Best Online Dating Site In Australia

So you're looking for love, just like millions of other Australians. But where exactly should you be looking? Do free online dating sites offer a good service at the right price? Or should you opt for paid online dating sites instead?

Then joining the best Australian dating site is key, and that’s why we're here. Our trusted online dating service continues to be the first choice for many singles dating in Australia. Our safe and secure dating site ensures all members are well looked after, and have the best chance of finding the ideal partner. For free site on dating scams, read below the ' watch out for online dating scams '. Free sites can be a good, free-commitment australia to start, but they do come with strings attached: Some free sites can be quite australian-on for the details department so you have to make a dating decision almost solely on appearance Tinder is notorious for. Here are 10 top and best dating sites for singles in Australia: 1. Photo: Screenshot from Zoosk. Zoosk is one of the most popular and widely used dating websites in Australia, with 1.1 million members. One of the benefits of this website is that it is free so you won’t need to pay to use it, however, the app also has subscription. Clover also offers on-demand dating which basically allows people to shortcut the small talk and go straight to setting up a meeting. You can also join local events and online meetups based on your interests like 'Game of Thrones' or 'Fitness Freaks', so you get the real world experience of talking in a group setting rather than one on one.

We've reviewed dating websites like RSVP, eHarmony, Oasis, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish and Zoosk, as well as apps Bumble and Tinder, to help you single out which kind of site is most likely to suit you.

Our investigation looks at key things like price, privacy, and demographics and found that online dating scams are rife, and some privacy policies and terms and conditions are riddled with disturbing provisions.

On this page:

Which dating app is your perfect match?

Which is the best online dating site for me?

Free sites can be a good, low-commitment way to start, but they do come with strings attached: often, you can't access full profiles or all the features of the site (which is the case with eHarmony).

Some free sites can be quite light-on in the details department so you have to make a dating decision almost solely on appearance (Tinder is notorious for this). Sites like eHarmony have more detailed search criteria but the paid version will yield a narrower search, giving you matches you're more likely to be into.

Paid membership can give you greater control over your privacy settings and can weed out the weirdos and hook-up artists so you won't be inundated with messages from people who aren't right for you.

Sites that only let you contact members if you've both liked or swiped right on each other also eliminate unwanted messages

Sites like OkCupid that only let you contact members if you've both liked or swiped right on each other also eliminate unwanted messages. Bumble takes this one step further by only allowing women to send the first message (for heterosexual matches) to minimise the deluge of messages women invariably receive on dating sites.

For many sites, you can't actually access pricing information until you've joined up, by which time you might decide it's not worth it. To help you decide whether to part with your hard-earned cash, we've listed membership prices for each site below.

CHOICE Tip: If you want some control over which third-party advertisers can track your online movements and target you with ads, you can opt out of ad targeting by ad agencies who are members of the Network Advertising Initiative. Check out their website for more details.

Bumble

Who's it for? Younger membership. Female-friendly, where women make the first move (for heterosexual matches).

Price: Free to $30.99/month.

Privacy: Facebook details may be shared.

Australian members: 3 million.

Demographic: The age range on Bumble is 18–80.

Angle: designed to 'disrupt traditional gender roles', women must make the first move in sending a message for heterosexual matches. (Either person can initiate contact for same-sex matches.)

Unique features: Bumble isn't just for dating – the app also includes Bumble BFF (for platonic friendships) and Bumble Bizz (business networking), making it a kind of Facebook/Tinder/LinkedIn hybrid.

Matching: Bumble uses your GPS location to find people in your area who fit your age criteria. If you swipe right on someone's profile and they swipe right on yours, it's a match and you'll both be notified.

'The Bumble app is free and I have had the most dates with this app. It's an easy format and given the female makes contact first, you can eliminate unwanted attention.' – Kate*, 44.

How much does Bumble cost?

The Bumble app itself is free to download, but you can pay to access a few premium features.

Bumble Boost: $3.99 for a one-day subscription or $13.99 for a one-week subscription. Monthly prices range from $17.80 to $30.99 depending on the length of subscription. If you're a really die-hard dater, you can even buy a lifetime subscription for $189.99. Boost gives users access to premium features such as unlimited search filters, the option to rematch with expired users and unlimited Extends, which is the option to extend the 24-hour window to start a conversation by another 24 hours. You also get access to your Beeline – a queue that shows you everyone who's already liked your profile.

Bumble coins: $4.99 for two, or $10.99 for five, $29.99 for 15 or $52.99 for 30. These allow you to access SuperSwipe, which lets you tell a potential match you're confidently interested in them, and Spotlight, which pushes you to the front of the match queue for 30 minutes.

Privacy

To sign up, you'll need to use either your Facebook account or your phone number, so if you're not comfortable using either of these, give Bumble a miss.

If you sign up using your mobile phone number, you may receive promotional SMS messages and survey requests from Bumble.

Bumble is a US company, so your info will be sent to and used in the United States, regardless of where you live, and the storage of your personal data may not be subject to the same protections as those stipulated by Australian law. They may also share your information with third parties.

If you sign up using Facebook, Bumble users can access and share your Facebook information with people who aren't Bumble users (even if you haven't shared it directly to Bumble).

'When using Bumble, you should assume that anything you post or submit on the app may be publicly-viewable and accessible, both by users of the app and non-users of the app,' the Bumble privacy policy warns. 'We want our Bumblers to be careful about posting information that will eventually be made public.'

