When debating the best countries to use dating apps, Australia deserves a mention. Online dating is one of the best ways to meet women down under.
The guide below reveals which of the Australian dating sites are the most effective for meeting beautiful women.
What Are the Best Dating Sites & Apps in Australia?
Below you can find a list of 10 dating sites designed specifically or indirectly for Aussies:
Top 10 Best Dating Sites in Australia
Below, you’ll find a brief review of the top dating apps Australia goes crazy for. Read on to discover how each of these Australian dating sites works and which one is most likely to be suitable for you.
eHarmony - best for marriages and long-term relationships
When it comes to matching people with their future spouses, no other Australian dating apps come close to eHarmony.
There’s data to prove it; some 69% of men find their spouses within one year of signing up for a paid eHarmony membership.
This mind-blowing figure comes as a result of the super-intelligent eHarmony algorithm.
All users are made to complete a lengthy personality test as part of their registration to the website - and their results are used to generate a compatibility score with other eHarmony members. Then, the algorithm will match them with the most compatible users in their region.
Here’s the smart part though. Users only receive a handful of matches every day.
As annoying as this sounds, it gives them the time to focus on building deeper connections with those deemed most compatible with them.
Instead of being overwhelmed with messages (as beautiful women are on most apps), your perfect match will have time to read your message and craft a thoughtful response.
This quality-over-quantity approach has created thousands of eHarmony marriages across the world. The monthly subscription is more expensive than other apps, but this prices out the time-wasters and ensures every user is serious about finding true love.
You can learn more about how this dating website works in our full eHarmony review.
Adult Friend Finder - best for fast hookups with strangers
If you’re looking for a “root” (as crude Australians tend to say), there’s no better website than Adult Friend Finder.
This hook-up website has been helping people find quick hook-ups since the early 2000s and has built up a huge network of like-minded users.
AFF is built like a social media website. There’s a detailed search function that helps you find new people to follow. It can be filtered by age, location, body type, as well as kinks and fetishes. And, believe me, you’ll find whatever weird kink you’re looking for here.
You’ll be able to post photos, videos, and status updates on your profile for others to view in chronological order. The main dashboard features a feed of the latest updates from users that you follow. You can leave comments on their content if you wish.
But the real action goes down in the DMs. This is where most users arrange to meet and hook up - and it shouldn’t require weeks of ‘getting to know each other’ either.
Every aspect of AFF’s marketing makes it clear that it’s a website for quick casual sex. If a woman answers your DMs, that’s probably what she’s looking for - so it’s best to make your intentions clear quickly.
AFF is currently running a free trial, so there has been no better time to create an account and see what all the fuss is about.
Ashley Madison - best for extramarital affairs
Ashley Madison is a dating website built specifically for people to cheat on their wives or long-term partners. It has several features designed to protect your identity and not get caught cheating. And it’s incredibly popular in Australia.
That’s worrying if you’re in a relationship that you don’t want your partner to step out on. But if you’re looking to spice up your life with a hot and steamy affair, it’s GREAT.
The biggest selling point is the focus on privacy. Most users don’t have public profile photos, instead keeping their identity locked in a private photo album that others have to request to unlock.
Some users choose to upload blurred public photos. Indeed, you can blur your own images with ease in the app.
The Ashley Madison app has a discreet logo and its app name is “AM”. It automatically disables notifications, so you won’t get busted by a spouse snooping as you twiddle with your phone.
The pay-as-you-go credit system can get expensive if you don’t switch to another platform quickly. Luckily, we’ve found most women are willing to do that once you’ve earned their trust.
The huge focus on anonymity does make it harder to arrange fast hookups. Singles with nothing to hide will probably tire of Ashley Madison for that reason, although there are some using the app.
We’re not telling you to cheat on your wife. But if you want to, there’s no better app than Ashley Madison to help you do it without getting caught. Our Ashley Madison review reveals more.
Tinder - Best for meeting women under 30
Tinder is the most popular dating app in the world and you certainly won’t be disappointed by the number of beautiful women using it in Australia. Whether you’re visiting destinations in Adelaide or Zamia, you’ll find plenty of hot singles.
The app is most popular with women aged between 18-30, due to its focus on fun, fast-paced swiping. It will present you a pack of profiles which you can swipe one-by-one; left to reject them and right to try and match. When two people swipe right on each other, they’re permitted to send messages to each other.
The most common criticism of Tinder is that it’s too image-focused. Indeed, there’s little emphasis on finding someone with a great personality on this app. That’s probably why Tinder has always been associated with casual dating.
