Sex, Dating & Relationships
Dating

The best sex and dating apps for hooking up

Looking for something casual? These are the best sites for finding a hookup.
By Leah Stodart , Joseph Green , and Miller Kern  on 
All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Our Top 9 Picks

AdultFriendFinder (opens in a new tab)

Best For Quick Meetups

This sex-focused site with a massive global user base is absolutely NSFW and often includes problematic language.
Pros & Cons

Tinder (opens in a new tab)

Best For Travelling

Tinder is a tried-and-true option when all you want is some casual sex.

The Good

  • Lots of options
  • Great for finding hookups while travelling
  • Multiple premium plans

The Bad

  • Way too much swiping
  • Not 100% hookup oriented

The Bottom Line

Millions of potential dates makes Tinder especially great for travelling — just make sure you're clear about your intentions.
Pros & Cons

Match (opens in a new tab)

Best For Mature Users

If your age makes you feel like a certified creep on Tinder, Match is a more mature place to find an experienced booty call.

The Good

  • Great number of options
  • Mature and experienced users
  • Endless search possibilities

The Bad

  • Relationship oriented site
  • Pricey
  • Hookups won't be instantaneous

The Bottom Line

If your age makes you feel like a certified creep on Tinder, Match is a more mature place to find an experienced booty call
Pros & Cons

XMatch (opens in a new tab)

Best For Profiles

With a huge member base and unique features, XMatch is one of the better sites out there offering all kinds of sex.

The Good

  • Large member base
  • Unique features

The Bad

  • Very NSFW

The Bottom Line

A dating platform that provides hand-picked matches and a way to discover others based on similar sexual interests.
Pros & Cons

iHookup (opens in a new tab)

Best For Sexting

Find singles to chat with online and get what you need without leaving the house.

The Good

  • Safe(r) for work
  • Flirty users from lots of countries

The Bad

  • Ads interfere with user experience
  • Pricey for the quality
  • Small and spread out user base

The Bottom Line

You're more likely to find a sexting partner across the ocean than a nearby hookup, but that's fine if you don't feel like leaving the house.
Pros & Cons

GetItOn (opens in a new tab)

Best For Sexual Compatibility

Advanced compatibility matching and easy-to-use search tools can fast-track you to rediscovering your passionate side.

The Good

  • Advanced compatibility matching
  • Easy-to-use search tools
  • Sexual compatibility testing

The Bad

  • Free version is basic
  • Not cheap

The Bottom Line

The sexual compatibility testing helps you find a partner who matches up where it matters.
Pros & Cons

No Strings Attached (opens in a new tab)

Best For Something Discreet

No Strings Attached is ideal for those looking to have an affair.

The Good

  • Discreet
  • Specialised service
  • Great for video

The Bad

  • Morally questionable

The Bottom Line

No Strings Attached does what it says on the tin and caters to single or attached individuals looking for discreet casual sex
Pros & Cons

GayFriendFinder (opens in a new tab)

Best For Social Interaction

A site designed exclusively for gay men that encourages social interaction.

The Good

  • Chat and forum options
  • Highly social
  • Free version

The Bad

  • You need to pay to contact possible matches
  • Some groups are dormant

The Bottom Line

A gay community with a really social feel that encourages members to be active.
Pros & Cons

SwingTowns (opens in a new tab)

Best For Tight Budgets

With a similar setup to Facebook, SwingTowns offers an inviting space to track down your next casual encounter.

The Good

  • Registration is fast and easy
  • Good value for money
  • Good for threesomes

The Bad

  • Search can be clunky

The Bottom Line

SwingTowns offers a fun space to search for your next casual encounter, even if it's a threesome you desire
Pros & Cons

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.

We know you're searching for the best sites and apps for hooking up, but first we should talk about Hookup culture (just in case you aren't already familiar with it).

Hookup culture is all about keeping it casual, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Everyone gets stuck in a sexual rut at some point in their lives, and trying to take strangers home from a bar or constantly texting your ex can be exhausting. If you're struggling to find a match in the real world, it might be time to enlist the help of a dating site.

When we think about these sites, it's normal to go straight to the likes of Match(opens in a new tab), eharmony, EliteSingles, and other marriage-minded options, but not everyone is thinking about something so serious. Sometimes you just want to have fun.

How do you find a hookup?

