Dating apps have become a popular way to meet people, especially for young adults. However, there are also many dating apps that are specifically designed for people under 18.
Here are the top 6 dating apps for those under 18 that can help you to meet new people and have some fun chatting with each other.
1) Yubo – dating apps for teens aged 13 and above.
Yubo was previously known as Yellow. Instead of marketing itself as a dating app, it focuses more on building a social community for youngsters. So, they can meet new people who share similar interests and enlarge their social circle.
Yubo only allows users who are over 13 years old to create an account on their platform but they must have parental permission. Besides that, teenage and adult users are separated into different communities. This means that teenage users who join them will only get to meet another user from their age. This helps to prevent exploitation from the adults and adds another layer of security to the system.
The specialty of Yubo is that it has live-streaming features. So, the users can do live streaming and can be viewed by other users on the platform. And, they removed the concept of “likes” and “followers”. This helps to prevent teenage users from doing illogical things just to get more attention.
Yubo also has some similar features to other dating apps, for example, it has swipe features that allow you to find matches before you can start chatting with another user.
Until now, Yubo is free to download and use. However, if you want to boost the visibility of your profile and videos, you can purchase their in-app currency which is known as Yubucks, and use it to get more views and exposure on the platform.
You can download it for free on both the Apple App store and the Google Play Store. It is free to use, or you can use their premium subscription to meet more new people and undo your swipe if you made a mistake.
Overall, the Yubo community is very safe because they use face-recognition technology to estimate the user’s age, and ensure that no weird adults are getting into their teenage community. The community is also very active and fun to join. With the free version, you get to enjoy chatting with other people, swiping profiles, and watching unlimited live streams. In other words, you won’t miss the fun because of not paying.
- Price: Free & Paid
- Age to join: Above age 13
- Available: Apple App Store & Google Play Store
- Strength: Active community, safe, free account has a lot of features
- Good for: People who are looking for friendship and enjoy watching live streams
- Not for: People who want a serious relationship or fall in love.
- Official dating site: www.yubo.live
2) MyLOL – dating apps for teens aged 13 – 19
MyLOL is another top dating app for teens under 18. This online dating app only allows teenagers who are within the 13 -19 age group to use it and forbids adults to join it. This helps to prevent adults from getting into the community and you can safely enjoy meeting people only from your age.
MyLOL has some basic features like all the other dating apps, for example, chatting, sharing photos, making new friends, interacting with groups, and messaging someone privately. You can also use the “shout” feature to share your status with everyone. Last by not least, sending messages is free even if you are not a paid user.
The majority of the users are from the United States and it is very good for people who are looking for friendships instead of a serious relationships.
The only downside of MyLOL compared to Yubo is that they do not have any effective verification system in place to filter fake profiles. A poorly moderated system means that sometimes, there could be some content not suitable for teenagers on the platform. This could be an issue and parents might worry about it.
- Price: Free & Paid
- Age to join: Only for 13 – 19
- Available: Apple App Store & Google Play Store
- Strength: Active community, safe, free account has a lot of features
- Good for: People who are looking for friendship and enjoy chatting.
- Not for: People who want a serious relationship or fall in love.
- Official dating site: www.mylol.com
3) MeetMe – for teenagers above the age of 13
Meetme is marketed as a way to connect with new people fast with their feature called “Quick”. It allows you to match with another livestreamer to video chat. You can also use their Tinder-like swipe system to connect with another user too.
However, unlike the above 2 platforms, MeetMe is more towards a dating community with more emphasis on a romantic relationships.
As a teenager, maybe at college age, you can meet someone who is coming from your age. But, at the same time, you could also be connected to someone way older than you. This platform is only good for you if you are looking for a meaningful relationship and you do not mind meeting people a little bit older than yourself because the majority of the members are in their 20s and 30s.
In MeetMe, you can enjoy all sorts of features like profile creation, chat features, and the live stream service. With a premium account, you can unlock more new features like seeing which users have viewed your photos, removing the ads, browsing other profiles anonymously, and having a more advanced search function to filter according to ethnicity.
Besides all the features, MeetMe also has some games called secret admirer. It let you guess who is your secret admirer and you only have 5 chances to get it right, otherwise, your secret admirer notification will go away.
