Last Updated on January 13, 2023
Dating sites are among the most popular ways to meet people. They give you the opportunity to talk to new faces and find a connection with someone who complements your personality.
If you are from the United Kingdom and are thinking about embarking on a dating adventure, or if you may have had a bad experience with other websites, this article is for you.
We shall take a look at some of the best dating sites in the UK. Each website has been vetted and most will have a USP, so evaluate them carefully before deciding which one to try next!
Without further ado, let’s dive into the top 5 most popular dating sites for singles living in the UK:
Table of Contents
Which is the best dating site in the UK?
- Best dating site overall: eHarmony
- Best dating app: OkCupid
- Best dating site for serious relationships: Match.com
- Best app for hooking up: Tinder
- Best dating site for over 50s: Ourtime
Top 5 Most Popular Dating Sites In UK
1. eHarmony
Cost: Free membership, though this is limited, and you have to pay for more premium plans.
Pros: According to the site’s ‘Married Couples by the Numbers’ facts report, 71% of women and 69% of men meet their spouse on eHarmony within a year of joining the site. Setting up a profile is simple, and the algorithm filters matches by personality, habits and interests.
Cons: You need to subscribe if you want to send customised messages and receive unlimited access to your match’s profile. Subscription costs start at £7.95 per month for 24 months.
2. Match
Cost: £29.99 for a month with prices decreasing to £9.99 per month for 6 months.
Pros: Match.com is one of the biggest dating sites in the UK, boasting over 3 million UK users. And according to their site 1.6 million people have, umm, met their match. While some dating sites can be a minefield of ads, notifications and messy layouts, Match’s interface is very user-friendly. A bit like Tinder, Match will show you one profile at a time, and you can decide whether to match or skip them. But unlike Tinder, you’ll be given more information on the potential match as a person, so you’re not just judging their hotness.
Cons: The demographic on Match does tend to be a little older, so if you’re dating in your twenties, it might not be the dating website for you.
3. Our Time
Cost: Membership is free.
Pros: Our Time is a dating website owned by the Match group, with free membership and over 150,000 active users. It’s a fairly new addition to the dating site scene, but it’s perfect for anyone who is tired of swiping left and right and just wants to meet someone in person for a walk in the park or a takeaway coffee. Your profile will appear on other dating sites owned by the Match group when you sign up, but that can only be a good thing, since it widens your pool of potential partners. They also host regular singles events which you can actually take up to three friends along to for moral support. No need to panic.
Cons: It’s aimed at over-40s, so consider what you’re looking for before you sign up.
4. Okcupid
Cost: Free membership.
Pros: There are more than four million users worldwide, and with OKCupid, you can choose everything from the type of relationship you’re looking for (marriage/hook-up/short-term fling) to the gender you’d like to date (from 22 different genders, FYI) and the sexual orientation of the person you’d like to date (from 13 orientations). It’s very inclusive. You then get to answer a tonne of questions about lifestyle, religion, politics and more, leaving you with matches who finally might fit into your very specific criteria. Hoorah!
Cons: You have to pay to upgrade to the Premium membership for extra features.
5. Tinder
Cost: Free, with Tinder Plus options from just 79p.
Pros: It’s no secret that Tinder is one of the most widely used, most saturated apps and if you’re looking for a whole host of options, Tinder’s the place for you. It even has a catfishing-proof feature called Loops where you can see GIFs of potential matches.
Cons: Tinder seems geared towards casual dating, so if that’s not your bag, you might look towards a dating site or app like Hinge. What’s more, profiles aren’t quite as detailed as they are on other apps – it’s just your name, job, education, location and links to your Spotify and Instagram accounts which can be included.