The Best International Dating Sites of 2024: What Worked for Us
Are you currently looking for international dating sites to find love? If so, you probably know that it can be extremely difficult to find someone legitimate with all of the catfishing going on, nor do you want to waste time and money on an international dating site that’s full of fake profiles. That’s why finding the right international dating site is a game changer.
By design, an international dating site should provide a reliable way to connect with potential matches, chat in a safe and non-threatening environment from the convenience of your phone/computer, and eventually set up dates to see if you have chemistry. In this article, we’ll look at the top international dating sites that are worth using, which considerations you should have in mind when choosing the right app, and a couple of useful tips that’ll give you a competitive advantage.
First, we checked out a handful of promising options. We tested out each of these options over the course of several weeks to see if these apps are popular, full of active users, and actually effective when it comes to helping international singles connect with each other.
Since most of these dating apps require a paid membership, we paid for this to see if the paid features are worthwhile. After our testing period, we then narrowed down our list to 5 international dating apps that we believe are worth trying out.
The Top Two International Dating Sites Right Now: Elite Singles and AFF
If distance doesn’t stop you from finding love (or something like it), then these are the two dating sites that you might want to try first.
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|---|---|---|
| Overall Our team rates each site objectively based on many hours of independent research, the features each site offers, and how it compares with other sites. The ratings are the opinion of our editors and their extensive experience. |
7 | 9.5 |
| Quality of Women Our opinion of how attractive the typical woman is that uses this site and how easy they are to connect with compared to other sites. |
7 | 9 |
| Popular How many people are using this site to actually meet people compared to other sites. |
7 | 9 |
| Usability How easy is this site to use and how quickly can an average person begin meeting people compared to other sites. |
8 | 10 |
| Privacy & Safety Does this site take proper precautions to safeguard its members, their identity, and their data. |
10 | 10 |
| Effective Our opinion of how easily an average person will be able to achieve their dating goals with this site compared to other sites. |
7 | 9 |
| Value Will the time and money spent using this site pay off for an average person based on the opinions and experience of our editors. |
7 | 10 |
Try EliteSingles if you’re looking for top-shelf people abroad
Face it, if you’re looking for love in other countries, you’re probably already a high-net-worth individual. Cut out the scams with Elite Singles, a “serious online dating” app that’s geared towards those looking to date the upper crust (90% of users hold a higher-education degree). Based in Germany and with offices around the world, EliteSingles can be accessed in 25 countries worldwide.
Sign-up is easy and only takes 10 – 15 minutes to set up your profile. Once your EliteSingles profile is filled out, you can start matching with people who live in the same city as you or those who live in a different country. Best of all, you won’t have to deal with the exposure of apps like Bumble, Tinder, Hinge, and others, so there’s a minimal chance you’ll ever talk to a scammer or someone trying to catfish you.
Try AFF for hookups wherever you are in the world
If you travel often and want to find a reliable friend(s) with benefits, AFF is your best choice. Featuring a free trial, users on AFF can set up the app in minutes and begin browsing singles in their local area or abroad. With email, text chat, groups, and cam options, you can set expectations from the get-go and get it on ASAP. Best of all, AFF is completely secure, featuring end-to-end encryption, and has privacy settings so you’ll never interact with scammers.
The Other Top International Dating Sites Worth Considering
Beyond the Top 2 dating apps for dating internationally listed above, we have three (3) other options that you can try. Here are our other picks:
Zoosk
One of the largest dating websites that’s available in 25 languages and in more than 80 countries is Zoosk. With a similar design to other dating sites, it’s easy to start. Simply create your profile, add some attractive photos, and you can start matching right away. With location-based features, international dating is a cinch.
That being said, Zoosk didn’t make our Top 2 because it’s a bit of a grab-bag app – you’ll have to deal with a wide range of people, including criminals and catfishers galore. Still, it’s used nearly everywhere, so give Zoosk a shot today.