You can still find love in the real world, because meeting in bars, clubs, parks, and other romantic locations still happens on a regular basis. You're simply shortening your odds by subscribing to a dating site. Why not give yourself the best chance of success? You know it makes sense.

Dating sites and apps allow you to get your information out there to a massive network of like-minded individuals. Plus, you can save a lot of time, energy, and cash by testing out a potential relationship on an app before actually meeting. We know that some dating apps can be expensive, but just think about all those wasted coffees you could avoid by chatting through an app first.

Lastly, using dating apps and sites is a whole lot less intimidating than meeting someone face to face. If you find the idea of meeting people slightly terrifying, these apps can help you dip your toe into the world of dating from the comfort of your own home.

Do you need to pay for dating apps?

There are a lot of free dating sites and apps out there, and the likes of Tinder and Hinge are super popular options with massive networks of users. Plus, most of the biggest and best dating sites have free versions with limitations on certain features. So yes, you can easily enter the online dating game without spending anything. There are levels to this game though, and sometimes free apps just don't cut it.

This won't be a surprise to hear, but you get what you pay for with dating sites and apps. For the best experience with the greatest possibility of finding exactly what you're looking for, you are going to have to cough up some cash. We're sorry to break it to you, but the best dating sites don't come cheap.

Why should you consider upgrading to a paid site when there are free services? It all comes down to access to advanced and premium features. You can still find a hookup with a free app, but if you're looking for compatibility tests, chat rooms, videos, and a greater level of control, we recommend upgrading.

Why are some apps good for hooking up?

When it comes to dating apps, you probably don't mind long questionnaires or in-depth profiles, but when you're just looking for a casual hookup, that all seems unnecessary. Sure, you want to gauge that you're at least a little compatible and not hooking up with a complete psychopath. The best hookup apps have quick and easy bios or prompts that give you an insight into who you'd be getting down and dirty with.

Photos are also a huge factor in good hookup apps. Some apps and dating sites gatekeep people's pics unless you have a paid subscription, and we don't really love that. Apps that show the full view of someone's profile are the way to go. You definitely want to make sure you're physically attracted to the person you're going to be having sex with.

What is the best dating and hookup app?

The good news is that there are absolutely loads of sites and apps out there for every type of dater and dating situation. The problem with this wealth of options is that deciding on the right site for you can be difficult. This is where we can help.

We have tracked down a strong selection of your best options for hooking up, with sites like AdultFriendFinder(opens in a new tab) and iHookup(opens in a new tab) making the cut. There should be something for everyone in this list, so what do you have to lose?

These are the best hookup sites and apps in 2023.

Best For Quick Meetups
PROMOTED
Credit: adultfriendfinder
Specs
  • Free version: Yes
  • One month: £25.08/month
  • Three months: £16.71/month
  • One year: £11.27/month
Best For Travelling
Credit: tinder
Specs
  • Free version: Yes
  • One month: £4.99/month
  • Six months: £2.50/month
  • One year: £1.92/month

Tinder(opens in a new tab) may not want to advertise as such, but we all know what it's mostly used for. Yeah yeah, we know the amount of success stories of happy couples who met on Tinder is growing rapidly, but it's way easier to find a date for the night than it is to find someone looking for a long term relationship. Using Tinder for the latter includes deciding if you want to interact with someone based on nothing but profile pictures and a quote, so you can see how getting laid would be the main goal of most users. 

It's fast, easy, and if there's one app that even the shyest, most skeptical people will be on, it's Tinder. Sure, you may get carpal tunnel from swiping so much, but I guess that also means that it's nearly impossible to not find like-minded people who are also DTF.

Though it's pretty much free for general use, Tinder does offer three upgrades: Tinder Plus, Tinder Gold, and Tinder Platinum. These include extras like the opportunity to undo a left swipe, send "Super Likes" to people you're really into, see who has swiped right on your profile, and in the case of Tinder Platinum, message users before they've even matched with you. 

Best For Mature Users
Credit: match
Specs
  • Free version: Yes
  • Three months: £20.90/month
  • Six months: £18.57/month
  • One year: £16.25/month

We know what you're thinking: "How am I going to find a hookup on a relationship site?" Yes, we know Match(opens in a new tab) isn't the raunchiest place, but it also has a massive user base (7.4 million paid users, to be exact) so even if you're not looking for a long-term relationship like many members, there's a pretty high chance you'll find a users also looking for something risqué (anything can be a hookup app if you want it to be, right?).

