Indonesian Actress – Nyomi Marcela (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Here is the quick list of my top five dating sites and apps in Indonesia. I’ll go into more detail in my reviews later in this article.
Indonesia like Malaysia and Singapore has a pretty small but effective dating scene. There are a handful of really good dating websites and apps to choose from. They all have a simple interface (that even my grandmother would have no trouble navigating) and a good-sized membership base to make it worthwhile to elect the paid membership option.
Let me start off by saying that, if you want to increase your chance of success in Indonesia, go to a big city with a large population, such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, or Medan. Bali is also good because it is a tourist destination and attracts a lot of Indonesian women from around the country.
The problem with the smaller towns is that they don’t have a lot of members. And because dating is a numbers game, you really need to have a large mass of singles ready to mingle in order for any of the sites/apps below to deliver results.
Here are a few more things to keep in mind about dating in Indonesia:
- Public displays of affection (e.g. kissing, making out, etc.) are a big NO in Indonesia.
- Many women (especially outside of the big cities like Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, and Medan) are waiting until marriage to have sex. Whether a woman is waiting or not is a case-by-case basis.
- Don’t be surprised if a woman asks you to meet her family very early on…within a month of knowing her.
Should you decide to sign up for the online dating sites/apps I recommend below, be sure to read member profiles carefully as you might come across a lot of fake profiles. Usually, I can spot these profiles pretty easily. A woman who has only one picture posted, is wearing a tight bikini and making an overly suggestive pose are usually clear signals to steer clear. Another clue of a pretender is a woman who has a poorly written profile. As a general rule of thumb, the more boring the profile, the more boring the person.
Indonesian Model – Kamidia Radisti (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Without further ado, here are my detailed reviews of the top five dating sites and apps in Indonesia.
IndonesianCupid is the best dating site in Indonesia. No other site has found that good balance between quality, size of membership, and affordability.
Indonesian Cupid
IndonesianCupid is part of the Cupid Media Network, and thus sports the same clean website design, easy sign-up process, and great communication features as other Cupid Media sites. Detailed profiles and effective anti-spam measures add to this site’s strengths.
Unfortunately, IndonesianCupid seems to harbor a fair number of sketchy profiles, who will message you immediately after signing up, without visiting your profile. Avoid these few bad eggs though, and you will enjoy using this site.
Sign up Process
Signing up is a pleasantly brief process, with only your Facebook account or your name, gender, password, and email required as a first step. Next, just share a few words about yourself and what your ideal partner would look like, and you’re in.
At this point, you can either finish filling out the rest of your profile or start searching for that perfect match right away. When you get around to finishing your profile, get ready to spend some time doing so, as there is a lot to fill out. Some of the questions in the Personality Profile section are repeated from the Profile and Interest tabs though, which feels like an oversight.
How to Locate Potential Matches
When looking through your matches, you can view search results in four ways: photos only, photos and basic information, photos, basic information and a short blurb, and by full profiles. You also have many options for narrowing down your search, including searching by: age, location, and education, body type, ethnicity, lifestyle choices (smoking, drinking, etc.), marital status, whether they have kids, religious views, even their star sign.
How to Communicate with Other Members
Basic messaging on IndonesianCupid has a few options, none of which very useful if you’re looking to genuinely connect and communicate with other members. You can “send interest” to and favorite other members, which they will be notified of. However, if both of you are Standard members, neither of you will be able to speak to the other.
You can send messages, but not read them, as they’ll be “locked” and blurred out. The one upside here is that communication features as a premium member are fantastic. Audio, video, and IM are all available, and have proven to be invaluable features for ensuring match compatibility before meeting in person.
Unique Site Features
One of my favorite features on IndonesianCupid is the opportunity to filter who you receive messages from. You have many filtering options, from age and location, to nationality, religion, ethnicity and more.
While this feature will typically be more useful for women, as they tend to receive more messages than men on dating websites, I personally found this feature extremely useful for filtering out spam messages.