Safety

You can verify your profile by taking a selfie mimicking one of 100 random photo poses. A Bumble team member reviews the photo and verifies or rejects your verification.

Pricing issues

You can't access pricing for the premium features until you've created an account (and given Bumble access to your Facebook account or phone number). Subscriptions also automatically renew unless you've turned auto-renew off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period.

eHarmony

Who's it for?Profiles created from a detailed questionnaire. You can only see photos if you pay.

Price: Free to $49.90/month.

Privacy: eHarmony holds onto your information indefinitely.

We asked eHarmony for up-to-date details about their membership demographic, but they didn't respond.

Unique features: eHarmony's selling point is its tailored approach. Your profile is created from a detailed questionnaire where you rate your personality and appearance, plus what you want in a partner and relationship.

Matching: users are matched based on their personality profile, using eHarmony's '29 dimensions of compatibility'.

How much does eHarmony cost?

You can access eHarmony for free, but paying a subscription gives you more information about other users.

Free: Users receive a personal profile, view daily matches and have limited interaction with their matches, like sending a smile or a limited number of set questions. You can only see limited information about matches, and you can't see photos.

Paid: $49.90 per month for a six-month plan, $39.90 per month for a 12-month plan or $29.90 per month for a 24-month plan. A welcome offer is available which entitles users to a 50% discount on subscriptions for the first 3 months. Subscriptions entitle you to see who's viewed your profile, send unlimited messages, see unlimited photos, filter your matches by interest, search matches by distance and receive help optimising your profile.

Privacy

By posting information and photos on a profile page or any public area of the eHarmony website, users automatically agree that eHarmony can retain and use their information indefinitely, unless they tell eHarmony otherwise. Users' contact details may be shared with third parties for advertising.

Pricing issues

eHarmony doesn't disclose the price of its plans until after you've filled out their onerous survey, by which point you may have invested hours. While most other sites offer a one- or two-month subscription, eHarmony's shortest subscription plan is six months. The longest is a 24-month membership, which could appeal to bargain-hunting users, but locks users in for an extended period of time. The question to ask is: if I'm still using the site 24 months later, has it been worth the (not insignificant) fees charged?

Oasis

Who's it for? Younger membership. Virtually all features are free.

Price: Mostly free.

Privacy: Profile info (including photos) can be used for advertising or shared with third parties.

Australian members: more than four million.

Demographic: Oasis has a younger slant – 48% of users are 18–35; 34% are 36–50.

Gender split: 60% male; 40% female.

Unique features: Oasis is one of the few sites that offers virtually all features for free. (There are a few paid features but they don't give you any additional access to profiles or chat.)

Matching: users describe their personality, interests and hobbies and select criteria for their ideal partner. They can then search for suitable matches.

How much does Oasis cost?

You can use Oasis for free, and you'll have access to all member profiles and unlimited chat. Or you can choose to pay small amounts for additional benefits, such as:

Shout Out: $5.45. Boosts a member's profile.

Go-Ad-Free: $5.45. Removes all ads from the site for 30 consecutive days.

Privacy

By signing up, users agree that all profile information is public – including photos – and so automatically grant an irrevocable and ongoing licence for the company to use and distribute any information posted or transmitted on the site. In effect, this means users' photos, aliases and other personal details can be used in advertising, online and off, although it's possible to opt out of this by updating privacy options in the account settings portal on the website.

Email addresses, photos and information may also be shared with third parties for marketing purposes on behalf of Oasis.

You can connect your Facebook account to your Oasis account, but Oasis says it won't post anything to your timeline.

A spokesperson says all profiles and pictures are manually checked to ensure the information provided is accurate. The company also does background profile checks to reduce the amount of scammers that join the site.

OkCupid

Who's it for? Detailed, math-based matching system. Good for queer, gender-diverse and non-monogamous dating.

Price: Free to $US34.90/month.

Privacy: Your info may be shared with other dating sites like Plenty of Fish and Tinder.

We asked OkCupid for details about their membership but they were unable to provide exact numbers.

Demographic: The majority of OkCupid users are Millennials, followed by Gen Z then Gen X.

Angle: OkCupid claims to use a math-based matching system to help users find partners. After completing a basic profile and matching questions, users can elect to fill out hundreds of optional broad-reaching questions – like if they'd date a messy person, whether they like dogs, or even how often they brush their teeth. The more questions you answer on your profile, the better the matching system becomes, the company says.

Unique features: You can select which gender/s you're interested in, and what kinds of connections – hook-ups, friendship, short- or long-term dating, and non-monogamy. OkCupid had the most gender, sexuality and relationship preferences of all the sites we looked at, so it's a good option if you don't identify as heterosexual, cisgender or monogamous.

Matching: Potential matches are rated by a 'Match Percentage' based on who you're looking for, what they're looking for, and how similarly you both answer questions that you mark as important. Users can then flick through one potential match at a time, search for users based on specific criteria including gender, age and distance or browse all potential matches using the discover feature.

How much does OkCupid cost?

OkCupid has free and paid A-list memberships. According to the company, the site is designed so that a free account doesn't hinder your use of the site – you don't need the paid features to use the site.

Free: Users can look at profiles and photos and contact other members.

