This post originally appeared on Lifestyle Collective and is republished with their permission.
If you work long hours or hate going to bars, maybe finding love through digital means like dating apps might be your best bet.
We’ve all heard of Tinder I assume. If you’ve heard of Tinder, I’m also assuming you’ve heard the horror stories from both guys and girls. If you haven’t heard of Tinder, then maybe this might spare you the trouble of using the service and trying something else.
There are other options out there and here are a couple of services you might want to consider.
Coffee Meets Bagel
You might have seen them on Shark Tank first, but its more likely you’ve come across someone using the term ‘CMB’. This is how everyone I know refers to the app over text, so I naturally assume its the same for everyone else.
The concept of CMB is a bit different from Tinder, though it shares the swiping feature. For guys, they offer you a limited number of curated options that you can choose to swipe right or left on. This isn’t a guaranteed match, but a quick check with my mates said that the quality of potential matches is usually decent.
For the ladies, the last I heard they only showed you the guys who swiped right on you. This reduced your options, but also saves time when it comes to matching. It may have changed because from my understanding they do change the functionality of the service relatively often.
Pros: Way more customised and personalised to your tastes. Usually, you receive higher quality matches. Way less chance of getting ghosted or having unsolicited dick pics spam your phone.
Cons: Your network of potential matches is considerably smaller and meeting Mr or Mrs Right may take longer. Also if you’re looking for Mr or Mrs Right Now… well, that may not happen.
Bumble
Bumble or as I’ve heard it described, Tinder – if guys weren’t allowed to use it, is pretty much the same as Tinder. This isn’t a bad thing necessarily, though it would be if it ended there.
However, Bumble is a female-centric service, where the ladies have to start the conversation within a 24hr deadline. If the girl doesn’t start the conversation after matching, then its goodbye and it’s all her fault. At least, that’s what the guys tell themselves.
For same-gender matches, they couldn’t decide how it would work, so both parties can start the conversation.
Pros: Way fewer dick pics. Also if you’re familiar with Tinder, this makes the transition even easier.
Cons: Well, it is just like Tinder and has the same flaws with how the matching process works. Also, let’s face it, girls and guys are both terrible at dating services, but the power is with the ladies this time.
Other options
There are dozens of other options out there, including Paktor, OK Cupid, and Happn to name a few.
There isn’t a perfect choice for everyone, but having sourced numerous opinions and feedback from both sides of the equation, both CMB and Bumble are the most popular and have the highest success rates for people looking to find real dates.
Read Tech Collective to find more articles about mobile services and services our team has tried and tested.