What is Included in Each Membership Level
- Standard – Craft customized searches, browse recommended matches, send interest, communicate with premium members
- Gold – All of the above, plus: Communicate with all members, audio/video chat, Instant Messaging, ad-free browsing, anonymous browsing
- Platinum – All of the above, plus: Higher ranking in searches, more profile space, extensive search features, message translating, VIP profile highlighting
AsianDating
AsianDating strives to connect people together who are from Asia or mostly of that continent’s background, although you don’t have to be Asian to participate. While the majority of users are from Japan, Thailand, Philippines and the nations around it, the site also attracts many users from Europe and the United States.
Most of the male users on the site are between the ages of 35 and 44 and fill up a majority of the premium accounts. Female users mostly have free accounts and range anywhere from 25 to 44-years old.
Sign up Process
The sign-up process doesn’t take more than five minutes and is free of charge. You can sign up separately or through your Facebook account. All you need to do is fill out your basic profile information, such as age, gender, region, and other complimentary details, and then upload a photo so you will get more views, although it is not mandatory to upload one.
After your photo is uploaded and the sign-up process is complete, the AsianDating staff will review your profile and alert you when your profile has been approved and is ready for use. Once your account is verified, you will receive a verification badge. On average, the process takes no more than a few hours.
How to Locate Potential Matches
There are no restrictions on being able to view other members’ profiles as you search. With a free account, you are able to view others members’ profiles and send them hearts if you are interested, which they will be notified of when they sign in.
AsianDating is great in that it allows you to elaborate on yourself and truly show your personality. When you sign up, you can talk about your lifestyle, your cultural background, and your interests, and other users will see that when they view your profile.
I like this because it means there’s more than just a picture. It makes sending messages easy when you know a little bit about a person before messaging them.
AsianDating is easy to navigate. You can filter your results by age, gender, and region, and results will show up on your screen. It’s very simple, and the design makes it convenient for you to browse around.
There is also preference-based matching which are matches that show up on your screen when you log in based on your profile. If AsianDating sees someone compatible, they will let you know.
One problem could be finding very users around you. If you’re not in a big city or are outside of Asia, very few matches will likely show up around you.
How to Communicate with Other Members
One of the caveats of AsianDating is you can only message someone else if you have a premium account or a person with a premium account messages you. However, once the messaging process starts, there’s no limit as to how many messages you can send back and forth. If you are a free member and contact someone that is also a free member, the message will be locked until one of you upgrades.
Premium members can also communicate with other members in the site’s chat room which displays a lot of topics, and users can enter and meet other members through chats.
Unique Site Features
AsianDating doesn’t have as many standout features that other sites do. It’s pretty simple and straightforward, but there are a few things you can do on the site that is noteworthy:
- The Message Translation option is huge and may be the best setting on the site. This allows you to communicate with others who don’t speak the same language as you. In other words, a man from New York who speaks English can communicate with someone who speaks strictly Japanese. It is a feature that other apps should also add in an effort to gain users. You must have a premium membership, however, to access this.
- As we mentioned above, the chatroom allows you to meet others through conversations on a topic. You must be a premium member, however, in order to enter the chatroom.
What is Included in Each Membership Level
There are certain restrictions on AsianDating that only premium users can take advantage of. Some of the perks that come with a premium membership include the following:
- You can send messages and have a conversation with all users, even if they are a free member.
- You can take part in live instant messenger chats
- You get VIP profile highlighting as your profile will be featured first to other members
- No advertising
- You can rank your matches
- You can go anonymous and browse without being shown online
- You get double the profile space of a free user
Bumble
As another option, I recommend you sign up for Bumble. I did a full review of Bumble here.
Badoo
Badoo is a free online dating platform that has been around since late 2006 but didn’t achieve the level of popularity it has today until 2012 when it became famous through it use of Facebook games and quizzes. The site markets itself as a social media site with an emphasis on dating rather than as a true dating site.
Sign up Process
In order to create an account on Badoo, you will need to fill in your first name, birthday, city, gender, and what you are looking for (your three options are chat, dates, and friendship). You can either upload a photo of yourself right away or you can skip it to do it later.
However, you will need a photo if you want to interact with users; otherwise you’ll be allowed to look around the site but not much else. Once your email has been verified, you will be free to use the site.
How to Locate Potential Matches
Badoo utilizes a game called Badoo Encounters to make it easy for you to look for matches fast. This feature shows you each match one at a time, and you’ll get to see their photo, name, age, and the number of interests that you both share. You can either click the Heart or the X icon, similar to how you would swipe right or left on another app.
