Dating in Italy may seem easy in big cities like Milan or Rome. But if you're a busy guy who doesn't have a lot of time to go out and meet new people, online dating is the way to go. But what are the best dating apps in Italy that women actually use? You don't want to risk it on some scammy site that ends up stealing your credit card info. But you also don't want to rely too heavily on popular dating sites where people only care about looks.
If you're serious about finding a date in Italy (whether it's for a serious relationship or just a casual thing), these are the best dating sites in Italy that will help you land a date. These are the ones we've tried and we know that they work!
Top 7 Best Dating Sites in Italy
With plenty of attractive singles in Italy, many of them use dating apps to meet up and have a good time. These are the best dating sites in Italy that people actually use:
Apps Dating Experts Always Recommend to Singles in Italy
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 Italian 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 |
Meetic.it - the most popular dating website in Italy
Meetic is a European online dating network, with the Italian version available at Meetic.it. It’s owned by The Match Group, which is responsible for world-famous dating apps like OkCupid, Match.com, and Tinder.
Meetic doesn’t have the global reach of these apps, but it is the most well-known online dating service in Italy. In a 2021 YouGov poll, 70% of Italians said they were aware of the brand.
You can create an account, scan other profiles and message some users for free on Meetic. But if you’re serious about finding someone great on this website, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid subscription.
We’d recommend the most expensive Premium subscription, as this gives women with a free account the option to send you a message. It also allows you to see when other users were last online, meaning you won’t waste time pursuing women who aren’t active Meetic users.
You can search for your ideal Italian woman by using Meetic’s powerful search feature. You can filter your search to only show certain ages, locations, personality types, levels of education, and more.
Most people using Meetic are looking for a serious relationship and the majority are aged over 30. If you’re looking for a woman like that, this website is well worth the money.
If you’re heading on a European tour this summer, you’ll be able to use your Meetic account in other countries too. It’s used in 12 European countries including France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, and Romania.
The app is available on desktop, iOS and Android. Most women will be speaking Italian as a default on this app, so prepare to utilize your Google Translate skills if you don’t speak the language.
AFF - best website for quick casual fun
The dating culture remains somewhat traditional in Italy. Men are generally expected to romance women and take them on fancy dates before sleeping with them.
If you have no interest in this courtship process, we recommend creating an AFF account.
This is the world’s biggest website for singles who are interested in casual sex and friends-with-benefits relationships.
We’ve tested this website in several countries and were always able to find kinky sex-positive women with ease. The Italian women who want to hook up without any of the schmoozy romance come here.
AFF is designed more like a social media website than a traditional dating app. Users can post photos, videos, and status updates on their profiles for others to view in chronological order. You can add other users as friends, see their most recent updates on the main dashboard, and comment on them.
Upgrade to a paid account and you’ll be able to send unlimited messages to AFF users, and that’s where the real magic happens.
AFF makes it clear in its marketing that it’s a hook-up website. For this reason, we’ve found that the women using this website are happy to meet up quickly. So, there’s no need to spend weeks messaging back and forth. If you want to hook up with a woman you see on this website, your best strategy is to be direct about that.
It tends to be older men and women using this website, making it the perfect spot if you want to meet Italian MILFs online.
The website is currently running a free trial, so why not create an account now and have a look around? We predict that you’ll like what you see. Just be aware that there’s a lot of NSFW content posted here.
eHarmony - best website for marriage and long-term relationships
eHarmony is the world’s most effective website for finding a woman to marry. Some 69% of men meet their future spouse on this website within a year of signing up for a paid account.
This is because every element of the website is focused on helping you find someone compatible for a long-term relationship.
Before you complete your registration, you’ll be asked to complete a lengthy personality quiz. The results will be used to match you with the women most compatible with you.
The algorithm will generate you a compatibility score with each eHarmony user - and you’ll be drip-fed a handful of matches per day based on the highest scores. You’ll only be permitted to send messages to these matches.
This might sound like a pain if you’re used to spamming ‘Hi’ to hundreds of women per day, but the data proves that this is a more effective way to make a meaningful connection.
Your perfect match won’t be overwhelmed with hundreds of messages oneHarmony (as is likely to happen on other apps). This means she’ll have the time to see your message and craft a thoughtful response.
The eHarmony monthly subscription is more expensive than most other Italian dating sites, but that prices out those who aren’t serious about looking for love. Check out our eHarmony review to discover more about how this website works.
Tinder - best for Italian singles under 30
Tinder is the most popular dating app among young adults around the world - and you’ll find plenty of young Italian women on the app too. It has a reputation as being somewhat of a hook-up app, but people do find relationships here.
It was the first dating app to use the fast-paced swiping system that has since been stolen by countless competitors. You’ll be presented with profiles to swipe on one by one; right for yes and left for no. If two people swipe right on each other, they’re permitted to message each other.
With a free account, your daily swipes are limited. A paid account gives you unlimited swipes and other features to increase your reach.
The most commonly-mentioned complaint about Tinder is that it’s too image-based. There’s barely any focus on finding someone with a great personality. A side-effect of this is the top 10-20% of attractive men tend to have a monopoly on the app. Data shows that average guys struggle to get any attention on this app at all.
You’ll need to be very good-looking or have amazing photos to succeed on Tinder. But if you manage this, you should be able to attract a lot of matches...
You’re unlikely to run out of profiles to swipe on Tinder. The YouGov poll revealed that Tinder was the third-most well-known dating app in Italy, behind Badoo and Meetic. It’s mostly men and women under 30 using this app. Those aged 30 or over are forced to pay more for the premium features of Tinder.
