Match, Chat, Love: Examining the popularity and usage of dating apps in Singapore

From local matchmakers Paktor and Lunch Actually to global dating services like Tinder, Bumble and Coffee Meets Bagel there’s no shortage of options for Singaporeans looking to leverage online social networks in their search for love.

But which dating apps are most popular? And do the kind of romantic relationships that Singaporeans look for – from finding a spouse to hooking up for a casual fling – significantly vary between platforms?

In Part 1 of our three-part study on Dating app usage in Singapore: Popularity, Barriers and Perspectives, we examine the prevalence of dating app use across demographic lines, identify Singapore’s most popular dating apps, and compare how users of different dating apps vary in the kinds of relationships they seek.

What proportion of Singapore residents have ever used a dating app?

Latest research from YouGov Surveys reveals that one in four (24%) Singapore residents have used one or more dating apps before, and that proportion is consistent across men and women.

More than one in three (34%) residents from the Malay community say they have used dating apps before, a relatively higher proportion compared to residents of Indian and Chinese ancestry.

Unsurprisingly, younger generations – Gen Z and Millennials – are much more likely to have used dating apps compared to Gen X and Baby Boomers.

Which are the most used dating apps in Singapore?

Among Singapore residents who have used dating apps before, almost three in five (59%) have used Match Group’s Tinder, making it by far the most popular dating app.

Coffee Meets Bagel, used by slightly under half (46%) of dating apps users in Singapore, is the second most popular dating app.

OkCupid (also owned by Match Group) and Bumble, which around a third (34%) of dating app users have been on, jointly take the third spot.

Meanwhile, among homegrown dating apps, about one in seven dating app users have tried Lunch Actually (14%) and Paktor (13%).

What kind of relationships are users on various dating apps looking for?

We also asked dating apps users about the kind of relationships they were seeking to find – on each platform they indicated ever using.

Among the top three most used dating apps, Coffee Meets Bagel had the largest proportion of “serious daters” who hoped to find an exclusive relationship (68%) or spouse/life partner (58%) on the app. Meanwhile, eHarmony and Lunch Actually had the largest proportion of such users across all apps.

In the case of Hinge and Bumble, while “serious daters” keen on finding an exclusive relationship made up the largest category of users (76% and 63% respectively), a far smaller portion of them hope to find someone they can tie the knot or couple for life with (48% and 47% respectively).

In contrast, Tinder had the smallest proportion of “serious daters” looking for an exclusive relationship (54%) or spouse/life partner (41%) on the app. Instead, “social daters” who are simply looking to meet new friends (61%) make up the largest category of Tinder users overall.

Meanwhile, “casual daters” looking for a dalliance or hookup make up a relatively larger proportion of users on Tinder (39%) and Bumble (37%) than on OkCupid (28%) and Coffee Meets Bagel (26%).

However, among less popular apps, “casual daters” make up a noticeably larger proportion of all users – suggesting that a sizeable proportion of users there seek both serious relationship partners and casual flings.

Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online in January 2024, with a national sample of 1,034 Singapore residents, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, gender, and ethnicity to be representative of all adults in Singapore (18 years or older) and reflect the latest Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS) estimates. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.

_{Cover photo by Oscar Wong}