A-list: $US19.95 for one month; $US14.95 per month for three months; $US9.95 per month for six months. A-list members can access the site ad-free, get additional match search options, send unlimited likes, get message-read receipts and see the full list of people who like them.

Premium A-list: All the features of A-list, plus one free automatic boost per day during prime time. You can also see everyone's public answers to their questions before you answer, and you'll receive something called 'Increased Attractiveness' which claims to let you see and be seen by more attractive matches. It costs $US34.90 for one month; $US29.90 per month for three months; $US24.90 per month for six months.

Incognito mode: This makes your profile invisible to everyone on the site unless you 'like' or message them, and gives you ad-free access. You can turn it on or off as you please. Prices range from $US9.95 to $US19.95 per month depending on the length of subscription.

Profile boosts: These give you a day's worth of views in just a few minutes. You can buy boosts individually, or in discounted multi-packs. They cost $US1.99 each, five for $US1.89 each or 10 for $US1.69 each.

You can't see the membership costs until you've joined OkCupid (and answered many questions) and subscriptions automatically renew. The prices are also in US dollars, and you can pay using PayPal. OkCupid can't refund purchases made via the iPhone app.

Privacy

OkCupid is part of Match Group, which owns other dating sites like Tinder, Plenty of Fish and Match, and your information may be shared with other Match Group companies. OkCupid may also share your information with third parties such as advertising partners. Tinder and OkCupid have recently come under fire following the release of a report by the Norwegian Consumer Council which found that the apps were sharing personal user information with third parties.

Security

According to a spokesperson, OkCupid has a support team that monitors all accounts using standard verification practices.

Plenty of Fish

Who's it for? Uses a 'Relationship Chemistry Predictor' to find matches.

Price: Free to $19.35/month.

Privacy: Your profile could be made visible on other dating sites like OkCupid and Tinder.

Members: 150 million registered users worldwide. Data could not be provided on Australian members.

Matching: Users fill out a profile listing preferences for a potential partner, plus an optional 'Relationship Chemistry Predictor'. PoF then sends you a report based on your survey responses and uses the data to find you matches.

How much does Plenty of Fish cost?

Plenty of Fish has free and paid memberships.

Free: A free membership lets users post up to eight photos, communicate, view others' photos and use most features of the site.

Paid: You can upgrade your membership for additional features such as the ability to upload up to 16 images, unlock any user's extended profile, see if your emails were read or deleted, find out when someone viewed your profile, go ad-free and appear first in search results. You can upgrade for $9.99 per month on an eight-month plan, $12.75 a month on a four-month plan, and $19.35 per month on a two-month plan.

You can also buy tokens to send a priority message, highlight your profile or send a 'Super Yes' to let another user know you are very interested in them. They cost $1.99 for one, $1.79 each for five or $1.69 each for 10. Tokens expire after six months.

You can't access pricing information until you've signed up (and answered many questions), which is frustrating. Bear in mind that unless you specifically opt out, subscriptions automatically renew. You can pay using PayPal.

Privacy

PoF says it may share your personal information with affiliates and third parties acting on their behalf.

PoF is part of the Match Group of businesses, which includes Tinder, OkCupid and Match. Your information may be shared with other businesses in this group. Your profile could also be made visible on other Match Group services, but PoF says it will notify you and allow you to agree or refuse 'where relevant'.

RSVP

Who's it for? Most members are 35+. Considered more credible due to higher membership costs.

Price: Free to $89/month.

Privacy: Your info (including photos) could be used for advertising or shared with a third party.

Australian members: More than four million.

Demographic: 50% of members are 35–55.

Gender split: Roughly 50/50 male and female.

Matching: Free users can select a range of parameters for their ideal partner, including age, location, height, ethnicity and education. The site regularly generates matches for you, based on both users matching each other's ideal partner criteria, plus people near you and some wild cards for good measure. It also uses its 'Discover Engine' which suggests members based on historical matching data. Paying members also have access to compatibility data, and so may have a better shot at a good match.

How much does RSVP cost?

RSVP has four types of membership:

Basic: If you sign up for free, you can view full profiles, upload up to 15 photos, receive a personality report, set criteria for matches and send and accept virtual winks, which are expressions of interest. You'll receive matches each day but one party will need to pay to initiate contact.

If you want to message another user, you'll need to use stamps. Prices range from $5–14 per stamp depending on quantity purchased. One stamp opens up 30 days of contact via chat or message with any one member.

RSVP Premium: From $20–30 per month, depending on the length of membership. This option gives you priority customer support, allows you to see who has viewed your profile and gives you extra control over your profile visibility. Your profile will be highlighted and appear at the top of search results. It also allows you to extend your stamp expiry, and you won't see ads when using RSVP on your mobile. This membership doesn't include stamps, so if you want to contact another user you'll have to buy stamps or upgrade to Premium+ or Platinum.

RSVP Premium+: From $30–56 per month, depending on the length of membership. This option gives you the same features as Premium membership, plus four stamps per month. Unused stamps can accumulate as long as your membership remains current.

RSVP Platinum: From $49–89 per month, depending on the length of membership. This option gives you the same features as Premium membership plus ten stamps per month and the ability to send a super wink every day. A super wink allows the receiver to reply to you for free.

Privacy

Signing up to an RSVP account and agreeing to its privacy terms and conditions grants permission for your personal information, including photos and email addresses, to be used for advertising or transmission to a third party.

