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Best Dating Apps for Hooking Up

Searching for Your Next Fling? Here Are 11 Apps You Need to Try

June 6, 2025

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Modern technology really is incredible. We’re living in a remarkable time where you can scope out potential hookup buddies without ever leaving your couch. That’s right — you don’t even have to buy anyone a drink or even put on pants. What a time to be alive, right? Your horniest ancestors would be so jealous if they knew.

Looking to connect with singles in your area? You’re far from alone. These days, you can chat up prospective partners at a volume that you wouldn’t be able to recreate if you were out at a bar trying to seal the deal (many have tried, all have failed).

RELATED: Best Hookup Sites and Apps

That being said, using an app to get lucky also has its downsides. Talking to strangers can be a strange experience at the best of times; putting out feelers for a casual hookup to strangers you haven’t met yet can get awkward fairly quickly. Figuring out the right approach can take some time, too. You want to make your intentions known, but you need to do so in a way that doesn’t come off too strong or make her feel uncomfortable.

You’ll need to exchange a few messages to see if you two are feeling each other, but you don’t necessarily want to become pen pals with someone you’re just trying to get it on with, either. So how do you figure out the sweet spot that allows for hookups?

To answer that and more, AskMen spoke to some experts; read on to discover their advice, as well as our top picks for the best online dating options for finding a hookup.

Are Dating Apps Just for Hooking Up?

Amusingly, there seem to be two contradictory misconceptions about dating apps: some people think they’re only for people looking for hookups, while others think they’re only for people looking for relationships. How did this idea take hold?

Well, some apps are deliberately vague about their purpose, trying to be all things for all people. Tinder, one of the most popular dating apps, is a great example: some people swipe for short-term fun, while others use it to look for love. To solve that problem, some apps have decided to specialize, so, for example, Bumble is known as a female-friendly relationship app, while other apps are more deliberately targeted towards short-term flings.

Of course, you’ll want to be using the right dating app to get the job done. Luckily, you’re looking for a casual encounter at a time when new apps and features are constantly evolving to help you find exactly what it is you’re looking for. Not sure which apps to start with?

We’ve put together a list of some of the best dating apps for hooking up, as well as our advice on how to use them to your advantage to get lucky tonight.

How to Use Dating Apps for Hookups

When you’re using apps to find a local hookup, there are a few ground rules to keep in mind that will set you up for success in the long run.

The first is deciding what to put on your profile. If you’re truly here for a good time and not a long time (for casual sex instead of a long-term thing), Elite Dating Managers founder Isabel James says that attracting your next casual encounter can be as easy as being upfront in your profile right from the beginning.

“Explicitly state that you’re looking for a hookup on your profile,” she says. “Something like: ‘Not looking for a long-term relationship. Looking to have fun tonight!’ makes it clear.”

However, many popular apps, like Tinder and Hinge, have a means to communicate that desire these days built-in, so you can select your dating intentions rather than typing anything out.

Being direct with your expectations from the get-go means you’ll only be matching with women who are also looking for something casual with no strings attached, saving you the time it’d take to gauge whether or not your matches are here for the same reason as you are. Dating apps work much better if your match knows what you’re looking for, and you’re not being misleading.

As for how to approach potential hookup partners you’ve matched with, transparency and manners are important, as always.

“The key to initiating a hookup over a dating app is to exercise patience,” says Caleb Hacke, health and wellness expert at Maple Holistics. “Ultimately, it’s more important to make sure you don’t offend or put off anyone who isn’t interested in a hookup than it is to get your point across as boldly and as quickly as possible.”

Hacke also recommends testing the waters before proposing a hookup, particularly if you’re flirting with a woman, since man-for-man hookup apps like Grindr are typically more free-wheeling.

“Try to get flirtatious and see how she responds,” he says. “As long as your would-be hookup partner is matching your flirtatiousness beat for beat without appearing put off or weirded out, you’re not doing anything wrong. You can gradually escalate the nature of your flirting until you’ve advanced to sexual innuendo. At that point, if she still seems interested, you’ve got a green light of sorts to attempt to initiate a hookup.”

