Finding the dating app that works best for you improves your chances to meet the right person. Plenty Of Fish, or POF for short, and Bumble are both popular in the online dating world. Find out which one is best suited to your dating needs. See how features and prices compare.
Picking the right dating app: Plenty Of Fish vs Bumble
The right dating app for you will be the one that most closely matches your romantic preferences, which can include the type of relationship, intimacy needs, and lifestyle goals you are pursuing. Dating apps are a bit like a M&Ms, everyone has a favourite. That could well be Bumble, Plenty Of Fish, or something completely different.
Online dating app recommendations
Before you pick your favourite, be sure to have a look at our dating app recommendations.
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- Share pics and videos
- Large database of Asian and European singles in the UK
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- Leader for serious dating apps
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Tailored matching algorithm + localized connections
Privacy with advanced security features
Local events and activities
- Help people to find love
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- Thousands of mature singles looking for love, romance, and friendship
- Advanced features like identity verification, profile screening, and anti-scam protection
- Explore your preferences with search filters, chat rooms, and compatibility tests
- Welcome Offer for new members
- Unique VIP Content for premium members
- Maximum payment security (Google Pay, Apple Pay etc.)
- Easy and convenient interface
- Perfect for casual dating & hookups
- Plenty of members for you to have fun with
Possibility to join local events for exciting encounters with other singles in the UK
Cutting-edge algorithms that will create personalized connections
Top priority for safety, with mystery and excitement still in the air
- Meet attractive Asian, European, & Latino singles
- Quick and free signup
- Casual or serious online dating
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- Real girls from 180 countries
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- Best for open-minded looking for “no strings attached” fun
- Free membership
- 54 million users
Plenty Of Fish vs Bumble: Where are they different?
Here are the most important differences between Plenty Of Fish and Bumble.
| Plenty Of Fish | Bumble | |
| Who is it for? | Singles looking for both casual and serious dating. | Singles looking for a variety of relationship options, inclusive features, and swipe-based browsing. |
| Registration detail | Fast registration process, lets you add details later. | Requires a Facebook or Apple account unless you sign up with a phone number. Quick registration process. |
| Memberships and profiles | Plenty Of Fish has 150 million members. Profile quality uneven. | 50 million users have joined Bumble, impressive growth for this younger app. |
| Premium Service | Main features are available for free, including messaging. Paid options add perks to base features. | Free service includes messaging. Paid subscription adds more perks to improve experience on app. |
| Pros | Freedom to pick from a variety of users with filtering options. | Messaging and main features are free. Inclusive sign-up options. Unique “women message first” feature. |
| Cons | Some profiles are misleading or fraudulent. | Not necessarily focused on long-term relationships and older users. |
| Sign-up |
How is Plenty Of Fish better than Bumble?
Plenty Of Fish is more customisable than Bumble when browsing through profiles. You can search for potential matches with powerful options. Plenty Of Fish has robust filtering options so you can be as picky or as broad as you want to be in your searches.
You can change what you’re looking for with every search. This is very much the opposite of Bumble’s swipe-based algorithm.
Just like its brand name suggests, there are plenty of fish in the sea, POF’s approach to dating is all about having lots of options. There are different ways to meet people and no one way to use Plenty Of Fish successfully. Thanks to its flexible features, you make POF what you want it to be.
Plenty Of Fish is great if you are looking for a feature-rich dating app. If you like to be proactive when looking for someone to date, then POF is the choice for you.
Did you know?
Plenty Of Fish has an app for iPhone and Android as well as one specially designed for iPad. The larger screen on the iPad makes it more convenient to browse through profiles with ease.
How is Bumble better than POF?
The feature Bumble is most known for is that “women make the first move”. When a man and a woman match, the woman has a full day to decide whether to initiate a conversation.
The man can only message once the woman has sent the opening message within the 24-hour window. After that, there are no limits for either person in that same chat.
If the woman who matches with a man does not start a conversation within 24 hours then the match expires. This means that the potential chat between two matched users disappears after a day.