Security

RSVP says their customer support team personally monitors and checks all profiles and photos that are submitted to the site.

Tinder

Who's it for? Easy-to-use app-based dating service. Uses geolocation to find matches.

Price: App is free; membership costs vary.

Privacy: App can access your Facebook profile and content of your chats.

We asked Tinder for details about their Australian membership numbers, but they could only provide a global figure of 5.7 million subscribers.

Unique features: Tinder is an app-based online dating service. It has the simplest format of all the apps and sites we looked at.

Matching: You pick the gender or genders you're interested in, the age range you're looking for and how close in distance you'd like a potential match to be. Tinder then uses the GPS on your mobile phone to search for nearby Tinder users. Once it locates them, it shows you their first name, age, a profile picture and brief blurb. You tap their name to read a little more about them and see more pictures, swipe right if you'd like to be matched with them, or left if you're not interested. If both parties swipe right, you're a match, meaning you can start interacting with them.

How much does Tinder cost?

You can use Tinder for free, or you can pay to subscribe to unlock extra features.*

Free: Users can see profiles, match with other users and chat with matches. They can send one Super Like each day, which shows someone that you're really interested in them.

Tinder Plus: This in-app subscription gives you access to features like Rewind (which allows you to review people you accidentally passed on) and Passport (which allows you to match with people in different locations), as well as five Super Likes per day and unlimited 'right swipes' or likes. It also gives you additional Boosts (which increase profile visibility). Tinder's pricing varies depending on a number of undisclosed factors.

Tinder Gold: Offers the same features as Tinder Plus, as well as access to the Likes You feature, which shows you who likes you before you swipe.

Super Like: You can send a Super Like to let someone know you're really interested in them. Prices range from around $1–2 depending on how many you buy.

Boost: This makes you one of the top profiles in your area for 30 minutes. Prices range from around $5–7 depending on how many you buy.

*Unless you specifically opt out, subscriptions automatically renew.

Pricing issues

Tinder was ordered to pay a settlement of $US17.3 million to its Californian users in 2019, after a class action lawsuit was filed against the company regarding its discriminatory pricing. The app was charging users over 30 $US19.99 for a subscription, while users aged 29 and younger were paying only $US9.99 per month.

Tinder's pricing policy in Australia is ambiguous and the company did not provide specific information in response to our request for pricing information. According to a Tinder spokesperson, Tinder has 'a dynamic pricing structure that offers multiple price points, which may vary by region, length of subscription, recent in-app promotions and more.'

We did a mystery shop of Tinder Plus to find out more about the app's prices in Australia, setting quotas based on gender, sexuality, location and age group (18–29, 30–49 and 50+).

The price difference between the lowest and the highest price was huge: $6.99 for a queer female under 30 in a metropolitan area and $34.37 for a straight male over 50 in a metropolitan area, for one month. On average, people who were over the age of 30 were offered prices that were more than double the prices given to those who were under 30, like in the US.

However, there were also large price variations within these age groups, ranging from $6.99 to $16.71 in the under-30 cohort and $14.99 to $34.37 in the over-30 one. This suggests Tinder is using other, unknown factors to personalise its prices further. We didn't see a pattern that could explain the differences.

Privacy

To use the app, you must sign up with your Facebook account or your phone number. If you use your Facebook account, this then forms the basis of your Tinder profile. According to Tinder, this is to ensure matches are made with people who share interests and common friends. That being said, Tinder doesn't post to your Facebook profile, so if you're concerned about friends getting updates about your use of the site, at least on this point, you can rest easy.

Tinder also gives itself access to the content of your chats when you're using the app and may share your personal data with third parties for advertising purposes.

Tinder is part of the Match Group of businesses, which includes Plenty of Fish, OkCupid and Match. Your information may be shared with other businesses in this group. Tinder and OkCupid have recently come under fire following the release of a report by the Norwegian Consumer Council which found that the apps are sharing personal user information with third parties.

You are able to view the personal data that Tinder has collected about you by using the Download my Data tool and you can also request its deletion.

Zoosk

Who's it for? Most members are 30+. Matches based on compatibility.

Price: Free to $34.95/month.

Privacy: Zoosk may use your email contacts to invite your friends to the site.

We asked Zoosk to provide current figures for their membership and demographic, but they didn't respond.

Matching: To register, you fill out a profile, which you can do by signing up with Facebook, and then populate your profile with more information like your interests or your ideal date. You can meet singles using three methods: by searching for them by distance and age, by using the 'Carousel' (which works similarly to Tinder), or by using SmartPick (which evaluates compatibility between Zoosk members and makes match recommendations). Zoosk claims to learn from your actions as you use the site, therefore making more suitable matches as you use the site more.

How much does Zoosk cost?

Zoosk offers free and paid memberships, and a pay-as-you-go system using 'Zoosk Coins'. The free profiles function as a preview – if you want to communicate with users on the site you have to pay for a membership.

Free: Members can create a profile, search for singles, and send introductory winks, but they can't send or receive messages.

Paid: Memberships cost $14.95 per month for six-months, $24.95 per month for three-months or $34.95 a month paid monthly. Memberships auto-renew unless you cancel your membership before it expires. With a paid membership, you can send and receive messages and winks, chat with connections, see profiles of those who have viewed yours, and get full access to Smartpick, Zoosk's matching services.

