Is There Such a Thing as Free Online Dating in 2025?
I can’t think of a time when people have been more focused on saving money and getting the most bang for their buck. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen prices skyrocketing everywhere. When we’ve reached the point where buying a dozen eggs is “an investment,” and people are looking to save wherever they can. That includes online dating.
From the start, online dating has always had a paid side and a free side. Sites like Match and eHarmony may have offered free features, but you always had to pay if you wanted to send or receive messages. POF was the first totally free dating site, and OKCupid was quick to follow with a dating site that was mostly free. However, it wasn’t until the explosion of apps like Tinder and Bumble that we saw the rise of the freemium model in the dating industry. These were apps where you could go from download to swiping in less than two minutes and with zero fee. But, like a scary clown in the gutter, the fees are always there, lurking, waiting to take their bite out of you.
So the question is, is there such a thing as free online dating in 2025? If there is, are the apps worth using, or is it a “you get what you pay for” situation? Lastly, what parts of online dating are worth investing in? After all, you work hard for every dollar you’ve earned, and you should only be spending it on things that give you the best return for your dollar.
Are there any free online dating apps in 2025?
The short answer is yes, but the real answer is a little more complicated. You can join almost any dating app for free, and several allow you to message people for free. However, even the apps claiming to have a free experience limit your abilities unless you upgrade to a paid membership or subject yourself to the death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts known as microtransactions.
The biggest free online dating apps are:
You could stop reading this article right now, download any of these apps, and have a relatively free experience. However, there are limitations between their free and paid versions. Let’s check them all out.
TINDER: Free Features, Paid Perks, and Profile Help
What you get for free:
- Matching – You can swipe and match with whomever you like
- Chat – You can chat with any of your matches
Additional features for paid subscribers:
Cost: $6.75 – $15.99 per week depending on level and duration
- Unlimited daily likes
- See who already liked your profile
- Priority likes (your likes are shown more quickly)
- Unlimited rewinds (undo left swipes)
- Passport mode (browse people outside your area)
- Advanced filters
- No ads
Features available via microtransactions:
- Boosts – $5.30 to $13.99 each (varies by time/quantity)
- Super Likes – $1.35 to $3.00 each (based on quantity)
- Incognito Mode – $3.75 to $8.99/week (depending on plan)
Need help creating a Tinder profile that gets real matches?
BUMBLE: What You Get For Free vs Paid (and How to Stand Out)
What you get for free:
- Matching – You can swipe and match with whomever you like
- Chat – You can chat with any of your matches
- 1 match extension per day (This is specific to the way matches on Bumble can time out if the person doesn’t respond within 24 hours)
Additional features for paid subscribers:
Cost: $5.44 – $24.99 per week depending on level and duration
- Access to unlimited Advanced filters
- Access to your Liked You so you can see your admirers
Access to Profile Insights - Travel mode
- Backtrack
- Ability to extend time on your current matches
Rematch with users who have expired - Unlimited swipes
- Two Spotlights per week (expires at the end of each week)
- Ten SuperSwipes per week (expires at the end of each week)
- Two Compliments per week (expires at the end of each week)
- Incognito Mode
Features you can purchase for an additional fee:
- Compliments: $3 to $6 per message, depending on how many you order
Need help crafting a Bumble profile that balances fun and depth?
OKCUPID: Free Messaging, Compatibility Filters & Boosts
What you get for free:
- Daily suggested matches
- Limited likes per day
- You can send one intro message at a time
- 1 super like per week
- You can’t see likes
- The free version of OKC includes ads
Additional features for paid subscribers:
Cost: $14.99 to $54.99 per month depending on level and duration
- Send unlimited likes
- Dealbreaker filters
- Unlimited Rewinds
- Unlock your intros – view all the intros you’ve received at once
- No Ads
- See who likes you (premium only)
- 3 free SuperLikes every week (premium only)
- See all question answers (premium only)
- See responses to questions you haven’t answered yet (expires at the end of each week)
Features you can purchase for an additional fee:
- 30-minute Boost: $4.99 to $6.99 depending on how many you order
- Superboost: $29.99 to $49.99 depending on how many hours you’d like to boost
Need help writing an OKCupid profile that sounds like you (on your best day)?
