options are minimal if you use the application or the free website. As an example of this, it is impossible to answer received messages or even fully read them.
7. POF (Plenty of Fish)
"POF" is short for "Plenty of Fish," and it is one of the most effective free hooking up apps and it's incredibly popular in English-speaking countries. In terms of drawbacks, it's important to mention that POF stands out as the hooking app with the most ads, and with the most incidence of fake users that try to catfish other unsuspecting users.
8. Bumble
Bumble is a hookup app very similar to Tinder in the sense that the matches are mainly focused on the photographs. This also makes it more like Badoo or Happn than Meetic or Adoptauntio, for example.
The main peculiarity of Bumble is that, in the case of matches between women and men, women must initiate the conversation while men have to wait patiently until this happens. If the woman does not message her match within 24 hours, it will disappear.
9. Grindr
Grindr is a hookup app directed at men who seek liaisons with other men. Although, of course, each user will be interested in a different type of interaction, Grindr is reputed for focusing specifically on casual meetings and not so much on the search for long-term relationships.
10. Wapa
Wapa is the best-valued hookup applications for lesbian and bisexual women in Spain or Mexico; the award-winning Her is also popular in this sense, but in reality, apps like Tinder or Bumble are still the most used among non-heterosexual people. Wapa works only as an app and not as a dating page.
11. Ashley Madison
Ashley Madison is the hallmark among dating sites for married people: the marketing strategy practiced at Ashley Madison is based on promoting a serious and discreet app designed for married people who are interested in having an affair.
Ironically, Ashley Madison achieved worldwide fame when, in 2015, a group of hackers stole data from almost 40 million users and threatened to make them public. The scandal culminated with the resignation of the founder of this dating page.
12. Liruch
Liruch is one of the most popular hookup apps today. With an excellent rating on PlayStore, Liruch sets its focus on the search for serious relationships, as well as new friendships, and not so much on casual sex as is the case with Tinder or other dating sites and hookup apps.
- This article about "The Best Hookup Apps" was originally published in Spanish in Viviendo La Salud