No-shows, catfishing, ghosting… we’ve all heard our share of online dating horror stories. At the same time, we progressively hear of more and more long-term partners who met on dating apps.

A year-old dating app called The Grade is trying to eliminate surprises and keep people honest. The company, in the hopes of accomplishing this goal, recently introduced “peer review,” a feature encouraging people to rate their matches as “quality person” or not, and then add more detail from there. The league is a pretty good dating app when people decide they want to respond. It's an easy-to-use app, however the efficacy of it is strongly dependent on the likelihood of your matches to respond to you. For that reason, I've given it 4 stars, however I'm fully aware that that particular con is no fault of the app or the developer. The League happens to be a dating app, which requires its new members to wait after they get registered. It can even take 1.5 weeks before you can start using it. The thing is that the application puts people on a waiting list to be screened by a real person. Only around 20-30 percent of these people are accepted.

So which app is right for you? These reviews and user stories will give you a feel for how Tinder, Bumble, Coffee Meets Bagel, and The League connect people.

Tinder

Tinder created the standard gestures many dating apps have adopted: Swipe right to like, left to pass. As explained by tech writer Mark Jansen, you can swipe “up if you want to use one of your precious “super likes” to show them you really really like them.” Each use is armed with only a few Super Likes per day.

The biggest downside of Tinder? Only that it has been blamed for the fall of romance and the rise of hookup culture. As Nancy Jo Sales wrote in 2015 for Vanity Fair: “The innovation of Tinder was the swipe—the flick of a finger on a picture, no more elaborate profiles necessary and no more fear of rejection; users only know whether they’ve been approved, never when they’ve been discarded.”

This had led people to think of Tinder as more of a game and a competition to see how many matches and hookups can be achieved. They didn’t see it as a place to find meaningful relationships.

Many still don’t, and it often gets classified as the “hookup app.” As Vice’s Emily Guendelsberger reports, one user named Shelby detailed her negative experience with a guy: “He started talking about how he makes so much money a year, high six figures. I just thought, ‘Dude, you’re rocking basketball shorts.’ But he kept going on and on about it, talking about his friend who’s a chef that opened up his own restaurant and only makes $100,000 a year.” Cut to a first date at a dollar taco shack, where Shelby was on a mission to escape the man as quickly as possible. He attempted his slickest moves to persuade her to come to his apartment, but she slid away, telling him to never call again.

Tinder isn’t exclusively full of guys like this, though. There are plenty of happy couples who met on the app. Take the story of 35-year old Carrie, who met her current love on Tinder. As Carrie explains to Cosmopolitan writer Lane Moore, she knew that it was real after a few messages: “Our conversation felt so natural and like we’d already been friends for years. He gave me his number within a day and then we started texting. About a week later, we met in person and we’ve been together ever since.”

Bumble

Unlike other apps, guys aren’t able to make the first move on Bumble.

Bumble “wants to enable women to be as confident in the dating sphere as they are in their professional lives,” says Grazia writer Edwina Langley. “Ensuring women make the first move, Bumble believes, starts the future relationship off on a more even keel.”

Bumble also includes profile information like career and education, so users have a basic understanding of potential matches’ backgrounds. LGBT+ women can use the dating app to find other women for romance, and Bumble’s BFF feature helps users find friendships.

One drawback to Bumble is that it doesn’t have a wide range of genders and sexualities represented, says Business Insider’s Avery Hartmans. “For those who identify with a different label, or prefer not to identify their gender at all, Bumble doesn’t provide that option yet.”

Another thing to keep in mind is that Bumble isn’t for women looking for an ego boost. Bumble asks women to put themselves out there — and that sometimes means being rejected. “If your self-esteem can’t take the potential (and likely) hit of not getting responses after putting yourself out there, this app’s not for you,” Abigail Yonker at The Everygirl writes.

On a positive note, a woman named Mary tells writer Alexia Dellner how Bumble reconnected her cousin with an old flame. The two had always had been interested in one another, but the timing was never right. When they found each other on Bumble, they knew it was the right time to see whether sparks would fly. They’ve been dating ever since.

Of course Bumble provides negative experiences as well. Communications consultant Julie Buckner wrote a Los Angeles Times article about her Bumble experience. When a man she met on Bumble agreed to fly to LA to meet her, she was elated. But then the man kept pushing their date back later and later, stringing her along hour by hour, until finally she realized it was never going to happen. Being stood up is horrible wherever you are, but being stood up after traveling hours through LA traffic is the stuff dating horror stories are made of.

Coffee Meets Bagel

One of the best features of Coffee Meets Bagel is that it helps eliminate mindless swiping. It does this by limiting the number of profiles you see each day, which in turn makes matches more thoughtful. This means that you can only swipe right (or, in this case, “like”) on a limited number of people in a single sitting.

“The service gives male users 21 curated matches every day that they can either like or pass on,” says entertainment writer Anna Burleson. “The women, in turn, get to see which men have liked them and decide whether to like them back. If they do, the matched pair can then chat for free.”

The app works by using “beans” as currency for gaining points and accessing special features.

Burleson explains how logging in and completing certain tasks, like rating user photos, can earn you more beans.

Coffee Meets Bagel recently rolled out a feature that allows users to comment on other people’s profiles before they’ve matched. “The hope is that by sending messages specific to that person’s profile like ‘I also traveled to Japan last year,’ users will have a better idea if a match will be worth their time,” VentureBeat reporter Anna Hensel writes.

This differs from most other dating apps, where a mutual like must be initiated in order for contact to occur. Some people enjoy the ability to contact a potential match before the feeling is declared mutual, while others find it leads to connections with people who are slightly, um, overbearing.

