A Marketplace report on the dating app scene found that the top 20 dating apps saw active daily users grow by 1.5 million last year. Adding video chat features, as many dating apps did, certainly.

International dating sites have exploded with the advent of the Internet. While there are many honest and trustworthy sites that provide an honest, legitimate service, there are others that need to be avoided. Here are a few things you may have wondered about as you scanned your favorite site looking for the right girl for you. For more information get into the following links to help you make your best choice of your dating site;

#1 InternationalCupid.com

Internationalcupid is designed for people living in different countries to match, send each other messages, and make international connections.

The website allows users to create personal profiles which indicate their personal preferences. Users can also upload photos both publicly and privately, and make instant messaging connections which allow them to chat with other users in real time. The website has an excellent advanced search engine which allows you to find matches based on more specific nuances than the regular search function.

The website’s demographics are more skewed towards older male users who are looking for younger international female matches, which can be frustrating for some female members of the site who did not fit this demographic.

InternationalCupid highlights:

  1. Best International Dating Apps Online dating has evolved a lot in just the last decade alone. The initial stigma of using online dating sites in the early 2000s was replaced by everyone wanting to use them when they realized their buddy found the perfect woman online instead of hanging out in a baror at a wedding.
  2. ForeignGirlfriend is designed for men who are interested in meeting women from foreign countries for love, dating, and eventually marriage. The website is meant for men who are serious about finding an international woman to fall in love with, marry, and bring back to his home country.
  • A large number of online users;
  • Available on the computer, tablet, and mobile phone;
  • Many free functions for standard members, such as, search function, winks, comments and replying messages from gold/platinum members for free;
  • The “block user” feature can prevent harassment from others.

#2 eHarmony.com

eHarmony is designed primarily for people interested in developing long-term relationships based on their personal compatibility.

eHarmony places a lot of emphasis on the success of a relationship being due to compatibility in various areas, including aesthetic preferences, careers, personality types, interests/hobbies, and more. The website has an in-depth preference and personality algorithm called the 29 Dimensions of Compatibility, which are designed to help the site present you with matches that are logistically compatible with you. The entire website experience is heavily tailored towards personal customization; you can choose everything from what type of information shows up on your dashboard to what type of members can view your profile if they are matched with you and more.

The website has a limited amount of communication features that make the website not as dynamic as similar matching sites. For instance, there is no built-in video chat system for members, you cannot search for potential matches as they are automatically given based on your compatibility test, and you can only get a certain amount of matches per day. This means that your potential match pool is a lot more limited when compared to other sites, especially since you can’t actually search for other users on your own and must rely on the 29 Dimensions of Compatibility results.

Overall Rating:4.5/5.0

#3 Match.com

Match.com is an incredibly popular dating website designed for people looking for many different types of relationships, including hook-ups, long-term relationships, and everything in between.

Match.com is notable for its sophisticated search algorithm that is based primarily on the preferences you set when you sign up for a membership. These preferences take into account factors such as ethnicity, relationship status, location, relationship preferences, and even smaller nuances such as hair color. The more you use the site, the more your searches become tailored to your perceived preferences. The website also has a plethora of interaction and privacy options that make it possible to keep your profile private to a select few, or make it possible for most members to contact you if they are interested in taking things further. Members can upload photos and other personal details that will help move along the process of finding a suitable match.

It can take a while to get approved for Match.com, which is frustrating if you are trying to find matches as soon as possible; the reason for the lengthy approval process is that the website’s team wants to ensure that profiles are “real” and not catfishing or simply made up, but this is a downside for many people.

#4 InterracialMatch.com

Interracialmatch.com is designed specifically for singles interested in finding an international match for a variety of different relationship styles.

The website allows users to create profiles which indicate their personal preferences which makes finding and receiving compatible international matches very easy. Interracialmatch.com also has a unique blogging feature which allows members to create their own personal blogs on the site, and read the blogs of other members. Another great feature is the ability to upload private photo galleries and specifically chose which members have access to them, which makes it possible to create galleries specifically for your favorite contacts The service is open to people interested in all sorts of relationships, including long term relationships, marriages, one night stands, and casual relationships.

Depending on your personal preferences, some sections of the user base may be less active than others. This can be frustrating if you are looking for quick matches. The website does require users to pay for a membership subscription before they can see the last active date for members, which is a downside since you won’t know if the matches you’re interested in are active until after you pay.

#5 EliteSingles.com

Elitesingles is a dating designed specifically geared towards busy, professional singles who are looking to find matches quickly and easily.

The most notable feature of Elitesingles is their detailed personality test; the results of this test will determine the various matches that the website recommends to you on a daily basis. Members will receive anywhere from 3 to 7 new matches per day, with the matches being determined by personality and preference compatibility as well as level of activity—users who do not log onto the website and use it will be recommended far less than users who actually participate. This method of matching is ideal for people who don’t have the time to try out searches and filters to browse through endless potential matches on their own.

