Looking for no strings attached sex? These are the best apps for hooking up.
By
Joseph Green
Global Shopping Editor
Joseph Green is the Global Shopping Editor for Mashable. He covers VPNs, headphones, fitness gear, dating sites, streaming, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day.
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Overview
Table of Contents
This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.
It's 2026 and times are good for low-effort consumers. Yes, you can get pretty much anything you want by just tapping and swiping of your smartphone: Your shopping, your favourite takeaway, your high-ticket tech, even — our personal favourite — a hot date. And why shouldn't you? Online dating is nothing new. Apps and websites have dominated the dating world for the best part of 20 years. In fact, some sites go all the way back to the mid-1990s. But things are constantly evolving in the world of app-based dating.
According to our favourite sex-perts at Lovehoney — the progressive sex toy brand that sells everything from lingerie to lubricants and dildos — we're living in horny-but-wholesome times. Lovehoney has named 2026 "The Year of Pleasure."
Hookup apps for everyone
AdultFriendFinder — readers’ pick for casual connections
Tinder — top pick for finding hookups
Hinge — popular choice for regular meetups
That doesn’t mean quick-and-easy pleasure from one-night stands and flings. It may come as some surprise, but research says that one-night stands are on the out. Would-be daters are now cruising for "purposeful pleasure" and "meaningful connections." That means hookups with substance — flings that mean something. Yes, we're still hooking up, but we're getting more selective about who we hookup with and why. So, it's important to get the right dating app because each app offers something a little different. And you need the right tools to find the right date.
To help you get started, we’ve looked at the top apps and taken advice from sex and relationship experts.
What to know before you swipe
Before you start downloading apps, it’s good know just how to approach online dating. Our advice is to be 100 percent honest about who and what you’re up for. And maybe give a pass to the mainstream dating apps that are more about romance and happily ever afters (the likes of eharmony, in other words). The best hookup apps make chatting quick and easy (messaging, video calls, all that good stuff), and even the best free options will have features like profile verification to keep you safe.
Our main advice though is to stick to apps which are purpose-built for hookups, casual fun, and satisfying your kink (whatever that kink might be). It can be freeing, not to mention productive, to be open about specific desires. The ways in which we understand sex and relationships are changing all the time — just looking at fast-growing "heteroflexible" sexuality — and hookup apps allow you to explore curiosities with no judgement or social anxiety.
It doesn’t matter what you’re looking for, whether it's the chance to explore a new sexual frontier, a friends-with-benefits situation on the reg, or an old school one-night stand (the one-night stand might be going out of fashion, but it’s still hella fun as long as it’s safe and on your terms).
Whatever your desire, we’re here to help make it happen. This guide to the best hookups apps is based on Mashable’s own real-world testing, expert input, and general experience. We’ve broken down each of the best hookup apps available right now, with an option for every type of dater and every dating desire.
These are the best hookup apps for 2026.
The Good & The Bad
- Global user base of 75+ million
- Lots of options for fast connections
- Quick swiping gets to the point
- Paid upgrade options
- Photo verification is reassuring
- Lots of ads on the free version
- Gives you swipe fatigue
- Can be too looks-based
- User base skews male
Why We Like It
Tinder is one of the most popular dating apps on the planet. Just the word "Tinder" is now pretty much a byword for the entire dating app concept. There's a reason for that: When you're talking regular hookups that aren't kink-specific, Tinder remains the fastest, easiest way of making it happen. Tinder doesn’t label itself as a hookup app, but that doesn’t change the fact that it absolutely works for hooking up. The app has lost some users recently but it's still credited with making 97 billion matches worldwide. Indeed, if you want a no-fuss one-nighter, Tinder is the app to use. And if you use the "Free Tonight" feature on weekends after 10 p.m., there’s a 45 percent higher chance of hooking up. We like those numbers.
Tinder has made efforts to present itself as more relationship-focused (see how it’s evolved the "Double Date" feature into the broader "Modes"), but the app also reports that 2026 is all about "Clear-Coding," which means users are shooting from the hip about what they really want from their matches, whether it’s sex, a long-term thing, or something else.
Tinder is testing an AI feature called "Chemistry" in some territories, which uses your camera roll (with your permission, of course) to help find matches based on your interests (eliminating users you’ve got zero interest in could be a valuable time saver). It’s also rolling out a facial recognition scan (Face Check) via a video selfie, ensuring that users are real and accurately represented. And while there’s a free version, you might want to skip all the ads and sign up for extra features with Tinder Plus, Gold, and Platinum paid tiers. You'll see the benefits pretty quickly after signing up for a paid membership.
