OkCupid has been asking strangers whether they would date someone messy since 2004, and it remains the most talkative of the big dating apps. It still believes your answers to a few hundred questions say more about you than six photos and a joke about pineapple on pizza. Here is what the free version does, what Premium and Incognito cost in the UK, what happened to Basic, and whether paying makes a real difference.
Promo Code: none needed
OkCupid does not issue public promo codes. The real saving is choosing a longer package: OkCupid says its three and six-month memberships are discounted against the monthly rate.
| Offer detail | What you get |
|---|---|
| Promo Code | None needed |
| Welcome offer | Free account with likes, matches and messaging; paid Premium, Premium Plus and Incognito on top |
| Who qualifies | Anyone aged 18 or over; available in the UK, US and internationally |
| Key terms | Subscriptions renew automatically; three and six-month packages are discounted; App Store and Google Play subscriptions must be cancelled through Apple or Google |
| How to claim | Download the app or sign up at okcupid.com, build a profile, then upgrade from the app or account settings |
OkCupid: key facts
- Official website: okcupid.com
- Owner: Match Group (operated by Humor Rainbow, Inc.)
- Headquarters: New York, USA
- Founded: 2004
- Ratings: App Store 4.2 (17k ratings, UK App Store); Google Play 3.3 (about 690k reviews, Google Play)
- Headline offer: Free account with likes, matches and messaging; Premium, Premium Plus and Incognito paid upgrades
- Promo Code: None needed
- Price from: £5.99 (lowest OkCupid Premium price point, UK App Store)
- Free plan or trial: Yes: likes, Intros, matches, messaging, Match Questions, 1 SuperLike a week
- Payment methods: Debit/credit card (web, Android), PayPal (web), Apple Pay / App Store (iOS), Google Pay / Google Play (Android)
- Best features: Match Questions and match percentages; Free messaging with matches; Incognito mode: visible only to people you like or message
At a glance
- Owner: Match Group (operated by Humor Rainbow, Inc.)
- Launched: 2004
- Best for: compatibility-led matching, LGBTQ+ and non-monogamous daters
- Free plan: yes: likes, matches, messaging and Match Questions
- Premium from: £5.99 (lowest UK App Store price point; billing period not shown)
- Verification: not advertised
- App Store (UK): 4.2/5 from 17k ratings
- Google Play: 3.3/5 from about 690,000 reviews
Verdict
OkCupid is the thinking person’s swiping app: slower, wordier and more candid than its stablemates. The free tier is generous enough that plenty of people never pay, and the Match Questions still produce conversations that start somewhere more interesting than “hey”. Premium is worth it mainly if you want to see who has already liked you. The catch is a membership line-up that keeps changing, web prices charged in US dollars, and a stream of user complaints about fake profiles.
Pros
- Messaging is free, so you can actually talk to matches without paying
- Match Questions and percentages give real substance to profiles
- Broad gender, orientation and pronoun options, and room for non-monogamous relationship styles
- Incognito lets you browse without being seen by people you have not liked
- Longer packages are discounted
Cons
- Basic is no longer sold, so the cheapest full upgrade is now Premium
- Seeing who likes you is locked behind Premium
- Web subscriptions are billed in US dollars
- Recurring user complaints about fake profiles and scammers
- Tiers, perks and prices have shifted several times, which makes comparison hard
OkCupid free vs paid: what you get without paying
The free account is the reason many people still have OkCupid on their phone. According to OkCupid’s own help centre, free members can send and receive Likes and Intros, see their matches and chat with them. You can answer Match Questions, browse the Discover stacks and get one SuperLike a week.
What you cannot do for free is send unlimited Likes or see who has liked you before you like them back. In practice, that means a free user in Manchester can match with someone over a shared horror of loud phone calls on trains and arrange a drink in the Northern Quarter without spending a penny. They just have to find each other the slow way.
Paying changes the pace, not the principle. Premium shows you the queue of people already interested, which is the single most useful paid feature on any dating app.
