I’ve always been an introverted person. As a child, I thought being quiet was my superpower because it turned me invisible and let me observe my rowdy classmates from a safe distance. I liked staying out of the fray and keeping to myself.
As I got older, I realized that being introverted can be lonely, so I took steps to overcome my painfully shy habits. Many character-building experiences helped me come out of my shell and engage with the world. Online dating was one of them.
Joining dating sites and apps gave me the opportunity to grow by talking to many different types of people. Some were adventurous and pushed my boundaries, and some were even more introverted than I am. With an introvert-friendly dating site or app by your side, you can meet people and build relationships that give you a reason to go out on a date — or maybe stay in and snuggle.
Match
- Relationships: Friends, Dates, and Relationships
- Match System: Browse by zip, age, appearance, more
- Our Experts Say: Match has facilitated the most dates and relationships of any dating site, and its large audience and high success rate make it our top review. Our Review »
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
Since 1995, Match has been the top dog in the online dating scene. It was one of the first websites to focus solely on dating and create romantic connections based on shared interests. Match set the tone for the online dating scene back in the day, and it continues to impress with its personality-driven matching.
Match offers a confidential space to mingle and get to know people one message at a time. Free members can’t send an initial message to anyone, but they can respond to some messages from premium members. This limited communication system ensures that unsavory characters and flaky daters stay away from Match.
Free member can chat with single people their Top Picks list, but only premium members have the ability to chat with anybody and attend special Match events.
eharmony
- Relationships: Casual Dates, Deep Relationships
- Match System: Personality test suggests matches
- Our Experts Say: Accounting for 2% of U.S. marriages, eharmony's compatibility-based system and commitment-minded user base are ideal for those seeking a serious relationship. Our Review »
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
A clinical psychologist and Christian theologian came up with the idea for eharmony in the late 1990s because he wanted to strengthen the institution of marriage by making sure couples who tie the knot are truly suited to each other.
The eharmony matchmaking system is grounded in psychological principles about relationships. The dating site’s Compatibility Quiz gets to the heart of who singles are, how they act in a relationship, and what they want and need from a partner. This questionnaire takes about 20 minutes to complete, and it provides great insights into your compatibility with other singles.
Someone finds love every 14 minutes on eharmony, and we highly recommend giving the site a try if you’re serious about settling down with someone special. It’s free to join, so, really, what have you got to lose?
OurTime.com
- Relationships: Dates and Relationships
- Match System: Search by profiles by zip and more
- Our Experts Say: OurTime is well-known in the over-50 dating crowd, particularly because it has a ton of helpful search features and an easy layout. Our Review »
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
OurTime is another senior dating site with effective matching tools and proven success in the online dating world.
On its homepage, OurTime highlights members who are new to the site and members who are currently online to make it easier to start a conversation and make a connection in real time. Many singles over 50 appreciate having this outlet to make friends and find romance in their golden years.
“I joined your site hoping I would meet that special man to become part of my life, and my dream came true,” said an OurTime user from South Carolina. “It was love at first sight for both of us.”
- Relationships: Deep Relationships or Just Casual Dates
- Match System: Search by location, age, more
- Our Experts Say: BlackPeopleMeet.com is the one of the largest and most popular dating sites for black and biracial singles, and the site is used by more than 5 million people a month. Our Review »
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BlackPeopleMeet is a niche dating site dedicated to doing just what its name suggests: help Black people meet. The platform welcomes people of all races and backgrounds, but it caters particularly to singles who want to date within the Black community.
Thousands of people in the U.S. and Canada have joined BlackPeopleMeet because they want to expand their horizons and diversify their dating pool.
Thanks to its niche membership, BlackPeopleMeet can give Black singles the opportunity to surround themselves with like-minded folks who share similar values and perspectives.
- Relationships: Hookups, Casual Dates, Affairs
- Match System: Search by age, location, appearance, and more
- Our Experts Say: With its massive user base and advanced privacy features, Ashley Madison is the #1 site for discreet hookups, dates, or relationships. Our Review »
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
Ashley Madison is an anonymous dating and social app that helps people mingle while keeping their identities hidden. It’s like dating under an alias. Single and married users connect based on common interests, and they can interact by sending private messages. As they get to know each other, they can choose to reveal more personal information on their profiles — or they can choose to stay anonymous.
Personal information (real names, occupations, photos, etc.) is kept guarded on Ashley Madison, and the secure platform gives users options to decide what they want to reveal and to whom they want to reveal it.
Ashley Madison is great for shy daters who would like to stay behind the curtain for a little while longer. The app creates an air of mystery, sexiness, and excitement while letting people get to know one another in a way that feels natural and safe.
7. Hinge
Hinge won my introverted heart over by claiming to be “the anti-Tinder” and making a dating app that was “designed to be deleted.” Its quality-driven mentality has been a breath of fresh air for relationship-minded daters.
On Hinge, the goal isn’t to keep swiping into eternity — it’s to find a relationship and stop online dating for good. Commitment is the name of the game, and the dating app facilitates genuine relationships by making sure every conversation is based on mutual attraction and common interests. Users must comment on or like something specific on the dating profile to get in touch, and only mutual matches can exchange messages on the platform.
Something I particularly like about Hinge is the dating pool. Sure, there’s a decent number of profiles available, but you won’t be flooded by messages from the moment you sign up.
The most popular dating apps can be overwhelming due to the size of their membership base. Hinge is more manageable, and that makes it easier to concentrate on each match and conversation that comes your way. As a result, 90% of Hinge users report enjoying their first dates, and 72% said they wanted to go on a second date.
