Dating can be awkward, scary, and just plain frustrating at any age. Sure, being in the over-60 group may mean that more people your age are already off the market, but there really are still so many fish in the sea. We’re not just saying that — and if you want to see for yourself, online dating can introduce you to those fish that you may have never met otherwise.
To help you find your perfect match — whether you’re interested in something casual or a long-term relationship — Mashable tested the best dating sites for seniors, considering both age-specific dating sites as well as more mainstream dating apps that have a large user base of mature users. Our goal? To demystify online dating as best we can through guidelines to help choose which dating site would be the right fit for you.
Is dating over 50 hard?
If you’re hesitant about trying online dating as a senior, you’re not alone. While using the internet to find love or a date is second nature to young folks, there’s admittedly a bit of a learning curve for older users who are accustomed to meeting organically in person. But here’s the thing: Seniors actually have tons of advantages when it comes to online dating.
For starters, many people in their 20s simply aren’t ready to settle down. But as a mature dater over 60, you’ve been figuring out this whole “love” thing for longer than millennials have been alive. You know the red flags that haven’t worked for you in the past, and you know what you want going forward.
At any age, online dating gives you access to a wider pool of potential matches. When you’re limited to meeting local people in person, serendipitous moments can feel few and far between. The best online dating apps are like windows to the world, letting you connect both with people who live nearby or cuties from somewhere you’ve been thinking of visiting. Plus, you can’t deny the convenience (or the rush) of the possibility of meeting your special someone even on the nights that you don’t want to leave your couch.
We’ve gathered the best dating sites for seniors below based on our own experiences, hands-on reviews, and comparative research on the experiences of other online daters. We’ve also included some bulleted info to help you get the most out of a paid dating membership, like whether a platform has different paid tiers to access more in-depth features like multiple methods of communication or filters past age and location. (Note that prices for dating apps and sites are constantly changing. We update regularly, but there might be minor price differences.) From fun, easy-to-use apps to more serious dating websites, here’s to finding love later in life!