The best hookup apps for casual sex | May 2024
Who it’s for:
If you’re in the market for a straightforward approach to online dating and your goal is to get laid, Tinder is the app for you.
While Tinder may not explicitly label itself as a hookup app, it’s built up quite a rep for being one. It’s true that there’s a growing number of successful stories about couples who found love on Tinder, but it’s undeniably easier to get a date for the night than to find a long-term partner.
Why we picked this:
Love it or hate it, Tinder is one of the most popular dating apps out there for a reason. It’s fast, easy, and reliable. That’s why we chose it as our top pick for the best hookup app of 2024. With Tinder, you’re bound to get a date in an hour or less — it’s like DoorDash for sex.
“Tinder, hands down, is the best app for hookups,” Michelle Herzog, LMFT and AASECT-certified sex therapist, tells Mashable. “Over the past decade or so, it’s morphed from being the early 20s hookup central to a place for adults of all ages to go for a quick one-nighter.”
Profiles with a blue checkmark indicate that the person has been verified with a video selfie, so you can stay safe while swiping for nothing serious. The app has also recently rolled out a community guidelines update to help combat users who take the casual nature of the app as an excuse to send inappropriate messages.
Though it’s free for general use, Tinder offers three upgrades: Tinder+, Tinder Gold, and Tinder Platinum. These include extras like the opportunity to undo a left swipe (bless), send “Super Likes” to people you’re really into, see who has swiped right on your profile, and, in the case of Tinder Platinum, message users before they’ve even matched with you.
Even though Tinder is great for meeting new people and occasionally starting up something more serious, its reputation as a hookup app still holds strong, which means the chances of being ghosted are pretty high. So much so that the company released a faux job posting for a VP of Ghost Hunting this April Fools’ Day.
The pseudo job description included duties like leading a team of “internet sleuths who will be following up, locating, chasing down, and finding daters who don’t text back,” performing “emoji analysis,” and responding to ghost sightings to find out if work was really that crazy.
