What Are the Best Dating Apps Like OkCupid?

The closest are eHarmony, Plenty of Fish, Hinge and Bumble, and none of them is a copy. Each one takes a different half of what OkCupid does. eHarmony copies the questions, Plenty of Fish copies the free search, and Hinge and Bumble copy the written answers. Pick by the half you actually miss, then test two apps for two weeks before you commit to either.

OkCupid does three things at once. You answer match questions and see a Match percentage for each woman. You can send an intro before you match. And the free account lets you like, send intros and chat without paying.

A man who asks for dating sites like OkCupid is usually missing one of those. Some want the quiz-style matching. Some want to open a chat without waiting for a match. Some just want an app where her page tells them something before they send a message. Name yours first, and the list gets short.

eHarmony is the closest on matching. New members answer a Compatibility Quiz, the answers build a Personality Profile, and every member on your list carries a Compatibility Score. A Basic membership is free to start.

It is also the most serious of the group. It describes itself as a site for people who know they want a meaningful relationship, so it suits a man who wants the same and will answer a long quiz honestly. It feels the least like a swipe app of anything here.

Plenty of Fish gives you a different kind of control. Search works at every membership level, free included, and filters by distance, age and other details. Meet Me adds a like-and-pass side, and a mutual match gives you unlimited messaging.

The rule that catches men out is that a first message to a woman you have not matched with is her choice to answer or like back. If she does neither, you cannot keep writing, so your first line has to be good. Most men skip search and go straight to Meet Me, which wastes the best part of the free account.

Hinge shows a woman's prompt answers and personal details, and every match starts with a like or a rose on one specific photo or prompt. You can add a comment, which means you open with something to say instead of a reflex.

Bumble has a short bio, prompts you can answer in text or pair with a picture, and interest badges. A mutual right swipe is a match, and then each of you gets one opening message to send before a time limit runs out.

Both copy OkCupid's habit of making a woman's page worth reading, which is the reason men ask for these apps.

Coffee Meets Bagel sends a batch of suggested people around noon each day, chosen from your preferences and past likes and passes. The League hands you a curated batch each day, and you can message every match in the free version. The League is gated, so you apply and wait.

Both mean fewer decisions each day, and each decision gets more attention. That is what many OkCupid users are really after.

a dating coach's advice is to run more than one app and let your results decide, because each app has its own algorithm and its own crowd. A man can do badly on one and well on another. He also says your results depend on whether the women on an app are really looking to date, and that is a local fact.

Pick two apps from the list. Use the same photos and the same short written answers on both for two weeks. Write down how many women you liked, how many liked you back, how many replied to your first message and how many dates you set. Keep the app that gives you conversations, and drop the other.

Do not join everything at once. Three apps with half-finished pages do worse than two apps done well, and you will not have time to answer everyone.