Dating on a budget can be tricky. Even if you stick to coffee dates rather than dinner dates, the cost of going out every week can pile up, and it’s even more costly if you’re paying for a dating subscription.

I think it’s safe to say finding dating apps with 100% free messaging is getting harder and harder. Dating platforms have all kinds of different rules and limitations on chatting, and that can be a real blocker for singles.

Some mainstream apps still offer the chance to find a match and get in contact without getting your credit card out. Our experts agree that it’s only worth joining such free dating platforms if you can trust that you won’t run into fake profiles and spam. Here are some options that offer a good balance of affordability and trustworthiness.

Best Dating Apps With Free Messaging Options

Let’s get right to it. The following dating apps offer enough free messaging to get new users started in the online dating world. That means you don’t have to pay to send replies or slide into a new person’s DMs.

1. Match

Category Rating
★★★★★ 4.9/5.0
  • Match is the world’s longest running dating site
  • The Discover section has search filters by interests, looks, lifestyle, and more
  • Match is available in 50 countries and 15 languages

Match has been around for a long time, and it continues to rank high in our reviews for good reason. Membership is free, whether you use the app or site, and as a basic member, you get access to some free messaging options.

Since 1995, Match has been the flagship platform for the Match Group. The dating platform allows users to message their Top Picks for free, with no limitations.

What’s Free?Messaging Top Picks.
What Costs Money?Sending unlimited messages to anyone you like.

Your Top Picks are the profiles that Match selects because of their high compatibility rating based on your profile details, preferences, and responses to other suggested matches. Since these Top Picks are curated by Match, you don’t get a say in which users are included, but they make up your most compatible potential matches, so they’re a good place to start.

Category Rating
★★★★ 3.8/5.0
  • Totally free communication for all users
  • Dating activity is separate from the mainstream FB newsfeed
  • Detailed profile information includes Facebook events and interest groups

When Facebook announced the launch of its dating app in 2018, I thought the move made sense. After all, Facebook Dating can access lots of data and interpersonal networks through the social media giant, and the architecture that made Facebook popular translates well to a dating app.

As you might expect, Facebook Dating offers free, unlimited messaging between all users on the platform. All a new user needs to do is download the Facebook app to access it.

What’s Free?Messaging to all users.
What Costs Money?No paid features.

Although it’s one of the strongest options when it comes to free dating apps, some drawbacks have deterred singles from joining the app. Even after several years, Facebook Dating doesn’t have a huge user base, and you have to have the Facebook app installed on your phone to use the dating features.

3. Tinder

Category Rating
★★★★ 4.0/5.0
  • Supports active daters in 190+ countries
  • The swiping system creates over 12 million matches per day
  • Tinder Plus members have unlimited likes and 5 Super Likes

Tinder has a longstanding reputation as the free hookup app of choice for roughly 630 million people (that’s how many times it’s been downloaded since 2012). It may not be the best dating app for long-term relationships, but it does offer plenty of opportunities to chat and get to know people on the platform.

What’s Free?Messaging mutual matches.
What Costs Money?Unlimited swipes.

Anyone on Tinder can chat for free, provided you and the other person both swipe right. Once you establish a mutual match, you can message back and forth, including video chat and voice chat options, without restrictions.

If you’re willing to pay a little more, Tinder Plus offers extra benefits that broaden your pool of chatting partners. You get unlimited likes and unlimited rewinds, and you can swipe outside your local area. With Tinder Gold and Platinum, you also get increased access to Super Likes. But if you want to keep things free and easy, you can stick with the basic membership. 

Hookup Apps With Free Messaging & Chats

When you’re online looking for a one-night stand, the last thing you want to run into is a paywall. Hookup sites and apps often use subscription models to keep unwanted spammers and scammers at bay, but not all of them are totally pay-to-play. We’ve collected our favorite sex-positive spaces where messaging is free for some or all members.

Category Rating
★★★★ 4.2/5.0

Ashley Madison takes an interesting approach to preventing fake profiles and scammers. The affair site offers free messaging to about half of its 80 million members.

Women on Ashley Madison get the full run of the platform free of charge. That means they can send as many messages as they want to whomever they want. For men on Ashley Madison, the situation is a little different.

What’s Free?All messaging for women. Winks and follow-up chats for men.
What Costs Money?Sending the first message.

Instead of a premium subscription, the affair dating site offers packages of credits that users can spend on what they like. Men will need credits to unlock the ability to send the first message to a woman, but all messaging after that first message is free.

