It may be a season, but casual dating, hook-up culture, and casual relationships are quite common all year round. In this new dating era, hookup apps are on just about everyone’s smartphone. And with good reason. You watch TV on demand (thanks Netflix) and your food can be ordered and delivered to your home while you sit on the couch (hello DoorDash), so why should finding a potential partner be any different?
UPDATE: December 7, 2023, 2:33 PM EST We have temporarily removed Feeld from our list of recommendations due to security issues related to user location after their recent update. More information can be found on the Feeld product card.
What is hookup culture?
The phrase “hookup culture” refers to casual sex or no-strings-attached sexual encounters — you know, good old-fashioned consensual sex just for the sake of it.
Long ago then, for Dating apps became a thing, people relied on casual encounters or social gatherings (mainly parties or bars) to meet someone new with whom they had a casual affair. But now, with the sheer amount of dating and hookup apps available, we’re firmly in what we’d like to call our hookup culture era, and finding a partner is as easy as swiping right on a profile photo.
The dedicated hookup app is a gateway to instant gratification, and the coolest part is that you can decide where to find your fling and how much or little you want to know about the person before you get down and dirty.
AdultFriendFinder is a borderline porn hookup site that is stuck in the past
What makes a good hookup app?
The best hookup apps don’t have to be a one-time situation. Sure, things can be kept as anonymous as taking a nameless person home from the bar, but there’s also nothing wrong with making sure that the person you see naked doesn’t have the worst sense of humor in the world has. Plus, being good at dating even if you’re not looking for something serious or exclusive can help if you’re looking for a normal friends-with-benefits situation.
While many of these hookup apps make it clear that people are looking for *that*, people on more general dating apps can avoid a lot of the mess if a warning is given about their intentions within the first few DMs. Many apps even include an option to highlight what you’re looking for, so your intentions are clear from the start.
What is ‘veto power’ in non-monogamous relationships and why is it so problematic?
How do I find people to work with?
In short, there isn’t one “best hookup app” you can use to find guaranteed partners, but you’ll probably also want to skip any apps that include a 10-minute questionnaire about romance and future families or apps that require expensive subscriptions which are intended for people who want long-term relationships.
Photos are also a big factor in good hookup apps. Some apps and dating sites hide people’s photos unless you have a paid subscription, and we don’t really like that – for physical attraction and security reasons. Apps that show the full view of someone’s profile are the way to go.
Whether you want to pay for a hookup app is entirely up to you, but we will say that Tinder and Hinge have great free versions. You can probably find an appointment by the weekend without paying a cent.
Whether you’re looking for casual sex or just want to exchange nudes, here are our picks for the best hookup apps of the moment:
