10 Best Dating Apps for Hooking Up in NYC

Which are the best dating apps for hooking up in NYC?

Dating apps—are virtually a necessity at this point. You are busy. They are busy. How are you supposed to meet people otherwise?  Especially if you live and work in New York City. That is why we have rounded up the 10 best dating apps for hooking up in NYC for you! 

Amazingly, people still argue that dating apps aren’t romantic or spontaneous. It’s hard to understand how random public meetings are implicitly more attractive than random online meetings. You can meet someone offline while digging through a dumpster—is that more romantic?

Honestly, if you’re STILL hung up about using apps then you just have to get over it. Meeting someone right for you on an app is no less challenging than meeting someone in real life. Bars are loud and filled with cretins. Sure, there are good people out there in bars as well.

However, the permutations of compatibility per each person are numerous. Finding the good people, or, more accurately, the people who are good for you—is a tough hunt. Whether that hunt takes place on the web or in the club, you will still be dodging a lot of subjectively undesirable people—or at the very least, mismatches.

To a certain extent each conversation or keystroke is a roll of the dice. There is no less magic in a match made online than there is a match made on the bathroom line. The magic and romance are in what happens once the match is made—people are too preoccupied with their meet-cutes.

What’s cuter than a series of love notes being exchanged? What’s more romantic than seeing the face of someone and feeling your heart skip a beat—or at least being utterly infatuated or just having to know more? 

These activities make up the bulk of the matching interactions on dating apps. This is why you should take a look at the 10 best dating apps for hooking up in NYC. It’s the first month of the year—time to jump in and take a chance.  Even if you are using apps you might find another one to better suit your needs. Also, if you’re anti-Apple and looking for love—be sure to check out the 10 Best Free Dating Apps for Android Phones.

We looked at the most popular apps by download, cross referenced that with the apps receiving the highest reviews and also made sure to include a few with features most pertinent to NYC. However, we excluded some interesting apps only available to New Yorkers like Sweatt which matches athletic New Yorkers–because we believe that the apps with the most users will ultimately earn the best results.

The majority of New Yorkers work long hours, commute on public transit, and are single. Also, many single, young New Yorkers are transplants from other cities, towns, or countries. We wanted to factor in these elements into the rankings organically, in order to give the opportunity for big-name apps that cater to these demographics to shine through.

10. Coffee Meets Bagel

 They send you one match a day at noon. Perfect for the New Yorker which a busy schedule or those who want to keep their dating to a minimum. This site WILL make you hungry, so don’t use on an empty stomach.

 

9. Hinge

At number 9 of our list of the best dating apps for hooking up in NYC we have that app makes the statement “we met through friends” much truer than when you normally use it just as a euphemism for whatever freaky story you don’t want to share with everyone. Users are connected to potential dates who are your friends of friends on Facebook.

 

8. Bumble

Quite similar to other, more popular, apps with swiping and messaging. However, men cannot message first. An interesting twist on the dating app formula in line with the style of many a confident,  New York woman.

 

7. HER

HER is an app specifically for lesbian, queer, and pansexual women of which there are more than a few in New York. Especially considering the dearth of bars targeting gay women in the 5 boroughs this app and others are sorely needed.

 

6. Grindr

For the gay, bi, or undefined man who sleeps with men this app is king. Choose your “Tribe” or type and create a simple profile.  Photo-focused is a good way to describe the Grindr culture. There’s no getting around the fact that this is a hook up app. And why would you want to? This app can tell you how many feet away you are from your next good time.

 

5. Match

Not as user-friendly as the other big names in the dating game. Users can send each other a “wink”. There are also personalized matches daily, however to capitalize on this you will need a subscription.

 

4. eHarmony

This is a long-term match site for straight people, specifically, as in they were willing to get sued over it. Their 81-year old founder Dr. Neil Clark Warren was interviewed by CNN in February on the controversy “We didn’t want to pretend to be experts on gay and lesbian couples,” said Warren. “We’re not anti-gay at all …It’s a different match.”

The app requires users to fill in a lengthy, exceedingly detailed questionnaire and connects users based on 29 dimensions of compatibility–unless you’re gay. Then you have to use a different site they launched in 2009 called Compatible Partners, which sounds like a Lifetime Movie. 

 

3. OKCupid

This app among the other best dating apps for hooking up in NYC is more centered on dating which is still defined as dinner, drinks or an activity–differing from sexual rendezvous, hooking up or one night stands. The app employs a matching algorithm, but–math be damned–it’s all a crapshoot. Clearly New York City has a plethora of options for these things called “dates” should you want to try them–restaurants, bars, museums, cafes, parks in which to mosey–you name it. You should try them though, even if only to enjoy the cultural offerings of our fantastic metropolis.

 

2. PlentyofFish

This app has over 70 million users–a ton of fish in the proverbial sea. It’s free to set up your profile and message people. There is also a premium version which offers VoIP calling, but it seems like a bit of overkill.   

 

1. Tinder

This app is very simple to use–swipe left or right on a photo, the pioneer of swiping. The drawbacks of Tinder lie in the ads and the inability to swipe backward, without incurring a fee. Overall the popularity of the app and ease of use wins out–in New York City, more is more. Having the most options truly makes you the best.

Now that you’ve enjoyed the 10 Best Dating Apps for Hooking Up in NYC–get out there and find love! Or at least an interesting story.