Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock knows that the world of online dating has exploded over the past three decades. Certainly, COVID gave it a huge surge — one which everyone expected to dissipate once the world opened up again.
But that didn’t happen.
Daters discovered that online dating had a host of benefits. They could speed up the process of meeting potentials and come to know them before they invested time, money, and energy into taking things further. And they could meet people in digital environments that they never would have met otherwise.
For the LGBTQ+ population, online dating has a specific appeal. If they choose the right apps, they are in a safe and comfortable environment to pursue the types of relationships they want. This is not always the case in a real world in which their identities and sexualities are subject to disdain and open hostility.
Now, let’s get to the subject at hand: The best dating sites for lesbians who may have a variety of relationship goals.
Mainstream dating sites are probably not ideal. They were all begun as hetero platforms and only added the queer population when it became economically prudent to do so. Thus, there are “sections” on those platforms for the queer population, including lesbians — just an add-on.
What lesbians want and need are dating sites that are reputable, safe, and designed just for them. So, let’s unpack some of these sites.
HER
Here’s a dating app that was founded by a lesbian for queer women in 2013, originally in Germany, but it quickly spread to the UK and then to North America. Of the total membership of 15 million, a huge number are in the U.S. now.
Users on Her are free to seek a variety of relationships, from friendships to long-term partnerships, and they must state their preferences in their profiles in order to be matched with like-minded queer women.
HER does not have a mandatory identity verification, but there is an optional one involving photo matching. While not a strong security feature, those who join should opt for it and connect with others who have done the same.
It’s also important to note that this app encrypts and protects personal information that is provided in order to join.
One great feature of HER is its large number of in-app communities for members to join based on their passions and interests and the opportunity to share advice, life experiences, and even information about news and local events in their areas.
Lesly
This queer women dating app was launched in 2016, so it is relatively new in the online dating world. It is designed for queer women to develop meaningful relationships, primarily romantic but also friendships and engagement with the entire member community. While actual membership numbers are not available, hundreds of thousands of users are active on this site monthly.
Users craft profiles in as much detail as possible, so that others may know as much about them as possible. And the site uses this information to generate matches. When matches are presented, a user swipes left to reject and right to accept.
As is common, when two members mutually swipe right, it’s a match, and they begin to interact. In their profile, users can also filter for age, location, interests, and values.
Lesly has mandatory identification verification, an important feature that keeps its female members safe from trolls and other abusers.
Lesly is high on community among its members, with a number of groups and forums they can join for discussion, sharing advice, life experiences and interests.
In sum, what stands out about Lesly is its focus on meaningful connections, quality over quantity, and community.
Fem
It’s a bit tricky to find this site, because you may be redirected to HER. You’ll need to type in Fem.Mingle and then add the .com to get to the site. Once you do, you’ll find a website that is pretty unique.
The most standout feature of Fem is that, instead of standard profiles, new users upload videos of themselves and speak to their preferences for matches and the type of relationship being sought. For those who are too shy for this, there is the standard profile creation with photos instead. All types of relationships are supported.
Once in, users can browse through the videos and profiles of others and, if interested, tap the “like” button at the bottom of that one. If there is a reply, then it’s a match, and they can begin to interact, by video chatting if they like.
Members can filter by location and age, and that’s a plus.
There is ID verification to keep everyone safe, and personal info is encrypted and securely stored — no worries there.
There are chat rooms to join based on any number of things. Members can find those that relate to themselves.
Pink Cupid
Pink Cupid was launched in 2006 and has millions of subscribers worldwide, a huge number of whom are located in the U.S.
Creating an account takes about 5-10 minutes, because of security measures that are in place.
Identity verification requires uploading a valid ID which will be verified. Then, there are fields of information that must be filled in with a minimum of three photos mandatory.
This site has over a million users, a huge number within the U.S. This means that U.S. users will have a good number of profiles to look at.
It should be noted that Pink Cupid does cater to a younger crowd — those 36 and under. And they are interested in a variety of relationship types, most commonly casual dating and friendships that may or may not have the potential to become something more long-lasting.
Some members are seeking long-term relationships but will indicate these in their profiles.
The site algorithm does provide match suggestions, but the standout feature is that users are allowed to search through profiles themselves. They can filter by lots of criteria in that search as well.
Taimi
All of the above are lesbian-specific dating apps. We are including Taimi as another option because as a lesbian dating site it has a huge dating pool of queer women looking for all types of relationships.
Taimi is the largest all-inclusive LGBTQ+ dating app on the planet, with more than 29 million members, most of whom are in the U.S. For queer women, it is a good choice.
Taimi makes account and profile setup easy, walking its newcomers through the process with questions and prompts.
There is an optional identity verification, and users should take it and only connect with others who have done likewise.
Once in, the information from the profile is fed into a proprietary algorithm, and matches are presented. AI tracks the likes and dislikes along with other public behavior and continues to refine matches. The more users access this site, the more accurate these matches become.
In terms of community, the site supports a ton of groups for members to join, based on their interests, relationship goals, and sexual orientations. There are a bunch for queer women. In addition to this, Taimi sponsors events, activities, and competitions throughout the year to add fun to users’ experiences on the site.
Wrapping it Up…
Queer women no longer have to settle for being an afterthought or an add-on to large mainstream dating sites. They have access to reputable sites that are specific to their relationship goals. How refreshing!