Best sex apps: dating, hookup and adult-community picks

Feeld is the one pick that makes sexuality the stated subject of the whole app. People sign up as singles, as couples or as polyamorous groups, couples can link their profiles, and profiles carry desire tags. The About page names identities from asexuality to polysexuality, and the Looking for menu has casual and short-term choices. Asked in the FAQ whether it is a hookup app, Feeld declines the label, which leaves it classed here as sex-positive only.

A match is called a Connection and appears when two people Like each other. Pings reach someone before that point, and Feeld says profiles are never ranked. The free side covers exploring profiles and sending messages. Majestic Membership is the paid side: who-likes-you, Unlimited Likes, a free Ping each day, Incognito, private photos and filters by Desires and Last Seen. The safety page calls photo verification optional, and the pages checked do not confirm a web version.

AdultFriendFinder has run for a long time as an adult personals site, with chat and live cams alongside profiles. Couples and groups can sign up alongside singles. The homepage calls it a sex-positive community and lists friendships, casual dating and intimate relationships as options. At sign-up you say whether you are a man, woman, couple, group or trans, who you want to meet, and your country, state, nearest city and postal code. The word hookup is absent from the pages read.

The homepage advertises a mobile version without linking an App Store page, and no official Google Play listing turned up, so the website with member login is the confirmed route. Registration is free, but what a free account gets is not stated. The terms of use mention services that need a subscription or credits and disclaim any obligation to screen users. Whether free members can send or read messages is not confirmed, and no page describes profile verification.

Ashley Madison describes itself as a discretion-focused service, and its App Store title is "Ashley Madison Discreet Dating". The homepage says members are singles after dates, people in open relationships and people exploring polyamory or ethical non-monogamy, and casual dating sits in that mix. Search runs on filters and Interests and Desires tags, and a feature called Discreet Match is aimed at people who value privacy. Contact comes through messages, Winks and Private Key Requests.

On privacy the homepage names photo encryption, private images shared by permission, stealth mode on iOS and discreet billing, and it adds a Verify Your Profile option. Signing up gives a free member profile with some but not all features, and the rest needs credits or a package. According to the terms, free profiles can communicate with other members subject to other terms, and where the limit sits is not stated. App Store reach is the narrowest of the seven picks with a listing: 36 of 45 storefronts checked, with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Singapore and six more missing.

HUD is direct about its aim. Its Google Play title reads "HUD Hookup App: Dating & Chat", and the App Store listing invites people to "Embrace shame-free casual dating, explore your desires". Open relationships are named as welcome, and Google Play says all orientations and gender identities are supported. Each profile carries preference lists (into, open to, not into) and a Bedroom Archetype, so compatibility shows before a match, and recommended matches arrive as a feed you can like or comment on piece by piece.

Video chat begins blurred. Live video verification is optional, and the listings mention private photo sharing and blurring of media you receive. The privacy policy says city and country are estimated from an IP address lookup. HUD calls a free account a Basic Membership, which the terms define as a "minimal level" of the service, and Premium, Premium+ and Boosts add to it. Neither the terms nor the listings say whether two Basic members can message each other, and no web version is confirmed.

Pure swaps profile browsing for personal ads. You post an ad describing the experience you want, and the FAQ says other members' ads stay hidden until you do. Preferences, location and filters shape the feed, Turn-ons are among those filters, and Looking for offers five options. The safety page says "we're all for bold adventures and unforgettable nights", and the word hookup is missing from the listings, the FAQ and that page.

Using Pure means paying. The app has no standard free tier: the terms require a subscription, exceptions for non-subscribers are discretionary, and trials come up now and then. Chats and media expire, though the expiry period is not confirmed. An Incognito mode keeps your online presence hidden and read receipts are held back, Pure Album is a private album for chat partners, and the optional Photo Verification badge takes under 30 seconds with no ID. A web version is mentioned in the FAQ.

On DOWN the swipe carries the intent: down for something casual, up for something more, left to pass on someone. Matching needs mutual interest only, so one person swiping down and the other swiping up still match. In the terms, DOWN is described as a sex-positive platform. The FAQ describes Group Play for people open to group play or polyamory, the marketing speaks to women, and daily Nearby Picks follow stated preferences.

Photo verification applies to everyone, since the FAQ says each member is verified before swiping. Store listings use the words casual dating, and hookup turns up only in iOS purchase names and the Android package name. Download and use are free: a free account swipes, filters by gender, location and dating preferences, and views the profiles it has liked. Seeing who has swiped on you takes VIP. Free messaging between matches and a web version are both unconfirmed.

Tinder earns its place by reach. The search names it five times in the top ten, Google Play shows 500M+ downloads, and every one of the 45 App Store storefronts checked carries it. The listing language is mixed: Google Play says Tinder helps you "find a date, a serious relationship, or meet new friends". Casual dating goes unnamed, and nothing in the pages checked touches sex-positive use or open relationships.

Both people must like each other before chat opens. A free Tinder account can send Likes, match and chat. The paid side brings unlimited Likes, weekly Super Likes, compliments sent before a match, unlimited Rewinds and monthly Boosts. Incognito Mode and Photo Verification appear in the Google Play listing. In the Terms of Use, Tinder.com counts as part of the service, which means a web version. Double Date, where you bring a friend, and Events in selected cities are extras.

Grindr is a social and dating app for gay, bi, trans and queer adults built around location: nearby profiles fill a grid and you message them directly. The App Store listing calls it "the world's #1 free dating app serving the LGBTQ community". Casual dating goes unnamed in the pages checked, and so does the word hookup. The sex-positive classification comes from the Community Guidelines. Tags and basic filters narrow the grid, and favorites can be starred.

The free tier shows nearby users and includes chat, private photos and albums, tags, basic filters, favorites and block and report, with third-party ads. Paid XTRA lets you see up to 600 profiles at once, and Unlimited removes the limit and lists Incognito mode for browsing unseen. In its terms Grindr writes "We do not verify users" and explains that device location powers the nearby list and your own visibility to others. The homepage lists a web version. Related picks are collected in apps for LGBTQ adults.