Subscription upgrades: You can pay extra to unlock premium features, like Premium Messaging (which allows people with free membership to reply to your messages without subscribing), Hide & Seek (allows visibility control, including hiding your profile) and Instant Crush (lets another member know that you don't just like them; you have a crush on them).

Top Online Dating Site

Zoosk Coins: You can also earn or buy Zoosk 'Coins', which unlock your matches, allow you to send virtual gifts, boost your profile, and get delivery confirmations on emails, among other features. Coins cost $19.95 for 180, up to $99.95 for 1800 coins. Coins can be earned by using or signing up to various third-party apps, surveys, services and websites.

Privacy

If you sign up to Zoosk and give the site access to one of your social media profiles, such as Twitter or Facebook, they may make posts on your behalf on that platform, and they may also gather information about your friends.

Think twice about giving Zoosk access to your address book – they keep your contacts on file and may later use your information to suggest friends and connections to other members. If they invite your friends, they may out you as being a Zoosk user by extending the invitation on your behalf. (While there's no shame in dating online, you might not want it advertised to your nearest and dearest.) By signing up to Zoosk, you grant permission for all your user content to be used for purposes including advertising or transmission to a third party.

Zoosk was reportedly the first major dating site to offer photo verification. All photos are reviewed by moderators: users can verify their profile pictures by taking a video selfie that moderators compare with your profile picture to make sure it really looks like you. You can tell which pictures have been verified as they'll have a green tick. A Zoosk representative told us that verified photos get up to 200% more views and 100% more messages than the average.

Finding love on Facebook

Facebook Dating officially launched in the US in September 2019 and is currently available in 19 other countries, although there is currently no date set for its arrival to Australia. Users of Facebook Dating are able to create a dating profile that is separate from their Facebook profile and potential matches are recommended based on preferences, shared interests, Facebook activity and mutual friends.

You're also able to discover other singles that share similar interests through groups or events. Your friends and family aren't able to see what you do with your dating profile, and you can't be matched with your friends unless you use the Secret Crush feature and you both add each other to your list.

Given how many of us use Facebook, the convenience of an embedded dating app will most likely trump users' concerns about privacy

Facebook Dating also allows users to share Facebook and Instagram stories and add Instagram posts to their dating profiles.

Best Online Dating Service

After the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook users might be understandably wary of sharing personal information in the Facebook app – especially particularly sensitive information that you might share in the course of getting to know someone. But given how many of us use Facebook, the convenience of an embedded dating app will most likely trump users' concerns about privacy. We'll be watching this closely!

Read more: Facebook, Google and your personal data

Online dating case studies

We asked a range of people to tell us about their experiences with online dating, including how long they've been on the app, their successes, their challenges, and which app worked for them.

* Not their real name

User: Victoria, 44.

Sites: Tinder, RSVP, Bumble, eHarmony, Happn.

Verdict: 'I think they are actually a brilliant way to meet and connect with people you wouldn't usually. It's great to keep chatting on the app [or site] until you're sure of a connection and then you can transfer to [phone] and then in person.'

Recommendations: 'I find Tinder is the easiest site to use but you do have to dig further to find quality. I have also had success with Bumble and Happn. When I started online dating I used RSVP and found it good at the time, but Tinder just made it all so much easier and faster – which has good and bad points.'

Length dating online? Ten years.

Success? At least 20 friendships and relationships over the past decade. She still keeps in contact with many of them.

Tips? Ask the right questions to establish someone's identity – where they work and what suburb they live in, for example.

Victoria, an online marketer, says she is 'quite fussy' but has persevered and says it's possible to find quality matches online – and she's now able to identify them quickly.

'It's probably important to note that I don't get overly worried about my privacy online as I'm an online marketer!' she says.

'I definitely think there are scammers on there, but these are fairly easy to spot. I was contacted by one and Googled the first name and who they said they worked for, and quickly found an attached fake Facebook profile (which you can tell by no interaction and just a few photos). You can also do a Google reverse image search on any images and it shows you where these show up elsewhere online. Always flag [scam] profiles to the site admin – these options are easy to find.'

User: Kate*, 44.

Sites: RSVP, Bumble, Plenty of Fish, eHarmony (briefly).

Verdict: 'It's been more positive than negative. It's a numbers game – and good timing!'

Recommendations: 'The Bumble app is free and I have had the most dates with this app. It's an easy format and, given the female makes contact first, you can eliminate unwanted attention. RSVP is good if you're looking for something more serious. You have to pay to contact the user, but the advantage is that you can see their photos and profile description.'

Length dating online? Three years.

Success? I've met some very interesting people and had some cool experiences. I've made a couple of friendships out of it – not besties, but people you can chat with from time to time. I've had one one-year relationship from using RSVP.

Tips? Be prepared for rejection. You can get anything you want from dating sites but you just need to know where and what you stand for. It's scary the first time you get into dating (if you've been out for a long time) but after a couple, you realise this is the norm and the way to meet people.

After paying for an eHarmony membership, Kate* asked for her money back after just one day. 'This is an expensive site. Once I paid, my matches were 'revealed' and I asked for my money back,' she says.

'I know this site advertises that it finds the best match, but looks and attraction have to come it into it at some point. My matches were so far removed from what I find attractive that I complained and got a refund.

'The fact that you have to pay before you see photos is not good. I do not recommend this site at all.'

User: Isabelle*.

Sites used: RSVP, OkCupid.

