What’s the best lesbian dating app? That’s a common question among queer women who have found that popular dating apps don’t really meet their needs. Many are designed to accommodate the hetero community with gay and lesbian singles as an afterthought. That doesn’t even begin to address the failure of many of these online dating sites to meet the needs of gay and lesbian users who might be gender diverse.
Fortunately, there’s hope. It is possible to have a positive, lesbian dating experience online. There are dating sites that have done an excellent job of understanding what queer women want in online dating. Whether you are interested in a hookup app or want to form meaningful relationships, you deserve to enjoy online dating. To help with that, we have created a list of five lesbian dating apps that are most likely to meet your needs.
Our Method of Ranking the Best Lesbian Dating Apps
We take pride in our method to effectively review and determine which dating apps are the best. But how exactly do we rank them? Here are the list of steps we take in order to ensure that our reviews are fair, accurate, and the best ranked depiction of lesbian dating apps.
- Downloaded apps and visited multiple websites that focus on dating
- Created our own profiles
- Tested many features on the web pages and applications
- Browsed the interface as if we were someone who would actively use it.
- Read the online reviews that were left by the user base
- Made sure to carefully read through the policy documents that were published online
- Took time to scope out the social media app pages
- Compiled a list of dating apps for lesbians.
How Do We Select The Apps We Review?
We rely on the inclusive community we have built in our offices in order to compile a list of dating apps and websites to consider for review. The requirement to be considered was that the app had to be an option for lesbians, or women seeking to date other women. Although some of these apps are exclusively curated for lesbians, many of them also welcome people who identify as other sexual orientation or gender identity.
In addition to this requirement, each of the dating apps we have reviewed at least had to be available across the United States. Apps that were unavailable in the states but in other regions across the world were excluded from our review and ranking process. We also excluded any application that did not meet the minimum requirements we expect when it comes to the privacy and security of its user base.
Do We Use the Paid or Free Version of the App or Website?
As we took the stance of someone who was “shopping around” and simply checking out the applications and websites we chose to primarily use the free version of the application. Unless the premium membership was available as a free trial.
Whether or not we chose to utilize the premium free version or not we took great care in ensuring we understood the potential benefits of any of the free features they had to offer.
Why Did You Choose to Not Connect With Other Users?
Ultimately the decision came from the fact that most users of a dating app are actively looking for love and potential life long partners. Being matched with a person who is only there to determine what to write in a review can be incredibly disheartening. So, in order to avoid misleading those who actually want to find love we relied on the input of those who actually used the dating apps or websites services for themselves.
1. Taimi: Best Overall Lesbian Dating App
It only makes sense that the best lesbian dating app is one that was built from the ground up for the LGBTQ dating community. This is not a cis-hetero focused app that has been updated for queer women. Taimi was made for the LGBTQIA+ individual in search of a range of dating experiences. Taimi has been a welcoming space for lesbians since day one.
What Makes This App Good?
Heteronormative limitations have kept other apps from meeting the needs of queer women. This begins with profile creation and gender identity options. many dating apps have problematic limitations. For example, they don’t recognize that a lesbians are cis women, trans women, and non binary people. Some are only open to dating other lesbians. Others are attracted to bisexual women too. Taimi is a unique dating app that offers gender identity options that go beyond the binary.
Additionally, Taimi app support is there to provide women with a safe and positive experience. There are protections against fake accounts and straight people who are only interested in fetishizing the queer community.
Taimi offers a range of features that add up to an excellent online dating experience for any queer woman. It’s an excellent tool for someone who is new to the dating scene, exploring their sexuality, or who has been out for years. One feature that stands out is Taimi Finder this is an AI tool that generates recommendations based on a compatibility score, user preferences, and in-app behaviors.
Free App Features
- The ability to create an account
- Create public and private media cards
- Change your profile as needed
- Profile verification process
- The ability to send messages to people you have been matched with
Premium App Features
- Boost your dating app profile
- Send enhanced (rainbow) likes
- Incognito browsing
- Send and request private cards
- Search in new geographic locations
Things to Consider
Taimi is open to all adults. However, the user base here is primarily younger with most members being part of Gen Z or Millennials. Single, lesbian women who skew older may not have as large a selection of compatible users. Additionally, the design team at this dating app is continually adding new features and improving existing ones. This can lead to learning curves as users adapt to those changes. Taimi is available for both iPhone and android users. There’s also a desktop version available.
2. Her: Designed by a Woman For Women
Her is a dating app for lesbians that was designed specifically with women in mind. It accommodates a fairly wide age range, and is marketed as the most popular lesbian dating app. This award winning app combines elements of social media with online dating, and community building. It is welcoming for both cis women an gender non conforming people who are feminine aligned.
What Makes This App Good?
Her is an excellent dating app for women who are interested in relationships. It’s a safe space for women who are gender nonconforming as well. While many other popular apps curate recommendations based solely on gender, sexuality, and location, Her has an algorithm that takes user preferences into consideration too. Finally, the social aspect of this dating app includes the creation and promotion of local events for queer women.
