The intertwining of online dating with traditional Indian culture has been evolving for years. While the apps weren’t as widely accepted in their infancy, many Indian people are finding love with modern online dating. However, every region of India and each Indian person has different expectations for dating and romance.
Are you looking for an Indian partner in your home country, or anywhere around the world? You don’t need to waste your time or money trying dozens of dating apps. We’ve curated a list of the 4 best dating apps for Indians.
We’ve looked at details from usability, price, and user safety to create this list. You can rest assured that if you try to find your love on one of the sites, you won’t be disappointed. We’ve included options for dating apps in India (if you live there), as well as Indian dating apps in the USA (if you’re looking for someone in your culture that lives stateside).
The Top 4 Indian Dating Apps
- eHarmony – Best Overall Indian Dating App
- Elite Singles – Best Exclusive Indian Dating App
- Indian Cupid – Best Place to Find Indian and NRI Singles
- Shaadi – Best for Matching by Language and Religion
1. eHarmony – Best Overall Indian Dating App
- Personality guided matching with optional focus on religion
- High rate of marriages resulting from the app
- Focus on committed relationships not hookups
- Excellent for dating in India or international dating!
The Bottom Line – eHarmony is a mainstream dating site that provides excellent matching services to those seeking long-term romance. Their detailed filtering options make it easy to find other Indian and NRI singles, which is why they are on our list of the best dating apps for Indians.
2. Elite Singles – Best Exclusive Indian Dating App
- Over 80% of users are college educated
- Members are all seeking serious, long-term relationships
- Great search function to help narrow results
The Bottom Line – Elite Singles may be a mainstream dating app, but it finds its way on our list for being a great place to find first-rate matches that are interested in marriage. The app is international which makes finding your Indian match much easier.
3. Indian Cupid – Best Place to Find Indian and NRI Singles
- Great for both dating and matrimonial services
- Sign up is fast and easy
- Low monthly membership price
The Bottom Line – Indian Cupid is one of the most popular matrimonial sites in the world for Indians and NRIs. The apps advanced messaging features make it easy to communicate with any of your thousands of matches.
4. Shaadi – Best for Matching by Language and Religion
- Member safety is a top priority
- Great for finding singles by language, location, and religion
- Focuses on finding matrimonial matches
The Bottom Line – Shaadi claims to be the world’s number one matchmaking service for Indians. The platform hosts over 3.5 million singles and allows users to narrow their search by religion, language, and country of origin. You can register for free and paid memberships start at under $25/ month.
All the Options – More Indian Dating Apps to Consider
You’ve seen our recommendations, but ultimately the decision is yours. To help you make the most informed choice we’re going to show you the good, the bad, and the ugly of some other Indian dating apps available right now.
Please note – these are not recommendations! We just wanted to give you a full view of the market.
- DesiKiss – This dating app for Indian singles is part of the World Singles Network—a niche dating site provider that has been in the industry for over 2 decades and has lead to over 4 million connections. With the backing of such a major brand there is some credibility here, but there are also some drawbacks to be aware of. Two of the biggest flaws we see is that there is no mobile app available and the site’s profile verification system is basically non-existent.
- Aisle – At first glance this dating app for Indians seemed to have a lot of potential. The site functions on an invites system for communication so you know anyone reaching out to you has paid for that privilege. This is an excellent system to reduce spam messages. But, while we think this app has potential we can’t recommend it. Here are the 4 key reasons why: few free features, over 70% of users are male, multiple user reviews of bad customer support, and lastly a much smaller user base than our mainstream recommendations.
- IndianSinglesUK.com – Over 2% of the UK’s population is now Indian so we were excited to see a professional dating option for ambitious Indian singles in the UK to meet. While this site’s offerings and especially live matchmaking events are interesting we can’t comfortably recommend this dating service. At this time the site is buggy and awkward and has some pretty negative user reviews. But don’t give up hope! If you’re looking for highly educated Indian singles we’re confident that you will be much happier with either Elite Singles or The League (FYI – Those links go to our reviews 😉).
- Desi Dating Service – This app claims they can introduce you to Desi singles your parents are sure to approve of. Since we don’t know your parents we can’t comment on that, but we will say that this dating app does not give us a good feeling. The Desi Dating Service website looks incredibly outdated, offers no mobile app, and worst of all publicly uses user profile images. Respect yourself and your privacy enough to go with a different Indian dating app.
- Jeevansathi – This Indian data app is certainly thorough. It allows you to search profiles my a wide variety of niche specific filters including: mother toungue, caste, religion, city, occupation, and country in the case of NRI singles. With decent user ratings and 15 years in business we certainly can’t say this Indian matchmaking service has nothing to offer. Some of the main user complaints are overly expensive membership, outdated interface and features, and unbalanced gender ratio. (PS – for anyone wondering Jeevansathi is the Hindi word for spouce).