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The Good & The Bad
- Free to join and start finding matches
- Free voice and video chat
- 'Opening Moves' feature gives control
- Balanced user base for better matches
- Allows you state dating intentions
- Robust photo verification
- 'Opening Moves' must be made in 24 hours
- Previously blocked profiles have reappeared
- Limited swipes on the free version
Bumble is our number one choice for women and non-binary folk who are on the hunt for something casual. That’s because Bumble allows you to take control and dictate the pace. Bumble was originally known for its rule that women message first. But it's since introduced an "Opening Moves" feature, which ensures you only hear from people you actually want to hear from while also filtering out all the junk. Opening Moves is essentially a series of prompts that users can set, which encourage prospective matches to get the convo going. Users can even select a photo as an Opening Move. But don't forget: That match will disappear if they haven’t responded within 24 hours.
Other Bumble bonuses include the power to chat via text, voice, or video without stumping up any cash whatsoever — as well as free access to basic filters such as age, distance, and verified profiles. There are premium tiers available, BumbleBoost and Premium, which offer an upgrade in terms of features. But you'll be able to find a potential hookup buddy without them.
Nothing's perfect, of course. There was some recent backlash over reports that previously blocked or left-swiped profiles had begun to reappear in users’ feeds, which creates something of a trust issue for the high-profile dating app. If that issue isn't a deal breaker — and we don't think it should be — Bumble remains a hookup favourite for good reason.
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The Good & The Bad
- Made for non-monogamous fun
- Links your profile with five partners
- Extensive tags for Desires and Kinks
- Totally non-judgmental community
- Emphasis on safety and consent
- App can be buggy & a bit unreliable
- Advanced features behind paywall
Feeld is an app for thinking outside the box of “normal” dating, if indeed there's such a thing. Feeld is designed for every and anyone, which means you could be single, in a relationship, or even part of a throuple. It’s about ethical exploration of non-monogamy, kinks, and alternative relationship-type fun, with an inclusive, consent-focused environment that should suit anybody who lives by a philosophy of "relationship anarchy". Though also applies if you’re just curious about what exists beyond the parameters of conventional dating.
In fact, you might be surprised at how your sexuality sways once everything's there for you to sample. Feeld has an extensive and detailed selection of desire and kink tags, such as "Bondage" "Threeway" and "Cuddling". According to Feeld's "Raw 2025" report, "heteroflexible" is the fastest-growing sexuality on the app, and interest in pegging among cis men has, well, gone up.
It also boasts a free “Constellation” feature that will link your profile with up to five partners. You can then define those connections with tags — the likes of "Lover," "Dom," and "Friend with benefits" — to keep things transparent. Other features are locked behind its "Majestic" paywall and it’s worth saying that Feeld can be a little buggy, the result of a not-very-good, privacy-troubling 2023 rebrand. And just so you know, reports suggest the app’s popularity has attracted more "vanilla daters" recently.
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The Good & The Bad
- Rapidly growing user base of 23 million worldwide
- "Dating Intentions" feature for clarity
- Prompts and voice notes help compatibility
- Filters for specific preferences
- Advises on how to get convos started
- No desktop version
- Some users want serious relationships only
- Not as fast as Tinder
Hinge is great for finding regular hookups, particular if you like a bit of back-and-forth with prospective partners before getting down to that all-important business. It has a growing user base, so you get more choice, more matches, and more chance of meeting someone who floats your boat.
Hinge tends to attract people looking for long-term relationships — its tagline is "designed to be deleted" — so if you're after hookups only be prepared to weed out those lovelorn users. But it's still very effective for hookups, and you can clearly communicate your expectations to potential matches.
For instance, there’s a "Dating Intentions" section where you can state exactly what you're looking for. According to Hinge, 75 percent of Gen Z daters check this before engaging. The upshot is that its features help you connect and learn more about each other before you actually hook up.
The free version of Hinge does some things a little differently, too. It allows users to see everyone who "likes" them, whereas most apps blur photos until you cough up some cash. You can send up to eight "likes" per day, and message your "likes" without paying anything extra. Hinge also provides a list of "Standouts", users the app thinks are your best potential hookups. The app has recently launched an AI feature called "Convo Starters," which analyses a match's profile and gives tips and inspo on how to get the dialogue going. That’s perfect for anyone who struggles to break the ice.
There's a new feature set to be added this spring called "Direct to Date", which kills any time wasting. It allows newly matched users immediately share availability and date ideas to "accelerate IRL plans." And let's give a shoutout to safety features such as "Hidden Words". This filters out specific words or emojis from incoming messages.
