Matching: Bumble uses your GPS location to find people in your area who fit your age criteria

If you swipe right on someone’s profile and they swipe right on yours, it’s a match and you’ll both be notified.

“The Bumble app is free and I have had the most dates with this app. It’s an easy format and given the female makes contact first, you can eliminate unwanted attention.” – Kate*, 44.

Bumble Boost : $3.99 for a one-day subscription or $ for a one-week subscription. Monthly prices range from $ to $ depending on the length of subscription. If you’re a really die-hard dater, you can even buy a lifetime subscription for $. Boost gives users access to premium features such as unlimited search filters, the option to rematch with expired users and unlimited Extends, which is the option to extend the 24-hour window to start a conversation by another 24 hours. You also get access to your Beeline – a queue that shows you everyone who’s already liked your profile.

Bumble coins : $4.99 for two, or $ for five, $ for 15 or $ for 30. These allow you to access SuperSwipe, which lets you tell a potential match you’re confidently interested in them, and Spotlight, which pushes you to the front of the match queue for 30 minutes.

Privacy

To sign up, you’ll need to use either your Facebook account or your phone number, so if you’re not comfortable using either of these, give Bumble a miss.

If you sign up using your mobile phone number, you may receive promotional SMS messages and survey requests from Bumble.

Bumble is a US company, so your info will be sent to and used in the United States, regardless of where you live, and the storage of your personal data e protections as those stipulated by Australian law. They may also share your information with third parties.

If you sign up using Facebook, Bumble users can access and share your Facebook information with people who aren’t Bumble users (even if you haven’t shared it directly to Bumble).

“When using Bumble, you should assume that anything you post or submit on the app may be publicly-viewable and accessible, both by users of the app and non-users of the app,” the Bumble privacy policy warns. “We want our Bumblers to be careful about posting information that will eventually be made public.”

Safety

You can verify your profile by taking a selfie mimicking one of 100 random photo poses. A Bumble team member reviews the photo and verifies or rejects your verification.

Pricing issues

You can’t access pricing for the premium features until you’ve created an account (and given Bumble access to your Facebook account or phone number). Subscriptions also automatically renew unless you’ve turned auto-renew off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period.

eHarmony

Unique features: eHarmony’s selling point is its tailored approach. Your profile is created from a detailed questionnaire where you rate your personality and appearance, plus what you want in a partner and relationship.

Free: Users receive a personal profile, view daily matches and have limited interaction with their matches, like sending a smile or a limited number of set questions. You can only see limited information about matches, and you can’t see photos.

Paid: $ per month for a six-month plan, $ per month for a 12-month plan or $ per month for a 24-month plan. A welcome offer is available which entitles users to a 50% discount on subscriptions for the first 3 months. Subscriptions entitle you to see who’s viewed your profile, send unlimited messages, see unlimited photos, filter your matches by interest, search matches by distance and receive help optimising your profile.