- Naseeb – Free. It’s a word we all love to see, but this Indian dating app is an excellent example of getting what you pay for. While they boldly advertise “1,100,132 possibilities” our reviews actually found the number of users to be in the hundreds making this one of the smallest online dating communities reviewed to date. On top of that the site operates without secure data encyption and all profiles are public. Please… just don’t use this dating app to find Indian singles…
Mainstream Dating Apps vs. Dedicated Options for Indian Singles
Mainstream dating apps and dedicated Indian dating apps are both great choices for finding your future partner. However, they both have their benefits. Let’s take a look at the advantages of each of these Indian dating options.
Mainstream Dating Apps Perks
- Excellent filters make finding Indian singles a breeze.
- Large user bases from all over the world.
- Memberships start as low as $10/month.
- Make your religious preferences and importance known.
- Option to date casually or seek commitment.
Mainstream Dating Apps Cons
- Requires more intricate search narrowing
- Not all mainstream apps focus on marriage
- Not all users are from India or of Indian decent.
Dedicated Indian Dating Apps Perks
- Dating pool is exclusively Indian.
- Search by religions and locations.
- Popular matrimonial services.
- Some sites have more niche specific filters. (For example filtering by caste)
Dedicated Indian Dating Apps Cons
- Can be pricier than mainstream apps.
- Platforms tend to focus on marriage and not casual dating.
- Niche Indian dating sites generally have fewer features.
- Significantly smaller user pools.
- Negative user reviews are more common.
Where to Find Indian Singles Near Me
It’s no secret that we think the best way to meet new Indian singles in your area or around the world is by utilizing online dating apps. Below we will give you some tips to help you find Indian singles
Finding NRI Singles in the U.S., U.K., and Other Countries
If you’re not in India, you may be wondering if you will only find Indian singles oversees. Fortunately, our picks for the best dating apps for Indians have user bases that span all across the country, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and more!
To find singles in your area, be certain to accurately set your location. If your chosen app allows you to set search distance parameters, adjust them to keep your searches within your home country. All the top Indian dating apps have a variety of search filters allowing you to search by religion, language, location, and more!
Having such specificity in your search filters can help you find the perfect match from your own country.
Finding Indian Singles Who Live in India
Whether you reside in North America, Europe, or anywhere in the world, our choices for the best dating apps for Indians can spread your search across oceans. Since the apps on our list are international, it only takes a quick change to your search criteria to find Indian singles living in India. You can even narrow your search field to find singles in specific Indian states and territories.
In other words, these apps work stateside and also double as amazing options for dating apps in India.
Indian Online Dating FAQ
What is the Best Dating App for Singles in India?
At this time, our recommendation would be eHarmony. Whether you’re in Indian yourself or just looking to meet Indian singles this highly rated dating app has features that make it not only possible, but easy to find true compatibility. If you’re still on the fence about which Indian dating app to try we strongly recommend giving the eHarmony free trial a go!
Are These Hindu Dating Apps?
Not strictly no, but you will find plenty of Hindu singles on each of them. Nearly 80% of India’s population is Hindu and as a result most of the Indian singles you encounter anywhere will be Hindu. If you’re not looking for to find Hindu singles online you may want to check out our recommendations for Christian and Muslim dating apps below.
What is the Dating Culture Like in India?
When you think of dating in India you probably think about arranged marriages. And while these still exist, the dating culture of India has started to shift. The biggest difference is that parents are becoming less hands on.
But wait, that doesn’t mean parent permission is out the door. It also doesn’t mean that casual dating and hookups are running rampant. Overall Indian dating culture is still very traditional. This includes: most relationships being marriage focused, limited displays of public affection, living separate before marriage, and of course seeking the approval of your partner’s family.
Is DilMil Good for Indian Dating?
Since DilMil caters to South Asians it is sometimes recommended as a Desi dating app. Ultimately our team of reviewers found that it shared many of the same drawbacks as other niche Indian dating sites. But, if you’re set on checking out this app we recommend you give our detailed DilMil review a look.
Are These Dating Sites Safe to Use?
The sites on our list of the best Indian dating apps all focus heavily on user safety. They have active moderators, automatic security features, and customer service agents that respond quickly to reports of fraud or abuse.
Beyond only using the safest Indian dating apps, here are a few basic rules to help you stay safe:
- Never share private information with new acquaintances.
- Don’t send money or banking information to anyone you haven’t met in person.
- Insist on a video chat before meeting a partner in person.
- Only meet friends and partners in public places.
- If you are going to meet a partner in person, inform a trusted individual of your intended location and the partners name.
- Trust your instincts and discontinue communications with those who make you uncomfortable.
- Don’t do anything with or for a person if you are not completely comfortable. Remember, “no,” is a complete sentence.
- Report any suspicious or abusive behavior to your dating apps customer service, immediately.
Are Casual Dating Apps Popular in India?
Not really. This is largely due to the fact that casual dating and hookups are seen as highly Taboo in Indian culture. this is why our recommendations for India’s top dating apps are all geared toward finding more meaningful relationships.
What is Online NRI Dating?
The term “NRI” describes Non-Resident Indian citizens. With this in mind, online NRI dating is simply international dating for Indian singles who don’t currently live in India. By using NRI dating apps these Indians abroad are able to touch base with compatible singles back home.