Best Online Dating Sites for Single Parents (2026)
The best online dating sites for single parents in 2026 are Stir if you want an app where everyone is a parent, eharmony if you want a serious, family-minded partner and will pay for it, and Hinge if you want the biggest free pool with real conversations. Single Parent Match is the parents-only website where you can reply to paying members for free, and Frolo suits parents who want friends and meetups before dating.
Below: the ranking, what each one costs in October 2026 (from each company’s App Store listing or help pages), what you can actually do for free, what “verified” really means on these sites, and a quick way to pick. If you want the wider category first, my single parent dating apps page covers it.
The best online dating sites for single parents at a glance
Ratings are out of 5. Where I have a full review, the rating comes from it and is linked; Frolo is scored with the rubric explained in “How I ranked them”. Store ratings and prices checked October 2026.
| # | Site | Best for | Parents only? | Free lets you | Paid from | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stir | An app built for single parents | Yes | Join, browse, match | $29.99 a month (Premium) | 3.5 |
| 2 | eharmony | Serious, long-term relationships | No | Quiz, see matches | $59.99 (Basic, shortest plan) | 4 |
| 3 | Hinge | Free mainstream app with depth | No | Likes, comments, chat with matches | Hinge+ items from $16.99 | 4.5 |
| 4 | Single Parent Match | Parents-only site with free replies | Mostly (open to people who date parents) | Browse, winks, reply to Premium members | Shown after sign-up | 3 |
| 5 | Match | Biggest pool plus events | No | Profile, daily matches, events | $44.99 a month | 4 |
| 6 | Frolo | Community and meetups first | Yes (and people open to dating a parent) | Community and dating basics | $9.99 (Dating Premium) | 3.5 |
| 7 | OkCupid | Free dating with deep questions | No | Most of the app | Premium from $7.99 | 4 |
| 8 | Single Parent Meet | Parents-only website, simple | Yes | Profile, browse | Shown after sign-up | 3 |
| 9 | Plenty of Fish | A huge free pool | No | Profile, browse, kids filter | $29.99 a month | 3.5 |
One name you will still see on older lists: EliteSingles. It shut down permanently on April 30, 2026, after its owner Spark Networks entered insolvency proceedings, Global Dating Insights reported. Any list that still recommends it was not updated this year.
How I ranked them
I have not used these sites for this ranking. It is built from public information: each company’s App Store listing, help center and own pages, Pew Research data, and the safety tools each company documents. Where I have an original hands-on review, I reuse that review’s rating. Frolo has no review yet, so I scored it from 1 to 5 on five things, averaged and rounded to the half point: value for money (4), safety and verification (4, every new member records a video selfie), evidence of an active US user base (2, only 22 US App Store ratings), features for single parents (4.5) and transparency (3). That gives 3.5. The order then reflects how well each site fits a parent’s week: a pool of people who accept kids, filters for it, and not wasting scarce evenings.
Stir: best app built for single parents
Stir is Match Group’s app for single parents. When it launched in March 2022, Match Group said it was aimed at the roughly 20 million single parents in the US, and that about one in four said coordinating schedules keeps them from going on dates, TechCrunch reported. Its signature feature, Stir Time, lets you mark the general days and times you are free, so you see people whose free evenings line up with yours.
On the App Store it has 4.3 stars from 58,000 ratings (October 2026). It is free to join and match; Premium costs $19.99 a week, $29.99 a month, $59.99 for three months or $71.99 for six months, and a Standard plan is listed at $39.99 a month. Who it suits: parents who want every match to already get custody weekends. The catch: the pool is thinner outside big metros, and TechCrunch noted at launch that Stir does not offer the background-check tool some Match Group apps have.
eharmony: best for a serious, family-minded partner
eharmony starts everyone with its Compatibility Quiz, then shows a compatibility score for each profile. Its single parent page lists a “Children” filter (whether someone has kids) and a “Desire to have children” filter, which is the question that sinks a lot of blended-family relationships later. The same page cites eharmony’s 2026 US Singles Study of 3,016 singles: 62.8% said they would be comfortable becoming a stepparent or step-figure.
The catch is money. eharmony’s page says you need Premium to exchange messages after a match, and the App Store listing shows Basic plans from $59.99 to $179.99 and Premium Light from $179.99 to $349.99, billed per term (the listing does not say which length each price buys). It has 4.1 stars from 49,000 ratings. Pick it if you are ready for a long-term relationship and would rather pay than sort through hundreds of casual profiles.
Hinge: best free mainstream app for parents
Hinge is not built for parents, but it is the strongest free option if you want a relationship. The App Store listing says the app is free to use and that likes and comments on someone’s photos or prompts start the conversation; it has 4.4 stars from 1.1 million ratings. Prompts give you an easy, honest place to mention your kids.