Meanwhile, the People Nearby function enables you to find people in your general vicinity. You can narrow down your selection by your search filters. Just keep in mind that some people will set their positions as private, so it’s possible for you to find people who are hundreds or thousands of miles away. This can be disappointing if you are set on only finding someone in your area.
How to Communicate with Other Members
You’re allowed to message other users on Badoo without paying for a premium service, but you will need to upload a photo of yourself to access this feature. If you haven’t matched with someone, you’re allowed to send up to two messages; they will then need to reply to you before you are allowed to send more. Meanwhile, the Badoo Live service allows members to host live video streams, which you can either watch or join.
Unique Site Features
The features on Badoo are admittedly rather basic, but they are convenient for helping you to find dates. The Badoo Encounters feature allows you to easily look for matches, the Profile Score allows users to rate one another’s photos (a higher score earns you a more visible profile), and the Visits section allows you to check which members have viewed your profile.
What is Included in Each Membership Level
Both free and paid membership levels are available for Badoo. The free option allows you to message premium members and send flirts, take part in the Encounters matching game, browse member profiles, and use the search filters. When you upgrade to a fee-based service, you can see who viewed your profiles, send Crush alerts, see if you’re on any favorite lists, browse the site anonymously, and increase your popularity so your profile will become more visible.
OkCupid
OkCupid has been around since 2004, and in the sixteen years of its existence it has established itself as one of the most popular dating websites in the world.
Since its inception, OkCupid has gone through many upgrades and updates for both their desktop site and their mobile app. One of the biggest changes has been how users can send messages, which we will talk more about later.
Sign up Process
Signing up for OkCupid is genuinely a fun process. First, you’ll need to give basic information about yourself such as your location, name, email address, and your birthdate. As an alternative option, you can register with your Facebook account instead.
Once your account is set up, you will need to answer questions sent to you (everything from political and religion preferences to whether or not you drink to whether you’ll make the bed to where you would like to share your first kiss and so on). These questions will take around five minutes to answer, and will make it easier for you to match up with someone else.
How to Locate Potential Matches
With OkCupid, you will be shown one profile at a time, and you can swipe either right or left depending on your interest. To help you narrow down your options, a series of profile-building questions will be thrown at you.
The discover section will provide you with more freedom to peruse through your options. Each profile you see will feature the photo gallery of the member at the top of the page, followed by their profile summary.
How to Communicate with Other Members
The messaging system on OkCupid has changed to help reduce the unfortunate number of inappropriate messages. Back when I first used OkCupid, you could send any message to any user whatsoever. Today, you can still send messages to anyone, but the user will only see your message if they have liked you back.
Unique Site Features
OkCupid has a multitude of features designed to help enhance your experience with the site. These include the DoubleTake where you either swipe right or left on different profiles, the Boost section where your profile will be highlighted (and therefore be shown more frequently to other members), the Likes tab to see who as liked you (this is only available for premium members), and the blog that discusses dating advice and how to better use the site.
What is Included in Each Membership Level
OkCupid offers both free and fee-based services. When using the free version of the site, you are free to message other users, search for matches, keep track of the profiles you have liked, use the search filters, and use the Double Take Feature.
However, there are more features you can access when you opt for a paid membership. These include advanced search filers, no advertisements, a daily auto boost, and the ability to see who has liked you, and public question answers.
Good luck out there! Remember to be patient (success in dating takes time), and don’t give up.
Further Reading
Worldwide Online Dating Site Reviews: Be sure to check out my country-by-country reviews of the best online dating sites in the world.
Worldwide Moving Guide: Everything you need to know in order to plan your move to 65+ countries around the world.
Worldwide Jobs Guide: If you are interested in working in this country, be sure to check out my posts on how to find jobs in this country and other countries around the world.
Worldwide Apartments Guide: If you are interested in renting an apartment in another country, take a look at my articles on how to find an apartment in various countries around the world.
About Addison Sears-Collins
Hey! I'm Addison Sears-Collins, the founder of Visa Hunter. You can learn more about me here. Connect with me by liking my fan page on Facebook, connecting with me on Twitter, or check out my website Automatic Addison where I build robots and embedded systems.
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