Dating changes dramatically in every new phase of your life. From the timidity of your first love to the wild side of your 20s, each new chapter of your relationships offers you new experiences and perspectives. At no time is that more true than when you start dating in your 40s. You enter relationships with more wisdom than you did as a younger woman, perhaps coming from the end of a serious previous relationship or even divorce. You know what you want and what’s important to have in a potential partner. You understand that you have worth outside your relationships. Dating at your present stage of life can be really fun.
Lucky for you, there are a myriad of safe, popular, and fun dating platforms perfect for single women over 40. No matter what you’re looking for in your dating experience, these sites and apps can help you make the best of getting out there at this point in your life, and maybe find a new person to share it with along the way.
The Overall Best Dating Apps for Singles Over 40
When it comes to online dating, it’s best to start with straightforward, tried-and-tested options. These dating sites work for people of all sexual orientations who see all types of relationships, but they’re most popular among heterosexual women seeking committed relationships. Use this list as your ultimate guide for getting back into the dating market.
1. Match
Match has become a trusted name in the online dating industry by catering to quality singles looking for love and romance. Since 1995, the dating site has developed a time-tested matching system to facilitate deep connections between men and women who share similar goals in life.
- In-depth matching appeals to women with high standards
- Video chat tools help online daters establish a rapport
- An established singles network in 50 countries worldwide
- Browse Match profiles 100% free »
Launched in 1995, Match is the classic choice when it comes to dating platforms, and is, in our opinion, the best dating site for women over 40. But just because it’s been around since the ’90s doesn’t mean Match is outdated. You can count on Match to be a reliable option for your dating needs because it has achieved more first dates, relationships, and marriages than any other site out there.
The online dating site is fairly intuitive and easy to use, meaning you’ll have no trouble getting over the initial learning curve of online dating. It doesn’t take a relationship expert or dating coach to know that Match is a great place to find a committed relationship.
With both customized match suggestions and a useful search and discover feature, Match offers the perfect blend of matchmaking curation and room to explore what you want for yourself. But with in-depth profiles including a personality questionnaire, we doubt you’ll need to rely too heavily on your own detective work before Match connects you with a compatible person.
Elite Singles prioritizes quality over quantity, and its highly selective match system satisfies discerning single women looking for a true partnership. A majority of Elite Singles users have graduated from college, excelled in their careers, and want to find someone special to share in their success.
- Helping over 2,500 singles find love every month
- An intelligent match algorithm uses profile information to reccommend dates
- Caters to relationship-minded men and women
- Browse Elite Singles profiles 100% free »
Let’s be honest: for single and high-achieving women, the dating pool can feel underwhelming at best. Sometimes it seems like all of the successful men out there are unavailable. With such a meager dating pool, you may need some extra help to give your love life a boost.
With Elite Singles, much of what you need to know is already in the title. The dating platform is targeted at professionals looking for long-term connections. You don’t need to be Carrie Bradshaw on the site to find an attractive and successful suitor. Over 80% of its members have a bachelor’s, master’s, and/or doctorate degree, making it easy to find someone on the site who has reached a similar level of achievement as you have. In part because of the successful and educated nature of its users, Elite Singles skews slightly older, with the majority of its users being in their 30s and 40s.
If the idea of fake profiles and catfish scares you, Elite Singles is a great dating option for your peace of mind. Elite Singles’ Secure Fraud Detection System keeps fake profiles off the site so you can focus on connecting with your matches.
3. eharmony
It may take some time to fill out eharmony’s personality test, but the results are well worth it. This dating site goes the extra mile to get to know its members and deliver quality matches to their inboxes. Every profile has a compatibility rating to let you know your essential similarities and differences. Plus eharmony has inspired more than 2 million love connections since 2000.
- Designed to satisfy marriage-minded single women
- In-depth compatibility quiz generates high-quality matches
- Personalized Match Preferences on gender, age, income, religion, education, and more
- Browse eharmony profiles 100% free »
If you’re looking for a meaningful connection in your potential matches, eharmony may be the place to search. eharmony’s matching software is rooted in the psychological principles of attraction so you get matched with people who are likely to actually get you. The site’s 32 Dimensions Personality Assessment includes 80 questions about a person’s likes, dislikes, hobbies, dealbreakers, and goals. eharmony’s Compatibility Matching System then uses this to determine which members would be ideally suited for each other. Finding love happens all the time on eharmony.
