Online Dating Sites in Germany – Scammy or Genuine?
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Last updated on January 6th, 2023 at 05:15 pm
Does online dating even exist in Germany? Will you have any luck on the free dating sites in Germany? Is it possible you find love (or a hookup) on Tinder in Germany? This post gives you an overview of the most popular dating sites in Germany and whether they are actually useful for English speaking foreigners living in Germany.
If you have been living in Germany for a while, dating a German must have crossed your mind, right? But what is the best way to meet Germans if you don’t speak their language properly?
While researching for this article, I came across several articles that recommend dating sites in Germany that are targeted to German speakers – pretty much making them useless for anyone who may not speak any German yet.
Now you do not need to speak like a native to date a German ;), but you need some German language skills to navigate the platforms and understand the complicated terms and conditions.
Not only that, I was horrified to see that most of these highly recommended dating sites in Germany have really poor customer ratings.
In this post, I will introduce some German dating sites in English as well as some popular dating apps in Germany (that are also expat-friendly).
I will also clearly disclose their current Trustpilot customer ratings and cancellation policies, so you can make a fully informed decision to sign up with these dating sites in Germany or stay away from them. 🙂
Is Online dating in Germany really a thing?
Yes, online dating is actually quite big in Germany. A lot of Germans; young, middle-aged or mature use online dating sites and apps to meet new romantic partners.
Nowadays it is not considered a taboo if you openly declare that you met your partner on an online dating site. If someone judges you or your partner for meeting through an online dating site, then you don’t want to hang out with that laggardly shitbag anyway. 😉
How popular are online dating sites in Germany?
According to data shared by Statista, German online dating sites are expected to have 7.5m users by 2024.
As opposed to the common misconception, online dating is not just older people. Many young people use online dating services in Germany. In 2020, 27.5% of German online dating users are between 25-34 years old. About 25% of users are between 35- 45 years old.
When it comes to gender distribution, only 31% of total online dating platforms users are female.
What should you know before signing up on a German online dating site
Here are a few important things to be aware of before you sign up for a German online dating site.
Tricky contracts and cancellation policies
German contracts are trappy by design. Most pissed-off users complain about service contracts that are impossible to get out of. This is not just the problem with dating sites in Germany, but generally any type of German contract.
Typically, German contracts have an automatic renewal and a notice period of three months.
It can vary from brand to brand, so PLEASE check this in the cancellation policy. You will also have to notify in writing via email or snail mail. Merely clicking a ‘delete account’ button in your user profile may not be considered ‘contract cancellation’.
Another important detail – most dating sites in Germany give you a 14 days cancellation period.
However, if you make any contact with even one member within this time period, you have already used their service. It does not matter whether this contact resulted in a relationship or not.
If you decide within the 14-day period that this isn’t the right platform for you, you will still get charged the full fee.
According to the T&Cs of some dating sites in Germany, interaction with members is considered a ‘service already offered’.
Fake or inactive profiles problem
Fake profiles are unfortunately common on many dating sites in Germany. But then, this is a known issue with many online dating sites and apps worldwide. So bear this in mind that while some users might be genuine, some might be fake profiles.
Disproportionate gender distribution
As I quoted above, Statista data shows that male users make the majority of members on dating sites in Germany. Female users make up only around 30% of the total users of online dating sites in Germany.
In other words…
Still, it cannot hurt to try your luck, right? Let’s take a look at which dating sites in Germany might be worth your time, money and effort.
Popular Online Dating Sites in Germany
Parship
Parship is one of the most popular dating sites in Germany. It has been around since 2001 and claims to have a success rate of 40% for its users.
When you sign up for Parship, they ask you to answer 80 questions to create your profile. Their matchmaking algorithm uses this comprehensive personal profile and sends you suggestions based on values, attitudes and interests relevant to you.
Language: German only
Trustpilot Rating (Jan 2021): 1.8 out of 5
Cancellation policy: Automatic renewal. Three months cancellation notice.
Membership cost: Their premium subscriptions start at €54.90 per month for a 12-month contract. Parship’s freemium version has a limit on how many messages you can send. But it cannot hurt to try, right?
You can sign up here to see how it works out for you.
ElitePartner
ElitePartner’s USP is its exclusive target audience that consists mainly of academics, tech aficionado, high skilled career folks. So the average user age on ElitePartner is slightly higher when compared to your average dating apps herd.
But then, four million people in Germany use ElitePartner, so this niche obviously has a high demand.
The search feature on ElitePartner offers many filtering options and the suggested matches are accurate. They also have a mobile app, which matches you with people near you.
Language: German only
Trustpilot Rating (Jan 2021): 1.2 out of 5
Cancellation policy: Automatic renewal. Three months cancellation notice.
Membership cost: Considering they cater to a very specific target audience their membership costs €52,90 per month for a 12 month contract.
You can sign up here to try your luck on ElitePartner.
eDarling
eDarling target group is similar to ElitePartner – singles in Germany with a high level of education and academic experience. The platform is available in all of Europe with more than 13 million members.
Unlike the typical landscape of online dating in Germany, eDarling claims to have a pretty even gender distribution of 52% female users and 48% males.
When you register with eDarling, you’re presented with a comprehensive questionnaire of more than 250 questions to help their matching algorithm to find the best quality matches for you.
Language: German only
Trustpilot Rating (Jan 2021): 1.6 out of 5
Cancellation policy: Automatic renewal. Three months cancellation notice.
Membership cost: An eDarling subscription costs €24,90 per month for a 12-month contract.
Flirt.com
Flirt.com is not exactly a German online dating site, and for this reason, it has some advantages for anyone who wants to date in Germany as a foreigner.