InternationalCupid
InternationalCupid has over 4 million active users, which is quite a lot of international singles for you to choose from around the world. With an easy sign-up process, you can start matching with relatively little effort. Signup is free, but memberships can get pricey. For this reason and because the web design leaves a lot to be desired, InternationalCupid simply didn’t meet our standards for the best of the best when it comes to international dating sites.
Tinder
Tinder is not just the most used dating app in the world – it’s also the most popular app on the planet! Whether you’re looking for a hookup, a date, or even long-term love, Tinder is a great place to start. Best of all, you can explore international relationships. However, Tinder didn’t reach our Top 2 because the app has a lot of fake profiles and you’ll need to pay for Tinder’s most useful feature for finding international love, “Passport to Any Location”.
The Most Important Considerations when Choosing a Good International Dating Site
Determining which international dating app is the safest requires a fair amount of planning and research before deciding if it’s the right choice for you. To help you find what works for you, verify the five (5) following criteria to make the best choice.
Consideration #1 – Check out the number of users to make sure the app is worth using
An international dating app is only as useful as the number of people actively using it. Verify how many people are actually using the app. A simple way to do this is to look up “[dating app name] current users [current year]” on a search engine. If it seems too low (less than 50,000 users) and you live in an isolated area, it’s most likely not a good choice.
Consideration #2 – Consider dating foreign nationals that live in your country
If you have a preference for meeting a certain ethnicity or someone from a particular country, you may need to look at domestic apps and screen for those with their nationality posted on their profile. Obviously, this can be a “needle in a haystack” approach, but you’d be surprised at your results – especially if you filter by keywords like their home country.
Consideration #3 – Does the app protect your privacy by hiding your profile?
When it comes to an international dating site, you probably don’t want to advertise that you’re looking for someone outside of your country (for a number of reasons). Look for dating apps that enable you to hide your profile until you’ve made the choice to vet a potential match, this option usually comes with paid memberships.
Similarly, privacy is a big concern – and it should be on your terms. With international laws creating complexity for recourse in the event that you are targeted by scammers, verify just how private your profile is when using the app. If you’re inundated with emails and messages from people you don’t want to meet, you may want to look elsewhere.
Consideration #4 – What language should I be using?
Unless both countries use similar languages, you should definitely note your fluency with both your native language and the language of the ideal person you’re trying to meet. If it’s a strictly English-language dating site, you’ll only meet those who are fluent in English.
Consideration #5 – What type of relationship is the app geared towards?
You’ll need to be clear about which international dating site fits the type of relationship you’re actually looking for. Some apps may even have those looking for mail-order brides or those seeking citizenship through marriage, whereas you may be just looking to start with simple correspondence and go from there.
Also, if you’ve chosen a hookup app like Tinder, you’ll find difficulty finding long-term love; vice versa, Match, and eHarmony may not be the best choice for spontaneous hookups.
5 Key Tips to Get Great Results Using International Dating Sites and Meeting Other People Around the World
The five (5) tips below are designed to save you a lot of free time and money when using international dating sites. Read on to learn how to game the system in your favor!
Tip #1 – Play the numbers
While you may hit it off with the first batch of people that you match with, understand that there are plenty of people around the world to choose from. Even if you get some near-instant matches that seem legitimate, the sad reality of dating apps is that some users will ghost you without warning, lose interest, or hit you with a scam once you’re invested in actually meeting up with them.
Play the field by matching with as many people as possible (easier with paid memberships on most apps), whittle down those who meet your dating requirements, and unmatch those who don’t seem legitimate. Those that drop off are just part of the process. Also, keep in mind that users that match with a higher number of users tend to get a boost in the rankings, so you’ll actually get more matches if you swipe right and like profiles more often than not.
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Tip #2 – Take your sweet time
It may seem unbelievable, but international dating online is often slower than meeting someone in-person when visiting a country. Take your time to get to know a person and see if you have similar things in common. Those who press for a quick date are often poor matches who swipe on every profile hoping for a response, often leading to disappointing outcomes. Also, being desperate to meet is always a turn-off, so you’ll want to ride the delicate balance of being interested but not in a rush. Correspond and eventually switch to a way to communicate off the app when you both feel comfortable.