Ashley Madison does offer a free membership wherein men can read each first message they receive in their inboxes for free, but they can’t respond or send messages without credits. 

Category Rating
★★★★ 4.1/5.0

BeNaughty is a hookup site that doesn’t shy away from adult content. The platform offers spicy photos to catch attention. Women on BeNaughty only have to provide a profile photo to gain access to unlimited free messaging on the platform.

Free members can mingle on the BeNaughty site or the app available through the Google Play Store. The hookup site is mobile-friendly, but you won’t find it on the App Store.

What’s Free?Five messages a day.
What Costs Money?Unlimited private chats.

Men on BeNaughty can send five free messages per day. To gain full access and message anyone you want as many times as you want, you’ll need one of the premium membership packages. The Chataholic package gives you access to unlimited messages, as well as read receipts and other communication-related tools.

The Premium Dater gives the same benefits as the Chataholic, plus benefits that come with the Extra Security package like browser history clearing, incognito mode, and encryption. 

6. OkCupid

Category Rating
★★★★ 3.9/5.0
  • Free private messaging available to all members
  • Users can state that they’re seeking hookups on their profiles
  • Responsible for 50,000 dates per week

OkCupid is frequently ranked as the best free dating site for nerds, in no small part because nerds built the dating platform and launched it in 2004. A big draw for OkCupid is not just the personality quiz, but the fact that the platform remains dedicated to keeping core features free for all users.

What’s Free?Messaging, even without a mutual match.
What Costs Money?Read receipts.

When CEO Ariel Charytan took over in 2018, that emphasis shifted a little bit, but the core values remain intact. You can still send messages to anyone on the app for free — and you can identify yourself as seeking friends, hookups, poly dates, relationships, or all of the above.

If you find a dating profile you like on OkCupid, you can send an initial message to introduce yourself right away. But you can’t send a second message until after the other user replies. That’s just common courtesy when you think about it.

Dating Apps With Free Limited Messaging

Free messaging comes with trade-offs in the online dating world. Sometimes letting any random person with an email address into your DMs isn’t actually the best way to find real romance. Go figure.

If you don’t mind some limits on messaging features, it could mean more quality matches. The following dating apps and sites may strike the right balance for you.

Category Rating
★★★★★ 4.9/5.0
  • Over 2 million monthly users
  • Premium members receive 20 wildcard matches a day
  • Search features include age, height, education, ethnicity, and lifestyle habits

Although Elite Singles has a highly selective process to approve new members, you don’t have to pay to gain access. You can sign up, set your preferences, browse profiles, and receive matches, all without paying. Just note that when it comes to messaging, your options are pretty limited.

What’s Free?Reading incoming messages.
What Costs Money?Unlimited private chats.

Sending a wink to an Elite Singles member is free, and you can send as many winks as you want. When it comes to messaging, basic members can read messages sent to them by a premium member, but they cannot reply or send messages without a premium membership. 

Category Rating
★★★★★ 4.7/5.0
  • Over 2 million people have found love here
  • Users can filter their match recommendations by age or city
  • Compatibility Quiz identifies common interests, lifestyles, and goals

The team behind eharmony wants members to be serious about finding long-term love. The platform definitely isn’t the best hookup app. Its serious approach to relationships means users have to invest in the process, and I don’t just mean by taking the lengthy questionnaire.

What’s Free?Icebreaker quizzes, reading messages, some replies.
What Costs Money?Unlimited private chats.

Like many mainstream dating apps, eharmony offers some free options for everyone on the platform to use, but other features require the commitment of a premium membership.

You can take an Icebreaker quiz or send a smile to anyone who catches your fancy on eharmony, and the dating site offers very limited messaging between top matches. Premium members can contact anyone, at any time, and can also benefit from enhanced communication options.

Category Rating
★★★★ 4.3/5.0

Christian Mingle is a top choice for faith-based dating because its tools are so specific to Christian singles. Christian Mingle restricts the access free members have to communication options to make sure everyone is serious and genuine.

As a free member, you can receive and read messages from premium members, and you can send likes to get the attention of someone who seems interesting.

What’s Free?Read incoming messages.
What Costs Money?Sending private chats.

But only members who pay for Messaging+ have the ability to send messages to anyone on the site, anytime they want, and that subscription level also allows free members to reply. Be on the lookout for the Messaging+ icon on a potential match’s profile if you want to communicate without paying subscription fees. 