Verdict: 'It's a great way to meet people outside your social circle.'

Recommendations: 'Free sites can be messy to deal with. I think RSVP has a level of credibility because you have to pay and there are more processes and checks in place. People are more serious about dating on RSVP, whereas other sites are more about hook-ups.'

Success? I met my current partner on RSVP. We've been together for 2.5 years and we live together.

Tips? Get to know how to navigate the site before you jump in and start connecting with people. Try a few and see what works for you. It took me some practise to figure it out.

Isabelle* met her partner on RSVP six months after she joined. Her partner had been on there for a year and was just about to give up because he thought it wasn't working. Fortunately, they met just before he planned to deactivate his account.

'We live in different parts of Sydney and lead different lifestyles – our paths would never have crossed in the real world. But that's a good thing, I think – it helps you meet people from outside your bubble,' says Isabelle*.

User: Emma, 39.

Sites used: Tinder, Plenty of Fish, OkCupid, RSVP, eHarmony.

Verdict: Recommended.

Recommendations: 'OkCupid was the best for meeting like-minded people. Tinder was the best for sheer random volume.'

Length dating online? Several years, on and off.

Success? Two major ones – the two men I've married! [Not concurrently, we hasten to add!]

Tips? You run into all the same human behaviours with internet dating as you do with any other form of dating. People lie about their age, marital status, etc. The only real difference is that it's easier to lie about your height when you've never met in person!

Emma, a writer, met her husband Anthony, an electrician, via Tinder. They married in 2016 and now have a toddler and a dog. Anthony's two daughters also live with them part-time. Emma had been dating online for a few years before they met; Anthony, a couple of months.

'I would never have met Anthony without the assistance of internet dating because we would never have crossed paths,' she says.

Don't let a scammer break your heart – or worse.

Is online dating safe?

Internet dating can be a great way to meet new people – and possibly find 'the one' – but it's important to keep your wits about you and protect your own privacy and safety, first and foremost.

How to stay safe on online dating sites

Before you sign up for an online dating service, consider the following:

• Read terms and conditions so you know what you're signing up to and how much it will cost.
• Set reminders in your phone or diary to cancel your subscription to avoid inadvertently rolling over for a further term.
• Never include personal information such as your real name, workplace, work or home address, phone number or birthday, in your profile.
• Do a reverse Google image search on photos of profiles of people you're interested in to check for authenticity.
• When you meet somebody for the first time, pick a public place, tell a friend where you're going and keep the first meeting brief and inexpensive, such as grabbing a cup of coffee.
• Don't let somebody new pick you up or drop you at your home.
• Never send money to someone you've only ever contacted online or over the phone.

Read more: 11 online scams you need to know about

Watch out for online dating scams

According to Scamwatch, almost 90% of scam reports relating to dating and romance occurred through the internet or mobile apps. In 2019 alone, Australians lost almost $27 million to dating scams – although it could be even more as many people are too embarrassed to report losses.

The ACCC reports that they received 3640 complaints about dating and romance scams in 2019, with women losing more than twice as much money as men. People aged 45+ are the most likely to be targeted.

Social media is where many people get stung, with $9.2 million in losses attributed to dating and romance scams conducted via social media – an increase of over 20% compared to 2016.

The ACCC received 3640 complaints about dating and romance scams in 2019, with women losing more than twice as much money as men

Popular scams include convincing users to part with their personal details or money, which is often sent overseas and is unrecoverable.

'Scammers go to great lengths to gain your trust, spending months and even years building a relationship with you. Once your defences are lowered, they spin an elaborate tale about how they need your financial help with a crisis, such as being ill or stranded, and ask for money,' says ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard.

'These scams can also pose a risk to your personal safety, as scammers are often part of international criminal networks. Scammers have lured unwitting Australian victims overseas, putting people in dangerous situations that can have tragic consequences.'

Top 4 signs you're dealing with a scammer on an online dating site

1. You've never met or seen them: scammers will say anything to avoid a face-to-face meeting. Someone who contacts you from overseas is more likely to be a scammer, even if they say they're just travelling for work.

2. They're not who they appear to be: scammers steal photos and profiles from real people to create an appealing facade. Run a Google image search on photos, and search words in their description to check if they're the real deal.

3. You don't know a lot about them: scammers are keen to get to know you as much as possible, but are less forthcoming about themselves.

4. They ask you for money: once the connection's been made – be it as a friend, admirer or business partner – scammers will ask you to transfer money. Don't fall for a tall tale, no matter how plausible it sounds.

Join the conversation

To share your thoughts or ask a question, visit the CHOICE Community forum.

Australian Model – Laura Dundovic (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

I signed up for every dating site and app that I could find in Australia. There are some really good ones (and some not so good ones). Here is my quick list of the top 3 that I would focus my time on if I had to do it all over again (with #1 being my favorite). I’ll go into more detail in my reviews below.

I’ll preface this post by saying that your best success with any of the sites below will be found in a major city like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, or Adelaide. The problem with smaller towns is that there just aren’t enough members to make it worth your time to sign up. You’ve got to be in cities that have a large population of singles because dating is really a numbers game. The more people you contact, the better your chance of success.

Also, one more piece of advice…if you are looking for a short term hookup, Tinder is definitely your best option. However, if you are looking for something more longer term (like I was), check out a real dating site like the ones I will mention below.