This limitation is considered a feature on Bumble. It came about as a way to challenge dating stereotypes where men are meant to “make the first move”. Another plus point is that it tackles the rampant issue of inappropriate messages on dating services.
Bumble isn’t just for heterosexual men and women. For same-gender matches either person can get the conversation going. The 24-hour match expiration is still there, so if neither person writes the match elapses after a day.
Just like Tinder, seeing matches on Bumble involves swiping left and right to state you like the profile or not. Profiles are simply laid out with an emphasis on photos followed by a short bio and key details.
Bumble also lets you link up other apps like Instagram and Spotify which adds content to your profile with little effort. This is convenient because it allows your profile to be constantly updated with your latest music recommendations and photos from those services.
Did you know?
Bumble was started by Whitney Wolfe Herd, who had worked at Tinder and successfully sued the company. Bumble was created with help of Andrey Andreev, founder of Badoo.
Bumble isn’t just a dating app. It can also be set to BFF or BIZZ modes for non-romantic relationships. These modes are designed to help you make new friends or network professionally.
Plenty Of Fish vs Bumble: which one is cheaper?
Plenty Of Fish pricing sits somewhere between Bumble’s Boost and Premium paid tiers. Its pricing is also simpler with only one premium tier while Bumble has two paid membership levels.
It helps to sign up for the free versions to see if there are any deals. When it comes to Plenty Of Fish vs Bumble subscription lengths there are significant differences. See what the price differences are for Plenty Of Fish vs Bumble.
| Plenty Of Fish Upgrade | Bumble Boost | Bumble Premium | |
| 1 month | n/a | £13.77 per month | £32.43 per month |
| 3 months | £17.27 per month | £9.18 per month | £20.81 per month |
| 6 months | £12.96 per month | £7.43 per month | n/a |
| 12 months | £8.64 per month | n/a | n/a |
| Lifetime | n/a | n/a | £186.52 one-time fee |
Bumble has the cheapest paid subscriptions when compared to what Plenty Of Fish offers. If you are just looking to save money, then Bumble is clearly the more affordable choice here. However, price isn’t the only deciding factor.
Is Bumble Premium Lifetime for real?
Bumble Premium Lifetime lets you access all the features available on the Premium tier for one flat fee. The Lifetime subscription makes sense if you plan on using Bumble for more than two years.
Free vs paid features: how do these apps stack up?
Bumble and POF bring different approaches to their dating app services. Let’s take a closer look at what each one offers to its free and premium users.
Plenty Of Fish features: free vs paid options
Check out all the Plenty Of Fish features and compare the free and paid versions side-by-side.
| Plenty Of Fish free features | Plenty Of Fish “Upgrade” paid features |
| ✅ Create a profile | ✅ Create a profile |
| ✅ Add 8 photos | ✅ Add up to 16 photos to your profile |
| ✅ View main profiles | ✅ View a user’s extended profile |
| ✅ Send and receive messages | ✅ Send and receive messages |
| ✅ No ads | |
| ✅ Read receipts | |
| ✅ “Triple your views” monthly boost | |
| ✅ Your profile shows up in top search results | |
| ✅ See when someone views your profile | |
| ✅ Priority access to Meet Me feature |
Plenty Of Fish has all the core features needed to start dating online: profile creation, viewing other profiles and messaging potential matches.
The paid features improve the experience by increasing the number of photos you can add to your profile and how many details you can see when viewing someone else’s profile. The rest of the paid features range from quality-of-life enhancements, like no ads, to features that better your chances of matching, like more views and priority access.
Plenty Of Fish isn’t stopping you from matching or talking with someone just because you are using the free version. Paying to upgrade your experience is possible but it is not crucial for this dating app to work as intended.
