8 Best Dating Sites For Seniors In 2023, According To Experts

When it comes to finding real love, eharmony means business, and therefore it is very well suited to older daters. This is not a place where you'll find time-wasters or people looking for casual flings. Every member has to fill out extensive questionnaires about themselves and what they're looking for, and then eharmony does the work of vetting who you're most compatible with. Make sure you spend a considerable amount of time answering the questions thoroughly and truthfully, as they will determine your most compatible matches.

eharmony comes recommended by certified sex therapist Heather Shannon, LCPC, CST, who notes that many of her clients have had success with it. The site also professes to have enabled two million people and counting to have found love. Impressive stats!

There are also a lot of safety features built into the site, such as the option to require a video chat before further communication can ensue and a responsive team who deletes any profiles that raise suspicion.

eharmony is costly, ranging anywhere from $12/month to $60/month depending on your location and the plan you choose (six months, a year, or two years). While one of the more expensive options on this list, this price ensures that everyone on the site is dedicated to looking for love. Check out our full eharmony review to get even more intel about the dating site.

Price: Free basic profile; Premium membership starts at $12 per month with a 2-year subscription and increase up to $60/month with a 6-month subscription.

RELATED: 8 Real Stories From People Who Found Love Online After 40

Silver Singles, like OurTime, is targeted at daters aged 50 and up. However, it's a cheaper option than OurTime. You pay a lump sum of $25 per month for 12 months, $35 per month for six months, or $45 per month for three months. All the features that you need to connect properly with someone need to be paid for, but you can sign up for free at first to have a look around and decide if you want to continue to a subscription.

Silver Singles suits someone who feels most comfortable using a senior-targeted dating site and was mentioned by several of the experts that mbg reached out to as one of the most well-known sites for older daters. One review notes that it allows you to "like" specific parts of another user's profile, which is a helpful gateway to making conversation, especially for older daters who might not be used to online dating.

Price: $300 for 12 months; $210 for six months; $135 for three months

OurTime is a dating site that specifically caters to people over age 50, and it comes highly recommended by Shannon from both personal and professional experience. "I have had friends, family, and clients use it with success. My uncle met his long-term partner on OurTime, and a former client also met his partner on OurTime," she says.

A fun perk of OurTime is that they arrange events and mixers, such as cookery classes for singles in bigger cities, so you can go and meet a few people at once to see if the spark is there. The platform is also easy to use and guides you through the setup process.

You will need to pay for a subscription in order to message other users, so it's not really viable to stick to the free version. If you sign up for six months, it's only $12/month, which works out as one of the cheapest options out there—so it's actually well suited to anyone on a budget.

Price: Free basic profile; $30/ month with no contract; $12/month with 6-month membership

Match.com's fastest growing demographic is the 50+ age group, per a 2018 brand report—and it's not hard to see why. Sexologist and love coach Suzannah Weiss says that it's "one of the more established dating sites out there" and "is generally regarded as a place for people to find love rather than hook-ups."

Match.com is suited to those who are looking for long-term love because its focus is much more weighted to the answers you fill out on your profile rather than the instant swipe culture of apps like Tinder (although you can feature up to 26 photos in your profile). Of course, our tester found setting up these robust profiles could be a lengthy process, so you'll want to set aside ample time for it.

However, the process pays off. Match not only uses your profile to offer personalized recommendations, but it also offers you a few different ways to search through potential mates. Reverse matching only shows people who looking for your likes or interests, while mutual matching only shows potential companions who fit your criteria.

The only downside? The free membership on Match is extremely limited, so you'll likely need to pay to make the most of it. Luckily, you can try a free weeklong trial to decide whether or not you want to commit longterm. Subscriptions plans are available at various price points, ranging from about $16/month to $46/month. Otherwise, you can pay for one-off features, like "Read receipts" to see who viewed your messages or to access the 'Who Viewed Me' section of the app.

Depending on your location, the amount of active users may vary (although the demographic skews towards those over 50). Some users also complain of non-responsive matches, although our tester found about 50% of her matches to be responsive. Check out our full Match.com review to get even more information.

Price: Free basic membership; Standard plan costs $19 with 12-month subscription or $46 when paid monthly

Bumble is a little bit unique among dating apps because it requires women to send the first message when they match with men. If you do not send a message within 24 hours, the match disappears! If two women match, then either can message first, but if neither do so within 24 hours, the match also disappears.