COFFEE MEETS BAGEL: Limited Daily Matches, Beans, and Smart Upgrades
What you get for free:
- 3 suggested matches per day
- The ability to chat with any match
- A limited number of “beans” that allow you to unlock extra matches
Additional features for paid subscribers:
Cost: $20.00 to $34.99 per month depending on duration
- 6 suggested matches per day
- Unlimited chat privileges
- The ability to see who has liked you
- Unlimited rewinds
- 3 Profile Boosts per month
- 8 Discover likes per month
- 15% Discount on bean purchases
Features you can purchase for an additional fee:
- Extra beans: $1.99 for 100, $23.99 for 2,000, or $24.99 for 3,000
Want to make the most of your three daily matches on Coffee Meets Bagel?
POF (Plenty of Fish): What's Free, What's Worth Paying For
What you get for free:
- Use of the search filters
- Limited likes
- Send 1 first message per day
- Chat with matches
Additional features for paid subscribers:
Cost: $10.00 to $26.66 per month depending on plan and duration
- Unlimited First Contacts
Say hi to anyone before matching - Send Priority Messages
- Your messages are always shown at the top
- Send Priority Likes
- Your likes are always shown first
- See who likes you
- Everyone who’s interested in you, in one easy-to-look-at view
- Unlimited likes
- Rewind your last swipe
- Swiped no by mistake? Get a second look at the last person you swiped on
- First look at new members
- See extended profiles
- Read receipts
- Add 16 photos to your profile
- Ad-free experience
Features you can purchase for an additional fee:
- No microtransactions
Want a POF profile that stands out (and skips the cringe)?
HINGE: Relationship-Focused Features, Filters, and Roses
What you get for free:
- Basic preference filters
- 8 likes Per Day
- 1 “Most Compatible” match per day
- Unlimited Messaging
- 1 Rose/Super Like per week
Additional features for paid subscribers:
Cost: $99.99 – $149.99 for 6 months, depending on plan
- Send unlimited likes
- Unlock all preference filters
See everyone who has already liked your profile - Filter Discover and Likes You by compatibility, proximity, and more
- Continuous profile boosting
- Enhanced recommendations
- Priority Likes
Features you can purchase for an additional fee:
- Roses/ Super Likes: $1.49 to $3.33 depending on how many you buy at once
- One-hour profile boost: $7.99 to $9.99 depending on how many you buy at once
- 24-hour Super Boost:$19.99 each
Can you successfully use free online dating apps?
The only two apps I would consider trying to use without paying are Hinge and Coffee Meets Bagel. Aside from the fact that they don’t have the toxic mutual-swipe mechanic of Tinder or Bumble, or that they tend to have more relationship-minded singles than POF or OKCupid, they are just designed better for people who want a serious relationship but aren’t ready to pay for a dating app.
With that said, even though you can use them for free, having access to additional preference filters on Hinge, or being able to double the number of your potential matches on CMB may be worth the investment for you.
Which Free Dating Apps Actually Work Without Paying?
The only two apps I would consider trying to use without paying are Hinge and Coffee Meets Bagel. Aside from the fact that they don’t have the toxic mutual-swipe mechanic of Tinder or Bumble, or that they tend to have more relationship-minded singles than POF or OKCupid, they are just designed better for people who want a serious relationship but aren’t ready to pay for a dating app. With that said, even though you can use them for free, having access to additional preference filters on Hinge, or being able to double the number of your potential matches on CMB may be worth the investment for you.
What you have to understand is that your dating success is one of the lowest priorities for any dating app. They care about two things above all else: USER ENGAGEMENT & MONETIZATION. Without those two things, there are no dating apps. Without user engagement, there will be no one on the apps, and without monetization, they would go broke.