Another Photo of Australian model Laura Dundovic (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Founded on Valentines Day 1997, RSVP is the site that I would definitely sign up for whether you are an expat in Australia or a local looking for love. It is user friendly and has really improved since I first entered the site way back in 2013.

RSVP is the giant of online dating in Australia. It has lots of members (2 million+), and the rate of response is surprisingly high for such a large site with so many members.

The stats only get more impressive: 40,000 conversations a day, 1 in 3 Australian couples that met online met on RSVP, and 1 out of every 5 Australians who used RSVP ended up married or with a life-partner.

Sign up Process

After entering your basic info, RSVP asks you to upload a photo, and then asks a few questions about yourself and your ideal partner. After these questions, you can continue filling out your profile, or start browsing for matches.

Your profile consists of a headline (a personal tagline of sorts), your personal information, physical traits, career and education, and lifestyle, and whether or not you have children or pets. You can also enter your favorite music, books, etc. and join some RSVP groups.

How to Locate Potential Matches

Finding compatible matches through the basic search feature is made easy with a ton of different refinement options. RSVP also picks matches for you based on 2-way compatibility between selected ideal match criteria.

RSVP has a couple features that you won’t see at many other dating sites:

• Why Not Consider – Profiles that may not fit within your specified criteria of an ideal match, but are looking for people like you! RSVP thinks these profiles are worth checking out, and I must say, I agree.
• Top 100 – Here you can check out the 100 most popular users on RSVP by age category. Although I enjoyed looking through these profiles, I imagine any women in the top 100 get even more messages than normal, which sure didn’t help my chances at all.

How to Communicate with Other Members

Free members can send “kisses”, but to actually message anyone, you’ll have to either upgrade to premium or buy “stamps”, which give you unlimited contact with a member for 30 days. This was a unique system for sure, but to me it felt cheap and unnecessarily limiting. They advertise as an upside the fact that you get your stamp back if your message isn’t read, but this is only if your stamp isn’t read in 30 days. Some may like this feature, but I personally prefer paying a flat rate to message as many people as I like.

I wish they would get rid of the whole stamp pricing thing. It gets expensive fast. If you are like me who does the “cast the net wide” approach but loves being on a budget, you will see that your wallet will be drained quicker than you can imagine. I am a much bigger fan of subscriptions where I pay a fixed fee and know exactly what I am getting.

Unique Site Features

One feature I did enjoy was the 15-minute personality test. Not only do you receive an in-depth personality report after completion, but RSVP uses your results to find even more compatible matches for you.

I also like the cool messaging and chat features and how the site allows you to upload more pictures than a lot of other dating sites of its kind.

Pictures are key on online dating because people tend to be lazy and often don’t read profiles. And if you have done any online dating, you know how cookie cutter profiles can seem. You know, the old “I like walks on the beach, I’m easy-going, etc.”

RSVP also provides a regularly-updated blog, where relationship expert John Aiken lays down some high-quality relationship advice. After soaking up the wisdom here, you can head to one of the live singles events organized by the site, or join discussions online about traveling, hobbies, dating and relationships and more.

As much as I like RSVP, I wish the site would take a page out of eharmony’s playbook and have a more thorough questionnaire to weed out some of the timewasters on the site.

What is Included in Each Membership Level

• Free – Upload 15 photos, exchange photos, fill out a personality report, hide members, stamp guarantee
• Standout – All of the above, plus: Personality compatibility reports, priority customer service, ad free mobile browsing, extended stamp expiry, “message read” receipts, highlighted profile in searches, appear at the top of searches
• Premium – All of the above, plus: Kiss filter and visibility control

In many ways, RSVP is just like the real world. There will be men or women who you will not click with or who don’t respond to your messages (or just disappear). There are women or men who might only be interested in helping you to part with your money. That is life.

My Advice: Just keep sending out messages and reach out until you find the person you are looking for and get success.

eharmony

With approximately 33 million members across the globe, eharmony has established itself as a worldwide leader in the online matchmaking industry.

Founded by accomplished author and psychologist Neil Warren, eharmony offers an array of sophisticated matching elements that enable it to stand out from competing sites. While the price of membership is more costly than many competitors, eharmony members benefit from an unprecedented level of web design and features.

Sign up Process

If you are interested in signing up for eharmony, you should set aside approximately one hour to complete the process. The process begins with your submission of general information, including location, gender, name and preferred match gender.

The next phase of the sign up process is the completion of a personality test. This test takes approximately 30-40 minutes to finish and includes questions regarding values sought in a relationship, the frequency of various emotional sentiments experienced within the past month, and the degree of passion or skill that you have for a particular activity.

Most questions are answered by using a rating scale that ranges from 1 to 7.

After completing the personality test, you will be asked to provide written responses to some open-ended questions related to partner preferences, activities that you are passionate about, and general background details. You are also invited to provide a photo, though this is not mandatory.

Registration is activated at this point, though members are invited to provide answers to many optional sections related to key interests and special skills.

How to Locate Potential Matches

Best Online Dating Site In Australia For Americans

eharmony has a platform that is similar to other sites that match members based upon the results of personality tests and questions. Accordingly, you are not able to search or browse member profiles.

Instead, eharmony will evaluate your test results in conjunction with responses provided by other members to assess the potential for compatibility. Matches are then filtered by location, age, and preferred gender. You will receive the profiles of match candidates but are not able to view their photos during this phase of the process.

