Top 10 Dating sites in the UK
First things first – we wouldn’t be called Online Dating Help if we didn’t try to help you find the best dating site out there. In a way we do the same job that dating sites themselves do: we try to find you the best suitable match out of hundreds of dating sites to make sure you get the most out of it.
Of course, we’ve reviewed the biggest UK dating sites out there – take a look at our review page and there you can read extensive articles about all the biggest dating sites, covering thoroughly all the aspects of the sites from search to price. But perhaps you’re a little more pressed for time and would like to get all that information in a nutshell and right now you’re sitting there wondering: which website is the best site for online dating out there?
This is why we have put together a list of TOP 10 dating sites as we see it. In this post we cover the paid sites only because you can’t really compare paid sites with free ones very well, but we promise to do a post in the very near future covering the TOP 10 free dating sites as well.
But now to our favourite ten dating sites:
1. Match.com
Yes, I guess we’re not very original with our choice here – the biggest and most popular dating site there is also scores the near maximum from us.
Why? One simple reason: the sheer number of users. This gives you the widest range of potential dates even if you live outside a huge city. Yes, Match.com is a little on the expensive side (see our Match.com prices for 2013) but it truly does deliver, so you actually do get what you pay for.
We also really like the way the design – the profiles are clear and concise, not trying to overpower you with information yet at the same time there’s usually enough essentials to help you decide. You can see who’s looking at your profile in real time and those little red notifications of incoming winks, messages or favourites are mightily addictive! Their search is easy to use (though has occasional blips with the location search) plus they do the hard work for the lazy among us who’re not so keen on searching, providing you with a ‘Daily 6’ pick of profiles they consider match-worthy as well as a daily email selection of nearby members.
They have their own instant messaging service which saves you from giving out your Skype details if you don’t want to share them with everyone out there in the dating scene.
All in all it’s hard to go wrong with Match if you’re looking for the best dating site to help you find a relationship. Oh and their iPhone and Android mobile apps are free to use if you’re a full member and they work well too. Match.com is mighty popular for good reason. Recommended.
Read our Match.com review | Visit Match.com website
2. eHarmony.com
Another heavyweight in online dating, eHarmony is to many people better than Match because it is more systematic and only matches you with people their system calculates are suited to you. So you don’t need to trawl through hundreds of profiles of people who you’re not really compatible with, just trust in their matching system to bring the right people to you. That’s the theory anyway. See our article Match.com v eHarmony to help you decide which site’s best for you.
The thing we like most about eHarmony is the way their profiles are put together and designed – not just cleverly and thoroughly but also so that all the information is very clear and orderly, easy to read and understand. The whole site is so easy to use and is ideal for busy people (with eHarmony doing all the searching) and you can even use their “guided communication” feature to aid you in striking up a conversation. See our article on current eHarmony prices.
If, however, you’re a free-spirited person and always like to be independent in both your choices as well as words, eHarmony might not be the best place for you. Still, no one can fault the hard work that has gone into developing the site and making it one of the most user-friendly dating sites out there!
Read our eHarmony review | Visit eHarmony website
3. DoingSomething
This might come as a surprise choice after the big players of Match and eHarmony but really it shouldn’t. For if there ever was a dating site that could take away the awkwardness of a first date, DoingSomething is it. I would even go further than that and say that DoingSomething is actually much more than just a dating site – it’s a fountain of ideas for the weekend!
It gives you hundreds of good ideas what to do on a Friday night and also provides you with access to other people who would like to do the same thing on the same night. So you never need to go to cinema alone anymore or stroll around on your lonesome in the gallery. You never need to miss out on that concert or party because you’ve got no one to go with. See their London dating ideas article they wrote for us recently for a flavour of what to expect.
True, Doing Something isn’t yet a huge site and therefore it works best in and around the big cities – mainly London, really. But with their ingenious idea we really don’t see why this site should not grow to one of the big dating sites in the next few years!
Read our DoingSomething review | Visit DoingSomething website
4. MySingleFriend
If you’re the type of a person who’s got dozens of coupled friends, this might be the best site for you. MySingleFriend is the brainchild of Sarah Beeny and is steadily growing into one of the most popular dating sites in the UK.
We all know it’s not always fun to be the only single guy or a girl amongst your friends who all have boyfriends or girlfriends. We also don’t want to hear tany patronising talk of “you’ll find someone in due course” – they don’t know how hard this can be, they don’t have to worry about it!