In summary:

Look for hookups on hookup apps
Be upfront about what you're looking for
Be flirtatious without being creepy
Escalate the flirting in tandem with your match's interest

The Best Dating Apps for Hooking Up

1. OkCupid

What makes this dating app especially great for finding hookups is the search functionality, hands down. While apps like Tinder and Bumble have historically focused on allowing users to filter by location and age, OkCupid has always let you search using keywords found on profiles. In other words, you can see who’s looking for something casual, or type in phrases like “not looking for anything serious.” If you’re a kinky person, you can also sort matches using your fetish of choice, all while keeping your location and age parameters intact. This is one of the app store’s most popular dating apps for a reason.
Check out OkCupid

2. Feeld

These days, Feeld is at the forefront of both non-monogamous and kinky dating. What that means is that there is a lot of understanding among its users of the benefits and workings of mutually respectful casual hookups. The user base definitely skews more alternative than a more mainstream app like Tinder, but you’re less likely to waste your time wading through thousands of people looking for something more serious and vanilla, as Feeld is a genuine celebration of the expansive possibilities of open-minded dating.
Check out Feeld

3. AdultFriendFinder

One of the oldest, largest and most-trusted hookup options on the internet, AdultFriendFinder should be on everyone’s short list of hookup apps, first for its massive community of users (hey, more users means more options!) and second for its ease of use. Furthermore, the people on AFF are primarily looking for sex rather than simply relationships, so it’s a great option for finding other people also seeking casual, no-strings-attached action.
Check out AdultFriendFinder

4. Tinder

Though it was tagged as a hookup-focused app in the early days, that reputation has faded as it’s become more of an all-purpose option in recent years. Now, Tinder is a viable app for hookups mainly due to the sheer number of users that are on it. Finding a willing hookup buddy in your area is undoubtedly a numbers game, and while not everyone on this app is on it for a casual fling, the odds are high that you’ll be able to connect with users that are looking for something casual tonight — especially if you’re paying for their Platinum tier, which allows easier filtering by dating intentions.
Check out Tinder

5. Grindr

If you’re in the LGBTQ+ community, then you’ve almost certainly already heard of Grindr, which is the largest dating/hookup app of its kind, and a pioneer in the field. Creating an account takes no time at all, and then you’re connected to single people near and far. You can interact with people by sending either text or audio messages, and if you like the way the interaction is going, you can even share your locations to facilitate a quick and easy hookup.
Check out Grindr

6. Pure

Pure offers a short window for chatting, deleting conversations and photos exchanged between users an hour after they've been sent. That means you spend more time getting busy and less time exchanging niceties. It is overtly branded as a hookup app, so you know the intentions of whoever you're chatting with without having to play the guessing game. Not only does this app protect your anonymity by making messages and images self-destruct, but it’s also free to download. Talk about a win-win.
Check out Pure

7. FriendFinder-X

If you don’t have the patience to weed out matches that are explicitly looking for a no-strings-attached hookup, a quick search on FriendFinder-X will probably make you pretty happy. You can search for potential matches using filters that range from proximity, sexual preferences and even cup size.Too lazy to search? The app has a list of compatible profiles sent to you for your consideration.
Check out FriendFinder-X

8. DOWN Dating

Let’s say, hypothetically, that you already have some potential hookup partners in mind, and that they just so happen to be your friends on Facebook (or friends with your friends on Facebook). Don’t you wish there were some way to see if they were interested in some type of casual arrangement? That’s where DOWN Dating comes in: the app that connects you with your Facebook friends (and friends of friends) who are down to get down. But don’t worry, the hottie you have your eye on won’t know you’re down for a hookup unless they say they’re down for one with you, too.
Check out DOWN Dating

9. CasualX

If you like the ease of Tinder but are searching exclusively for hookups (or even a third person to complete a threesome) and only want to match with people of the same mindset, CasualX bills itself as “Tinder minus marriage-minded daters.” The app’s functionalities are pretty much identical to Tinder, with the main (and, maybe only difference) being that no one here is trying to find anything serious. Using an app where everyone’s on the same page undoubtedly increases your success rate for finding someone to spend the night with, which makes CasualX an ideal app for hookups.
Check out CasualX

10. BeNaughty

A niche app with a wide user base (over 13 million and counting), BeNaughty has both a wide audience and the right audience for finding a partner who’s down for an easy night of fun. Not to mention, you can maximize your chances of finding a match who's free thanks to the app’s mass messaging system, which allows you to send out the same message to multiple members at once every 12 hours. The app functions with the same swipe left/right capabilities as a standard dating app, but also allows users to find potential matches via forums and group chats rather than swiping through matches one by one, further increasing your odds of finding what you’re looking for.
Check out BeNaughty

11. Wild

Wild provides users with the anonymity that other dating apps don’t. For starters, there’s no social login required. The app also goes the extra mile to verify its users (meaning, you’ll need to send a photo of you giving a thumbs up, which is then checked against the photos you’ve posted to verify it’s really you), helping to take the awkwardness out of meeting up with a potential hookup that looks nothing like her picture. You can also filter by intention, so that you’re not wasting time sorting through matches who are here for something serious. Once you’ve found a hookup for the night, you can set your profile to invisible so that other users aren’t messaging you when you’re, uh, in the middle of something.
Check out Wild

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