With its extensive profile creation process, eharmony may not be the best place to look if you’re seeking something quick and easy; you definitely need to put some work into getting started on eharmony. But once you do, the actual matching process is straightforward, easy to follow, and gives you some great conversation starters to get the ball rolling. You can even share an Icebreaker Quiz with your potential partner, in which both of you fill out the same short personality quiz and get to see each other’s answers. It’s a great way to get over any anxiety you may have by talking to someone on a dating app and getting to know your match a little better.
The Best Lesbian Dating Apps for Women
Finding well-liked dating sites for women in their 40s isn’t too difficult, but finding the best options for older single lesbians can be a challenge. You obviously don’t want a site overrun by men and straight singles, but you still want a site where your match is off their parents’ health insurance. These lesbian sites are explicitly for adult queer women of all ages.
LesbianPersonals is a dynamic dating site for women and couples interested in enjoying some girl-on-girl action. Groups of three or more can also join he lustful dating community and solicit sex in private messages and members-only chat rooms. LesbianPersonals encourages women to come into their own and express their sexuality without restraint or judgment.
- A sexy online community made up of women, couples, and groups
- Over 25,000 new photos and videos added every week
- Chat via instant messenger or live two-way webcam
- Browse LesbianPersonals profiles 100% free »
Lesbians looking for something casual will find their niche on LesbianPersonals. The hookup-only site is popular with queer women looking for a good time online. This fast-paced and sex-positive site is a great option for busy, older lesbian singles who want a hookup or fling without any baggage. Serious daters, on the other hand, probably want to steer clear of the site.
The site is easy to use, with sparse and clear profiles, a discover function to find your person, and communication capabilities within the software. You can chat live with other women using the site’s Instant Messenger Chat, which allows you to exchange photos and videos or use their two-way cam function.
5. HER
The HER team believes in the unequivocal power of queer womxn, and its niche dating community lets these strong female voices ring out loud and clear. Whether you’re looking for a date, a travel buddy, or an interesting conversation, you can mingle freely and safely here.
- Welcomes women of all orientations
- Moderators patrol the app 24/7
- Location-based matches and events
- Browse HER profiles 100% free »
Probably the best-known dating platform for queer women, HER is a wonderful place to start your queer online dating journey. With over 10 million members worldwide, the app is a great place to look for love, companionship, and even community. HER was proudly founded by queer creators who continue to dedicate themselves to creating a safe space for their members online. The site is full of blog posts on the queer experience and queer dating, and the company organizes in-person dating and community events for members. HER encourages its members to find not only relationships, but also new friends through its community.
You can find users on the site with a wide variety of sexual orientations, gender identities, and relationship goals. No matter who you are or what you’re looking for, you can find someone who shares your desires and who embraces you on HER.
With countless testimonials of queer weddings and dating success on the site, it’s safe to say that HER is responsible for finding true love for many of its members.
The Best Senior Dating Apps for Women
While women in their 40s certainly aren’t seniors, as you age, you may want to narrow your dating pool to exclusively represent singles in the same stage of life as you. If you’re a mature woman, swiping through countless profiles of singles who still have their college major in their profile can feel like a waste of time. Apps geared toward men who look forward to dating women over 40 can be refreshing. There’s no shame in wanting to date a younger man, but if that isn’t for you, these senior dating apps may be a more appealing option.
SilverSingles is a premium dating site where mature men and women can feel safe having a conversation and getting acquainted. The site only allows singles over 50 to join, and it uses advanced profile verification techniques to ensure everyone is who they say they are. Anyone looking for love and romance can rely on SilverSingles to make them a great match.
- Women receive several match recommendations a day
- Intelligent matchmaking grounded in personal compatibility
- The site maintains strict privacy and safety guidelines
- Browse SilverSingles profiles 100% free »
Anyone looking for a serious relationship with an older man should check out SilverSingles. The site has been a leading dating platform for singles over 50 since its launch in 2002. The site is the perfect place for older single women to start getting back out there and find lasting love. It is well-loved for its ease of use, its personality-based matching software, and its wide international base of singles.