The catch for parents: according to Hinge’s help center, filtering by whether someone has children or by family plans is a subscriber feature. Hinge+ items start at $16.99 and subscriptions are listed from $14.99 to $34.99 (October 2026).
Single Parent Match: best parents-only site with free replies
Single Parent Match has run since 2001 as part of the SuccessfulMatch network. Its most useful rule for a parent on a budget is in the help and FAQ page: a free Standard member can browse, send winks, and receive and reply to messages from Premium members at no cost. What you cannot do for free is start a conversation. It is also open to people without kids who want to date a parent.
The site does not show prices until you are signed in. In my Single Parent Match review I found one month at $29.95, three months at $59.95 and six months at $95.95, with ID and selfie verification on offer. The FAQ adds three things worth knowing: memberships auto-renew at the same length and price until you cancel, PayPal is no longer accepted, and the company does not run background checks on members.
Match: best for the biggest pool and real-life events
Match has the biggest serious-minded crowd here, and its sign-up asks whether you have or want kids, as I noted in my Match review. Per the App Store listing (3.9 stars from 242,000 ratings), a free account lets you build a profile, get daily match suggestions, chat with recommended matches and join virtual and in-person singles events. One month of Basic or Standard costs $44.99 and a six-month bundle $129.99.
In that Match review I found the free account works as a preview, and a subscription is what makes full back-and-forth messaging possible. Pick Match if you live in a mid-size town where niche apps are empty and you want the largest serious-minded crowd.
Frolo: best for community first, dating second
Frolo was founded by a single mother, Zoë Desmond, and runs two modes in one app: Community (group chats, advice and local meetups, the site says 50K+ so far) and Dating, for single parents and people who would love to date one. Both are free to join. Its safety basics are the best documented here: every new member records a short video selfie matched to their photos, reports are reviewed within 24 hours, and Invisible Mode hides you from an ex.
On the US App Store, Dating Premium is listed from $9.99 to $24.99 and a both-modes Premium from $12.99 to $18.99 (October 2026). The catch: it is UK-born, and only 22 US ratings (3.2 stars) suggest the American pool is still small. Use it to build a single-parent social circle, with dating as a bonus.
OkCupid: best free option with deep matching questions
OkCupid describes itself on the App Store as “a free dating app for everyone”, with Premium as an optional subscription listed from $7.99 to $59.99 depending on length. It has 4.3 stars from 289,000 ratings. Its long list of matching questions covers values and dealbreakers, which helps a parent rule out mismatches before spending an evening on them. The catch is volume: popular profiles get a lot of messages, and you will need to filter hard.
Single Parent Meet: a simple parents-only website
Single Parent Meet is run by People Media, which describes itself as a sister company of Match.com and OkCupid and also runs OurTime and BlackPeopleMeet. Every member is there because they are a parent, so you skip the “so, about my kids” conversation. It is free to join and browse; messaging freely needs a paid plan, and prices only appear once you sign up. See my Single Parent Meet review for the full picture. The catch: it is a plain website, and a niche site is only as good as the number of active members near you.
Plenty of Fish: best for a huge free pool
Plenty of Fish has one of the biggest audiences in dating: 4.3 stars from 1.8 million ratings on the App Store. Upgrades are listed at $19.99 a week or $29.99 a month (October 2026). Its search lets you filter by kids, and in my POF review I found it free to use, with Premium needed to really talk to people. Pick it if your area is too small for niche apps and you want maximum reach for little money.
Parents-only site or mainstream app?
This is the real choice, and Google’s own summary of this search asks it too. Parents-only sites (Stir, Frolo, Single Parent Match, Single Parent Meet) remove the awkward reveal: everyone has kids or wants to date someone who does. Mainstream apps (Hinge, Match, eharmony, OkCupid, POF) have far more people near you, and their kids fields let you screen for the same thing.
- Go parents-only if you live in or near a big city, you are tired of explaining custody weekends, or you want friends who are parents too.
- Go mainstream if you live in a small town, you are open to dating someone without kids, or you want the most choice for free.
- Do both for a month: one parents-only app and one mainstream app, then drop the one that wastes your evenings.
Bumble is also worth a look if you want to control who messages first; it lets you add a Badge saying whether you have or want kids. Its matches expire if nobody replies in time, which is hard on a week with a sick kid. My Bumble review covers the rest.
Which one fits you
If you want the short version, follow your answers from the top. The free options and the paid options in each branch are explained in the sections above.
- Every match must be a parent, and you like apps: Stir.
- You want other parents as friends first: Frolo.
- You prefer a website and want to spend nothing at first: Single Parent Match, and let paying members write to you.
- You want marriage or a blended family and will pay: eharmony, or Match if you also want events.
- You will not pay yet: Hinge, OkCupid or Plenty of Fish.
