Reviews of the Top 10 Lesbian Dating Websites of 2024

Lesbian dating sites offer a great (and often free) way for like minded females to meet online for a variety of reasons, including friendship, dating, casual encounters and committed relationships. Like gay and heterosexual dating websites, there's often a certain amount of variation between sites so it's useful to do a little research before you take the plunge. However, there are also commonalities too. That's where Number1Reviews.com comes in. We've track-tested some of the best lesbian dating sites in order to bring you clear guides  to help you make an informed decision. Of course, it's important that you take a look at a few sites before you commit yourself. The following guide summarizes some of the commonalities and differences to give you an idea of what to expect.

Free and Premium Membership

• One of the first things to ask yourself is what you want to get out of a lesbian dating website. Online chat? Dating? Casual encounters? A romantic relationship? Sites differ, with some geared more towards casual encounters (e.g. GaydarGirls.com) and others specializing in committed relationships (e.g. LDate.com).
• When browsing lesbian dating sites (either through this site or elsewhere) you'll find a great deal of difference in prices. More or less all lesbian dating sites allow you to join and create a profile for free. However, what happens after you've signed up will depend on the website.
• Some lesbian dating websites are completely free, meaning that you won't have to pay for any additional features on the site. Examples include GirlsWeb.co.uk and CuriousLove.com. The main problem with free sites is that you tend to encounter more fake or inactive profiles. Furthermore, they also tend to have fewer features and smaller membership bases, so despite being free you need to consider what you want and what you're likely to get from a free site. 
• Most sites will offer at least 2 levels of membership; a free membership and a premium membership. What you get for free again varies from site to site; most free memberships offer relatively little in terms of main features. Most importantly, free members are usually heavily restricted in terms of communication, for example, GayGirlDate.com only allow you to reply to communications sent by premium members. This means that you can't initiate communication, nor can you communicate with other free members, meaning that you're likely to get very little, if any, interest.
• Subscriptions memberships (usually termed Silver, Gold or Platinum membership) are upgraded levels of membership where you pay a subscription fee to get access to more/all features. If you're serious about meeting people then you'll almost certainly have to upgrade and pay for membership. Some sites offer one level of upgraded membership, others offer more. With  the latter, often what you get is still fairly restrictive and it can be annoying not to get full access to all of the site's features. Better to find a site that offers full access at a price you can afford than settle for a limited subscription membership that offers little more than a free membership.
• To get a premium membership for free, the odd site (e.g. LDate.com) may grant you this if you contribute regularly to the site or actively promote it (see our review for details).
• Membership subscriptions usually run for periods of 1, 3, 6 or 12 months. The basic rule of thumb is that the longer you sign up for, the cheaper the subscription. So, whilst single month memberships can be very expensive, joining for a year can be substantially cheaper.
• Whilst membership subscription rates are usually given as 'price per month' (as in our reviews), it's important to be aware that it's likely that the full membership fee will be taken in one chunk rather than monthly.
• Remember to check the terms and conditions for cancelling your membership, as, without instruction from you to the contrary, your membership may be renewed automatically.
• Whichever site you join, you will require a valid email address.

Member Profiles

• Profiles are basically information pages for each member. Even as a free member or a guest on the site (meaning you haven't signed up), you should have access (maybe limited) to profile information. Profiles typically consist of at least one photo (but often multiple photos), plus a range of information pertaining to a member's location, relationship status, appearance, interests, occupation, ethnicity, the kind of person they're looking for, the kind of relationship they're looking for, and often more. Sometimes, free members may only get access to preview profiles, which give only a small amount of information.
• Many sites will have enhanced profile features such as photo galleries, video intros and voice intros. It's not uncommon for access to be restricted for free members or guests.
• As a rule of thumb, the more complete and detailed a profile, the better the chances of success. Take your time and try to craft as detailed and interesting a profile as possible (but be honest).
• Uploading at least one photo (and preferably more) is a must on any dating site. If you don't have a photo then don't expect to be taken seriously. Likewise, you should also be wary of profiles that don't have a photo. Most search tools feature filters that only return profiles with photos in your results. If you can't upload a photo yourself the site will sometimes do it for you, but photos may not be returned.
• Some sites (e.g. GayGirlDate.com) allow you to create a voice intro (a sound file of you speaking) or video intro (where people can see and hear you). It's well worth doing this and instructions and tools for doing so are given on the site. 
• Plenty of sites allow you to 'verify' your membership. This means that you provide evidence to authenticate that the person in the profile is really you. Instructions on how to do this are given on the site. Again, it's worth doing as other members will take you more seriously.
• It's important to take care when meeting people online. Like other dating sites, lesbian dating sites suffer from fake and inactive profiles, mainly because they offer free membership. Look out for incomplete profiles and profiles without photos. Whilst verified membership can help, lots of members don't bother. However, a useful thing to look out for on a profile is the last login date, which will give you an idea of whether a profile is active.