It is possible to find a girlfriend on Tinder, but most of the app’s users are looking for something less serious. If that sounds great to you, create an account right now.
With a decent profile, you should be able to attract plenty of matches using the free version of Tinder. The premium editions of the app include features that help you to expand your reach and hopefully attract even more women to message you.
If you’re visiting Australia in the future, you might be interested in the Passport feature, which allows you to change location and message women there. This is the perfect way to land dates in a city before you even arrive.
You can learn more about the ins and outs of Tinder in our in-depth review.
Apps Dating Experts Recommend to Australian Men
Whether it's your first real relationship or you have a string in your past there are a few apps that dating experts recommend consistently. These are apps where you can meet great Aussie girls who want something long-term as well as those just looking to keep it casual:
| Site | Our Experience | Our Rating | Free Trial Link |
|---|---|---|---|
Best For Relationships  | Experience Highlights
| 9 | Try eHarmony |
Best For Casual Fun  | Experience Highlights
| 9 | Try AFF For Free |
Great If You're Handsome  | Tinder Highlights
| 8 | Try Tinder |
Bumble - best for independent feminist types
Bumble is marketed as “the dating” app that gives control back to women. It’s named after bumblebees, a species where the females do all the work to forage for food, build their family home and protect their young. Male bumblebees do nothing but procreate.
That’s not exactly the dynamic of the Bumble dating app. However, the most unique aspect is that women have to send the first message after a match. Also, if there is no response to a message within 24 hours, the match disappears.
I’m not sure how this is supposed to ‘empower’ women, but Australian babes have flocked to this app like bees to honey. Another sign of the progressive dating culture that is slowly taking over down under.
Due to the way that this app is marketed, you can expect plenty of them to match the ‘boss babe’ independent woman stereotype. If that’s what floats your boat, you can give Bumble a try.
It’s very similar to Tinder in all other aspects, although you can perhaps expect more women looking for a serious relationship on this app.
See our Bumble review to learn more about how it works.
Hinge - best for personality-based connections
Hinge is one of the newer dating apps that has skyrocketed in popularity in many parts of the world including Australia.
This dating app is owned by The Match Group, which also owns Tinder and a range of other popular dating websites.
Hinge’s unique selling point is a deeper emphasis on personality. The profiles are far more personality-focused than on Tinder. Users are encouraged to add prompts to their profiles to showcase their personal quirks.
Some examples of these prompts include: “best travel story”, “typical Sunday” or “my simple pleasures”.
Users can also ask questions on their profile that make it easy for their matches to share interesting information about themselves.
The Hinge user base is growing fast, especially in Australia’s big cities. This added focus on personal connection has attracted a lot of women who are looking to settle down with their Mr. Right.
If you’re great at crafting witty dating profiles, you’ll probably love Hinge. As with the likes of Bumble and Tinder, you should be able to attract matches with a great profile on the free edition of the app. But the premium edition is there if you’re looking to increase your reach and land more dates. You can learn more in our in-depth Hinge review.
Cougar Life - best for older women seeking younger men
The problem with meeting Aussie MILFs - or older women from any country for that matter - is it’s hard to find the ones who are single and willing to date younger guys.
Cougar Life is the app that eliminates that problem.
The only women you’ll find on this app are cougars. It’s like a playground of hot older Australian women looking for fresh meat.
Most of the women on this app are looking for a quick hook-up and they’re not shy about admitting that. All you’ll need to do is persuade them you can keep up with their high libidos.
The app is well-designed. It has a search function that lets you filter users by age, location, body type, and more. There aren’t as many bells and whistles as on other websites, but the fundamentals are done well.
Cougar Life has recently switched to a pay-as-you-go credit system instead of a monthly subscription. But the good news is: it doesn’t take much effort to convince an Australian cougar to meet you on this app.
We’ve tested it and found it to be one of the easiest apps for arranging dates, even if the user base isn’t as large as mainstream apps like Tinder and Bumble.
Luxy - best for beautiful and ‘high-value’ women
Luxy is marketed as an ‘elite dating’ website.
In reality, that means rich men and gorgeous women. Some 60% of its members have a verified salary of at least 200,000 euros.
It has a super-expensive monthly subscription, although it is possible to use a free account if you’re voted in using its “vouch” system. During this process, existing members will vote on whether or not to let you have a free account. You’ll need at least a 50% approval rating to get in.
This system might explain why nearly all the women on Luxy are undeniably gorgeous. The Plain Janes can’t afford a paid account and don’t get voted in.
During our tests of Luxy, we received an impressively high response rate from the women we messaged. It’s almost like being part of a VIP club; the women assume you’re a high-value guy just because you got in. And, just to reiterate, almost all of them are complete babes.
