When dating apps were recently introduced, they seemed like the solution for those who have been single for years and are becoming desperate to get a date. Today, dating apps are for all types of single people, both those who are desperately looking out for partners and those who are not. Most dating apps have been innovated to suit the sexual orientation of different types of people, whether straight, gay, queer, bisexual, etc.
What makes the use of these apps easier and accessible by just anyone is that they are free, and they come with many offers and services. But it is worthy of note that the fact that they are free to use does not mean that they provide less value. In this post, we have compiled a detailed list of the top five free dating apps in South Africa. To make choosing easier for you, we have included basic things you need to know about these apps, like their features and reviews.
South Africans Are Taking Advantage Of Online Dating Apps
As mentioned before, dating apps are not just for the desperate and lonely; they are for single people who want to mingle. It has become accepted in several countries where finding a date online was seen as taboo – after all, if people find love on social media, why can’t they do the same on a platform created for that only.
According to 2017 research, about 31% of South Africans make use of dating apps. This figure alone shows that many South Africans are now jumping onto dating apps to help them find love, and judging from the testimonies and reviews on the apps, it has been successful for many people.
As effective and fun dating apps can be, it is also important to note that some of the profiles you see are fake, and not everyone on these sites is there to find love. Some are scammers, and others want sex. With this caution in mind, here are the best five dating apps in South Africa that are free.
1. Tinder South Africa
- Active Since: 2012
- Owner: Match Group
- Usage Statistics: About 1 billion to 1.6 billion swipes per day
- Features: Anonymous swipe to like or dislike, Profile that consist of a short bio, photos, and a list of personal interests.
Tinder is not just one of the free dating apps in South Africa. It has also made a name for itself in countries like Ghana, United States, and the United Kingdom, to mention a few of the countries where singles are taking advantage of the app to mingle. On this app, you can filter different dating profiles depending on the particular location in South Africa where you would like to find a mate. You can also get options regarding where most people search for mates from and where you can mingle with fun people in South Africa.
One of the things that make Tinder stand out from other amazing dating apps in South Africa is that with all of its amazing features, it also has a free subscription and paid membership. The fact that the subscription is free does not mean that users who use it will not get the best experience. One of the major advantages the paid membership has over the free subscription is that users can rewind or boost a post to make that particular post more visible to other users. In general, the app has a unique swipe system that allows users to swipe left and right to view the profile of a potential date.
Tinder dating apps also have a super-like feature that allows users to create attractive profiles, which in turn helps them attract potential dates. If you are still not convinced that Tinder is an incredibly free dating app, then you may want to go through some of the reviews on the website. Many of the reviews on the app are from people who met an amazing person on Tinder and are either married or in a long-term relationship with their partners. Even introverts have been able to find love on Tinder.
2. Bumble
- Active Since: 2014
- Owner: Whitney Wolfe Herd, Andrey Andreev
- Usage Statistics: 42 Million Monthly User Base
- Features: Swipe Left: Reject, Swipe Right: Interested | In a heterosexual match, only the woman can send the first message
Bumble is a dating app where interested singles would find it easy to find love. It is designed to give more power to the female partner – this is especially so in the heterosexual category. For this reason, the Bumble app is generally referred to as a ‘feminist dating app.’ Perhaps another reason for the above-stated opinion is that females are the most users of the app, according to a June 2016 survey.
When a match is made on Bumble, the lady must first reach out to the guy by sending a message. If she does not do so within 24 hours of being matched, it will be lost. This way, you don’t have to wait for so long to know whether or not the lady is interested in mingling with you. However, guys interested in getting to know a particular lady are free to extend the 24 hours response duration to allow their matched partners more time to reach out to them.
Bumble programmed the system for the ladies to make the first contact to challenge the conventional dating norms that suggest that a guy must be the first person to make the first move. Whether online or offline, Bumble is one of the free dating apps where you can connect with people from different works of life safely and conveniently. The official Bumble website is filled with success stories of friends and lovers who met on the app and are now in long-term relationships. There is even a success story of lovers who met on the app in 2018 and have currently quit their job to travel the world with each other.
Other couples are happily married today, having met on the Bumble dating app. The way Bumble works encourages long-term relationships because it is not a case of a guy stalking a lady who may not be interested in him. The fact that he made a match and the lady sent a message would be proof that there is mutual consent from both parties and that they won’t go a step further in getting to know themselves.
3. OkCupid
- Active Since: 2004
- Owner: Match Group
- Usage Statistics: 3.5 Million users as at 2010
- Features: Multiple choice questions to match users
OkCupid is not just one of the largest dating sites in South Africa, and it is also one of the largest in the world. Unlike Bumble, where there has to be some level of mutual consensus, the OkCupid dating app allows any user to drop a message to a user of their choice at any time. The management of the OkCupid dating app pride itself on having one of the best dating apps with the most powerful algorithm that can match anyone with a partner that matches their spec. When you evaluate the way the app works, you can’t help but believe that they deserve the bragging rights because, on this app, users can filter matches based on photos, location, and age.
