7 Gay Dating Sites In The UK: Find Gay Hookup Online

In this guide, we’re going to talk about the best UK gay dating websites that have much to offer to a user—take a look, learn more about the options, and make your choice!

Popular gay dating websites in the UK

Let’s start with the top gay dating websites—these are the seven best platforms that work perfectly for gay men searching for local matches in the United Kingdom.

1. BuddyGays — Best for UK gay dating overall
2. AdultFriendFinder — Best for accessing the hottest content
3. GaysGoDating — Best for casual gay dating
4. OneNightFriend — Best for beginners new to the world of gay online dating
5. AshleyMadison — Best dating app for gay men seeking discreet affairs
6. BeNaughty — Best popular site for gay dating in UK
7. NoStringsAttached — Best for active users of social networking sites

Which of these gay dating apps and websites will work best for you? We’re going to talk about each platform in more detail below. Learn more about the options, evaluate the pros and cons, and make your informed decision.

1. BuddyGays

• Types of dating: Casual dating, FWB, NSA
• Features: Free profile promotion, sharing videos & photos, advanced search
• Mobile app: No app, but good mobile optimization
• Registration: Free

As the name of the website suggests, BuddyGays is a gay dating site that accepts only men seeking the same relationships. It’s not a completely free platform but rather a freemium website, but anyone can set up a BuddyGay account without paying (the registration takes just a few minutes). Moreover, there’s a generous welcome bonus for adding a profile photo and confirming an email address.

The platform is available worldwide, but one of the largest groups of members are singles from the UK. BuddyGays has nearly 700,000 monthly visits on average, and around 40,000 of those are from the UK.

Everyone who joins the community can promote their account for free, get some free messages, send photos and videos, and apply search filters to find a perfect match. Access to profile photos and some information is limited, though, so most members prefer to upgrade. There are multiple premium plans, and the costs range from ￡0.99 to ￡2.29 per day.

2. AdultFriendFinder

• Types of dating: Casual dating, “vanilla” dating, local dating, international dating
• Features: Advanced search, group chats, forums, streams
• Mobile app: Apps for Android & iOS users
• Registration: Free

If you google ‘Gay dating sites UK,’ you’ll hardly see AdultFriendFinder in the first positions on Google search results. However, it can work just as well as some of the best gay dating apps. Millions of gay singles are seeking new relationships here, and the best thing is that the ones who choose AdultFriendFinder can not only meet new people but also access a lot of content shared by real users.

The website has over 40 million monthly visits, and the UK accounts for roughly 2 million of those. The gay community is huge, which is why it definitely deserves to be on the list of the best gay dating sites.

The opportunities for communication are numerous. Members can use lots of search filters, start private conversations, join public chat rooms, communicate on forums, stream and watch video streams, share photos and videos, and even tip other members. The costs of Gold premium plans range from ￡16.40 to ￡32.80 per month.

3. GaysGoDating

• Types of dating: Casual dating, serious relationships
• Features: Free swiping & advanced search
• Mobile app: No app, but good mobile optimization
• Registration: Free

GaysGoDating is another niche gay dating site that works for all gay guys regardless of their relationship goals. If you’re seeking gay hookup in UK, it may be very effective, but it can work for someone looking for long-term relationships, too. The registration process is fast (you can also sign up with your Google account), and no payment is required right away.

Currently, the platform has around 500,000 monthly visits, which makes it one of the most popular gay dating sites. It’s available across Western Europe and the United States, and around 10% of all the users are from the United Kingdom.

The system this gay dating website is using is simple yet effective. Members can easily create competitive profiles, use a profile boost to get more matches right after registration, send private messages, and exchange photo and video files.

Though there are ways to contact others for free, unlimited messaging and some other features get unlocked only after you upgrade. If you choose the shortest 1-day plan, you’ll pay ￡0.99, and if you choose the longest plan, it will cost you about ￡107 for 3 months.

4. OneNightFriend

• Types of dating: Casual dating, FWB, NSA
• Features: Advanced search, mass messaging, free likes & favorites
• Mobile app: No app, but the website is mobile-friendly
• Registration: Free

As you may have already guessed, OneNightFriend isn’t a dating app for people seeking serious relationships. It accepts all members seeking something casual, and though straight men and women use this site, too, it’s really effective for gay men searching for local matches in the UK.

OneNightFriend has roughly 4 million monthly visits, which is more than most gay sites usually have. Gay men from the UK are one of the largest member groups here, so finding a perfect match won’t be such a complex task.

