Who it’s for:
Young people looking to at least go on a few dates with the same person instead of beelining for a friends-with-benefits situation was a blind spot for swiping apps — until Hinge blew up. The premise and user base might be in the Tinder and Bumble realm, but these three aren’t interchangeable.
Hinge’s unique profile criteria and algorithm based on that criteria set matches up for real-life potential. Some 90 percent say the first date was great and 72 percent are down for a second date.
Why we picked this:
Instead of cheesy questionnaires and spam emails about the 50 winks you’ve received, Hinge uses prompts as icebreakers to find you connections. According to Hinge’s 2024 LGBTQIA+ D.A.T.E. report, queer daters are craving emotional intimacy and a slower pace — a “slowmance,” as they call it. And if that’s what you want, Hinge delivers.
“For women in their 20s and 30s looking for something a little more serious than Tinder, both Hinge and Bumble are great options,” Reeves adds. “Both apps provide a bunch of prompts that make it easy to start up a conversation and meet new people, without the pressure of diving into a new relationship right away.”
Instead of mindless swiping, matches are made by liking or commenting on someone’s prompt answers. Prompts range from fun icebreakers like “Two truths and a lie” to deeper questions like “Does hiking on a Sunday morning seem viable to you, too?” You get a limited number of likes per day on the free version, which encourages you to be more intentional about who you choose to connect with.
And if you forget to reply to messages, Hinge’s new “Your Turn Limits” feature, which launched globally in September 2024, prevents you from matching with new people if there are eight or more unanswered messages in your inbox. (Obvs, your potential matches have to play by the same rules, too.) This helps keep the conversation going, in theory.
Unlike Tinder and Bumble, which seem to have faulty gaydar, Hinge users report far fewer men popping up in their feeds uninvited. Hinge users also experience more genuine queer people (and less unicorn hunting) on the app compared to the other big players.
Some women say Hinge helped them come into an era of self-discovery as queer individuals. Emma, who’s keeping her last name out of this, told Mashable she downloaded Hinge (with the support of her ex-boyfriend) and set it to women only and realized it was so much easier to create a profile with women instead of men in mind — she said it finally allowed her to stop “trying to be someone [she’s] not.” Now, she’s in a happy relationship with a woman she met on Hinge.
