OkCupid vs Bumble 2024 Comparison: Pick The Winner

Selecting the right dating app makes a big difference when it comes to finding a great partner online. OkCupid and Bumble both offer dating app versions of their services to iPhone and Android users. Find out what their strengths and weaknesses are in terms of features and pricing. This will help you pick the best app.

Picking the right dating app: OkCupid vs Bumble 

The dating apps on our phones reveal a lot about our expectations around relationships. That is why using a dating app that meets your needs increases your chances of finding someone compatible.

The dating apps we use are deeply personal choices, like our favorite ice cream. Getting to know the different options can only help make dating easier.

Online dating app recommendations

Have a look at our dating app recommendations to help you find the one that’s best suited to your needs.

These are some of the leading dating apps in the match-making market. Sign-up today for free:

OkCupid vs Bumble: the differences 

These are the key differences between OkCupid and Bumble.

	OkCupid	Bumble
Who is it for?	Singles looking for a variety of relationship options, inclusive features, and diversity.	Users who like a swipe-based dating app and the fact that women message first after matching.
Registration detail	Fun registration with lots of situational/hypothetical questions that are great conversation starters.	Requires a Facebook or Apple account unless you sign up with a phone number. Quick process.
Memberships and profiles	Millions of users with detailed profiles which can help break the ice when chatting.	Short profiles focusing on photos and basic information.
Paid options	Free service includes messaging. Paid subscription adds more perks to improve experience but isn’t essential.	Free service includes messaging. Paid subscription adds more perks to improve experience but isn’t essential.
Pros	Messaging and all main features are free. Inclusive-sign up options. Search and filtering features. Detailed profiles.	Messaging and main features are free. Inclusive sign-up options. Strong safety features for female users.
Cons	Long profiles can make it slower to browse.	Profiles sometimes lack detail. Swipe-based interface is the only option for browsing profiles.

How is OkCupid better than Bumble?

OkCupid is more flexible and detailed than Bumble. This starts with the sign-up and profile creation process where a fun questionnaire helps users fill out their profile. The personality questions are an ongoing feature which helps OkCupid better determine compatibility.

OkCupid, unlike Bumble, gives users fully-featured search and filtering settings to tailor how they browse through profiles.

OkCupid key points

These are some important things to know about OkCupid:

• OkCupid encourages users to share a lot of deeply personal details on their profiles or through question prompts. You have the option to not use your real name on your profile.
• Supports non-monogamous dating such as polyamory.
• Lets users define preferred pronouns on their profile.

How is Bumble better than OkCupid?

Bumble’s most notable feature is that “women make the first move”. This means that when a man and a woman match, the woman has a full day to send the first message. The man cannot start the conversation and can only message once the woman has sent that initial message.

After that, both people can message as much as they want to. If the woman who matches with a man does not send the first message within 24 hours then the match expires. 

Bumble isn’t just for heterosexual men and women. For same-gender matches either person can initiate the conversation. The 24-hour match expiration is still there, so if neither person writes something the match will go away after a day.

Just like with Tinder, browsing profiles on Bumble involves swiping left and right to indicate whether you like the profile or not. Profiles are concise with an emphasis on photos followed by a short bio and key details.

Unlike OkCupid, Bumble can also be set to “non-romantic” modes–BFF or BIZZ . These settings are designed to help you make new friends or network professionally.

Did you know?

Bumble was founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd, a former Tinder employee, who sued for sexual discrimination and harassment. The app was created with help of Andrey Andreev, founder of the Badoo dating service.

Which dating app is cheaper: OkCupid vs Bumble

OkCupid is more expensive than Bumble when comparing entry-level paid plans–Basic and Boost, respectively. However, the cost of premium plans is much more evenly matched.  Let’s take a closer look at OkCupid vs Bumble’s current pricing.

OkCupid vs Bumble price comparison

Compare the prices for economy and premium tiers for both companies below.

	OkCupid Basic Paid Plan	OkCupid Premium Plan	Bumble Boost Plan	Bumble Premium Plan
1-month option	$29.99 per month	$39.99 per month	$16.99 per month	$39.99 per month
3-month option	$19.99 per month	$26.66 per month	$11.33 per month	$25.66 per month
6-month option	$14.99 per month	$19.99 per month	$9.17 per month	$19.95 per month
Lifetime	n/a	n/a	n/a	$229.99 one-off payment

Bumble Boost is noticeably cheaper than OkCupid Basic. However, if you are more interested in the Premium options, pricing is almost identical. The biggest difference is with the 3-month option, where Bumble is a single dollar cheaper than OkCupid’s equivalent plan. 

Bumble also offers a lifetime premium option. This option makes sense if you plan on using Bumble for more than a year.

Feature comparison: OkCupid vs Bumble

OkCupid and Bumble both have a free version and two paid options each. The good news is that both apps have fully-featured free versions that include all the core features needed for dating online. You can start with the free version before deciding on a paid plan.