Overall, MeetMe is a good dating platform for teenagers too but it is preferably for those who are from the more mature range. Again, this platform is mainly for people who are looking for a serious relationship. So, if you are only looking to make friends, it is best to use Yubo instead.
- Price: Free & Paid
- Age to join: Above age 13
- Available: Apple App Store & Google Play Store
- Strength: Has game feature, the paid version is cheaper than other platforms
- Good for: People who are looking for a meaningful or romantic relationship
- Not for: People who are looking for a social community or just to make a friend.
- Official dating site: www.meetme.com
4) AlloTalk – for teenagers between the age of 13 -19
AlloTalk claims to be the largest community of teenagers who have gathered to chat, meet new people and make new friends. However, it is a simple chat site that allows you to start chatting with new people without creating an account. There’s no iOS or Android app for this, so you can only access it via the web version.
Since it is mainly a chatting room, this site is not that formal compared to other dating sites. People are here just to meet online and chat. And the good thing is that AlloTalk is free to use.
With AlloTalk, you can meet all sorts of people from around the world, and you can choose to talk to random strangers anonymously. In addition to that, you can join different chat rooms, for example, the teen room, the LGBT+ teen’s room, the flirt room, and the quiz room to play and earn points.
Overall, it is a simple chat room platform. It’s great for casual conversation and killing time. But, due to a lack of moderation, I wouldn’t put it on top of my recommended list. Sometimes, it could be hard to find a chatting partner too. So, you have to be patient while using it.
- Price: Free & Paid
- Age to join: Between ages 13 -19
- Available: Only web version
- Strength: Simple and quick to join and start a conversation
- Good for: People who are looking for a casual conversation and to make friends
- Not for: People who dislike small talk and long-distance relationship
- Official site: www.allotalk.org
5) TeenChat – for teenagers aged 13 -19
TeenChat is another chat room platform where young girls and boys can hang out together online to have some fun. It allows the users to make friends and exchange messages as well.
Like AlloTalk, currently, there’s no mobile application. So, you can only access the web version. And, the design of both of these sites is very similar.
This site is mainly for those who are looking for casual conversation and to make new friends online. It is not so much for people who are looking for a serious relationship.
The good thing with TeenChat is that you can use the site without making an account, this means it’s faster for you to jump into a conversation with someone. But, on the other hand, it also means there’s no identity verification. So, you must be careful of what you are sharing with the other strangers on the platform.
TeenChat is free to use, but they also have paid services that allow you to change your username, use special emoticons, send images, disable ads, etc. The fee is relatively cheap, starting from $5 per month.
Most of the members are coming from the united states, so the language barrier would not be an issue for you to make friends. The only downside of it is that the member is not that active since it is exclusively made for teens only, so the user pool is not big. You might have to wait for a while to get connected to another person.
- Price: Free & Paid
- Age to join: Between ages 13 -19
- Available: Only web version
- Strength: Simple and quick to join and start a conversation
- Good for: People who are looking for a casual conversation and to make friends
- Not for: People who dislike small talk and long-distance relationship
- Official site: www.teen-chat.org
6) SpotAFriend – for teenage 13 -19
This dating app is designed only for teenagers. So, you can feel safe that you will be only connected to people of your age. That being said, you still have to be careful while using the app because other users could create fake accounts.
SpotAFriend has a common swiping feature to help you get connected. And, you can also private message other users. It allows the user to list their social media platform, and also allows them to choose which age range to connect with. They have an integrated chat system in place, so it is easier for you to keep in touch with people who you have already matched with.
Overall, this app is popular in the U.S., Australia, Canada, U.K. and they claimed to have a user base of more than 2 million teenagers. So, the community is active, you can get matches and make new friends relatively faster.
- Price: Free
- Age to join: Between ages 13 -19
- Available: Apple App Store & Google Play Store
- Strength: Simple and quick to join and start a conversation
- Good for: People who want to make friends
- Not for: People who want a romantic relationship
- Dating site: www.spotafriend.co
Conclusion
In conclusion, the dating apps above can be a great way for those under 18s to meet new people and start relationships. However, it is important to remember that not all dating apps are safe and you should never share your sensitive or personal data over these platforms.
It is also essential to do some research like checking out the latest reviews before choosing a dating app and to always speak to a parent or guardian if the person you are interacting with is weird and suspicious.