The 1-month membership subscription is very steep—around $60 for a single month. You can save money by being 3-month, 6-month and annual subscriptions (a yearly subscription is around $215, or about only $17 per month!) but if you just want to try out the website to see if you like it, you’ll have to pay a hefty upfront cost. Although the automatic matching is helpful, the option to do some type of manual searching would make the website more accessible.

Overall Rating:4.0/5.0

#6 LoveMe.com

LoveMe, also known as Love Me: A Foreign Affair, is a geared specifically towards men who are looking for international matching and dating opportunities.

The website is specifically designed for men who are seriously interested in finding women in foreign countries (especially Russia, the Ukraine, Latin America, and Asian countries) for love and eventually marriage. It is a very popular site for men interested in finding international relationships, so there a lot of female matches for members to browse through, which means that most men will be able to find many women who fit their preferences. The website is upfront about its goals for users—marriage—and its operation abides by the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act laws to ensure that any matches founded through the website are legitimate and legal.

The website itself does not look professional and needs a re-design to make it easier to use. The basic paid membership fee is fairly expensive, starting at $95 for the first month and $30 for each month after that; this basic membership comes with the ability to message 100 users. Members will need to purchase the Executive Plan Membership if they want unlimited communication potions and to be able to do things such as: video message women on the website, read in-depth interviews with their potential matches, have a three-way phone call with their matches which includes translation services, or even arrange private meetings and immigration attorney consultants.

Overall Rating:3.5/5.0

#7 OKCupid.com

If you are searching for the top choice for international dating app, this is another option that should be part of your list. One of the best things about this is that you should answer personality questions. Answer it as honestly as possible since this will be used to find your match from the other members of the site. Member participation is one thing that sets it apart from many others. There are also many quirky tests that can be taken. It is also user-friendly, which will make it a snap to use, even for beginners.

Overall Rating:3.5/5.0

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#8 Zoosk.com

This dating app started in 2007 as a Facebook application. Now, this is considered as one of the most prominent online dating sites, as proven by the positive feedbacks from majority of its users. One of its best features is the Zoosk Scientific Matchmaking Service, making it easy to be connected to other members. The app can also be used as a virtual currency, which can be used for buying electronic gifts. It also has a newsfeed that is connected to Facebook.

Overall Rating:3.5/5.0

#9 Mate1.com

With this dating app, you will be able to break geographical boundaries and easily connect with other users from different parts of the world. Whether you are attracted to an Asian or a Westerner, among others, it will be easy for you to find a foreign girlfriend. With this adult dating portal, you will enjoy an intuitive website and app that makes it easy to communicate with other members. Whether you are looking for someone to marry or a girl to flirt with, this is an excellent place.

Overall Rating:3.0/5.0

Dating

#10 ForeignGirlfriend.com

ForeignGirlfriend is designed for men who are interested in meeting women from foreign countries for love, dating, and eventually marriage.

The website is meant for men who are serious about finding an international woman to fall in love with, marry, and bring back to his home country. Members can search for a potential foreign match by using filters that narrow down women by their age, location/home country, hair color, eye color, ethnicity, and even their education level. Male users can send chat requests or emails to women on the website, who can choose to respond either through the website’s chat function or through an email service.

The website uses a credit system rather than a monthly or annual subscription fee. Credits are required for using features on the site such as contacting women, sending and receiving emails, and finding matches. The site charges $199.99 for 1000 credits, $47.99 for 160 credits, and $7.99 for 20 credits. The credit system can be confusing and the site would be served best through a standard membership fee. Despite being designed for men interested in foreign marriages, ForeignGirlfriend doesn’t have tools to help men serious about marrying their matches such as access to translators or immigration attorneys.

Overall Rating:3.0/5.0

10 dating apps to swipe right or left depending on what you’re looking for in your next relationship here in Japan.

So you’ve moved to Japan hopeful that the dating scene here will be ah-mazing and full of new excitement. You think you’ll find the perfect Japanese man for you right away and things will lead to a happy ending. Or just have some fun for a while. While that’s a great mindset to have, it’s time to get real. Most foreign women living in Japan that want a serious relationship need to put in more legwork than they might otherwise overseas. Shyness combined with language and cultural barriers plus the not-so-little matter of a global pandemic make dating an even more stressful situation than it typically is.

But luckily, we live in an era where you can find anything online—even relationships. A quick search online will show you dozens of different deai-kei (出会い系 online dating) apps, but how do you know what will help you find who or what you’re looking for?