OkCupid features: free vs paid options

Here is a full breakdown of OkCupid’s features across its free and paid tiers.

Free Membership	Basic Membership	Premium Membership
✅ Profile creation	✅ Profile creation	✅ Profile creation
✅ Unlimited messaging	✅ Unlimited messaging	✅ Unlimited messaging
✅ Browse all profiles	✅ Browse all profiles	✅ Browse all profiles
	✅ No external ads	✅ No external ads
	✅ Unlimited likes	✅ Unlimited likes
	✅ Unlock all intro messages	✅ Unlock all intro messages
	✅ Set dealbreakers	✅ Set dealbreakers
		✅ See everyone who has liked your profile
		✅ See public answers from a profile before you answer them

If you go for the basic paid membership, you do get some valuable benefits like unlimited likes and “dealbreakers” (matching requirements). This can help you match faster and with people who better fit your criteria.

OkCupid Basic gives you the best value for money. The more expensive premium option lets you see who has liked your profile as well as other people’s answers before answering questions. These are nice to have but not an absolute necessity.

Bumble features: free vs paid options

Compare the features you get with free and paid memberships on Bumble.

Free Membership	Boost Membership	Premium Membership
✅ Profile creation	✅ Profile creation	✅ Profile creation
✅ Unlimited messaging*	✅ Unlimited messaging*	✅ Unlimited messaging*
✅ Extend one match for an extra 24 hours	✅ Extend unlimited matches for an extra 24 hours	✅ Extend unlimited matches for an extra 24 hours
✅ 25 Swipes a day roughly	✅ Unlimited swipes	✅ Unlimited swipes
	✅ Undo swipes	✅ Undo swipes
	✅ One Spotlight per week	✅ One Spotlight per week
	✅ Five SuperSwipes a week	✅ Five SuperSwipes a week
		✅ See who likes you (Beeline)
		✅ Incognito mode
		✅ Match again with expired matches
		✅ Travel mode

*Only with matches. Men have to wait for women to send the first message before benefitting from unlimited messaging.

The free version of Bumble lets you have all the main features to match and chat with other users on the app. Just like with OkCupid, the free version is very capable and there aren’t any crucial features hidden behind a paywall.

Unlike OkCupid, you can also switch the app to friendship and networking modes if you are no longer looking for a romantic partner. The paid benefits also carry over into these modes.  

While the free version has a limited number of swipes per day, both Bumble Boost and Premium make them unlimited. You also get the ability to undo swipes you’ve made by mistake. This means that if you liked someone by mistake, you can revert that decision.

Additionally, you also get “Spotlight”, which moves you to the top of the list of profiles in your area, and “SuperSwipe”, which lets matches know you really like them. Both of these features help you get noticed on Bumble.

Bumble Premium adds the following perks on top off what is available with Bumble Boost:

1. Incognito mode lets you keep a low profile by not appearing on other user’s beelines.
2. Beeline shows you who has liked your profile before matching with them.
3. Travel mode lets you set a different location than the one you’re at right now to start chatting with people before you get to your destination.
4. Rematch allows you to match again with people you matched with in the past whenever that match expired.

Which dating app is better for you? OkCupid vs Bumble

Take a look at what each dating app does well and where they could be improve.

OkCupid pros and cons

These are the advantages and disadvantages of OkCupid.

Pros	Cons
✅ Key features unlocked for free users	❌ Less focused on serious relationships
✅ OkCupid Basic paid plan is good value for money	❌  Some users may find sign-up and profile creation tedious
✅ 4.2 out of 5 App Store review score

Bumble pros and cons

These are the advantages and disadvantages of Bumble.

Pros	Cons
✅ Fully operational for free users	❌  Lacking customisable search options and filters
✅ Bumble Boost is cheaper than OkCupid’s Basic plans.	❌  Users have to swipe through a lot of profiles and do most of the selection work
✅ 4.2 out of 5 review score and Editor’s Choice award on Apple App store.

OkCupid vs Bumble: final thoughts

Both OkCupid and Bumble are easy to recommend because of their well-rounded free features. You won’t find yourself reaching for a missing feature when using the free versions of either OkCupid or Bumble.

The paid versions enhance the dating experience by mainly letting you undo mistakes, lifting swipe limits, getting more profile views, and having better insights into who likes you. Bumble has cheaper entry-level paid subscriptions while the premium tier prices are extremely similar.

Your choice to go with one app over the other hinges on whether you like swiping through profiles as the main way of matching with other users. In that case, you will probably prefer Bumble. However, if you want to finetune searches and see detailed profiles, OkCupid is a better fit.

Since both apps are free to use, there is nothing stopping you from signing up for both. You will then have better chances of matching and finding someone you like.

OkCupid vs Bumble FAQs

You can find answers to common questions below.

What other dating apps are there?