Christian Mingle’s success stories are full of people who fell in love because they took a chance on the dating service. It starts with a free membership, and it could end in a happily ever after.

FAQs: Why Do Dating Apps Limit Free Communication?

Almost every popular dating app limits free messaging for the same reason that clubs charge a cover fee: it’s a form of quality control and crowd management. And, let’s be real, it’s profitable.

Dating sites that offer unlimited free communication tend to attract a ton of scammers, bots, and fake profiles. Free chat sites often end up spending a lot of time and resources chasing down reports, and even then, users have a high risk of running into bad actors and having a bad experience.

Another reason a dating app may limit free communication is to encourage users to get straight to the point and schedule a date. For example, Bumble and Coffee Meets Bagel both give members a limited timeframe to message back and forth before the window for conversation closes and disappears for good. 

Which LGBTQ+ Dating Apps Have Free Communication?

Several dating apps for the LGBTQ+ community offer free communication, even if there are some limits involved.

Grindr is the most popular gay dating app, and one reason for that is the free communication options and location filters. As with Tinder, you can chat for free with mutual matches on the app. Grindr XTRA gives you access to send messages to anyone and offers other perks like unlimited matches. 

HER is about fostering female connections within the broader LGBTQ+ community. The app provides free access to all core features, including chatting, so you can meet lesbian, bisexual, and queer folks around the world without paying a dime.

HER logo
HER has over 15 million users, mostly in the United States.

Lex is a queer dating app that rejects gender binaries and heteronormative traditions. The team promotes community, so it’s no surprise that the app makes it easy to communicate for free. Users publish posts, such as old-school personal ads, to get the attention of other Lex members. Every core feature, including replying to ads, is free. Lex doesn’t even offer a premium membership.

TAIMI is a combination of a dating app and a social media platform, with lots of opportunities to connect. The LGBTQ+ singles platform lets users communicate through status updates, posts, and live streams, in addition to one-on-one chatting options. You can send messages on an unlimited basis for free, but you will encounter some restrictions on reading and replying to messages. 

Is Bumble Totally Free?

Yes, Bumble offers a free dating experience that includes swiping, liking, and messaging, so it’s possible to never pay for the app and pick up plenty of dates. Single women do have the upper hand on this app, but that can take the pressure off men who struggle coming up with opening lines.

Is Zoosk a Good Free Dating App?

Zoosk stands out from the crowd by offering more options for communication than most. When you find a promising new person to chat up, communication options include smiles, likes, direct messages, and even video chat.

You can even go on a virtual date via Zoosk Great Dates. This video chat feature launched in 2021 as a response to travel restrictions and quarantines during the Covid-19 pandemic. And it’s remained popular as a quick way to vet new matches.

Zoosk screenshots
Zoosk video features help users get to know each other.

Free communication options are more limited on Zoosk. The free version of the Zoosk membership lets you send unlimited flirts or smiles, and you can reply to messages in some cases. If you want to gain access to the flashier contact options, you’ll need to purchase Zoosk Coins or sign up for a premium membership. 

Zoosk Coins are virtual credits that give you the ability to pick and choose which premium features you want to use. That is a more budget-friendly option than if you were to pay a flat fee for everything. 

Is Free Messaging Safe on Dating Apps?

Yes, but you need to be extra cautious. If messaging is free on a dating app, that means practically anyone can join — for better or worse. Always keep in mind that you could be talking to a scammer, and never reveal any of your information until you have verified the person is real.

As I mentioned earlier, paid subscriptions go a long way to keeping fraudulent users out of the user base because they don’t want to pay. Many platforms also perform identity checks or verification by phone, selfie, or email.

Bottom line: while free messaging can be safe if you take the right precautions, a paid membership can provide much more peace of mind.

Free Chatting Can Be a Good Deal on the Right Platform

Finding dating apps with free messaging is trickier than it used to be, but with so many platforms out there, it’s definitely not impossible. Although free messaging tends to make it more likely you’ll encounter a fake profile or romance scammer, the best apps use profile verification, along with screening and reporting tools, to keep you safe. And, of course, you can do your own vetting to make sure you’re talking to a real person.

Whether you’re looking for a long-term relationship, casual dating, or just a hookup for the night, a good free dating app can help you find satisfaction, no matter how tight your budget is. I should know because I met my husband on an app that neither of us paid for!

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