OkCupid Premium prices and plans in the UK, and the cheapest way to pay
OkCupid currently sells three things: Premium, Premium Plus and Incognito. Basic, the old entry tier with unlimited Likes, Dealbreakers and no ads, is “no longer available for new purchases”, according to the help centre. Existing Basic members keep it, but new members cannot buy it.
| Tier | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Basic (closed to new members) | Unlimited Likes, Dealbreakers, unlimited Rewinds, all Intros at once, no ads |
| Premium | Everything in Basic, plus see who likes you, view public question answers you have not answered yourself, 3 SuperLikes a week |
| Premium Plus | Everything in Premium, plus Priority Likes, unlimited read receipts, 15 SuperLikes a week, one Rush Hour Boost token a month |
| Incognito | A separate subscription: your profile is visible only to people you like or message; no ads |
OkCupid does not publish a UK price list. Prices vary by age, platform and length of package. These are the OkCupid Premium price points on the UK App Store, checked on 20 October 2026:
| UK App Store item | £ | $ | € |
|---|---|---|---|
| OkCupid Premium | £5.99 | $7.98 | €7.11 |
| OkCupid Premium | £11.99 | $15.98 | €14.23 |
| OkCupid Premium | £14.99 | $19.98 | €17.79 |
| OkCupid Premium | £22.99 | $30.64 | €27.28 |
| OkCupid Premium | £38.99 | $51.96 | €46.27 |
| OkCupid Premium | £44.99 | $59.95 | €53.39 |
| Boost (single) | £0.99 to £6.99 | $1.32 to $9.31 | €1.17 to €8.30 |
Apple does not label the billing period in that list, and Premium Plus and Incognito do not appear in it by name, so check the in-app screen before you tap. OkCupid sells packages of one, three or six months, and says the longer ones are discounted. It does not list a 12-month option.
The cheapest way to pay is the longest package you are realistically going to use. It is also worth knowing that OkCupid bills web subscriptions in US dollars, so a UK card may add a foreign transaction fee. Paying through the App Store or Google Play keeps the charge in pounds.
OkCupid discounts, promo codes and student deals: what exists and what doesn’t
There are no official OkCupid promo codes. Sites listing “OkCupid coupon codes” are recycling expired or invented offers, and you will not find a box to enter one at checkout.
There is no student discount, no NHS or key worker discount and no standing free trial listed in OkCupid’s help centre. The genuine savings are:
- Longer packages: three and six months cost less per month than one.
- Stack passes: if you only want to browse the Popular or New People stacks, OkCupid sells seven-day passes instead of a full subscription.
- Staying free: because messaging is free, many users never need to upgrade.
Who owns OkCupid and who uses it
OkCupid was founded in 2004 by Chris Coyne, Sam Yagan, Max Krohn and Christian Rudder, the Harvard graduates behind the study-guide site SparkNotes. It was bought by IAC’s Match.com in 2011 and now sits in the Match Group portfolio alongside Tinder, Hinge and Plenty of Fish. The operating company is Humor Rainbow, Inc., based in New York.
Match Group does not publish a separate OkCupid user number. Business of Apps data, cited by third-party reviewers, puts around half of users aged 30 to 49, which matches the app’s reputation as a place for people a little past the swipe-and-forget phase.
It works in the UK, the US and most other markets, and suits both settled locals and newcomers. Someone who has just moved to London for work can lean on the questions to find people who also think a pub quiz is a reasonable first meeting.
OkCupid features that matter
Match Questions. The heart of the app. You answer multiple-choice questions, say how you would like a match to answer, and rate how much each one matters. OkCupid turns that into a match percentage. The more you answer, the sharper it gets.
Discover and stacks. Profiles are grouped into stacks such as Recommended, Match %, Nearby and Online, with Popular and New People available through Premium or a seven-day pass.
Dealbreakers. Hard filters for the things you will not compromise on, such as distance or whether someone wants children.
Intros and SuperLikes. An Intro lets you message someone before matching. A SuperLike puts you near the top of their pile.
Incognito. Your profile is hidden from everyone you have not liked or messaged. You can switch it on and off, and blocking someone removes their access. If two people both use Incognito, they cannot see each other.
Boosts. Paid boosts push your profile up the queue for a set time. Premium Plus includes one Rush Hour Boost token a month.
Identity options. OkCupid was early to offer a wide range of gender identities, sexual orientations and pronouns, and lets users say whether they are monogamous or non-monogamous.
Is OkCupid safe? Verification, safety and privacy
OkCupid is for over-18s only, and the App Store rates it 18+. You can block, unmatch and report members from within the app, and unmatching removes the conversation for both people. OkCupid does not advertise a photo verification badge of the kind Tinder and Hinge use.
User reviews on the App Store repeatedly mention fake profiles and scammers, which is a common problem across free dating apps. The usual rules apply: keep chat inside the app until you trust someone, never send money, and meet first dates somewhere public.