8. CoffeeMeetsBagel
CoffeeMeetsBagel is the passion project of a group of single women who wanted to fix the online dating process by slowing it down a little. The dating app invites people to “rediscover dating” and enjoy a more thoughtful way to connect with singles.
The CoffeeMeetsBagel app prioritizes quality over quantity. It creates a curated list of potential matches and limits how many likes and profile views a single user can make per day. This automatically makes people value each other more and take more time to consider each match.
Since its launch, CoffeeMeetsBagel has established a close-knit community and helped many singles make matches and dive into conversations that lead to real-life romance.
“App encourages people to write about themselves,” said Alexander Chen in a Google Play review. “Some improvements could be made, but overall a positive experience.”
9. OkCupid
As a completely free dating site and app, OkCupid gives singles the leeway to be themselves and choose their own adventure in the dating scene. Some people sign up seeking friendships, others are looking for a spouse, and still others are just curious and want to see what happens. OkCupid is all about making connections based on shared lifestyles, opinions, and interests, and it leaves the rest up to you.
Since 2004, OkCupid has stood out as an inclusive, open-minded, and personality-driven space. OkCupid members can identify as straight, gay, lesbian, pansexual, queer, questioning, and several other orientations, and they also have 22 gender options on every profile.
OkCupid’s motto is “dating deserves better,” but what that really means is you deserve better. You deserve a dating site and app that looks out for your interests and takes your dating preferences seriously. The OkCupid match algorithm creates a match percentage based on profile information and a questionnaire to let singles know how compatible and incompatible they are.
OkCupid is an excellent dating site for newcomers to the dating scene. The free unlimited messaging can help inexperienced daters gain experience and practice flirting without investing too much time, money, or energy.
10. Once
Once promises to deliver “quality dating for singles,” and it’s hard to find fault with that. The dating app began as a London-based project, and now it’s sweeping across Europe and around the world.
Every day at noon, Once will select one profile to showcase as your Daily Match. That person will see your profile as their Daily Match at the same time. If you both express interest by clicking the heart, you’ll have 24 hours to strike up a conversation before the chat window disappears. Time is of the essence on Once, so seize the moment once you see someone you like.
Once has created an impressive following just by being real and encouraging singles to do the same. The top-rated app currently has 4.4 stars on Google Play and 4.8 stars on the App Store. Plus, dozens of couples have shared their love stories with the Once team.
“After a couple of messages on Once — the best app of the century — we decided to meet IRL,” said one couple. “This was back in the fall of 2015. We haven’t left each other’s side since. In fact, we’re expecting twin babies in May 2017.”
Is Online Dating Good for Introverts?
Definitely. Online dating has been great for introverts because it allows them to meet people in a low-pressure environment of their own choosing. No need to brave crowds or approach a stranger in public. Picking up a date is as easy as texting, “do you want to get coffee some time?”
As a card-carrying introvert myself, I find online dating much easier to manage than, say, the club scene or speed dating. There are much lower stakes because you’re not looking someone in the eye or forced to create an instant connection.
Instead, you have the power to take your time and choose which dating profiles to like and message, and you can put as much or as little distance between yourself and a new love interest as you like.
Many single introverts favor online dating because it allows them to get to know people via texting first, and those shy messages can gradually turn into something real if and when both individuals are ready for it.
What is the Most Successful Dating Site?
This is an easy one. Match.com has been collecting success stories and perfecting its matchmaking system since it launched in 1995. This dating site was a pioneer in those early days, and it set the tone for everything to come.
Today, Match continues to live up to its reputation by offering personality-driven matches, advanced search tools, and live events to bring compatible singles together.
- Relationships: Friends, Dates, and Relationships
- Match System: Browse by zip, age, appearance, more
- Our Experts Say: Match has facilitated the most dates and relationships of any dating site, and its large audience and high success rate make it our top review. Our Review »
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
Match is a dating site for relationship seekers, so its successes go far beyond the first date. As a long-standing leader in the space, Match claims to be responsible for creating more relationships and marriages than any of its competitors, and we’d say that makes it the most successful dating site in online dating history.
What is the Best Dating Site for a Serious Relationship?
When you’re dating for keeps, it can be frustrating to encounter wishy-washy singles and watch initially promising conversations fizzle. Relationship-minded singles typically don’t have much patience for ghosting, catfishing, and other time-wasting nonsense, so they seek premium dating sites where people take the matchmaking process a little more seriously.
Thanks to its quality-first approach to matchmaking, eharmony has become a safe haven for commitment-oriented men and women in the online dating scene.
- Relationships: Casual Dates, Deep Relationships
- Match System: Personality test suggests matches
- Our Experts Say: Accounting for 2% of U.S. marriages, eharmony's compatibility-based system and commitment-minded user base are ideal for those seeking a serious relationship. Our Review »
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
Since 2000, eharmony has created over 2 million love connections, and its members send over 2.3 million messages a week on the site and app.
Dating Sites Help Introverts Tiptoe Outside Their Comfort Zones
I’d say I’m still pretty quiet, and definitely more likely to stay at home than go out partying, but I’ve come a long way from the shy girl sneaking books onto the playground and living within her imagination. When I was a young adult, online dating helped me become more confident and outgoing, and it led to many great relationships, including the one I’m in now.
I know it can be intimidating, exhausting, and nerve-wracking to socialize online and open yourself up to someone new, but you’ll never grow if you stay inside your own bubble. A dating site and app can give you the opportunity to meet people who challenge you to inch outside your comfort zone and enjoy new experiences.
Thanks to introverted dating sites and apps, you can attract dates without even leaving home, and that sounds like an introvert’s dream come true to me!