Bumble features compared
Compare features side-by-side to see which Bumble option is a better fit for you.
| Bumble Free Features | Bumble Boost Features | Bumble Premium Features |
| ✅ Create a profile | ✅ Create a profile | ✅ Create a profile |
| ✅ Add photos | ✅ Add photos | ✅ Add photos |
| ✅ View main profiles | ✅ View main profiles | ✅ View main profiles |
| ✅ Send and receive messages with matches* | ✅ Send and receive messages with matches* | ✅ Send and receive messages with matches* |
| ✅ Link up Spotify and Instagram to fill your profile | ✅ Link up Spotify and Instagram to fill your profile | ✅ Link up Spotify and Instagram to fill your profile |
| ✅ Extend unlimited matches for an extra 24 hours | ✅ Extend unlimited matches for an extra 24 hours | |
| ✅ Unlimited swipes | ✅ Unlimited swipes | |
| ✅ Undo swipes | ✅ Undo swipes | |
| ✅ One Spotlight per week | ✅ One Spotlight per week | |
| ✅ Five SuperSwipes a week | ✅ Five SuperSwipes a week | |
| ✅ See who likes you (Beeline) | ||
| ✅ Incognito mode | ||
| ✅ Match again with expired matches | ||
| ✅ Travel mode |
* Unlimited messaging with matches. If the match is between a man and woman, the woman has to message within 24 hours for free unlimited messaging to be available.
Both Bumble and POF add significant perks to their paid subscriptions. The two dating apps give you ways to be seen by more users and insights into who likes you.
The main decision to make between the different paid plans is whether you want to see who likes you. On Bumble, this feature is called “Beeline” and it’s only available on the more expensive Premium membership. POF has a related feature in its one-size-fits-all paid plan where you can see who has viewed your profile.
If you’re someone who travels a lot, “Travel mode” on Bumble could also be very practical. It lets you select different locations, view profiles at your destination, and crucially match with them ahead of your trip. This means that when you arrive, you will already have someone to meet up with.
Which dating app is better for you? Plenty Of Fish vs Bumble
See what the pros and cons for Plenty Of Fish vs Bumble are, so you can decide which app is better for you.
Plenty Of Fish pros and cons
These are the advantages and disadvantages of the Plenty Of Fish dating app.
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Key features unlocked for free users | ❌ Profiles are of varying quality |
| ✅ Affordable paid upgrade | ❌ Users have to sort through profiles to find a good match |
| ✅ 4.2 out of 5 App Store review score |
Bumble pros and cons
These are the advantages and disadvantages of the Bumble dating app.
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Fully operational for free users | ❌ Less focused on serious relationships and compatibility |
| ✅ Bumble Boost is good value for money | ❌ Users have to swipe through a lot of profiles and do most of the selection work |
| ✅ 4.2 out of 5 review score and Editor’s Choice award on Apple App store. |
Bumble vs POF: Final thoughts
Both dating apps are great options for meeting someone online. Which one you choose depends on whether you like swiping through profiles or not. If you do, then Bumble is a better option. If you don’t like the swiping method of finding dates, then Plenty Of Fish is better suited to your needs.
Both dating apps have everything you need to view profiles, match with people, and start messaging for free. If you’re undecided, why not try both?
Bumble vs Plenty Of Fish FAQ
You can find answers to common Bumble vs POF questions below.
Is Bumble better than POF?
Both apps have complete free versions, which app is better for you comes down to how you find your matches. If swiping left and right through profiles is your preference, then Bumble is better than Plenty Of Fish.
Is Bumble legit?
Bumble is definitely a legitimate dating app. The dating service has been around for many years and is backed by serious investors. Bumble has robust online security policies to make sure user profiles are valid.
Which dating app will help me get married, Bumble or POF?
Both apps will help you get married but Plenty Of Fish is more likely to help you tie the knot because of its focus on deeper search features. That doesn’t mean you can’t find the love of your life on Bumble. Anecdotal evidence shows that many married couples have met on Bumble, as well as other swipe-based apps due to their popularity.
Which is cheaper: Bumble vs Plenty Of Fish?
Bumble is cheaper than Plenty Of Fish. However, both are reasonably priced. These apps are also perfectly usable without paying anything since all key dating app features are available for free. You only have to pay if you want perks on top of the main features of viewing profiles, matching, and chatting with other users.
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