Best Dating App For Foreigners

Having been there, done that, I decided to do a quick poll of my foreign friends to find out what apps or sites worked best for them and what didn’t. 15 international women living in Japan gave the original rankings out of five stars when this article was first published in 2017, and five of that same group helped to update this ranking for the dating scene in 2020. It’s up to you whether to swipe right or left!

1. Tinder

One that doesn’t need an introduction. While most people are “just looking” on Tinder, if you’re actively trying, you can not only meet people to date, but new friends, drinking buddies, networkers and activity mates. I found a whole group of men and women to check out summer festivals with, so I can speak from experience when I say that Tinder isn’t just for hanky panky.

In 2020, Tinder began offering its global passport, normally a paid service, for free to all users. It enabled them to better connect and communicate, which for several of the ladies was a huge bonus.

  • Language: English, Japanese
  • Fees: Free, special features require a monthly subscription
  • Original Ranking: 4 stars
  • 2020 Ranking: 5 stars

2. Bumble

Bumble markets itself as the app where the woman makes the first move, and if she doesn’t message, then the match disappears after 24 hours. This app also relies on the user having a Facebook profile first in order to log in, which has made it a bit slow to catch on in Japan, but it is gaining in popularity because of its “women get to choose” option.

One of the women I surveyed (and who found her current Japanese boyfriend through this app) summarized it as follows: “There are a lot of guys on there, and most of them aren’t on other apps as well. You don’t find as many fake profiles on Bumble as you do with other sites, and you get to control the whole ‘am I going to bother talking to him’ part, which is really nice.”

In 2020, the app is not just for dating, but also for business opportunities, and making friends too. Within the app, you can switch from one feature to another, which makes it very versatile for the global community, and also a great way to keep in touch and build your social circle from a safe distance.

  • Language: English, Japanese
  • Fees: Free, special features require a monthly subscription
  • Original Ranking: 4½ stars
  • 2020 Ranking: 5 stars

3. OkCupid Japan

Billed as “the best dating site on Earth,” OkCupid’s Japanese version is much more detail focused than Bumble or Tinder, with the average time to fill out your profile coming in at around 45 minutes. You can of course opt to leave most of your profile empty, but based on the experiences shared with me, it isn’t recommended, because you’re most likely to remain unnoticed. According to one woman who has used it, “OkCupid has a lot of serial daters on it, so if you use other dating apps/sites, you may be discouraged by the dating pool overall.”

In the 2020 dating scene, it’s still a staple, but the imbalance in users and the volume of fake profiles is staggering. It’s also said to be a hassle to sign up for too, so unless you’re really determined to use it, you’d probably have less trouble with a different app.

  • Language: English, Japanese, and others
  • Fees: Free, special features require a monthly subscription
  • Original Ranking: 3 stars
  • 2020 Ranking: 2 stars

4. JapanCupid

Not to be confused with OkCupid, JapanCupid is a part of the Cupid Media Group, a niche-based dating site group, that connects users with people from around the world rather than just in their immediate area. While this makes it somewhat less appealing to users in Japan, JapanCupid is popular with those who will not be staying in Japan for the long term, and with those who are looking for someone to marry—though apparently there are far more Japanese women on this site than there are Japanese men.

Unfortunately in 2020, not much seems to have changed, and when a different friend logged in, she was inundated with a number of obviously fake profiles and soon deleted her account. “Claiming a 20-year-old Korean pop star is really you, but you’re a 36-year-old Japanese man? No thanks.”

  • Language: English, Japanese, and others
  • Fees: Free, special features require a monthly subscription/fees
  • Original Ranking: 3 stars
  • 2020 Ranking: 1 star

5. MatchAlarm

MatchAlarm was a Japanese language only dating app that recommended a new person to you every morning at 8 a.m. based on your social information gleaned from your Facebook profile and behavior. You had 16 hours to respond to an alarm, after which it would disappear, and would require three coins (a part of the in-app payment system) in order to tap the “Might Like You” button. But unfortunately, MatchAlarm is no more, and therefore no longer part of the ranking.

6. Omiai

The largest online dating site and app service in Japan that relies on your Facebook profile (or Apple ID, or phone number now) to search for your ideal match. This is another konkatsu service, so unless you’re looking for a serious relationship, Omiai might not be the site for you. There are 24 points that you can filter your results by, including nationality and income level, which some users pointed out makes this site seem more for sugar daddy searching than anything else, but overall, no one had any serious complaints about this site.

For daters in 2020 with the Japanese language skills to keep up, Omiai has somewhat rebranded itself in more of a Tinder/Instagram friendly fashion, and strictly placed focus on it being a relationship/marriage-centric app. If you’re seriously looking to meet a marriage partner, this is probably your best option when it comes to dating apps.

