About On Dating Journal

Romance used to have a few well-worn routes: friends, work, the pub, the occasional brave stranger. Now most of the matchmaking happens on a phone, much of it shaped by companies whose business model depends on keeping you looking. On Dating Journal exists to report on that machinery honestly, and to help readers decide where to spend their time, their money and their hopes.

We are an independent online magazine covering dating apps, AI companions, relationship research and industry news for readers around the world. Our pages are written and edited by The On Dating Journal Editors, and we would rather earn your trust slowly than win your click quickly.

What On Dating Journal covers

Our coverage falls into four strands, and each one has its own standards of evidence.

• Dating app reviews. Detailed assessments of the major services, from Hinge and Bumble to niche communities, plus our ranking of the best dating apps. We look at matching, features, safety and what the paid tiers actually buy you.
• AI companions. A fast-moving, often murky corner of the market. Our AI companions hub examines how these apps handle memory, privacy, pricing and age checks. All of this coverage is for adults and stays non-explicit.
• Research. Long-form pieces that gather the best available data on questions such as how couples meet and the scale of romance fraud, drawing on official statistics, regulators and peer-reviewed studies.
• News. Ownership changes, new features, regulatory action, results from listed dating companies and anything else that alters how people date online.

Editorial independence at On Dating Journal

Our verdicts are our own. No dating company can buy a review, a score or a place in a ranking, and none sees our copy before it is published. When a company we cover has a commercial relationship with us, that relationship has no bearing on what we write about it, and we say so where it applies.

We do not claim experiences we have not had. Our reviews are editorial assessments built on information we have verified: official help centres and pricing pages, app store listings, company filings, regulatory findings and published research. Where a fact is contested or unclear, we tell you, rather than smoothing it over.

How the magazine is funded

On Dating Journal is free to read. We pay for it mainly through affiliate commissions: some of the “Visit site” links on our pages are tracked, and if you sign up or subscribe after clicking one, the company may pay us a fee. It costs you nothing extra.

That arrangement never decides where an app sits in our rankings. An app that pays us nothing can top a list, and one that pays us can be marked down or left out entirely. Placements in our rankings are not for sale. Our affiliate disclosure explains exactly how the links work.

Our standards, in full

Three pages set out the rules we hold ourselves to:

• How we review describes our scoring method, the four weighted criteria behind every dating app score and how we judge AI companions.
• Our editorial policy covers accuracy, sourcing, corrections, independence and our use of AI tools.
• Affiliate disclosure explains how we make money and how commercial links are labelled.

Getting in touch

Spotted an error, have a story we should chase, or want to talk about working together? Our contact page lists the right route for each. We read everything, and we correct mistakes openly.