Nine dating apps get pitched to singles over 40 as if they served the same person. They don’t. Costs range from free to around eighty dollars a month, free tiers range from usable to one message a day, and the crowd shifts hugely by app. Here’s how each rates on cost, free-tier usability, and the complaints over-40 daters raise most.
- Match – the largest pool of serious daters over 40, best on a six-month plan
- eHarmony – priciest here, worth it for a guided, marriage-minded search
- SilverSingles – the most usable free tier of the compatibility apps
- OurTime – cheapest 50-plus app, but also the most billing complaints
- Hinge and Bumble – solid free tiers, thin over-40 crowd, best as a supplement
How these ratings work
Each verdict weighs real cost after intro pricing, whether the free tier actually functions, and the complaints daters this age repeat most. Casual is a different goal – the casual-connection apps are covered separately.
Best for, and skip if
One best-for line and one skip-if line per app, rather than an invented star score. Prices move constantly, so every figure here is approximate.
Match: best for the biggest serious pool
Match still carries the biggest 40-plus membership. Pricing runs around forty-six dollars for a single month, dropping to roughly twenty to twenty-five a month on six- to twelve-month plans. Free accounts can browse and like, but can’t get replies from paid members without upgrading. Best for the biggest same-generation pool if you commit to six months; skip it if you want to test properly for free first.
eHarmony: best for marriage-minded daters
eHarmony’s long compatibility questionnaire and remarriage-focused framing make it the most structured app here, and the priciest: roughly thirty to sixty dollars a month, on six-month-plus commitments. The free tier barely functions – no photos, no custom messages. Complaints center on auto-renewals and thin matches outside big cities. Best for divorced or widowed daters who want a guided path to something serious; skip it if a long commitment feels risky.
OurTime and SilverSingles: the 50-plus specialists
Both target the 50-plus crowd at broadly similar prices. SilverSingles’ free tier genuinely works, sending daily match suggestions before you pay. OurTime caps free messages at one a day and draws heavier complaints about fake profiles and hard-to-cancel billing. Best for SilverSingles: testing compatibility matching before spending anything. Best for OurTime: budget daters who read the cancellation terms first – skip it if auto-renewal has burned you before.
Bumble and Hinge: the mainstream swipe apps
Both run genuine free tiers: Hinge gives around eight likes a day plus free messaging with matches, and Bumble lets you match and chat without paying. Note that Bumble dropped its women-message-first rule in August 2026 and is rebuilding its interface, so the experience is in flux. The real catch is the crowd – Hinge skews heavily to the 20s and 30s, and only a slim share of Bumble’s base is over 40. Best for someone open to dating younger, or wanting an active supplement app; what changes about dating after 40 is worth reading alongside. Skip both if a peer-age pool from day one matters most.
Facebook Dating: free, but slim
There’s no subscription at all, and it skews a bit older than Tinder or Hinge, drawing from people already on Facebook. The catch: a dated interface, matches farther away than expected, and no version outside the Facebook app, so your profile sits one tap from your friend list. Best for a zero-cost first try; skip it if keeping dating separate from your social circle matters. Once a match is worth real consideration, whether the relationship is worth working on is the next question.
Where to start
If pool size matters most, start with Match. If budget is tight, SilverSingles’ free tier and Facebook Dating both cost nothing to try. No app here can tell you whether a match is worth pursuing past the profile stage – that’s your call, and what makes relationships last is a better guide to it than any rating.