One main difference between Match and most of the other sites we've listed (other than AdultFriendFinder maybe) is that Match sees a way more diverse age range. Sure, there are loads of young people on Match who are probably on Tinder as well, but Match also attracts significantly older, more mature (and probably more experienced in bed) users. If you're at an age where you feel nothing but creepy on Tinder, Match is a perfect alternative. You'll obviously have to fill out some survey questions about your likes and dislikes, so this isn't the place for impatient people. However, it would be a good idea to let the public know exactly the type of relationship you're looking for in your bio, just to make sure it doesn't get awkward if someone wants a second date. Don't worry, it's less serious than eharmony and gives you much more freedom to clown around — we'd just suggest that you at least be open to the idea of a serious relationship after a hookup if you're going to be on Match. You have to test drive the car before you buy it, right?

Match is also great because you're pretty much in control: You'll get a certain number of matches that they think you'll like per day, but you also have free reign over the search bar and can see who's nearby. This means you're able to feel out the selection and see if there are any certified hotties in your area, rather than waiting for them to give you choices or going one by one (like on Tinder). They might not have as much in common with you as your suggested matches would, but hey, does that really matter when it comes to a one-night stand?

Best For Profiles
Credit: XMatch
Specs
  • Free version: Yes
  • One month: £15/month
  • Three months: £15/month
  • One year: £11.50/month

With an absolutely massive member base and unique features, XMatch(opens in a new tab) is one of the top sites out there offering all kinds of sex. 

XMatch caters to users seeking sexual encounters of every variety, making hooking up easier than ever before. It’s the epitome of an adult dating website, and in many ways, the hookup site more closely resembles a porn site with an extra layer of social networking thrown in. 

Like much of the activity (and users) on the site, registration is easy, allowing members to dive into their sexual fantasies in under a minute. The site is widely uncensored, so it’s not exactly one you’d want to open on your work computer, but behind all the overt sexual expression lies a dating platform that provides hand-picked matches, a way to discover others based on similar sexual interests, and seemingly endless opportunities to network while turning yourself and others on. 

Best For Sexting
Credit: ihookup
Specs
  • Free version: Yes
  • One month: £27.09/month
  • Three months: £17.80/month
  • One year: £7.73/month

The site is literally called iHookup(opens in a new tab) and it's used for exactly what it sounds like — need we say anything else? 

It's slightly less risqué than its main competitor AdultFriendFinder, but still clearly used for the same thing. One of the main differences between iHookup and the numerous other sites used for hookups is that your feed won't make you feel like you've been violated. Members actually post pictures of their faces (instead of their nether regions) and put effort into their profiles. It's a really nice change of pace for people who are in the mood, but not so in the mood that they need porn shoved in their face. (It's still X-rated though, don't you worry — you'll realise that when you're bombarded by gross ads.)

On the downside, the website is more of a Facebook for horny people than an all-encompassing hookup site. There aren't nearly as many ways to get involved with other horny members, and that might just be because the user base simply isn't as big (however, give it a year or two and we wouldn't be surprised if it competed with the ranks of eharmony). iHookup also offers many "what are you like?" and "what are you looking for?" questions that can be displayed on your profile, and they even give you a "between the sheets" sex compatibility ranking for each user you come across. To see everything the site has to offer, you will have to dig a bit deeper. It seems kind of pricey for a site that hasn't yet made its mark on the world, but they guarantee that if you don't get a hookup in your first three months, they'll give you three months for free. 

Because the member base isn't as robust and is more spread out geographically, you might want to be a little more lenient with your mile radius when it comes to the matches they suggest. You'll probably be able to find a nearby hookup, but iHookup is a way better place for someone looking for a cute sexting partner from another country. Which is totally fine — sometimes you just don't feel like leaving the house. 

Best For Sexual Compatibility
Credit: getiton
Specs
  • Free version: Yes
  • One month: £23.63/month
  • Three months: £15.74/month
  • One year: £11.79/month

GetitOn(opens in a new tab) is all about helping adults meet their sexual equal, and that's really what hooking up is all about, isn't it?

