Should You Use OkCupid or Tinder?

Use Tinder if your strength is a set of strong, varied photos and you do not enjoy writing about yourself. Use OkCupid if you will answer its match questions honestly and can say something specific about your life in a few sentences. Tinder gives you more speed and OkCupid gives you more to read, so the better one is the one that matches how you work. If you are unsure, put the same photos on both for two weeks and count what comes back. People in the "OkCupid or Tinder" posts on Reddit disagree for the same reason, since each app depends on who is active near them.

Tinder describes its core mechanic as swiping right to like someone. If she likes you back, it is a match. Tinder says only people who have shown mutual interest can chat, so a conversation opens after a mutual like. Tinder's own FAQ lists messaging before a match as a Platinum feature.

Its recommendations draw on your location, age and distance, your gender preferences, the interests you add and your likes and nopes. Tinder also says being active is the most important thing a user controls, because it prioritizes people who are on the app at the same time.

OkCupid matches people on their stated preferences and on their answers to a long list of match questions. Each woman shows a Match percentage, built from how your answers and your wants line up with hers.

In Discover you see one woman at a time and drag her card right to like her or left to pass. A mutual like is announced to both of you for free, and then you can chat. You can also send an intro, a first message that lands in her Intros tab before you match.

This is the real difference. a dating coach says Tinder is more about the photos than longer-form apps, and that on Tinder the written part should be shorter than on other apps. He says a boring, average page there gets the average result. On a longer-form app like OkCupid, he says your page matters more.

So Tinder rewards a man whose photos are strong and varied, and who does not mind that most of the decision happens in a second. OkCupid rewards a man who writes well enough to give a woman something to reply to, since she can compare her answers with yours before she decides.

a dating coach says Tinder has a hookup reputation. He adds that relationships do start on Tinder and hookups start elsewhere, so treat a reputation as a tendency. OkCupid does not describe itself as a site for people who want a lasting relationship, and its crowd is mixed. The questions give you tools to tell the women apart, but the sorting is on you.

Geography matters more than either reputation. a dating coach's view is that in major US cities Tinder has a lot of fake profiles. In much of Europe, almost everyone is still on Tinder, so the best app is the one where the women actually are.

On Tinder, the work is in the photos and in staying active. Open it often enough that the app keeps showing you to people who are also on, and be picky with your likes. a dating coach's warning on every app is that liking nearly everyone teaches the app to treat you as less attractive.

On OkCupid, the work is in the answers. If you answer the way you think women want, the percentage pairs you with women who suit a man you are not. A few true answers, even strong ones, push the wrong women down and pull the right ones up. Then write a few lines about an ordinary week, with one detail only you would know.

On both, a vague line fails. "Love to travel" belongs to every man on both apps.

Tinder suits the man with a good lead photo, a few photos of what he really does, and the habit of replying quickly. It does not suit a man who matches with women and then waits three days to write.

OkCupid suits a man who is a little unusual, because on a photo-first app an odd hobby is a risk and here it is a reason to be liked. It also suits a man who would rather have fewer, better conversations. It does not suit a man who plans to tap through a hundred cards before dinner.

A man who is weak at both photos and writing will struggle on either app. That is a photo and writing problem, not an app problem.

a dating coach says a paid tier multiplies what you already have. If the free version gives you likes back and a few conversations, a paid tier gives you more. If it gives you nothing, it multiplies nothing.

Tinder's optional tiers are Plus, Gold and Platinum. OkCupid's free account sets preferences, answers match questions, likes and chats, and it sells paid extras on top. Features and limits change, so read the screen on the day you decide.

He also says refusing to spend anything can hold a man back. So run the free versions first, count, and pay for a short stretch only if you can name what the money should change.

Use the same photos on both apps, and on OkCupid answer the questions honestly. For two weeks, keep a short tally on each: women you liked, likes back, chats that started, plans made and dates taken.

If Tinder gives you volume and few real chats, your first photo may be doing the work and your messages may not be. If OkCupid gives you fewer chats that turn into plans more often, that is a real result. a dating coach gets from a first message to a plan in about four to seven short messages, each with a purpose.

Keep the app that gave you dates with women you were glad to meet. If both did, run both. If neither did, fix your first photo before you change apps.