What it really costs (and what free gets you)
Every site here is free to join. The question is whether free lets you talk to anyone. Prices checked October 2026, from each company’s App Store listing or help pages linked above.
| Site | Can you message for free? | Cheapest listed price |
|---|---|---|
| Stir | Join and match free; paid plans add the full feature set | $19.99 a week, $29.99 a month |
| eharmony | No: Premium needed to exchange messages after a match | $59.99 (Basic) |
| Hinge | Yes, likes, comments and chats with matches | $14.99 (subscription item) |
| Single Parent Match | Reply only, to Premium members | $29.95 a month (per my review) |
| Match | Limited: chat with recommended matches | $44.99 a month |
| Frolo | Community and dating basics free | $9.99 (Dating Premium) |
| OkCupid | Free app, Premium optional | $7.99 (Premium) |
| Single Parent Meet | Limited; paid plan to message freely | Shown after sign-up |
| Plenty of Fish | Free to use; Premium needed to really talk (per my review) | $19.99 a week, $29.99 a month |
Three money rules that none of the top-ranking lists mention:
- Plans renew automatically. Single Parent Match’s FAQ says a membership renews “for the same package length at the same price until you cancel it”. Turn renewal off the day you buy if you only want one month.
- Deleting your profile does not cancel an App Store or Google Play subscription. The same FAQ warns that you must cancel through Apple or Google too, or you keep being charged. On an iPhone: Settings, your name, Subscriptions.
- Pay for one site at a time. Pew Research found 35% of online daters have paid for a site or app, and paid users were somewhat more likely to call their experience positive (Pew, February 2023). Use the free tier for a week to check how many active people are near you, then pay where the replies come from.
If spending nothing is the priority, my list of completely free dating apps goes further.
What “verified” really means, and the scams to know
A verified badge proves less than most parents assume. Single Parent Match’s FAQ is unusually honest about it: photo verification confirms that the person using the account matches the photos, and it does not confirm “income, occupation, relationship intentions, medical information, criminal history”. The site also states it does not run background checks. Frolo’s video selfie works the same way, and Stir launched without a background-check tool.
Single parents are not more gullible, but they are busy and often recently separated, which romance scammers count on. The FTC says nearly 70,000 people reported a romance scam in 2022, with $1.3 billion lost and a median loss of $4,400 (FTC Data Spotlight, February 2023). The stories it lists come up again and again:
- They are on a faraway military base or an offshore oil rig, so they can never meet.
- A sudden illness, injury or legal problem needs money now.
- They offer to teach you crypto investing.
- They sent you a package and you only need to pay the “customs fee”.
The FTC’s advice is blunt: anyone who asks for gift cards, crypto or a wire transfer is a scammer. Run a reverse image search on their photos, talk about the new person with a friend, report the profile on the app, and report the scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. My online dating safety guide covers the red flags in more detail.
Keep your kids private while you date
About 23% of US children live with one parent and no other adults, the highest rate in the world according to Pew (Pew, December 2019), so you are far from alone on these apps. Online dating is also common in your situation: 36% of divorced, separated or widowed adults have used a dating site or app, compared with 30% of all US adults (Pew, 2023). The habits the top results agree on:
- Say you have kids, but do not show them. Mention it in your profile or first message; keep their photos, names and school off the app.
- Be honest about your schedule. “I have my daughter every other week” saves both of you a month of plans that never happen.
- Video chat before you meet, then meet in public, tell a friend where you are, and keep the first date short.
- Treat a match who pushes to meet your kids early as a red flag, as the single parents interviewed by Bumble say.
- Introduce a partner only when the relationship is serious and stable, tell your kids about them first, keep the first meeting short and low-key, and give your co-parent a heads-up.
Frequently asked questions
Are there free online dating sites for single parents?
Every site on this list is free to join, but few let you talk for free. Hinge, OkCupid and Plenty of Fish have usable free tiers, and Single Parent Match lets free members reply to messages from paying members. Frolo’s community and dating modes are both free to join.
What is the best dating app for single moms?
Stir is the best app built only for single parents, with a scheduling feature for custody weeks. If you want a serious relationship and will pay, eharmony lets you filter by whether someone has or wants children. Hinge is the strongest free mainstream option.
Where can I meet single parents near me?
Parents-only apps such as Stir and Frolo show single parents nearby, and Frolo also organizes local meetups and playdates. In a small town, a mainstream app with a kids filter, such as Match or Plenty of Fish, usually has more active people near you.
Should I say I have kids on my dating profile?
Yes. Saying it up front filters out people who are not open to dating a parent and saves you wasted dates. Mention that you have children, but keep their photos, names and school off your profile.
Is EliteSingles still a good choice for single parents?
No. EliteSingles shut down permanently on April 30, 2026, after its owner Spark Networks entered insolvency proceedings. Lists that still recommend it are out of date; eharmony is the closest serious-dating alternative.