Everyone has a soul mate — or that’s what fairytales want us to believe. Modern science, however, gives us far more than just one potential partner. For example, according to math, New Yorkers awash in a sea of eight million other city dwellers have at least 850 love connections — those are some numbers you can work with.

Spring is in full swing, and the best dating apps are ready to help out if your thoughts have turned to romance — especially now that pandemic-imposed restrictions on meeting people in person are easing up in some areas.

Now, with people ready to venture out in the world again, the best dating apps continue to refine their features, beefing up security features to help you feel more at ease about getting in touch with strangers. Some apps continue to excel at helping you find flings with like-minded people while others are more focused on helping you build long-term relationships. Whatever your heart desires, there’s a dating app out there that’s tailored to your outlook and needs.

Here are the top 5 dating apps to use to find love – whatever that means for you!

Tinder

Possibly the hottest app on Earth right now, Tinder has brought dating into the mobile era, with a mate-browsing interface that’s so easy you only need to wiggle a finger to get someone’s attention.

Tinder blazed the trail set by Grindr toward a world of swipe and scroll dating apps. Tinder encourages you to make shallow, snap judgments about potential partners. You create a simple profile with a handful of photos and a few sentences about yourself, then throw yourself at the other singles’ mercy. If you like someone, swipe the photo to the right. If you don’t like what you see, just swipe left and that person will be gone just like that. If you both swipe right you can start exchanging messages. The service connects to your Facebook account, linking to your pictures and other relevant data, but keeping your name and contact information private.

Anomo

Are you the shy type? You’re not alone. Many daters have trouble approaching someone new, striking up conversation, and asking someone out – even online. Anomo might just be the perfect dating app for you.

Anomo is a simple, safe, and fun way of meeting new people around you.

dating apps

Anonymous apps have gotten a bad wrap recently, but one of their upsides is how they help shy people open up while still feeling protected. This anonymous social app connects you with other nearby Anomo users, inviting four others to join you in an icebreaker game. This might seem risky in today’s dating environment, but the app verifies its users through Facebook. (Nothing is posted or shared from Facebook, and other users can’t see your profile, but they do see your verification.)

Bumble

Bumble is the dating app that puts the power in women’s hands. For a man to be able to contact a woman, she must first have shown interest in him, adding a layer of safety that other services lack.

Bumble aims to help you line up dates or make new friends in your area, and it’s on the queen bee (any female) to make the first move after two people mutually connect and are part of each other’s hive. There’s not much time to waste — there’s just 24 hours to make some kind of contact or the connection disappears forever. For same-sex connections or friendships, either person has to make a move within 24 hours before that connection is gone, though you can get a 24-hour extension.

Coffee meets Bagel

If your day drags even by lunchtime, this app might be the spice you need. Connecting to your Facebook account in order to serve up more-compatible friends-of-friends, this service delivers you a match (or “bagel”) each day at noon. You have 24-hours to like or pass on your person, and if that person also likes you, the app opens up a private text messaging line to get the conversation started. Features of the Coffee Meets Bagel app include limiting the number of profiles users can interact with each day and offering ice-breaker information for matches.

OKCupid

Meeting people is easy, but math can be hard. This data-driven service does all the computations to take bad matches out of the equation using a seemingly endless supply of questions to turn its budding romantics into ones and zeros. By providing users with match percentages, OkCupid shows them how good a fit their prospective dates could be. OkCupid features a massive userbase and straightforward dating tools. But rather than rest on its laurels, OKC keeps refining and adding on features to its top dating app, such as a “Flavors” system that allows users to quickly view evocative flavors of potential matches, such as Kinky Nerds, Beard Lovers, World Travelers, etc.