You might think that Luxy would be infested with sugar babies, especially since members are encouraged to verify their annual income, but the website actually has a zero-tolerance policy towards people seeking sugar relationships.
If you’re lucky enough to get ‘vouched’ into Luxy, there will be a daily limit placed on the number of messages you can send. If you can afford to become a paid member, I’d highly recommend it.
Seeking - best for sugar relationships
Seeking used to proudly market itself as the world’s number one sugar dating website.
It has recently rebranded to remove all mentions of ‘sugar dating’ from its marketing. Instead, it focuses on ‘luxury dating’ between successful men and attractive women.
But don’t be fooled.
This website is still rife with sugar babies and men willing to fund their materialistic lives.
Women can include a ‘wish list’ on their profile, making it easier for male users to purchase the gifts they want. The website makes it compulsory for men to list their income.
The rebrand is most likely an effort to appeal to a broader audience, and there are dating experts out there who claim to have used Seeking to find a non-sugar relationship. However, wading through all the gold diggers would appear to be a slog.
With that said, if you’re looking to be an Australian woman’s sugar daddy, Seeking is still the best website for you.
Feeld - best for open-minded dating
Feeld’s founders believe there’s nothing more fluid or less binary than human relationships. Their platform certainly reflects this.
There are more than 20 sexualities and gender identities you can list on your profile. You can create a joint profile with your partner to search for threesomes or polyamorous relationships. There are kinky heterosexual women there too.
You can swipe on Feeld users one by one, or you can search for exactly what you’re looking for. It’s a sex-positive app with an open-minded user base, so quick hook-ups can happen.
Its biggest downfall is that its user base is too small in most parts of the world. I guess that’s what happens when you only market yourself to ‘alternative’ sexualities.
If you identify as something other than heterosexual, a man or a woman, you’re more likely to feel at home on Feeld. If you’re a regular guy looking to hook up with a straight woman, Adult Friend Finder or Tinder are better options, if only because there are more women on these platforms.
With that said, Feeld is becoming reasonably popular in Australia, so you might have some luck there, especially in one of the big cities.
The free version of the app doesn’t limit your messaging, so it’s worth signing up and seeing what happens. You can learn more about how Feeld works in our full review.
Some Tips for Using Aussie Dating Apps
Whichever of these 10 AU dating sites you choose, following these tips will help you maximize your chances of attracting lots of matches and dates.
Tip 1. Make sure they are real
Most of the dating sites listed above include features to minimize the appearance of bots, scammers, and catfishes. However, it’s still possible that some may sneak through the net and ruin your online dating experience.
Here are some recommended steps to help you ensure the women you meet on AU dating sites are real.
- Look for a verified profile. If the app offers users the option to verify their profiles, check to see if a suspicious user has verified theirs. There’s nothing wrong with asking them to verify their profile if you have doubts about them. It’s always free and easy to do.
- Swap social media details. This way you can see if their most recently uploaded pictures match the ones they added to their dating profile. If they don’t have a social media presence with at least a few photos, you can ask them to send you some.
- Arrange a video call before going on a date. This is your best opportunity to test that your online dating match looks like their photos, plus you’ll discover whether you’re likely to have chemistry with them on a date.
Tip 2. Have your priorities straight
Decide what you’re looking for on the dating apps Australia has to offer - and focus your time on women who want the same thing.
If you’re only looking for something casual, there are plenty of Australian dating sites with like-minded singles. If you’re after a serious relationship, use an app that concentrates on that.
The list above includes the most popular dating apps Australia offers. It will help you realize what app is most suitable for you.
Even so, it’s best to clarify what the women you meet on these apps are looking for early on in your conversations, so you don’t waste time chatting with someone who has different romantic goals to you.
Tip 3. Understand possible cultural differences
A word of warning for those who are flying down under, from another country and want to try dating apps. Australia has a slightly different dating culture to the rest of the world. It’s important to be aware of these before you’re let loose on the dating apps Australia has to offer.
All in all, the dating scene is more casual in Australia than in other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Men and women tend to prefer first dates to be low-key affairs. It’s not unusual to split the bill, although some traditional women will expect men to front the cost. Your date may well be casually dating a few people at the same time, and it’s expected that you’ll go on a few dates before asking someone to be your partner. Singles in Melbourne and Sydney in particular tend to be progressive like this. The Gold Coast as well.
So, you don’t need to bust out your most cheesy and romantic lines when messaging women on Australian dating sites. You don’t need to show off what a loyal and committed boyfriend you’d be. Keep it cool and casual at least during the initial stages of communication.