  • Language: Japanese
  • Fees: Free for women, ¥1,950 per month (for the 12-month plan) for men
  • Original Ranking: 4 stars
  • 2020 Ranking: 4 stars

7. Tapple

Tapple is a dating app where, instead of filling out a profile and searching for people, you fill out the qualifiers of what sort of man you’re interested in, and then join different groups based on your hobbies. Then, you’re shown a selection of men who share that interest and meet your criteria, and you can either like, skip, or super like their profile.

While I had some positive experiences meeting and talking to people on this app, when the time came to actually meet in person, the people that I spoke to were very hesitant to meet offline. One guy actually said he preferred to talk and date online exclusively. Other foreign female users I spoke with had similar results, so this might not be a good choice if you are seriously looking to meet someone.

Thanks to numerous updates to a more streamlined, Tinder-like service, plus TV and online commercials in 2020, Tapple has become a very competitive app, preferred by those in their 20s who are looking for a relationship that could lead to something more. Plus, the numbers of people who want to take things slowly and start online here make it ideal for those wanting companionship but not willing to head out on the town just yet.

  • Language: Japanese
  • Fees: Free for women, monthly subscription fee for men (varies by number of months desired)
  • Original Ranking: 2½ stars
  • 2020 Ranking: 4 stars

8. YYC

YYC has been around for twenty years now according to its website and still lists itself as Japan’s largest dating service. When you join, you are given an automatic 300 points to use in order to meet and match with others based on your own search parameters. The vast majority of this service’s users are young professionals. YYC is a dating site designed for people who want to combine the blogging space of LiveJournal with the influencer lifestyle of Instagram, so if you aren’t the type to frequently update and message, you might find this site to be more of a hassle than anything else. “Casual users tend to just disappear after their free points run out, so it’s not a place for you if you aren’t ready to commit to the effort,” said one user.

None of the ladies I spoke with still used YYC, so I gave it an honest try, and I have to say, it wasn’t all that bad, but I did find it somewhat repetitive. If your Japanese isn’t up to par, it can be a struggle to navigate as well.

  • Language: Japanese
  • Fees: Free for women, monthly subscription fee/points system for men
  • Original Ranking: 3½ stars
  • 2020 Ranking: 3 stars

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9. Pairs

Pairs is another online dating site and one that has had numerous TV and train commercials since going online. This site and its related app also uses your Facebook profile but allows you to hide your full name, enabling its users to go by initials instead. Their target audience tends to be younger Japanese men, “so there are plenty of guys to choose from, but those that are interested in pursuing a serious relationship with a non-native Japanese speaker are few and far between, at least in my experience,” according to a user.

“It’s updated a bit, but nothing really major has changed about the quality of the users,” says the same person as above in 2020. “I still use it, and sometimes you find someone nice, but it’s more work than some of the other apps out there now.”

  • Language: Japanese
  • Fees: Free for women, monthly subscription fee for men
  • Original Ranking: 3 stars
  • 2020 Ranking: 3 stars

10. Zexy Koimusubi

Zexy Koimusubi is a dating app that is part of a popular Japanese wedding services company. The app overall works on the same principles of matching based on shared interests and uses your Facebook profile to compile this data, but otherwise, it seems to have a fairly high success rate. Whether this is due to their association with weddings and marriage already is anyone’s guess, but of the people that I know that have used this site, two married someone they met on there, and one is planning her wedding now, so make of that what you will.

“I met my husband on this site, so of course I would recommend it to anyone that is serious about marriage, having kids, and staying in Japan. It does work, if you’re brutally honest with yourself about what you’re looking for. If you’re still trying to figure that out, don’t bother with this app.” (Jane, American, 31)

  • Language: Japanese
  • Fees: initial one time ¥108 fee for women (for ID check purposes), monthly fee for men
  • Original Ranking: 4 stars
  • 2020 Ranking: 4½ stars

11. Bonus App—Happy Mail

Happy Mail first began in 2001 but wasn’t a major player in the dating app scene for a long time. According to their website, thanks to consistent efforts over the last twenty years they have the largest number of members of any dating/matching app in Japan. There are just over 25 million people on Happy Mail, looking for everything from pen pals to serious marriage partners.

Based on testimonials from male friends and a few women, it’s quite similar to Pairs but has more of the immediacy of Tinder in terms of matching, so it all comes down to what or how you want to go about dating in 2020 whether this app is what will work for you.

  • Language: Japanese
  • Fees: Free for women (plus a 120 coin present as some services require points), points/pay as you go fees for men
  • Ranking: 4 stars

Before subscribing to a Japanese “serious” dating app, keep in mind that most of them are likely to require you to submit a photo of an official ID before using their services. This is because they are quite literally trying to find you a suitable husband. If that’s your goal, don’t mind the screening! Good luck in finding the best for yourself, ladies!

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Have you ever used a dating app or site in Japan? Share your experiences in the comments.