OkCupid’s privacy record has had moments of public attention. In May 2016, researchers published data scraped from around 70,000 OkCupid profiles. In 2019 the New York Times reported that the AI company Clarifai, in which OkCupid executives had invested, had used OkCupid photos to build a facial recognition tool. The US Federal Trade Commission later alleged that OkCupid had shared around 3 million user photos, along with demographic and location data, in 2014 and concealed it. OkCupid and Match Group settled in March 2026 without a fine and without admitting the allegations, and are permanently barred from misrepresenting how they collect and share personal data.
What users say about OkCupid
OkCupid holds 4.2 out of 5 from 17,000 ratings on the UK App Store, and 3.3 from about 690,000 reviews on Google Play.
The positive reviews tend to praise the depth of profiles. “The OkCupid app is great for creating a detailed profile,” wrote EchoDrifter on the UK App Store in August 2025. Others are more measured: “Ok, but could do better as my old school reports used to say,” wrote hobopolo, also on the UK App Store.
The recurring complaints are fake profiles, matches drying up outside big cities, and features moving behind the paywall.
How to sign up, set up a good OkCupid profile and cancel your subscription
Signing up
- Download OkCupid from the App Store or Google Play, or go to okcupid.com.
- Create an account and confirm your details.
- Choose your gender identity, orientation and pronouns, and what you are looking for.
- Add at least one photo; several is better.
Building a profile people will reply to
- Answer at least 30 to 50 Match Questions so your percentages mean something.
- Use the written sections for specifics: the walk you do every Sunday beats “I like travel”.
- Pick photos taken in daylight, with at least one full-length shot and none in sunglasses.
- Set two or three Dealbreakers you genuinely mean, and no more.
Cancelling
- If you paid by card or PayPal, go to okcupid.com/settings in a web browser, open subscriptions and click “Turn off automatic billing”. This cannot be done in the app.
- If you paid through Apple, cancel in your iPhone’s Settings under your Apple ID and Subscriptions.
- If you paid through Google Play, cancel in the Play Store under Payments and subscriptions.
- You keep access until the end of the period you have paid for.
Deleting your account cancels card and PayPal renewals automatically, but not App Store or Google Play subscriptions. Disabling your account does not stop billing on any platform. Refunds for App Store and Google Play purchases are handled by Apple and Google; for web purchases, contact OkCupid through its help centre.
OkCupid vs Hinge vs Plenty of Fish
All three belong to Match Group, but they feel very different.
| OkCupid | Hinge | Plenty of Fish | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, with free messaging | Yes, with a daily like limit | Yes, with free messaging |
| Premium from | £5.99 on the UK App Store | £12.99 for Hinge+ (UK App Store; plan length not shown) | £19.99 a week, £29.99 a month (UK App Store) |
| Best for | Compatibility through questions | Relationship-minded daters who like prompts | A large, casual-to-serious pool |
| Verification | Not advertised | Selfie Verification | Selfie video verification and Face Check |
| Owner | Match Group | Match Group | Match Group |
Pick OkCupid if you like to know what someone thinks before you know what they look like, or if you want strong identity and relationship-style options.
Pick Hinge if you want a cleaner app built around prompts and a clear focus on relationships.
Pick Plenty of Fish if you want a big pool of people and free messaging, and do not mind sorting through more profiles.
OkCupid FAQs
Is OkCupid free?
Yes. You can create a profile, like, match and message for free. Premium adds seeing who likes you, and more.
How much is OkCupid Premium in the UK?
Prices on the UK App Store start at £5.99 and go up to £44.99, depending on the length of the package. OkCupid sells one, three and six-month packages.
Can I still buy OkCupid Basic?
No. OkCupid Basic is no longer available to new members, though existing Basic subscribers keep it.
What is OkCupid Incognito?
A separate subscription that hides your profile from everyone except people you have liked or messaged. It also removes ads.
Is there an OkCupid promo code or student discount?
No. OkCupid does not issue public promo codes and has no student discount. Longer packages are the main saving.
How does OkCupid work?
You answer Match Questions, OkCupid calculates match percentages, and you like or pass on profiles. When two people like each other, they match and can chat.
Is OkCupid safe?
It has block, unmatch and report tools, and is for over-18s only. As with any dating app, be wary of fake profiles and never send money to someone you have not met.
How do I cancel OkCupid?
On the web, use okcupid.com/settings and turn off automatic billing. On iPhone or Android, cancel through Apple or Google Play.
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