Best Gay Dating Apps [2024]
Where are all the Queer people? The media today seems to still focus on the hetero community; from books, to film, to music, to dating apps. If you are wanting to connect with others in the Queer community, one popular app is Tinder, but what if you are interested in apps that cater strictly to the Queer community, with no heterosexual people on them? Thankfully, whether you are looking for hookups, a romantic relationship, friends, or just a community to network in, there are mobile apps to help you find what you want. There are so many options these days, you can find apps for gay men, lesbian women, apps for the trans community, heck, you can even find apps for anyone who is still curious about their gender and orientation. Listed below are a handful of safe and secure social apps that help connect people within the Queer community, let’s break them down and check them out.
Grindr
Grindr is the most popular Queer social app according to Apple’s app store, with a customer satisfaction rate of 4.6 stars out of 5 stars. Grindr is one of the first geosocial apps on the market and has been around since 2009. The benefits of Grindr include, that you can set your preference — are you a top looking for a bottom, are you looking for older or younger? Grindr has preference settings to narrow your search so finding a partner can be easier. Grindr tells you how far away someone is measured in feet, and has about an overall radius of 100 miles; if you are not satisfied with the standard Grindr account, you can pay a monthly fee of $19.99 for Grindr Xtra and see members even further away from your standard radius. Grindr even has a location search where you can search other cities. Grindr’s main attraction is finding members within your location, and if someone is interested in you, they can “tap” you which sends a notification to your profile that they are interested in you.
Scruff
Scruff is the second most popular Queer social app, according to Apple’s app store, with a customer satisfaction rate of 4.5 stars out of 5 stars. Scruff has been around since 2010 and varies a bit from other apps like Grindr, in the sense that your member search can be more specific. The main marketing idea with Scruff, is focusing on men who are “Scruffy”. The big benefit of Scruff that draws users to the app, is you can search for exactly the type of people you’re looking for. Are you looking for chubby men, hairy men? Are you looking for members who have a positive HIV status or have a certain body type? Scruff gets down to the specific types of members you are looking for and narrows those members down based on your location. Scruff was actually the very first gay social app that included the search option to find the military community and the transgender community. If you are not satisfied with the standard Scruff account, you can purchase Scruff Pro for $19.99 which includes unlimited photo sending as one of their key features. With the standard Scruff, photos vanish after some time in chats, but with Scruff Pro the photos you exchange do not vanish, and you can send an unlimited amount of photos. When you’re interested in another member, you can send a “woof” to someone who sends the other person a notification that they are interested in you.
Surge
Surge is the third most popular Queer social app according to Apple’s app store, with a customer satisfaction rate of 4.5 stars out of 5 stars. Surge has been around since 2015 and is essentially the “gay Tinder”. The main difference with this app compared to other Queer social apps. Is that it is the same with Tinder. You can swipe right when you like someone, and swipe left when you do not like someone; if someone also swipes right on you, you “match” with that member. With Surge, unlike other Queer social apps, not all photos are public; you can have a completely other album of photos titled Secret photos that are more intimate. If you are not satisfied with Surge, you can upgrade to Surge Premium with 1 month, 3 month, or 12 month options and gain Private Mode, a setting that only allows people you match with to see you on the Surge feed, and allows for and edit history where you can see previous members you have swiped left on and change you swipe to right and vise versa.
Her
Her is the most popular Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender social app according to Apple’s app store, with a customer satisfaction rate of 4.4 stars out of 5 stars. Her has been around since 2013 and focuses on more than just dating and hookups. What makes Her special is the app’s sense of community. When using Her, you can find other members (a community) with similar interests to you; be it sports or hobbies like cooking within the app. Her is also different from other social apps, because you can find what events are happening around you, like open mic night for example, and see how many other Her members are attending those events. If you are not satisfied with Her, you can upgrade to Surge Premium starting at $14.99, with membership options lasting 1 month, 6 months, or 12 months. Her Premium has options that differ from their standard versions, like Incognito Mode for example, that lets your account stay hidden unless you “like ” someone else first. Her Premium is also ad-free which can make your app experience alot less annoying.