Firstly, it is one of the very few dating sites in Germany in English.
Second, with most online dating sites in Germany, subscriptions may be too much of a financial commitment considering the high monthly costs.
Flirt.com, on the other hand, offers short-term subscriptions which are easy to cancel. You can upgrade to premium for a week just to see if paid membership is worth it in the long run.
Pretty practical, eh?
If pricey upfront payments have been a big concern for you so far, then don’t worry. Flirt.com does not demand payment upon registration. You can sign up and create your profile free-of-charge and use some of its freemium features that include interacting with members.
At present, Flirt.com has members from several English-speaking countries, as well as Europe and Asia – making it quite a diverse online dating app for expats living in Germany.
Language: English/ Multilingual
Trustpilot Rating (Jan 2021): 1.7 out of 5
Cancellation policy: Automatic renewal. At least three days (72 hours) cancellation notice
Membership cost:
1 Month – 28.80 USD / Month
3 Months – 16.20 USD / Month
Are you ready to date in Germany? Sign up with Flirt.com — it’s free. 🙂
So what’s the verdict?
Based on these Trustpilot reviews alone, the traditional matchmaking dating sites in Germany seem like an absolute nightmare. Even the majority of German reviews consistently complain about the entrapping usage terms and unfair cancellation policies.
In this sense, an international dating site such as Flirt.com might be much more user-friendly. They openly promote LGBT, multilingual and multicultural dating on their platform.
Even though Flirt.com doesn’t have better reviews than the rest, your financial risk is much lower.
The biggest customer complaint is about the lack of active profiles or potential fake profiles. But at least they give the possibility to test out the premium features for much shorter durations at reasonable costs.
Popular Dating Apps in Germany
First, for data lovers like me, here is this cool graphic showing the most popular dating apps in European countries.
Source: BBC
Tinder
Tinder needs no intro!
Many people believe that Tinder is merely a hookup app, which it is. But it is also responsible for a number of marriages and long-term relationships.
All Tinder did was that it gamified the traditional method of meeting new people online. At the end of 2020 Tinder has 6.6 million subscribers globally.
But how popular is Tinder in Germany?
As of 2020, Germany was the second-largest iOS market for Tinder. While I could not find the exact number of Tinder users in Germany, I’m sure there are more than enough Tinder users in Germany for you to meet your match.
Language: English/ Multilingual
Trustpilot Rating (Jan 2021): 1.4 out of 5
Cancellation policy: Automatic renewal. Cancel anytime before the next billing date
Membership cost (for under 30-year-old):
Tinder Gold – $14.99/ Month
Tinder Plus – $4.99/ Month
Give it a go here (if you aren’t already! 😉 )
LOVOO
If supporting local is your thing, then LOVOO is your go-to online dating app in Germany. Based in Berlin and Dresden, LOVOO is 100% made in Germany.
This popular dating app is widely used across Germany and the DACH area to meet new people or even just engage in German chat. Their location search is called “live radar” that shows other users in your proximity. Just like Tinder, you match by swiping left or right on user profiles, however, on LOVOO you can contact users without having to match first.
LOVOO claims to make over 350m matches worldwide per year. Maybe this is where you will meet your dream mate after all?
Language: German/ English/ Multilingual
Trustpilot Rating (Jan 2021): 1.8 out of 5
Cancellation policy: Automatic renewal. Cancel at least 24 hours before the next billing date
Membership cost (for under 30-year-old):
1 Month – 9.99 USD / Month
6 Months – 5.67 USD / Month
Badoo
Badoo is another ‘Made in the EU’ dating app. It uses a matching system quite similar to Tinder. A user can send a matching request to the profiles that interest them: if the other party accepts your request, both users can start messaging.
According to the BBC graph above, Badoo is quite popular in Eastern and South European countries. However, it supports multiple countries and languages all across Europe.
Language: German/ English/ Multilingual
Trustpilot Rating (Jan 2021): 3.4 out of 5
Cancellation policy: Automatic renewal. Cancel at least 24 hours before the next billing date
Membership cost (for under 30-year-old):
1 Month – 12.99 USD / Month
6 Months – 8.00 USD / Month
So what’s the verdict?
As you can see, Badoo is the only online dating service with an average user rating on Trustpilot. You will also face a much lower financial risk with any dating app in Germany than signing up with a German dating site. Maybe you will have a much better experience with a dating app after all?
Just in case you were curious about how Germans meet people old school style…
Where do Germans meet romantic partners in real life?
Anywhere really? University, library, workplaces, cafes, nightclubs, Vereins, through common friends, in the neighbourhood, while walking their dog (or cat), gym etc.
Whether online or IRL, German relationships are built upon a solid foundation. They often evolve from some sort of friendship.
In fact, most romances in Germany start in the friend zone. Only in Germany, a friend zone isn’t some dreaded black hole where all the romance goes to die. 😉
If you are feeling clueless about your dating life in Germany, then read my post where I take a deep dive into the typical German dating culture.
Also related: Intercultural Dating in Germany
So have you ever used any dating apps or dating sites in Germany? What was your experience? I would love to hear from you. Please share your experiences in the comments below.
Disclosure: Some of the links contained in this article are affiliate links, meaning I may receive a small commission for any qualified transactions. This has no bearing on the price of the product or service. Thank you for supporting this blog – I appreciate your support!
All images have been sourced from unsplash.com. All the gifs have been sourced from Giphy.com.
Yamini
Hi there, I am the human behind this blog. If you could not tell by my photo, I am fueled by tea. My expat journey started at the age of 19. Germany has been my home for several years. I hope you will find some helpful insights if you are considering moving to Germany or already live here.
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