One user, Rebecca, a nonprofit grant writer, tells reporter Allison Fox about how she joined Coffee Meets Bagel because she was tired of trying to meet people in bars. When Rebecca met a man named Sohan for the first time, she liked that he had planned the date and was ready for unexpected events. He continued to show interest in her and plan ahead, unlike the other guys she was dating at the time.

“Here’s this guy who knows he likes me, knows he wants to spend time with me and he plans accordingly,” Rebecca says. “That was the first thing that made me think this guy is serious and cares about me.” When he proposed at a restaurant, she knew for certain the answer was yes.

A less successful experience on Coffee Meets Bagel comes from a user named Mark, who told his story to writer Alicia Chiang. Mark and his match were like two peas in a pod when chatting online. But when they met in person, they felt like strangers with nothing to say. The awkward silences led them to believe the match had been a mistake, and they didn’t talk again after that night.

The League Dating App Cities

The League

Like most dating apps, The League uses data from social media to auto-populate your profile. But unlike other apps, The League is more concerned with details about your accolades and accomplishments.

“Most apps gather personal information and photos from Facebook when they sign up,” Theo Miller writes in Forbes. “The League is integrated with LinkedIn because [LinkedIn’s] educational and professional information is more accurate.”

Another benefit of LinkedIn integration is a feature that blocks a user from seeing current coworkers (as well as Facebook friends!) on the app. This creates a much-appreciated separation between dating and work, as well as dating and social networks.

Career-minded individuals will have fewer bad matches to sort through when using The League, and the varying tiers of membership offer varying numbers of matches per day. With matches based on your preferences, you’ll only see people who meet your tastes to a T. If you’re in one of the 59 cities where The League operates, sign up for the waiting list. It can take some time to get approved, as applications are reviewed manually, unless you receive an invitation from a current user.

New Yorkers Tricia and Greg didn’t have to go far when they found love on The League. “We work essentially across the street from each other and would never have met had it not been for the League,” Tricia says. “We chatted for about two weeks on the app prior to meeting on December 2nd for our first date. We’ve been inseparable ever since.”

MyDomaine editor Gabrielle Savoie didn’t have as much luck on The League. She explains that while nothing negative happened, she’s still waiting to find her prince charming. “Each guy was certainly normal and well put-together and could hold a conversation — but no sparks have really flown yet.”

Dating is a tricky endeavor — to be successful, you might need time, patience, a certain availability to love, and a willingness to fail before you succeed. You also need the right dating app for you, and sometimes… a little bit of luck.

Keep them that way. We're not saying Tinder doesn't have its uses (hello Vegas!) but why not spend your time a little more... intelligently?

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And maybe, just maybe, you'd like them to value education, be polished enough to at least look good in black-and-white photos (or be adorably awkward on a 3-minute video date) and have a strong enough command of grammar that they know not to end sentences with a preposition. While your mother may call you picky, we call you self-aware. Join The League, a community designed for the overly ambitious. Read our mission statement.

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Every day at Happy Hour we will give you Prospects to review in The League app. We do our very best to only show you to people who meet your preferences, AND where you meet theirs, prioritized by people you actually have a decent shot at conversing with. We don't believe in wasting anyone's time here.

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Balanced Community

An advanced screening and monitoring system keeps our community well-balanced, highly-engaged, and full of high-powered (and empowered) people who are ready for a long-term relationship. When you swipe right on The League, your chances of matching and conversing are sky high!

Politeness, Not Games

Swipe right on everyone but don’t ever message? You’re only hurting yourself, by increasing your flakiness score! This gets you deprioritized in the matching algorithm. Matched with a flake? We'll be the bad guy for you - we expire your Matches after 14 days!

Authenticated Community

You’ll never have to wonder if that Harvard hottie is too good to be true on The League, everyone must authenticate their account. Let us do the LinkedIn stalking for you...

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Personalized Prospects

We always send you the best Prospects for you, first. We believe in quality over quantity, and that smart (but finite) daily recommendations are better for busy people than an unlimited buffet of options. We let you set ultra-specific preferences and only suggest you a few Prospects a day that we think you will actually like. Save your time, energy, and swipe thumb.

Smart Blocking

Authenticating with LinkedIn will protect your privacy and block you from your business connections and coworkers who also authenticated. Link Facebook to block friends & family...

Come be a pioneer with us! The League is packed with features that allow you to safely and successfully video date right from your couch. From our League Live video dating parties to 1:1 video-calling a match, we’ve got you covered.
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Dating can be a marathon, so take a shortcut by going on 3 dates in 9 minutes

In the time it takes to order a drink on one date, you’ll be matched with 3 users in your area that match your preferences. As sparks typically fly in just moments, these mini-dates save users time and energy--all from the comfort of your couch.

1:1 Video Chat: The safest way to meet in today’s world...

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Not to mention, the most convenient and cost effective. Once you match, no need to swap phone numbers, just use our video calling to talk to each other. Click the video button once you agree on a time and --voila-- fall in love or just enjoy meeting someone new. Your call.

Say goodbye to wondering if they look like their profile pictures

League users can now add a 10-second video to their dating profile. Stand out from the rest of the pack by being in full-color and moving, get priority in our matching algorithm and increase your like rate - video is in!

The League Intelligent Dating

We know your time is valuable, so tell us your preferences and we’ll handle the scouting for you. Text yourself the app now.

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We know your time is valuable, so tell us your preferences and we’ll handle the scouting — and the vetting — for you.
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Is The League Free?No, The League Isn't Free.After All, It's Aimed At A Specific Target Market Than Can No Doubt Afford To Pay For What It Offers.This Target Market I...

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