The best dating sites to help you find a connection

Before there were apps on which one could swipe right and left on a dizzying number of potential connections, there was Match. Yes, Match is the mother of all dating sites. Launched back in 1995, its decades in the business help it bring a ton of insight to the table for singles looking for all kinds of connections. And with its more recent push into mobile come a few new features that have helped make the site more relevant, including its very own version of Stories, popularised by Snapchat and, uh, adopted by everyone else. Match users can shoot short videos of their day or add voiceovers to photos and post them to their profiles for other users to check out. "Match is the family brand," Spira says. "It's the one someone could see their grandmother on, and someone could see their grandson on. It has the largest critical mass, and they have done a fabulous job of keeping up with the technology."

Founded in 2000 by Dr. Neil Clark Warren, eharmony is the site for serious daters. Although originally a US site, in 2007 eharmony partnered with Oxford University to carry out research on UK couples to identify the key differences in compatibility characteristics between the UK and US. The findings of the research were used to create a new version of their algorithm specifically for British singles and the launch of eharmony in 2008. Today eharmony boasts over 4 Million UK members. 

Users answer a lengthy questionnaire that helps eharmony determine what it calls "a select group of compatible matches with whom you can build a quality relationship." Spira says she's always seen eharmony as a "matrimonial dating site." "That doesn’t mean you’re going to walk down the aisle, but it certainly means that you’re looking for a very serious relationship that may or may not lead to marriage. It may lead to living together or at least being in an exclusive, committed relationship."

Read our full review of AdultFriendFinder.

The site has great chat and forum features to help you get to know your potential connection. You'll be encouraged to upload photos to make your profile more attractive but you are under no obligation to do so. Joining is completely free but most communication as well as viewing full profiles requires paid membership, so if you want to find a match then you kind of need to stump up the cash. After you've signed up, you can browse the many profiles that have a truly global feel. Even as a standard member you can create hot-lists and send ice-breakers to guys that take your fancy, but to initiate contact via email or chat you'll need to upgrade.

Rather than being thrown into an endless pool of profiles, EliteSingles lets you pick out exactly what you're looking for. After you answer a detailed questionnaire based on the popular Five Factor Personality Test, professional-level algorithms will curate you a limited number of matches. They'll even compare your own results to those of potential matches to see how you stack up. Like eharmony, the stuff you need to fill out is pretty lengthy – but that's what you need to do if you're looking for a lasting relationship, and this helps ensure that you aren't swiping through tons of people who aren't your type. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

Dating over 60 means that, more than likely, this is your second or third attempt at love. SilverSingles is here to let you know you're not alone, and that putting yourself back out there doesn't have to be scary. 

A sister site to EliteSingles, SilverSingles uses the same intense compatibility system that EliteSingles does, bringing in the popular big five personality traits to assess five levels of your being: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. If you've heard of Senior Singles Meet in the past, SilverSingles is that same site with a rebrand — so they've actually been working on mastering the five factor model in tandem with senior dating for about two decades. SilverSingles wants to ensure that your next relationship lasts, so the sign-up process and questionnaires will take some time. But hey, if having every tiny part of your personality assessed is what it takes to find the happily ever after you've been waiting for, an hour of your time is totally worth it.  

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. 

The site distances itself from other senior dating sites and aims to be more fun, engaging, and representative of real over 50s. It's especially appealing to seniors because it's specifically designed with them in mind.

There's also a Lumen Blog, providing dating tips, relationship advice, over 50s fashion guides, and social commentary.  

On OkCupid, users can offer a ton of information about themselves through the site's Match Questions. Examples include: "Would you date someone who keeps a gun in the house?" or "Should the government require children be vaccinated for preventable diseases?" The answers to these questions help OkCupid determine which members might be a good match for one another.

Of note: Per OkCupid's own stats, liberal women in particular have luck on the site. And in 2017, the site offered users the chance to answer 50 "current events" questions that illuminate users' politics.