Tser
Tser is the most popular Transgender social app according to Apple’s app store, with a customer satisfaction rate of 4.3 stars out of 5 stars. Tser has been around since 2019 and focuses on building a stronger community within the transgender population. What is interesting about Tserm is you can share a life moment. If there is a special memory or event that has happened, you can share that as a post on your profile. Another great feature is you can send voice messages to members so not everything is text-based. Tser consists of a large community and is currently reaching larger audiences in the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and in Singapore too. The only downfall with Tser is that there is not a free option. There are payment plans of 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months with the lowest payment option of $12.99.
Bumble
Bumble is a popular social app within the Queer community with a customer satisfaction rate of 4.3 stars out of 5 stars. Bumble has been around since 2014, and was named one of Apple’s apps of the year in 2021. Bumble is a fun and interesting app because you can use this app for 3 different purposes. If you are using Bumble for dating, women make the first move. So, if you’re a straight man you will have to wait for the ladies to reach out to make anything happen. Bumble also has a focus on building friendships, not just a dating app, Bumble is popular with anyone not looking for romantic connections. Similar to Tinder, for both romance and friendships you can swipe right or left on anyone that interests or does not interest you with the app allowing you a 24-hour response window. One other option with Bumble if you are not looking to make friends or to date, is you can use Bumble to expand your business. With Bumble Bizz, you can use this app to help you network, find mentors, and create career opportunities according to Apple’s app store. Bumble is free, however, if you are not satisfied with the app’s standard version, you can purchase Bumble Premium and Bumble Boost with weekly, monthly, 3 month, or 6-month subscription plans; both offer super swipes and spotlight boosts if you want to highlight yourself or anyone else.
Taimi
Taimi is one of the most popular queer social apps according to Apple’s app store, with a customer satisfaction rate of 4.4 stars out of 5 stars. Taimi has been around since 2017. Taimi’s main focus within the app is to not put any members inside a box. In other social apps like Grindr, or Scruff if you are male presenting and identifying, they allow you to look for specific members based on body type and even sexual position preferences. With Taimi, you can explore fluidity with several gender options, and even 15 sexual orientations according to the app store. There are multiple features, for example, rainbow likes that make your profile and pictures stand out. Taimi has throwbacks, where you can view previous profiles, taimi cards which allow you to share pictures, quotes, or anything personal about you with others. Taimi’s latest notable feature is profile boosts that help give your profile an extra push for attention. Taimi is a free app, but does offer bronze, silver, and gold subscription packages as well.
Growlr
Growlr is one of the few Queer apps that cater to a specific group of people within the Queer community. Growly has been around since 2010, and has a customer satisfaction rate of 4.3 out of 5 stars. Other Queer social apps like Grindr for example mainly cater to the overall community, but what is nice about Growlr is the app focuses on the bear community. Like Grindr in the sense of formatting, Growlr only shows men who are bigger in body shape and/or are hairy. This app is focused on that specific attraction, so if you are not attracted to bears, Growly is not for you. If you are a bear, rt a bear chaser, you will want to check out this app. Aside from favoriting members, or typical chats, Growlr has a great feature that shows specific bear events, activities, and bear-friendly gay bars around your area. Growlr is free, however, they also have various Growlr PRO plans for different rates as well.
Recon
Recon is not just for any Queer person; what is special about this app is this app cators to the kink and fetish population of the Queer community. Recon has had their website since 1999, but launched their app version in 2010; unfortunately, Recon’s customer satisfaction rate is only 2.6 out of 5 stars. Anyone can look for anything related to hooking up on any Queer social app, however, Recon is the app for anyone looking for others who are into any heavy fetishes. Pup play, leather, scat, etc, Recon has people wanting the same. With this app, you see who is close to you in your area, you can list what fetishes and kinks you are into, and Recon will narrow the search to only show people of the same likes. Recon hosts regular kink events, so if you are new to the scene, they offer opportunities for you to network in person. Recon is free, however, if you get their premium version, your chats will not have any ads, and will have more variety for filtering profiles too.