Where to spend your money in online dating
Before we get into the best places to spend your money on dating apps, let’s talk about the absolute worst. I’m talking about microtransactions. These are small purchases that give you bonus features like boosting your profile to the top of search results, virtual roses you can give out to show you like someone, or even the ability to skip the mutual matching process and send a message to someone for somewhere between $3- $6, depending on whether you are willing to spend up to $100 for a pack of thirty.
They call them microtransactions because they are small enough that most people will buy them on impulse. After all, they are such an insignificant purchase. Just remember. $3 might not sound like a lot of money, but you have to buy 33 compliments to get that price. It’s amazing how quickly the cost of a couple of donuts just shot up to the cost of a steak dinner.
What about Photographers?
As much as I love to talk about the written portion of your dating profile, your profile pics are the first thing people see. If they don’t make a great first impression, no one is going to take the time to read what you’ve written. Does this mean you need to hire a professional? Only as a last resort. Professional dating photographers can be a great resource, but they shouldn’t be your first option, and you have to know how to talk to them so you end up with the best photos.
Before you drop anywhere from $150- $600 on a photographer, ask a friend, relative, or anyone you can relax around. Your comfort level is going to come through in your photos. If you look stiff or overly posed, your photos are going to look fake, and they’ll make you look like you’ve got a stick up your butt. But, if you have a good friend that you can relax around, and a decent phone, you can almost always get the shots you need with a little guidance.
If that isn’t an option, there is nothing wrong with using a photographer. Just remember that most photographers are trained in taking portraits, not profile pics. This often results in photos that are awkwardly posed, lacking warmth, and overly polished. Before hiring a photographer, make sure they know what you want. Ask them if they’d be willing to use their phone instead of their fancy camera. Tell them that the two most important words guiding your shoot are “accuracy and warmth”. Finally, if they have you pose in positions you’d never find yourself in real life or ask you to do things like not smile or look away from the camera, stand up for yourself. There is no warmth in a photo without a smile, and looking away during a posed photo makes you look emotionally disconnected.
Does this mean I have to pay for a dating app to have a chance at meeting someone?
No, but also kind of yes. You can absolutely meet someone on any of the free apps we’ve talked about, but those apps are designed to give you a better experience when you pay. It really comes down to whether you are willing to put up with more of a grind or you are willing to pay for a little more convenience. Honestly, especially if you are over 35, I’d recommend using a split approach. Use an app like Match for their paid membership and then pair it with something like Hnge or CMB’s free options to start. This will give you a good mix of daters with higher levels of relationship intent without adding too much work or cost to your experience.What about professional dating profile writing services?
Admittedly, I’m a little biased regarding the value of dating profile writing services. May of this year will mark the 20th anniversary of when I started ProfileHelper. However, that is also why I think I can speak to the value of services like mine.
No one calls me because they are happy with how online dating is going for them. They are either brand new to online dating and want to make sure they get off on the right foot, or they have been trying (and failing) for months, or even years, before reaching out for help.
For people new to online dating, profile writing services are all about investing in yourself. Having someone who can do everything from help you choose the best app for your needs, to help you create a profile that gets you out of your own way and makes it easier to connect with compatible matches, and even having someone who can show you the ins-and-outs of how to use dating apps effectively so you don’t get stuck in the grinder. It is a great way to save you time, stress, and money in the long run.
For those who have been struggling to succeed at online dating for an extended period, services like ProfileHelper are often a last-ditch effort to turn things around or at least stop making the same mistakes over and over again. Many of these people have already spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on dating apps, and thousands more if you count the time they have lost while failing on apps or the stress it has caused them. They’ve realized that sometimes it isn’t easier or cheaper to go it alone in the long run, and having an expert in the corner can make all the difference.
In the end, nothing is free. If you aren’t paying in cash, you are paying in time and stress. There are several dating apps where you can meet people for free, the best of which are Hinge and CMB, but they may or may not suit your personal dating goals, age range, or the population density you need. Before you sign up for any dating app, or even for help with getting your dating profile written, there is one thing you can do for free. Call me at 888-447-7634 and tell me about what’s going on. Let’s discuss your dating goals and what’s been happening, and I’m happy to give you some guidance.