Online dating can be overwhelming, especially for older singles who may struggle to navigate technology or the changing dating scene. Dating has certainly changed since you were a younger woman, and it can be hard to take that in stride. Luckily, SilverSingles makes it easy for its user base of singles over 50 to navigate the site thanks to its comprehensive safety measures and a customer care team that’s available Monday through Friday. SilverSingles makes online dating approachable and easy.
7. OurTime
OurTime has empowered singles over 50 to find the one for them online, and the streamlined matching process has won over online daters interested in quality over quantity. The dating site generates dozens of daily matches to help seniors find a mutual match with no muss and no fuss. OurTime currently has over 1 million members, and it’s growing by leaps and bounds every day.
- Popular among mature, relationship-minded single women
- User-friendly features that highlight compatibility
- Real-time messaging, flirting, and mutual matching
- Browse OurTime profiles 100% free »
Over 8.9 million people visit the OurTime site each month, and the sheer quantity of users is enough to make OurTime a stand-out site for senior dating. But beyond the high number of users on OurTime, we’re impressed by the high quality of matches and profiles on the site. OurTime users enjoy a largely even gender ratio, low cost (and senior discounts), and search filters that allow you to specify plenty of details about your potential match, from their religion to their educational attainment.
The site is aimed at older adults, and the average age of an OurTime user is 55. But the site is still open to all adult ages, so if you’re in your 40s and just know you’re ready to date an older man, you can still head to OurTime.
8. SeniorMatch
SeniorMatch offers mature women a safe place where they can meet genuine people. This senior dating site delivers personalized match recommendations every day and has advanced search tools to help singles find someone who meets their standards. Only singles over 45 can join SeniorMatch, and moderators vet every profile and profile picture for authenticity.
- Search for dates by age, location, keyword, and horoscope
- Free members can reply to messages from paid members
- A niche network of respectful and mature men
- Browse SeniorMatch profiles 100% free »
While the dating site SeniorMatch.com has been thriving since 2003, the company released the Senior Match app in 2019 with widespread success. Android users give the app 4.7 out of 5 stars, making it one of the better-reviewed senior dating platforms on the market.
With both a desktop and phone application version, SeniorMatch shines for its flexibility and ease of use. SeniorMatch is available no matter what format you want to use for online dating.
The app is also extremely safe, as its team places high priority in protecting seniors from romance scams online. When a new user attempts to sign up, the SeniorMatch team does a background check, blocking an astonishing 38% of signup attempts. With SeniorMatch, you can be sure that your dating experience will be safe and positive.
The Best Adult Dating Apps for Mature Women
By your 40s, you know what you want in a relationship. Gone are your days as a younger woman of playing a dating game you don’t want or putting your desires on the back burner for someone who doesn’t value you. If you want a casual relationship or fling, you’ll ask for it. You have a good understanding of your sexual health and what you expect from a partner.
These dating apps help women find hookups and set clear expectations before even meeting up with a new partner. They can help you find single men or women who want the same thing as you in a relationship or rendezvous.
Most Ashley Madison users are married and looking for an escape. That could come in the form of harmless online flirting, or it could mean pursuing an affair with someone special. The dating site and app aren’t here to judge anyone for what they want. At the end of the day, Ashley Madison is all about following your heart — wherever it may lead.
- Proactive privacy and security measures
- Ability to hide your face in profile pictures
- Quick Reply to matches to show you’re interested
- Browse Ashley Madison profiles 100% free »
Best known for facilitating affairs, Ashley Madison is one the most popular sites for women who want a low-profile sexual relationship or encounter. Whether you want to spice up your marriage, find a hookup partner, or just experiment, Ashley Madison provides many built-in privacy features to keep your presence on the app a secret.
With its unambiguous motto, “Life is short. Have an affair,” Ashley Madison is an established option for women in their 40s who want a break or change from the mundanity of their regular life, and is largely seen as the best dating app for affairs.