How to Communicate with Other Members

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You can send smiles or engage in basic messaging by text. You can also access eharmony’s Guided Communication protocol, which functions as an ice breaker by providing a systematic set of steps to establish rapport with another member.

Premium membership is an upgrade that is available to all eharmony members at additional charge. It includes more advanced communication features such as Secure Call, which allows you to contact other eharmony members by phone without revealing your own telephone numbers.

Unique Site Features

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The most distinct feature of eharmony is their Guided Communication system. This system involves four easy steps to help you build a connection with another member.

The steps are as follows:

1. Five Questions: This first step involves two members asking each other 5 questions selected from 55 options provided by eharmony. Members select one of several pre-written answers provided for each question. Questions focus on a variety of topics, ranging from travel philosophy to gender roles.
2. Make or Break Sharing: In this step, members share details on match characteristics that make or break relationships for them. For instance, if you love to laugh, you may cite a sense of humor as a “make” for you.
3. Deeper Probing: In this phase, you ask open-ended questions to another member. You can choose from a collection of questions provided by eharmony or craft your own questions.
4. eharmony Mail: This is the final phase in eharmony’s messaging program. You may opt to skip directly to this step if desired.

OKCupid is a popular site worldwide that I’ve used in both South Africa and Brazil. It resulted in almost no results for me. Looking back on my history with this site, I think I’ve only had 1 date max despite hundreds of messages sent. Man is it super frustrating. I wish they would add some more barriers to make it harder for pretenders to be active on the website.

OKCupid is really a last resort site if you are in Australia. They have a decent Australian-based user base, the sign up process is easy, and they have a match locator tool. However, the ground is definitely more fertile in the other sites I mentioned above.

OkCupid.com is free to use. It incorporates several algorithms based on expansive question matching to choose the best matches for those who sign up.

The main drawback of this site is that, due to free signup, there are a high number of spammers and fake profiles, making it difficult to find a true and genuine match.

Aside from that, OkCupid.com offers you the ability to find your match based on your interest, if you are looking for a serious commitment or a casual hookup.

How to Signup?

Signing up for OkCupid.com is easy and can be done using your Facebook account or by filling in your details on your own. You will then be asked to choose a username and password. Then, there are questions that ask you about yourself and your personality.

Next, you have to Like three profiles so that OkCupid.com gets to know more about you. Then, you are good to go, and OkCupid.com will display the best matches for you.

You can just have a basic profile or can also upload your photos. Although there are only eight questions that need to be answered when you sign up, there are other columns that ask you to fill in more about yourself. You can share more about yourself, but make sure that you keep it short so that your profile looks attractive.

How to Look for Matches

There are a variety of filters that can be applied on OkCupid.com. When you browse for profiles on OkCupid.com, the display picture, username, location, age and the ‘%Match’ indicator and ‘%Enemy’ indicator will be shown so that you get to know about the compatibility, and this calculation is done based on the questions you answer initially.

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You can either ‘Like’ or ‘Dismiss’ users while using Quickmatch. However, only mutual likes will be shown as matches.

Contacting Other Members on OkCupid.com

In order to communicate with other users, you can use two options: either by liking or by messaging.

Liking is not a preferred option as users will have to purchase the premium membership to know who liked them. If you choose to message, it is free and easy. Alternatively, when you visit a profile on OkCupid.com, the user will get a notification about your profile visit.

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What Makes OkCupid.com Unique?

The complex matching system in OkCupid.com is itself unique, and it matches based on the answers you provide to their set of questions, which include your sexual desires, your opinion on interracial marriages and a few weird questions such as what you think about nuclear wars etc.

There are thousands of questions, and the more questions you answer, the more accurate your matches (at least in theory).

Membership Fees and What is Included in Each Membership Level

• Free – Create a profile, browse, Like, and message other users
• A-List – Advanced search options, invisible browsing, message filtering, extra message storage, ad-free browsing, username changes, see who has liked you, and see when someone has read your message
• Incognito Mode – Lets you Like and visit profiles invisibly, hides your profile from searches.
• Profile Boosts – Appear more often in searches and at the top of the list in Quickmatch.

How to Get Started

If you need tips on how to set up a profile, what I recommend writing for your initial and follow up messages, when to ask the woman/man you’re interested in to go offline for a date, buy my e-book, Online Dating Success: How to Find Love Anywhere in the World.

Good luck and happy dating!

Further Reading

• Worldwide Online Dating Site Reviews: Be sure to check out my country-by-country reviews of the best online dating sites in the world.

• Worldwide Moving Guide: Everything you need to know in order to plan your move to 65+ countries around the world.

• Worldwide Jobs Guide: If you are interested in working in this country, be sure to check out my posts on how to find jobs in this country and other countries around the world.

• Worldwide Apartments Guide: If you are interested in renting an apartment in another country, take a look at my articles on how to find an apartment in various countries around the world.

Visahunter.com accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the accuracy of the information contained on this site. Please read the Visitor Agreement and Disclaimer. If you think there is an error in the information, please bring it to our attention so that we can correct it. Also, some of the links above could be affiliate links, which means that I will earn a commission (at no additional cost to you) should you decide to click on the links and make a purchase. I recommend sites from time to time, not because I get a tiny commission if you click on the links and make a purchase, but because, I want you to focus on the places that will deliver you the most value and the best results. Good luck!