GetitOn includes everything you would expect from a dating site, with one major extra. The site goes beyond the basic format of most hookup sites and offers an adult compatibility test to help you find a partner who is compatible in bed. 

The idea behind the sexual compatibility test is to enable you to specify your sexual chemistry in terms of likes, dislikes, fetishes, and fantasies. The result is that you (hopefully) find someone who gets your motor running, and vice versa.

There is a free version to try out the site, but most of the features are blocked. So if you really do want to find your sexual equal, you'll have to dig deep.

Best For Something Discreet
Credit: nostringsattached
Specs
  • Free version: Seven-day trial
  • One month: £22.73/month
  • Four months: £11.37/month
  • 18 months: £6.79/month

Specialising in discreet sexual encounters, No Strings Attached is perfect for anyone looking to have an affair. 

The site works for singles looking for attached individuals, just as much as it is for attached individuals looking for sexual arrangements outside of their current situation. 

Due to the heavy influence of video on the site, including member-uploaded videos, live streams, and video broadcast ability, the site also meets the needs of those interested in cyber sex encounters. 

No Strings Attached(opens in a new tab) caters to single or attached individuals looking for discreet casual sex, either in-person or online. 

Best For Social Interaction
Credit: gayfriendfinder
Specs
  • Free version: Yes
  • One month: £27.06/month
  • Three months: £10.84/month
  • One year: £6.18/month

GayFriendFinder(opens in a new tab) is a gay community where single men meet other men for chat, dating, and hook-ups. So pretty much anything you could want.

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.

Best For Tight Budgets
Credit: swingtowns
Specs
  • One month: £12.36/month
  • Six months: £6.32/month
  • One year: £4.46/month

SwingTowns(opens in a new tab) is made for swingers who are looking to connect with other singles or couples for sexual encounters.

Set up and registration is fast and easy, and leaves you with a profile, complete with profile photo and background image, much like Facebook.

SwingTowns doesn't require heaps of information from you. You are just asked to give a little basic information about yourself, as well as the kind of partner you are looking for (single, couples, bisexual, gay, etc).

Also similar to Facebook is the news feed feature, where you’ll see new photos and updates of people you follow, as well as general trending posts within the larger community. This feature can also be toggled so you only recieve posts from people in the same region as you.

There are a number of search options available on the website. So if you are looking to get multiple players in on the act, you are in luck. You can utilise the search function if you are interested in polyamorous relationships. 

Leah is a shopping reporter at Mashable, where she covers shopping trends, gift ideas, and products that make life easier. She graduated from Penn State University in 2012 and is watching horror movies or "The Office" when she’s not shopping online herself. You can follow her on Twitter at @notleah(opens in a new tab).

Photo of Joseph Green
Joseph Green
Shopping Editor

Joseph joined Mashable as the UK Shopping Editor in 2018. He worked for a number of print publications before making the switch to the glittery world of digital media, and now writes about everything from coffee machines to VPNs.

Mashable Image
Miller Kern
Assistant Reviews Editor

Miller Kern is the Assistant Reviews Editor at Mashable, where she's been covering products and shopping since 2019. If there's a hot new product or a trend going viral on TikTok, Miller's ready to put it through the wringer to see if it's worth the hype.


Recommended For You
Porn site xHamster ordered to delete certain amateur videos

How to stay safe on dating apps

John Oliver delivers Chuck E. Cheese exposé as a bonus to his HOA takedown

Best senior dating sites: Dating over 60 can actually be fun
By Leah Stodart and Miller Kern

Jake Gyllenhaal eats the entire Da Bomb wing on 'Hot Ones', visits another plane of existence

More in Life
Misfits Market: An eco-friendly grocery delivery service that's good, but could be great

Dial in your spring vacay with these awesome travel essentials

The 5 best Bluetooth trackers for travel and lost luggage

20+ Mother's Day gifts under $50 that moms actually want

The digital picture frame is the unsung hero of gift giving moments

Trending on Mashable

'Wordle' today: Here's the answer, hints for April 21

Dril and other Twitter power users begin campaign to 'Block the Blue' paid checkmarks

How to remove Snapchat's My AI from your Chat feed

Every surprise song Taylor Swift has performed on 'The Eras Tour' (so far)
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
By signing up to the Mashable newsletter you agree to receive electronic communications from Mashable that may sometimes include advertisements or sponsored content.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!