It's Valentine's Day, and love is in the air... and online, on these senior-friendly dating sites.
Are you one of the 17% of Americans over age 50 who have tried online dating? Or are you thinking of dipping your toes in the online dating pool? Dating apps are far from the only way to meet other older singles, but they do make dating easy. An app gives you convenience, a much larger circle of people to date, and the option to get to know someone before meeting them in person.
If you’ve been considering taking the plunge but aren’t sure where to start, read on for insight into how seniors are using online dating platforms. According to a survey by the National Council on Aging (NCOA), all these sites are LGBTQ+-friendly, and they each have a free version—although they’ll quickly encourage you to bump up to a paid subscription to access more matches and features.
Tips for Dating Over 50
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Match
If you’ve only heard of one dating site, it’s probably Match.com. This pioneer dating app is turning 30 this year, and it’s as popular as ever, with 96 million users. About 75% of people on the site are over age 30, and the 27% who are over age 50 represent the site’s fastest-growing demographic.
A unique offering from Match are its in-person events. Those who live in rural areas may have to travel, but people in metro areas can choose from several Match events each month, including speed dating, wine tastings, and comedy nights. With these mixers, Match is appealing to folks who want to try online dating but aren’t sold on the whole idea of online dating. You can use the platform as a boost to meet your match in person.
A basic profile is free, and paid options run from $4 to $43 a month, making Match the most affordable paid subscription on this list.
eHarmony
In our research, Match and eHarmony emerged as the two top overall dating sites for seniors. Of the 500 older online daters surveyed in July 2024 by the NCOA, more people said that they met someone through eHarmony as compared to any other site. eHarmony is the second most popular app among people over 50, after Match (and Tinder comes in a fairly distant third).