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The Good & The Bad
- Completely anonymous
- Chats and photos self-destruct
- Instant matches based on location
- Users can specify desires
- Anonymity isn't for everyone
- Smaller user base
- Not as good for queer community
Pure is an outlier is a world of apps that all claim to offer something different. It's adventurous, no-strings-attached, and totally anonymous. Not to mention very good for Gen Z, who are the app's fastest growing demographic.
Your chats and photos self-delete in 24 hours, and the app will never ask for your name, guaranteeing total anonymity (though it’s still compliant with UK law to ensure users are above legal age). It gives you the freedom to be totally direct about your desires without judgment, and engage in steamy convos with strangers from the moment you connect. There's no messing about with low-effort "heys" that ultimately go nowhere. Pure's whole USP is its potential for smoking hot, no-nonsense encounters. Sounds great, right?
While men usually dominate the dating app landscape, Pure has a more balanced 60/40 male-to-female ratio — it’s totally free for women to use, by the way — and it recently launched a "Safety Signal" feature for extra security. This enables you to share your live location and arrangements with a trusted contact if you meet a match IRL, which reduces the anxiety of meeting strangers. It's an extra later of safety that we can all appreciate.
It does have a smaller user base than the better-known mainstream apps, which means fewer options, and it’s worth noting that despite the artsy presentation and interface, it’s more geared towards heteronormative hookups. You may meet some bros who just want to etch another notch on the bedpost. And if you’re looking for something less conventional, or you have a kink or queer specification you'd like to satisfy, you may want to look at another app. But for straight-up sex with no questions asked, Pure will deliver the goods
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The Good & The Bad
- Top choice for gay, bi, trans, and queer men
- Millions on active users worldwide
- Fast and easy connections
- Guides on the local scene
- Can be very NSFW
- Best experience is behind paywalls
Even with the increase of apps for non-heteronormative relationships, Grindr remains the top hookup app for gay men. It’s the undisputed go-to for gay, bi, trans, and queer men looking for quick connections (and quick fun, of course). Grindr’s impressive numbers speak for themselves. According to Grindr's "Unwrapped" report, users sent more than 135 billion chats last year, with "Hung" being the most searched profile tag.
Grindr can instantly connect you with guys in your area. And its ability to do so, quickly and easily, remains undefeated. Self-explanatory features such as "Right Now" and an interactive "Live View" map make hookups even easier. And it goes beyond the actual hooking up. "Roam" allows you to drop a pin anywhere in the world and check out the scene and local events.
There are also new AI features to play with. The app has begun testing a new ultra-premium subscription tier, EDGE, in select markets. This is powered by Grindr's proprietary "gAI" stack and offers features like "A-List" (summaries of chats you might have missed) and "Profile Insights" (which reveal stats on a user's habits on the app).
Early reports suggest this tier gets pricey, but as existing users will know, Grindr is an app worth paying for. The free tier can be a pain because of relentless ads that disrupt the user experience. Paid-for tiers Grindr Unlimited and Grindr XTRA are worth the money, with a new in-app Safety Center and "Taken on Grindr" timestamp that verifies how recent photos are. There are also sexual health features, including HIV status.
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The Good & The Bad
- Created by and for queer women
- A bit clunky to use at first
- Profile tags to make intentions clear
- Vibrant community
- Photo-verified profiles for safety
- Free version has limited search filters
- Ads in the free version
- No desktop version
HER might not be on your radar — think of it as Grindr for queer women and non-binary folk. It offers a safe and inclusive space without the age-old problem of sleazy men and unwanted sexualisation. And it has 5 million users, so there’s no shortage of potential matches.
We should point out that it’s not designed exclusively for hookups. But the app makes it very easy to signal your dating intentions. A "Looking for" section on your profile allows you to add a "Something casual" tag, so everyone knows you’re playing it cool, breezy, and non-committal. The app has also introduced a "Feelings" feature for adding temporary, expressive tags such as "Hook up" or "Flirty" — another way to express exactly what you’re looking for.
The app doubles up as a social media platform for LGBTQ+ users, with a social feed, events, and media. The app was recently acquired by Match Group, which hasn’t gone down well with all users — it feels a little too mainstream and could mean more paywalls — but Match bosses have promised to maintain the integrity of what makes Her so special.
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Joseph Green is the Global Shopping Editor for Mashable. He covers VPNs, headphones, fitness gear, dating sites, streaming, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day.
Joseph is also Executive Editor of Mashable's sister site, AskMen.
Matt Ford is a freelance contributor to Mashable.