The best dating sites and apps for women

Match has been around since 1995 and is one of the most trusted of the dating sites — for good reason. Its long history gives it a strong standing in the world of online dating and the site covers a huge area, servicing 24 different countries in 15 different languages.

Match caters to a wide variety of daters, from people looking for casual dating to those seeking long-term relationships. Though they are the oldest of the dating sites, they've kept up with the times and recently added a mobile platform with features like user stories. They like to share success stories of couples who've met on Match.

Read our full review of AdultFriendFinder.

A difference in work ethic and professional schedules can really throw a spanner into even the most head-over-heels relationships. For those unwilling to budge when it comes to their partner's educational values and career goals, EliteSingles attempts to offer more specificity where eharmony and Match leave off. 

Its mature user base pays a steep subscription fee to use the site each month — a clue that EliteSingles is targeted toward more established folks with a disposable income. Rather than being thrown into an endless pool of profiles, EliteSingles attempts to match you through 29 algorithms rooted in the Five Factor Personality Test. The site is on the hunt for singles to complement your attachment style, selfishness, and more stuff that you should try to be honest about. The boring stuff is broken up by chill questions like "Do you like sleeping with the window open?" and "Which of these foods would you like the best?"

Though you can technically filter potential matches by profession (for example, a teacher looking to date another teacher), it’s difficult for any dating site to track down every single person lying about their job or how much money they make. 

Dating giant eharmony is the site to go to when you're really serious about finding a connection. Unlike some of the other websites which cater to both serious and casual daters, eharmony focuses on people seeking long-term relationships. eharmony even makes a guarantee that if you're not satisfied in 3 months, you'll get 3 months free. 

Instead of the user searching for potential matches using their own criteria, eharmony presents their suggestions on the lengthy and comprehensive personality quiz members take when signing up. eharmony caters to people of a variety of age, demographics, and backgrounds, and also has options for local dating. One thing's for sure: people on eharmony aren't looking for a hook-up. Success stories for eharmony are shared on the site.

Love it or hate it — if you're thinking of dating apps, you're thinking of Tinder. They pioneered the now-ubiquitous swiping function, revolutionising the world of online dating and boasting 1.6 billion swipes per day. What started out as strictly a hookup app has turned into one of the biggest matchmakers in the world.

Tinder is also a pioneer of dating app safety. Emergency features like a panic button and anti-catfishing technology were among the first, and more recently, the company announced that users will soon be able to run background checks on matches.

Tinder may not want to advertise as such, but we all know what it's mostly used for. You're quite literally deciding if you want to interact with someone based on nothing but profile pictures and a quote from The Office, so yeah, you can see how getting laid would be the main goal of most users. But hey — we all know those couples who met on Tinder and have been together for years. It's fast, easy, and if there's one app that even the shyest, most skeptical people will be on, it's Tinder. 

In an attempt to correct one of the common complaints of dating apps — that women get spammed with loads of creepy messages — women are required to message first with Bumble. It pushes some women out of their comfort zone, but like Tinder, you'll at least know that someone also swiped right on you before making a move. It also takes the pressure off of dudes who feel like they need to start the conversation every time. (For same-sex matches, either party can break the ice.) 

Matches expire after 24 hours so you can't agonise over that opening line for too long, and your match list won't be filled with people you forgot you matched with 57 weeks ago. This is clearly not the ideal setup for someone who wants to sit back and wait for the algorithm to have five hotties waiting each time the app is opened.

You'll see pictures and short bios of potential matches in your area and can swipe depending on whether you're interested. It's a pretty close mock of Tinder, except for the fact that Bumble relieves the anxiety of accidentally swiping left on a hottie by letting you backtrack.

Dating can be hard when you've got kids to worry about. There’s a lot of sites out there catering to single parents, but Single Parent Match is the oldest of them and has a great reputation. While you can definitely seek out like-minded single parents on other sites, Single Parent Match is specifically designed for just single parents. 

The site is simple to use and to understand and is very committed to the safety of its users. It's free to sign up, but you can purchase a Gold membership, which allows you to send messages. Basic membership users can, however, correspond with users who have Gold Memberships.

Lumen is an app-only dating platform dedicated to the over-50s. The site launched in September 2018, and puts an emphasis on quality conversation, with zero tolerance for ageism.

Lumen aims to provide a safe, welcoming, and age appropriate community for the millions of single, divorced, or widowed men and women aged over 50. The site also claims to verify 100 percent of the photos on every single profile, so you know what you are seeing is legitimate. 

There is a free version of Lumen, on which you can chat with up to six singles everyday. A paid membership costs £24.99 a month, and grants you access to 200,000 registered users in the UK.