You are over 40, you have decided to try, and the only question left is which app to install. The ten below are the ones worth your time at this age, and each is here for a different reason. Every page covers the same ground in the same order: what the app is built for, who it suits, what the interface asks of somebody who did not grow up with a phone, and what it does with your time and your privacy. Read the ones that match your situation, or skim the best-for lines and pick one.
There are no prices here and no member numbers, because both change constantly and a stale figure is a false claim. What you get instead is the structure of each paywall, which does not go stale, and a description of what each app is built to do rather than how many people are doing it.
Nobody paid for a place on this list and nobody can pay for a kinder sentence. Where an app is a poor fit for this reader, the page says so.
One profile at a time and a quick decision from a photo, with no long form standing between you and the first look.
Best forsomeone who wants the first step to be small: one profile, one swipe, and nothing to write before the app starts showing you people.
Send the first message yourself if you want to, and know where you stand inside a fixed window instead of waiting in silence.
Best forsomeone who would rather take the first word than wait to be chosen, and who can check back within a few days.
Answer a few prompts, then like the one answer that caught you, with a small set each day instead of a bottomless stack.
Best forsomeone who would rather write a real answer than pose for a photo, and who wants a first message to have something to be about.
Search by your own age, distance and intent, then write to people directly, with a form to fill in rather than a gesture to learn.
Best forsomeone who knows what they want and would rather search by their own criteria than be handed one profile at a time.
Answer questions that cover children, money and faith, and see why each person was suggested to you.
Best forsomeone who would rather answer questions about the life they have lived than write a bio, and who wants a reason attached to every suggestion.
Take one long questionnaire about the life you have built, then receive a small set of matches chosen from your answers.
Best forsomeone who is certain they want a long-term relationship and would rather answer a thorough questionnaire once than browse for months.
Let the app learn from what you open and like, so a thin profile is enough and the suggestions adjust as you browse.
Best forsomeone who does not want to write a long profile again and would rather be shown people than fill in a form.
Message anyone you like without a match, and run your own search, with the filtering left in your hands.
Best forsomeone who would rather start the conversation on their own terms than wait for a mutual like, and who is happy to do their own sorting.
Answer a questionnaire and get a small daily set of suggestions, with the age question settled by the design rather than left to a filter.
Best forsomeone who wants a slower, guided pace with the age question settled for them, rather than an open search they have to manage.
Answer a detailed questionnaire and get a small daily set narrowed by work and education, at a slower pace than the swipe apps.
Best forsomeone who wants the app to narrow by career and education, and who would rather move deliberately than swipe through a stack.
Ten app pages are more reading than most people want when the real question is whether to bother at all. The guide below covers what actually decides whether an app works at this age, and it walks you from this list down to one you can use.