Whether you’re a gay traveler looking for a quick fling or a guy who’s interested in finding a long-term relationship, the best gay hookup apps can help you find your ideal match.
Some apps offer daily suggestions for matches based on your criteria, while others are more serious and suggest lasting relationships based on personality, compatibility, and other qualities. Which one is right for you depends on your preferences and budget.
1. Grindr
Grindr is a mobile dating and meeting app for gay men, bisexual people, and the trans community. It uses your device’s GPS to locate potential matches nearby.
Profiles are displayed in a grid, ordered by distance from you. Tapping on a profile picture opens the full profile where you can initiate a chat.
Users can communicate through text, photo, and video messages. Grindr also offers extra communication features like group chats and LGBTQ-themed stickers.
Grindr is a popular option for hookups, but it can be hard to find long-term relationships on the platform. In addition, it can be a source of stress for some users.
2. Hornet
Hornet is a popular gay dating app that offers a social network as well as a hookup service. It’s free to download and is a great way to meet other gay men in your area.
It also features a community feed and curated LGBT+ content. It has over 35 million users worldwide and is one of the most prominent LGBTQ+ apps available.
A popular alternative to Grindr, Hornet bills itself as the better privacy alternative for gay and bisexual men looking for hookups. It does not require ID checks but it does use algorithms to evaluate how members behave on the app over time.
While it’s not perfect, it does do a much better job than Grindr at protecting users’ sensitive information and keeping them safe from data breaches. It doesn’t sell or share their personal information, and it hasn’t had any major leaks in the past few years.
3. Chappy
Chappy is the brainchild of reality star Ollie Locke who wanted to create a safe and comfortable dating platform for gay men. It allows members to set their preferences of the matches they want to see, and profiles are strictly monitored to avoid vulgar photos.
Chappy also has a roulette-type random matching feature that generates match suggestions based on your profile. You can choose to accept or decline each of these match recommendations by swiping right or left accordingly.
Unlike other dating apps and sites, Chappy is completely free. That means you can have full access to all its features without paying a monthly fee to upgrade your membership status.
The app has millions of members. This attests to the app’s success in pairing up members with similar relationship preferences.
4. Surge
Surge is a gay dating app that offers an array of high-quality features. Its quality-first approach has helped it grow into a popular platform among single men.
The app also has a number of perks for premium users. They can see who liked them, reverse their previous dislikes, and set more filters.
In addition to all these features, they can also choose to turn on private mode for a more secure experience. They can also enable fingerprint security to protect their account.
Another unique feature that Surge offers is the ability to highlight their charitable works and volunteerism on their profile. This enables members to share their passion for causes with other Surge users, while helping them raise awareness and raise money for their chosen cause.
5. Elite Singles
Elite Singles is a dating site that targets professional, educated singles who are looking for a serious relationship. They have a lengthy signup process and use an extensive personality test designed by psychologists to help match members with compatible matches.
While this might seem like a lot of work, it can be worth it if you’re looking for a long-term commitment. Plus, it has a higher success rate than many other online dating sites.
The site has a lot of features, including a scientifically created profile, unlimited messaging, partner suggestions, a mobile app, and more. However, basic members can only see a blurred version of other profiles and are limited to three to seven matches per day.