A feature worth mentioning is ‘Tinder Passport’, which allows you to swipe on women in a different part of the world than where you are currently based. This could be extremely useful if you’re looking to line up dates in Italy before you arrive.
Still, if you’re a good-looking guy of any age, you should get some success with the free edition of the app. Our full Tinder review will give you more information about how the app works.
Lovoo - best for range of options
Lovoo is a fast-growing dating app that’s most popular in Germany, Italy, and France. Of its 70 million members, some 30 million are based in these three European countries.
The app interface is easy to use and understand - and it’s one of the most flexible apps in terms of how you go about seeking a potential date.
You can use the “Match Game”, which is essentially swiping on users one by one as you would on Tinder. As with Tinder, you’ll need to both swipe right on each other before messaging each other is permitted.
Alternatively, you can find someone using the “Live Radar”, which lists the users who are currently online in your region. It’s also possible to seek out someone great near you using the “Nearby” feature in the app. These features might be more effective for seeking quick spontaneous meet-ups.
Charismatic users might also be able to gain interest by live streaming using Lovoo - and attracting people to comment on their stream. The live streams are generally fun to engage with, even if you’re not interested in meeting the people involved.
Lovoo offers a range of options to gain access to its premium features too. You can invest in one of its monthly subscriptions, which are currently more affordable than most other Italian dating sites. Alternatively, you can pay for specific features using credits. These credits can be bought in batches or earned by completing various actions on the app.
It’s mostly younger Italian women using Lovoo. The app could easily be used to find a serious or casual relationship.
Badoo - best for casual and serious relationships
Badoo is another app that is extremely popular in Italy. In fact, it has a huge active user base throughout most of Europe. It was the second most well-known dating app among Italians in the 2021 YouGov poll, with 60% of Italians having heard of it.
It has a similar format to Tinder. You can swipe on women one-by-one, but premium members can also use the search feature to seek out a certain type of woman.
This search feature encourages users to reveal more about their personalities (as this will allow them to be found more often). Badoo profiles feature more prompts to encourage users to let people know about themselves too.
This extra emphasis on personality attracts more women who are looking for serious relationships with Badoo. You’ll find plenty of younger and older Italian women on this app. Profile verification is compulsory, so you won’t have to worry about running into fake profiles either.
It’s possible to land a date using the free version of Badoo but upgrading to paid subscription will give you a huge advantage over the free users. Badoo will increase your profile’s visibility once you upgrade, and it’ll even tell you how much your reach will increase.
Badoo’s premium membership is more affordable than most other Italian dating sites. Our tests reveal that it’s well worth upgrading.
If you’re open to casual or serious relationships in Italy, it’s worth giving Badoo a spin. It’ll serve you well in other European countries too.
ItalianoSingles.Com - best alternative Italian dating website
Italianosingles.com is part of the World Singles network; a reputable series of websites for people who want to date someone from a specific part of the world.
Needless to say, Italianosingles.com is for Italians and people who want to date them. You’re permitted to create a profile whether you’re Italian or not.
It’s free to create an account and browse members, but you’ll have to sign up for a paid account to begin messaging users.
You’ll find people to message using the powerful search feature. There are dozens of ways to filter your search to find your perfect match. On the main dashboard, the algorithm will display the matches it thinks will be most suited to you.
There’s no app for iOS or Android, but Italianosingles.com is mobile-friendly.
This website has plenty of great reviews - so it’s worth a shot if you’re dead-set on dating Italian women. It could also be great if you’re an Italian man hoping to date a foreigner.
Some Tips for Using Italian Dating Apps
Whichever Italian dating app you choose, you can maximize your chances of landing a date by following these useful tips.
Tip 1. Make sure they are real
Most of the Italian dating sites in our list have features to prevent bots or catfishes from ruining your online dating experience. There are measures in place to prevent dating scams from taking place too. But it’s still possible that some fake accounts sneak through these safety measures.
So, it’s best to be on your guard at all times and take steps to make sure the Italian singles you’re chatting with are real.
Here are the steps we recommend:
- See if their profile has been verified. Ask them to verify their profile if you have doubts about their authenticity.
- Ask to swap social media details with them once you’ve built some rapport. Take a look to see if their most recent pictures on Instagram match their dating profile pictures.
- Arrange a video call before going on a date. This will help you check for chemistry as well as authenticity.
Tip 2. Have your priorities straight
Do you want a short-term fling, a serious relationship or just to chat with Italian singles online?
Either way, it’s important to know what you’re looking for on Italian dating sites and to only target people who are looking for the same thing.
If you have different goals from the women you meet on an Italian dating app, you’ll both end up frustrated for wasting each other’s time. So, you’re best off discovering each other’s intentions as soon as possible.
Tip 3. Understand possible cultural differences
If you’re visiting Italy from another country, it’s important to be aware of the cultural differences between Italian women and those from your hometown.
Italians tend to have maintained a more traditional approach to dating than other European countries. That means Italian women will expect you to charm them, arrange a romantic date and pay for it. They tend to be more passionate about their opinions than other Westerners. That’s part of the Italian charm, but it can catch you off guard if you’re not prepared for it.
Chivalrous moves like opening the car door for them and pulling out the chair will earn you brownie points with Italian women. This is especially true when dating older Italians. So, don’t be afraid to show off your romantic side.
It’s worth doing your research on Italian culture and picking up a few words of the language as well. Whenever you’re dating internationally, a little effort to learn about your date’s country goes a long way.