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Tip #3 – If you can afford it, always pay for a membership/subscription
International dating apps are designed according to a profitable business model, so they’re incentivized to give better results to those who are willing to invest in their love life versus those who can’t/won’t pay.
Because you’re paying for exclusive access, a membership gives you a competitive advantage with better search features, and a noticeable bump in the search algorithm, and serves as a way to sort out the riff-raff.
Tip #4 – Complete your entire user profile
Signed up for an international dating app, uploaded only a few pictures, and glossed over adding info to your profile? To be honest, that’s simply not enough effort to make an impact in the highly-competitive online dating world. You’ll want to complete your entire profile, add as many photos as possible, and answer survey questions from time to time to make a better impression on potential matches.
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Tip #5 – Engage with the app frequently
Use your international dating app(s) as frequently as possible. Enable push notifications from the app if available and respond immediately (or have your email set up to give you a notification). Timing is important and using apps that show that you’re currently using the app gets more responses.
This active usage also boosts your ranking in most search algorithms, as user engagement is an important metric for determining who are priority users versus casual users.
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Frequently Asked Questions About International Dating Sites
Everyone wants to know about international dating sites – and HeartInsider has the answers you need for dating success. Take a look at the most frequently asked questions below about dating apps that most people want to know before using them (also, feel free to add any comments below on your experience or questions you’d like answered).
What are international dating sites?
An international dating app is exactly as you might suspect: smartphone- and desktop-based applications that enable people in other countries to find one another for romantic relationships.
As you read in the five major considerations we listed previously, the dating world for those who live abroad is often difficult because of the unique nature of countries. Most people who live in different countries often have to use VPNs to game the search results for people they’re trying to meet. With international dating apps, you can circumvent these obstacles and get better overall results.
Are international dating sites legit?
The most honest answer is yes and no. There are plenty of legitimate international dating sites listed in this article, but there are also plenty of those that can be scam sites with fake profiles.
For the legitimate international dating sites, your mileage will vary when it comes to which apps actually get results versus those that offer premium subscription memberships for exclusive access to their user base. The truth is international dating apps come and go fairly regularly, based on their current popularity, overall success rating, design, and other factors.
Are international dating sites safe?
There will always be a degree of risk when putting your personal information online – especially when it comes to foreign commerce. Most popular apps have a good reputation based on using top-tier security and privacy options. However, some of the less popular and newer international dating apps may not be able to handle sophisticated criminals and scammers reliably, meaning that you’ll need to take several precautions:
- As with dating in general, it helps to properly vet who you intend to meet up with and date beforehand. While you can screen for serious red flags among people that you’ve met in person by using your intuition, online international dating requires more scrutiny of each match you have through text conversations, verifying accurate details on their profile, and any other information they provide.
- Avoid paying upfront for any international dating site, as these sites may use your credit card/payor information for bad purposes (or simply take the money and run).
- Look into international laws regarding online conduct and what type of recourse you would have if your information was compromised.
- Catfishing has become a nuisance for online dating internationally, so always avoid dangerous situations when meeting up or choosing to give out any financial/personal information unless you’re aware of the risk. Last, be prepared to block someone or report their behavior if they cross your personal boundaries or you feel that they’ve misrepresented themselves.
How do international dating sites work?
Most international dating sites help you find a match first by verifying your personal information (ie. you may need to submit a government-issued ID). Once verified, you’ll swipe or like other users’ profiles based on whether they’re attractive to you (some international dating apps also give you recommendations for someone compatible). The visibility of these profiles is based on each app’s unique algorithms that pair you with compatible matches and/or the criteria you set in your searches (such as location, distance, interests, relationship type desired, and so forth). Once both people match, the conversation starts through text on the app. Text well, and you may just find yourself an in-person date when you’ve decided to meet up.
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