10. BeNaughty
BeNaughty embraces hookup culture with its fun, easy, and naughty dating platform. If you see someone you like in the search results or Like Gallery, you can like the profile, send a flirtatious message, or add the profile to your favorites to pursue a new connection. BeNaughty provides a safe platform where sexually active singles can cut right to the chase and arrange a steamy encounter ASAP.
- Women can stay safe and anonymous while looking for a hookup
- Like Gallery showcases the most viable men
- Extra perks and more flirts available for premium daters
- Browse BeNaughty profiles 100% free »
With a 52% female user base, BeNaughty is one of the best-loved sex-focused dating apps for women. Unlike many high-security sites that require a subscription for all users, BeNaughty is free for its female users. There’s no need to commit to a monthly subscription before signing up — you can simply create a profile, browse through the singles in your area, and use the site for hookups as often or infrequently as you want without worrying if you’ve gotten your money’s worth out of the site. You can quickly and cheaply find a mature man on the site who wants the same thing as you.
The site has many useful features that make finding a hookup easy and relaxed. You can use the site’s photo book to get in touch with local singles without needing to come up with a pickup line or spend time trying to be witty. On BeNaughty, it’s easy for a single woman to find a hookup quickly and have the sexual encounter you desire.
Adult Friend Finder is a dating site where adults can find sexual partners quickly and easily. Singles and swingers can let go of their inhibitions while browsing and chatting anonymously. Whether you’re interested in a short-term hookup or a polyamorous relationship, you can make something happen by becoming part of this open-ended sex community.
- 65% of AFF members are men seeking a hot date
- Stay anonymous as you flirt in dating forums
- Mobile-friendly platform keeps you connected while on the go
- Browse Adult Friend Finder profiles 100% free »
With a massive 25.5 million visits to the site per month, you’ll have no problem finding someone on Adult Friend Finder who’s down to get it on. The site has made a name for itself as a global powerhouse sex site, connecting millions of people seeking one-night stands, flings, and affairs, among other arrangements.
Because of the explicit nature of the site, you won’t be able to find it on Google Play or the App Store and will instead have to download the app manually or visit the web browser. Setting up the app can be a pain, and many of the features you need to actually meet people on the site — like sending messages — are only available with a paid account. With free and more convenient options out there, we would only recommend this if you know you’re actually going to try to meet people from the site.
FAQs: Are Apps Like Tinder or Bumble Good for Older Women?
If you’re considering joining a dating platform, the first apps that come to mind are probably Tinder and Bumble, two of the most popular apps on the dating scene today. But honestly, we wouldn’t recommend Tinder or Bumble for older women… unless they want to live the cougar life. The vast majority of users on Tinder and Bumble are in their 20s and early 30s, making it harder to find someone in your age range. Additionally, the men on these apps tend to swipe with a superficial lens — seldom taking the time to read a long profile — and often devalue older women.
Some reports even show that Tinder sets higher prices for older users, which sets a bad precedent for their treatment on the app.
Is Online Dating Generally Safe for Women?
No method of meeting partners is entirely safe, but online dating is actually safer than just meeting a stranger in public because there isn’t any physical threat.
That said, online dating comes with its own unique hazards, like harassment and romance scams, which do tend to target older women. But dating sites are adding more safety features to cull fake profiles and facilitate genuine connections. And when you stay vigilant online, you can do a lot to protect yourself from harm.
Which Dating Sites Would be Best for Age-Gap Dating?
Ashley Madison, Seeking.com, and Age Match are all sites friendly to age-gap relationships. You may also be able to facilitate a relationship with a younger man or woman on an app like Tinder with a younger user base; just be aware that not everyone is looking for an age-gap relationship on general dating sites.
Dating Apps Can Work for Older Women – If You’re Strategic!
Dating as an older single brings some challenges to the table. After being in a committed relationship for years, you may not be familiar with how to navigate dating sites and apps. You may find it difficult to quickly move on from your past relationship or you may want to throw yourself into a new relationship. And you may struggle with how to present yourself or find it difficult to put yourself out there. You may not know where to start with so many different dating options.
But thanks to the many dating platforms available, it’s never been easier to find singles looking for someone like you. Just make sure to get on sites that are compatible with what you want in a relationship, and get to swiping!