Free Features
Women who use Her can pay a subscription cost or use the app for free. Here are the great features that are available at no cost:
- Create a profile
- Browse profile photos
- View feed
- Send and receive messages
Premium App Features
Here’s what you can get if you opt into the premium subscription cost:
- Change your location
- See who liked your profile
- Rewind to skipped profiles
- Read receipts on messages
- See who is online now
Things You Should Know
If you are in search of a hookup app, this is probably not for you. Also, there is a decidedly progressive vibe here. This is not a space for terfs. Trans women are welcome here. Her does an excellent job making the app a safe place for queer people, but straight men occasionally make their way onto the app.
3. Fem Dating: Made For All WLW
This great app is a welcoming space for lesbian, bisexual, and other WLW. It’s designed for women interested in dating, but also making other social connections. Fem leverages video as its primary means of facilitating connections between single, local lesbians. However, queer people who aren’t comfortable creating and posting videos can still use Fem.
What Makes This App Good?
While many other apps have solid profile verification in place, Fem takes things a step further. By encouraging users to post a profile video, Fem has essentially ensured better authenticity. Other users simply feel more comfortable taking that next step when they can see the other person on video. Also, more users find that they can best express themselves through video.
Complimentary App Features
Whether someone wants to find friends in the sapphic community, date casually, or start a long term relationship they an meet their goals using these free features:
- Create and upload videos
- Find single lesbians nearby
- Send unlimited messages
- Take part in chat rooms
Premium App Features
Only users who buy coins or purchase a power account can use the following premium features:
- Send “Hi”
- Ad free dating experience
- Profile boost
- See who liked you
Things You Should Know
The social aspect of Fem is pretty unique. However, the location feature is not always spot on. It’s fairly common to receive recommendations for users based in entirely different locations. That can be frustrating for women who are looking only for potential matches nearby. Also, group chat offers a fun way to connect. Just be aware that the subject matter and language can be decidedly “adult”.
4. Pink Cupid
Pink Cupid is an LGBTQ dating app for lesbian, bisexual, and bi curious women. It’s a safe and respectful dating app – something that’s always welcome in today’s world. It primarily serves women in the lgbtq community between the ages of 18 and 34. Because this is a wide range, there are women here who are interested in anything from casual sex to long term relationships.
What Makes This App Good?
Pink Cupid has a zero tolerance policy for bullying, harassment, and fake profiles. While men may appear from time to time, there are reporting mechanisms in place to ensure that women feel safe engaging here. Users who sign up are required to upload a minimum of three pictures. They also complete a profile that includes age preferences, gender preferences, and other key information used in the app’s matching algorithms. Pink Cupid has a unique feature “Cupid Tags”. Users can add up to seven tags that showcase different interests and preferences. These can be used as part of additional search filters to find women who are compatible.
Free App Features
Women can create a profile and find potential matches at no cost. Here the free LGBTQ dating features available:
- Register and create a profile
- Basic profile matches with other queer women
- Send interest to women
- Communicate with premium users
Premium App Features
Here are the extra features you get with a paid membership:
- Ad free browsing experience
- Boost profile above non-paid users
- Expanded search features
- Additional profile space
- Language translation
- Glam photo competition
- Anonymous browsing allowed
Things You Should Know
There are a few issues with this app, although it’s generally user friendly. First, the ads can be intrusive. There are pop up ads that must be closed manually. Also, Pink Cupid is not available in iOS. Android is the only option. Although it is made just for people who are women or have feminine gender identities, cis and trans men are sometimes on the app.
5. Zoe
Zoe is a dating app that is marketed to gay, lesbian, and queer womxn. It makes use of the standard swipe interface to help women connect for romance, friendship, and casual encounters.
What Makes This App Good?
Zoe is simply to use with a familiar user-interface. It’s easy to sign up using email, Facebook, or Instagram. The app uses photo verification for additional security. The precise features here vary based on whether the user chooses the free or paid version of the app. Still, this is a good app to find other women in the LGBTQ community, share photos, and make connections.
Free App Features
Many women find dates and add friends using these free options:
- Profile creation and update
- Swiping and matching
- Compatibility percentages
- Messaging
- Private photos
- Super likes (limited)
Premium App Features
Here are the only options available for paid users:
- See who likes you
- Opposite match – Toggle on to find women who don’t think just like you
- Edit location
Things You Should Know
Zoe uses the term “queer womxn” in its marketing. While this phrase could hardly be described as hate speech, it is problematic for some. This is because the words womyn and womxn have been co-opted by those who are prejudice against folks who are gender non conforming such as trans men, trans women, and non binary people. Despite the word choice, Zoe appears to be welcoming to all women in the LGBTQ as well as a full age range of users.
Taimi: The Ideal Choice For Lesbian Women
It doesn’t matter if you are a cis or non binary person. If you identify as a lesbian, Taimi should be on your short list of apps to try. It was specifically designed for the queer community and truly accommodates its unique dating needs. This includes offering multiple gender options, attraction types, and relationship goals. If you haven’t found what you need in online dating apps, the sites listed here are all excellent choices. However, we strongly urge you to place Taimi at the top of your list.