This feature is great for women who want to avoid men sending disrespectful opening messages, and it is an especially great change of pace for older women who may have grown up with the idea that men are expected to initiate everything in the sphere of sex and romance. Sex therapist Bat Sheva Marcus, Ph.D., says that her straight older women clients are most comfortable on Bumble thanks to the control it affords them over the process. Bonus: It's also free for all users, although a few features are hidden behind a paywall. (But not enough to impact your experience!)

Bumble also has an integrated video-chat feature, so you can get to know someone virtually first before meeting up in real life. This is a safety feature on two levels: Firstly, it allows you to vet someone's vibe and assess that they are the person in their photos, and secondly, it is also great for a COVID-safe date, which may be of greater concern to older daters who can fall under at-risk groups. Bumble offers paid features, but it also works just fine without subscribing.

Price: Free basic membership; Premium membership $24.99 with no contract; Boost starts at $11.99 per week

OkCupid is one of the most fun dating sites in my opinion. The basic conceit is that you answer a lot of questions about your interests and values, and then the all-knowing algorithm shows you how compatible you are with other users. You can also rate how important each question is to you so that you don't accidentally miss the love of your life due to a trivial disagreement about pineapple on pizza (for example).

OkCupid has been going for a long time and boasts a large number of users. It is also known for being queer and poly-friendly, which is great for those 50+ singles who might just be coming out or getting back into the scene.

The basic version is free and works just fine for browsing and messaging. If you'd like to unlock extra super-likes (a way of communicating interest to others), see who likes you, and other premium features, you can subscribe for $35 on a month-to-month basis or $17/month if you sign up for six months. The app also boasts a 4.1 rating on the Apple App Store, which is pretty damn good! One reviewer praises it for its "user-friendly" design and the fact that it's "easy to use and navigate through," which makes it a good fit for older daters who didn't grow up online.

Price: Free basic membership; $17/month with a 6-month subscription; $35/monthly sans contract

Tinder is actually a very viable option for daters over 50, according to Weiss. While the dating app is not specifically geared toward seniors, it's unbeatable when it comes to sheer numbers. Everyone and their hot mom is on Tinder, as the app boasts over 50 million users.

With Tinder, you simply upload a couple of photos, write a sentence or two about yourself, and start swiping through others' profiles until you see someone you like. If you both express an interest in each other, you can match and start chatting. It's simple, it's effective, and it's free. You can pay for an upgraded version to unlock extra features, but it's not necessary by any means. The upgraded versions cost between $10 and $40 on a month-by-month basis, or less if you commit to a longer time frame.

Tinder suits someone who just wants to explore what's out there without necessarily committing to anything or anyone. However, I personally know several long-term couples who met on Tinder, and even a couple who have gotten married after meeting on the app. As Weiss puts it, Tinder is what you make of it. 

Price: Free basic membership; Tinder Plus costs $9.99/month with no contract, Tinder Gold costs $24.99/month with no contract; Tinder Premium costs $29.99/month with no contract.

Hinge wins the distinction of being the best app for people of color over 50 because of its ability to filter by race for free. Some other sites offer this option, but it's usually behind a paywall. However, Hinge offers this for all members and even includes a little prompt that explains why it might be important for people of color to not want to date white people. The race options listed include options such as Black/African descent, East Asian, Pacific Islander, and white. You can select as many or as few of them as you like, and then you'll only be shown matches that fall under those categories.

Another good thing about Hinge for older daters is that its tagline is that it's "Made to be deleted." That is, most people on Hinge are there looking for something serious and are less likely to only want sex.

A fun feature with Hinge is that you can record and listen to voice notes from other users, and this might appeal to old souls who appreciate a human touch. Aditi Paul, Ph.D., a researcher who specializes in how our relationships are affected by online dating, notes that Hinge is led by a mainly female team who have spent a lot of time listening to their user base about features they'd like to see. 

Price: Free basic membership, $34.99/month with no contract

*Read our full Hinge review here

Most modern dating apps will allow you to set preferences for religion, though it may be a paid feature. Typically, religion is displayed directly on your profile, which allows you to sort through potential matches based on shared religious values; some apps also allow you to specifically search for matches based on religious. That being said, if a shared religion is essential to a future partnership, turning to a religion-based app will be your best bet.

Best for Christianity: Christianmingle is a faith-based app connecting Christians based on education, interests, and spirituality—all parts of finding a longterm, serious match. You can also sort through matches based on age and location, which makes it easier to find someone similar in age (if you prefer).

Best for Judaism: While J-Swipe is the leading pick for millennials, JDate attracts a slightly older crowd with a majority of users aged 55+. Designed for more serious daters, it collects tons of information about potential users. Just keep in mind that not all users are Jewish.