The app also has over 20 different sexual orientations to suit transgender, gays, and the LGBT community at large. Despite being an international dating app that does not center matching on appearance, male OkCupid users were voted as the most attractive males by the female users on the platform in 2009. The fact that OkCupid has a large number of users makes it easier to find a match.
4. AfroIntroductions
- Active Since: 2000
- Owner: Andrew Bolton
- Usage Statistics: 60 Million Users
- Features: Direct messaging, photo upload, notifications
Afrointroduction isn’t just one of the most fantastic dating apps in South Africa, it is also one of the best in Africa. To make use of this dating app, you will have to first create a profile. Here, basic information about yourself will be collected, and you will have to confirm you are up to 18 years old.
This shows that the app is meant for mature singles who are genuinely ready to mingle, and you don’t have to worry about hooking up with a minor. On signing in, you will also specify the gender you are interested in. This way, the algorithm can show you profiles of potential matches that you will be interested in. Some of the features of the AfroIntroduction dating app that makes it worth trying out include:
- Available In different Languages: Language barrier won’t be a problem because Afrointroduction is accessible in different languages.
- Notification: The app has a notification icon at the top that notifies you of the current number of active users.
- Direct Messaging: After matching, you can directly message the person in the app.
- Photo Upload: What better way can a person feel more at home with someone they have not met than seeing a photo and knowing what they look like? This is why Afrointroduction has made it possible for users to upload pictures of themselves.
The website of Afrointroduction has an entire section dedicated to testimonials, and users are allowed to create their own stories, so you have some level of guarantee that the story you see where created by actual users. From most of the reviews and success stories, you can tell that Afrointroduction is an excellent place to met a potential long-term partner.
5. Badoo South Africa
- Active Since: 2006
- Owner: Bumble Inc.
- Usage Statistics: 22 Million as at 2007
- Features: Photo Upload, Free subscription, Instant messaging
Badoo dating app is available on both Android and iPhone. What makes this app unique is that it takes cognizance of different sexuality so individuals who are neither male nor female can create a profile and find a perfect match for themselves. Signing up to Badoo is also very easy, seeing that users can easily connect using their Facebook account. This should not bother you if you intend to keep the fact that you signed up for a dating app a secret because your Facebook friends will not be able to know. This dating platform is has a lot of mature men and women ready for a long-term relationship.
Here are some of the featured this app that makes it a great dating platform:
- Instant Usage: Immediately after you sign up to this app, by providing all relevant information, you can find a match.
- Quality Photo Upload: Social media platforms like Facebook are known to reduce the quality of pictures, but just like Instagram, Badoo allows uploading high-quality pictures, but you should expect that this will cost you more data.
- Instant Messaging: Those who subscribe to the premium offer can send messages to their match.
Other Dating Apps Available For Free In South Africa
Singles Around Me (SAM)
SAM is an acronym that stands for Singles Around Me, a dating app that allows users to peruse through the profile of other users to view their pictures and get to know things about them that can convince them to send a message. One of the things that makes this app unique is that it can be used in different countries, so if you are traveling to another country, you can hook up with someone and even fix a date with the person before getting to the country. This way, you can make your trip fun. You can also filter your search depending on the country of your preference.
This app is available for both iPhone and Android users. Alternatively, a user can also use the mobile site. To use this app and gain access to the profiles of millions of interesting singles worldwide, you will have to first create a profile with which others can find you as well. From online reviews, SAM has a 3.8 out of 5-star review, which means it is not a bad app after all.
Sparked
Sparked is one of the newest dating apps, and it is owned by Facebook. The programmers of this app have decided to take creating a dating app away from the old conventional way by making so many innovations.
Throughout our list of best dating apps in South Africa, I guess you are already used to seeing features like creating profiles, swipes, and direct messaging; Sparked does not work like that. In this app, all of those features common with most dating apps cannot be found. In fact, the major thing it shares in common with other dating apps is that users go there to find love. I guess you now want to know the unique features of Sparked, and without wasting much of your time, here they are:
- Nice Quote: Since users don’t get to create a profile that will be a selling point to potential matches, they must create an excellent quote while registering. The quote should be able to ” sell’ your personality to another. Before allowing your nice quote to go live, it will be reviewed by a human.
- Powerful Algorithm: In most dating apps, users get to choose a match, but in this app, the algorithm picks a match for you depending on the information you have provided concerning your interest and sexuality.
- Video Dating: In place of the direct messaging feature, Users get the chance to have a four minutes date with their match. This way, you don’t have to chat with a person for so long before deciding whether or not you would like to hang out with the person.