Once you sign up, you can claim your bonus—5 free messages a day. The Like Gallery feature (swiping), as well as the advanced search feature, are free to use. However, if you’d like to enjoy unlimited messages, unlimited file exchange, see extended search results, and get priority support, you’ll need to buy a premium plan. There are 4 options to choose from, and the prices range from ￡0.99 to ￡2.29 per day.

5. AshleyMadison

• Types of dating: Affair dating, casual dating, serious relationships
• Features: Free search, secret albums, priority messages
• Mobile app: Apps for Android & iOS users
• Registration: Free

Though Ashely Madison isn’t commonly associated with gay dating sites in UK, gay singles shouldn’t underestimate this website. A lot of gay men are using it right now, and it can definitely be the best gay dating app for attached men seeking discreet affairs. Joining it is free and easy, so you can just start chatting with your matches in a few minutes after you browse the official website.

Ashley Madison has tens of millions of members worldwide and around 8 million visits monthly, and the best thing is that over a million of those visits come from the UK. This is the best gay dating site for those who don’t plan to build deep emotional connections online. Ashley is perfect to meet someone, chat a bit, and then meet in real life.

There’s live chat, priority messages, file exchange, and all other features that provide a great online dating experience. Unfortunately, Ashley Madison is not one of the free gay dating apps—all male users buy credits, and the costs range from ￡0.21 to ￡0.47 per credit.

6. BeNaughty

• Types of dating: Casual dating, FWB, NSA
• Features: Free search features, priority support, instant messaging
• Mobile app: No app, but the website is mobile-friendly
• Registration: Free

BeNaughty isn’t designed exclusively for gay online dating, but it’s a dating site that works well enough for gay men looking for hookups, one-night stands, friends with benefits, and NSA. Registration takes just a few minutes, and every newcomer gets a bonus that lets them test the website without paying.

Today, the website has nearly 5 million monthly visits, and the best thing is the second largest member group after Americans is the users from the United Kingdom, so finding a local match here is easier than it may seem at first glance.

The site doesn’t offer anything extraordinary in terms of features, but it’s not bad considering the concept. Here, men can create good profiles, use swiping or search filters, see profiles, and start conversations with their best matches. There’s also a profile boost for those who want to get more attention.

Those who want to have unlimited chats need to buy a premium plan. Currently, four plans are available, and you can pay ￡0.99 for one day, ￡2.29 per day for 1 week, ￡1.69 per day for a month, or ￡1.19 per day for 3 months.

7. NoStringsAttached

• Types of dating: Casual dating, NSA, FWB
• Features: Video chat, live cam,
• Mobile app: No app, good mobile optimization of the website
• Registration: Free

NoStringsAttached is exactly what it sounds like—it’s a platform created for people who aren’t seeking anything serious and would prefer to enjoy casual encounters. There are straight members, too, but the gay community is large. You can set up an account in just a few minutes and see who you can meet there.

However, NoStringsAttached can hardly be called one of the largest gay dating websites in UK. It has around 70,000 monthly visits, but on the other hand, the website also shows a growth of over 200% monthly, which means it can become a huge dating community in the near future.

Moreover, it has a lot to offer to a user. Unlike most gay hookup sites in UK, it lets members share videos, has the live cam feature, and allows users to hotlist others and use 20 advanced search filters (they are unlocked only after you upgrade your account). Prices are quite reasonable, too. Currently, the costs of premium plans range from about ￡10 to ￡25 per month.

Navigating the UK gay dating scene

Are you new to queer dating? Or maybe you’ve dated your previous partner for too long and don’t know what a modern gay dating scene actually looks like. In this case, we have some useful information for you—keep reading, and you’ll learn who your potential dates are, how to meet them online and offline, and most importantly, how to do it safely.

Statistics to know before you get started

What about the number of your potential matches? Who exactly are you going to meet on gay sites in UK or offline?

Here are some interesting figures to consider:

• The proportion of men who identify as LGB in the United Kingdom is growing year by year. In particular, the percentage has grown from 1.9% in 2014 to 3.4% in 2020.
• More young people aged 16-24 are the most likely to identify as LGB.
• In 2020, over 72% of gay respondents said that they had never been married or in a civil partnership.
• A recent survey showed that over 70% of gay respondents have used dating apps or sites. The reported satisfaction level was 75%.

Simply put, the dating scene is diverse, a lot of queer men are single, and a lot prefer to search for partners online.

Finding partners offline: LGBTQ+ events, places & activities

But what if you’re not really into online dating? What if you’d prefer to meet people offline to understand if you and your potential new partner really have that chemistry? The good news is there are multiple events you can attend and hundreds of places to visit.