Searching

• Search tools are invaluable to assist your browsing as most sites have thousands and thousands of profiles. Some sites have outstanding search options (e.g. Dating.l-word.com and LesbianPersonals.com). Common search tools are as follows:
• Quick search (or basic search) enables you to generate a list of suitable profiles based upon a very limited range of profile criteria (usually location, age range and relationship sought).
• Advanced search (aka full search, power search) extends these criteria to encompass additional features, if not all features from a member's profile. You can usually save searches to avoid having to re-enter the same criteria the next time you want to perform the same search.
• Username search lets you search for a member if you know their username, by entering all (or sometimes part) of that name.
• Preconfigured searches are one-click searches that bring up lists of online members, new members, popular members as well as profile content including photos, videos and voice intros.
• Tagged searches allow you to select words used to 'tag' member profiles, returning all profiles that have been tagged with that word.
• Keyword searches let you type in a keyword (or keywords) and the search engine returns all profiles (or content) containing that word (or words).

Ways of Connecting

• Email is the most common way of communicating with other members. When you join a dating site you will be assigned an internal email account. This lets you communicate safely and securely, without being linked to your personal email address. To email another member it's usually just a case of clicking on the profile of the person you want to contact and then clicking on the email option. As mentioned above, email is likely to be unavailable or restricted to just replying to other members if you have a free membership. The amount of storage you get and the length of time you can view emails will also depend on your level of membership.
• To initiate contact with another member, you might choose to 'flirt', 'wink' or 'send a kiss' to another member. This generates an automatic message that is sent to the member, expressing your interest.
• Instant messenger (IM) lets you chat in real time with other members. That is, rather than writing an email and waiting for a reply, you can request to chat with another member and use text to create messages that are instantly sent to the other member. The member has to be online in order to do this. Again, it's usually just a case of clicking on the appropriate icon on the member's profile to initiate this.
• Some sites (e.g PlanetSappho.com) allow you to use IM by plugging in your webcam, allowing you to be seen and heard by another person.
• Chat rooms are similar to IM, except that they allow you to chat with multiple members (with or without webcams).

Other Features

• A favorites list lets you store your favorite profiles so that you access that profile quickly. The other member is informed when you do this.
• A friends list or network allows you to build up a community of friends online. The other member usually has to confirm your request. Once established, you can send joint communications to all of your friends and receive friend updates.
• Blogs let you create your own page and post messages about you and your life. If you don't want to create your own then you can always read other members' blog posts.
• Forums are conversation threads that you can read and contribute to, based upon a wide variety of topics and issues.
• Magazines are online collections of articles written by the owners of the site, guest writers and members that you can read, add to and comment upon.
• Events lists let you know any upcoming lesbian-themed events going on near you. You can also add your own events to the list.
• Travel itinerary features appear on some sites (e.g. GaydarGirls.com and womanline.com) and allow you to advertise your travel details to other members and meet up with them in that location when you go. Alternatively, you can also browse itineraries and find people traveling to your location. 

Technical Support

• All lesbian dating sites should feature some kind of help or FAQs section, giving you a general overview of the site and a guide to solving common problems.
• Most site support is done via email in case you don't find an answer to your query in the site FAQs. Obviously, this means that you won't get a solution to your problem straight away. Some sites give priority support to premium members.
• Some sites (e.g. LDate.com and LesbianPersonals.com) offer telephone support if you have a premium membership.