Well, why not make it a little bit of their concern as well. On MySingleFriend it’s your friends who make a profile for you and they can even perform a search for you and recommend dates for you and put their insider knowledge to use. Guaranteed, you’re the one who has to actually show up on the dates and go through with them but sometimes our friends really do know what’s best for us and can make a pretty good choice that we might not have considered ourselves.
Read our MySingleFriend review | Visit MySingleFriend website
5. Lovestruck
If you live in a big city and are more inclined to offline dating rather than online matchmaking you might find that Lovestruck is a kind of an online dating website that is geared for more offline dating. I understand how weird that sentence looks but I don’t know how to better explain it.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Lovestruck to people who are really into online dating – creating a profile, browsing around, all the compatibility stuff, emailing, winking – the whole thing. Lovestruck works best as kind of happy medium: they can match you up with a lunch date or evening drink right there and then. Their feature where you can designate yourself “free for lunch” and “free tonight” provides you with an option to find a date that very same day thus cutting out the whole online dating business and taking you straight to a real date.
If you think you come across better in the real world than online then this is the right site for you.
Read our Lovestruck review | Visit LoveStruck website
6. Matchaffinity
Matchaffinity – like the name suggests – is another site by the same people behind Match.com. We like Matchaffinity too, it’s like a Match version of Eharmony – only it’s not quite as intuitive or popular as either Match or Eharmony.
Matchaffinity has a very comprehensive compatibility test. Apparently it’s been developed by a group of psychologists – the test has around 100 questions covering 71 different psychological criteria. This means the test is REALLY thorough and all your answers get compared to those of your potential date, giving you a similarity percentage between you and your date.
Matchaffinity differs from Eharmony in that it’s not so well organised and structured – and you also have to perform your own searches in order to find a date, but that might actually suit you better. The only real downside to the site is the price, which is unfortunately on the high side.
Read our Affiny review | Visit Affiny website
7. Zoosk
Zoosk is an up-and-coming dating site that has worked its way from relative obscurity to a serious dating site in just a few years.
It’s now a really popular site with thousands of users. Zoosk is ideal for people who are always on the move because they have apps for both iPhone and Android, you can use their own messenger system, Facebook app… we can tell you one thing, you won’t be bored here! It tends to draw a slightly younger crowd than the bigger players like Match and eHarmony.
It’s also pretty good value for money and some of the features are free to use too, so all-in-all a pretty decent site.
Read our Zoosk review | Visit Zoosk website
8. Guardian Soulmates
Comprehensive and popular dating site for . We love how many people have joined up here thus making this site more user-friendly.
It’s easy to use, it’s got a great design and a loyal fanbase. However, pay in mind that most of the users might be the Guardian readers so if that’s not exactly up your street you might not feel right at home here.
Also, it’s a little bit on the pricey side but all in all a good site with a growing base of users.
Read our Guardian Soulmates review | Visit Guardian Soulmates website
9. LoveAndFriends
The best thing about this ethical little independent dating site is the thoughtfulness that has gone into developing it. It’s not your usual dating-mill of generic profiles, design and compatibility testing… same old, same old.
LoveAndFriends is different for you feel like they take care of you and they actually do CARE whether you are happy with the service they provide or not. If they continue to get more popular then they’ll be moving up our Top 10 dating sites list pronto.
We also love how they are not just out there to make money off you – unlike any other paying dating site, they let you send and receive emails (at least a few) even if you’re a free member. We like that attitude because it really shows they are not in it just for the money.
Read our LoveAndFriends review | Visit LoveAndFriends website
10. Parship
A site for more serious and mature daters who already know what they want and how they want.
This site is all about compatibility, about finding a right partner and about ending your single life. It has a comprehensive compatibility test system and like eHarmony it won’t let you really perform any searches yourself, instead Parship choosing the suitable matches for you.
We like the way Parship means business because sometimes it’s just frustrating to keep running into people who are not looking for the same type of relationship than you are.
Read our Parship review | Visit Parship website
Top 10 Dating Sites Conclusion
I think this is the bit where we’re supposed to give a Jerry Springer type speech about the merits and pitfalls of online dating but we’ll spare you that! Main thing we wanted to accomplish on this top 10 dating site list is to guide you in the direction of some trusted paid for dating sites so you don’t end up wasting your money on some less scrupulous or effective dating sites.
We hope this helps you decide and all the very best to you out in dating land wherever you decide to sign up 🙂
About the Author
Aet Suvari has been reviewing and writing about the world of online dating since 2008 and the launch of Online Dating Help. A stickler for promoting ethical practices within the UK dating industry she champions the sites that get it right while highlighting those holding it back. You can follow her on Google+
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