Daddyhunt
Only into older men? Daddhunt is just the app for you! Released in 2014, and with a customer satisfaction rate of 4 out of 5 stars, Daddyhunt was created by Carl Sandler who also founded Gay.com, and the MISTER dating app. Same with Growlr, Daddyhunt is one of the few Queer social apps that cater to a specific group within the Queer community. This app mainly focuses on older men (daddies), and younger men (who are only looking for daddies) in a Grindr style of formatting that has over 20 different filters so you can connect with anyone around the world. Daddyhunt is free, however, if you get Daddyhunt Premuim, you get extra features like being able to see who has viewed your profile, unsend messages, browse profiles anonymously, and be free of ads.
Cruising Gay Hangouts Dates
Have you ever been interested in cruising, but nervous to go about cruising in the old fashion way? Cruising Gay Hangouts Dates is the app to get you started! Cruising Gay Hangouts Dates has been around since 2015 and has a customer satisfaction rate of 3.5 out of 5 stars. This is a location based app that lets you see who in your area is trying to cruise. This app shows you popular cruising spots and tells you the number of people who are “checked in” to be at that location so you know how many people will be around. Be prepared though, many critiques of the app have been too many add pop-ups, and the app’s map is not updating as regularly so the number of guys appearing in your area may not always be accurate. Cruising Gay Hangouts Dates is a free app, however, they do offer a premium membership that offers no ads, and lets you see who views your profile for as little as $2.99 a month.
Zoe
Zoe is the second most popular app for Bisexual and Lesbian women. Launched in 2018, Zoe has a customer satisfaction rate of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Zoe has a similar format to Tinder, where you swipe left and right on who is around your area; you need photo verification on your profile and can request photo verification of profiles who have messaged you. Zoe lets you be in “private mode” where you are only visible to the users you have swiped right on, matched, and messaged. You can also have a private photo album, and snaps where photos disappear in seconds. Zoe is completely free, however, Zoe does offer a premium membership that allows you to see your swipe history, see who has swiped right on you, and lets you rewind where you can change a previous swiped left into a swiped right. You can see all the latest news and updates from the Zoe app through Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok too.
Lex
Lex is an all inclusive LGBTQ+ app that is mainly centered around creating new friends within the Queer community. Lex was launched in 2019, and has a customer satisfaction rate of 4 out of 5 stars. If you are someone in the Queer community who is more focused on making friends and networking you might enjoy Lex. Lex is similar to Facebook where you can connect with anyone within your area, but you can also make posts on your profile and be a part of specific chat groups. You can ask public questions, join/create chats, and find people who can join the same hobbies as you. Lex is a completely free app and you can find recents videos and posts from Lex via Tiktok.
Fiorry
Fiorry is the second most popular social app for anyone a part of the Transgender community with Her coming in first. Launched in 2018, Fiorry has a customer satisfaction rate of 4.4 out of 5 stars. What is great about this app is that you can check your compatibility with other users. Fiorry lets you look at how well you are paired with another user based off of sex, mindset, lifestle, and habits. Some critiques on Fiorry that users should be aware of, is their advertising has been controversial in the past with showing cis appearing couples, and there have been issues with profile verification. Do not worry though, since the app’s initial release, the creators have made accounts have profile verification so all profiles are real. Fiorry is free, however, you can purchase the premium membership which allows you extra features within your profile
Take the First Step
Whether you are wanting a romantic partner, or wanting to make friends and be a part of a community, there are many options for social apps that can help you achieve your interests. Many people in the Queer community feel excluded, or feel there is not enough representation in the media, but thankfully there are many social apps that can help anyone in the Queer community feel they belong. The apps listed above are not the only apps for the Queer community, there are tons of other options for gay and bi men, lesbian and bi women, the transgender community, and anyone else who is just dipping their toes into the LGBTQIA+ world. Take the first step and download an app that speaks to you!