Here are some ideas for you—make a choice according to your tastes and preferences:

• Queer speed dating
• Drag shows
• Queer Dungeons & Dragons, Bingo events
• Queer bars & restaurants
• Karaoke
• Men’s clubs
• LGBTQ+ walks & talks
• Special occasion (Halloween, Christmas, etc.) meetups
• Queer comedy clubs
• Professional LGBTQ+ meetups
• Queer national gatherings (for those who want to date internationally)

As you can see, there are a lot of options to choose from. What are you more into, Dungeons & Dragons, professional meetups, or maybe both? Choose events and activities that seem to be the most enjoyable for you, and have fun!

Safety tips for online gay dating

How to date safely? The rules are simple, but if you’re going to date online, you need to be twice as careful.

Here are some tips and recommendations—they’re old but gold, and if you follow these rules, you’ll have that great experience without any negative consequences.

1. Choose the website carefully. It must be a reputable platform. Do some research, find reviews, and ensure you know what problems you may face. Ideally, you should also join the community, look through profiles, and see if they’re detailed enough.
2. Double-check information on profiles. Check photos using Google image search and pay special attention to what a person is saying. Skip low-effort and empty pages to reduce the chance of meeting a scammer.
3. Listen to your intuition and spot red flags. If anything seems weird, it’s already a good reason to stop communicating with this person. For example, sometimes, things are moving too fast. It’s actually a bad sign if someone’s obviously trying to gain your trust.
4. Never send money to anyone or agree to accept it. Fake check scams, fake PayPal scams, scams on other payment platforms—unfortunately, all this is very common. Sometimes, you lose your money even if it seems that a generous sugar daddy just sent it to you.
5. Meet your dates in public places. That’s the golden rule of dating, so don’t ignore it.

These are the basic safety measures, but they can really protect you from most types of online dating scams.

Gay dating online: How to get started

If you’ve never been on the online dating scene before, you need a good strategy to avoid disappointments and have the best experience possible. That’s not that hard—here are the main points to focus on.

1. Join the website with the right user base and features. We’ve mentioned that the dating platform must be reputable. This, however, isn’t the only criterion to consider. Learn who the members are and how you can communicate with them. For example, if you’re married, you may need a discreet affair site; if you’re seeking NSA—a casual site, etc.
2. Create a competitive profile. That may sound obvious, but a lot of online daters ignore this simple rule. Two photos and a one-sentence headline aren’t always enough to get attention. If you create a good profile, you’ll improve the efficiency by 500%.
3. Use search filters & matchmaking services. Another mistake many users make is swiping without paying enough attention to bios. Set priorities, use filters, and don’t focus on appearance only. That’s how you can find your perfect match much sooner.
4. Communicate using the right features. There are likely to be multiple features that can help you meet your final goal and enjoy the process. Group chats, forums, video chat, mass messaging—use the tools that are likely to work best for you personally.

Just remember that you need not only a good gay dating site in UK but also a rational approach to find partners faster, more easily, and therefore, at a lower cost.

Final thoughts

The number of top niche queer platforms is growing. There are top sites for singles seeking serious relationships, casual dating platforms, and even gay sugar daddy sites. All you need to do is choose.

A lot of men prefer to search for partners on the Internet, so going online absolutely makes sense, but doing some research is still highly recommended. Analyze the market, pick the best site that really meets your criteria, and follow the safety rules—that’s how you can have the best experience and enjoy your new relationships.

FAQ

What are the popular gay dating apps in the UK?

If you’re going for a popular gay dating app, you may consider choosing AshleyMadison or AdultFriendFinder. These are our top picks, but if you’d like to use a website, you can find 4 more great alternatives in our guide.

Is there a free gay dating site?

You may choose a mainstream online dating app like Tinder—such platforms are usually free. However, if you’re going to use a niche gay dating website in UK, you’ll need to purchase some credits or buy a subscription plan. The exact costs for top dating sites in this segment can be found in our guide.

How do I find a gay partner near me?

If you’re seeking gay hookups in UK, you may consider joining one of the top dating sites: whether casual dating platforms that work for all or niche sites designed for gay singles only.

Are there specific safety considerations for gay online dating?

Not really—gay singles face exactly the same problems and difficulties as all other online daters. Take care of your personal and financial data, never send money to anyone or even agree to accept it, and meet your dates in public places. These are the basic rules to date safely.

Disclaimer: The above is a sponsored post, the views expressed are those of the sponsor/author and do not represent the stand and views of Outlook Editorial.