The short answer: Facebook Dating is a free, opt-in dating section inside the Facebook app for Android and iPhone. To use it, you need to be 18 or older, have a Facebook account at least 30 days old and in good standing, and live in one of the 52 countries and four US territories on Meta’s list, which includes the US, Canada, and the UK but not Australia. You build a Dating profile separate from your Facebook profile, Facebook suggests matches by your preferences and distance, and you can send one like or message before the other person replies. If you would rather say what you want in your own words, AseeksB is a free personal ads app where you write an ad and choose who can see it.
Facebook Dating is Meta’s dating service, built into the Facebook app rather than offered as an app of its own. It launched in the US on September 5, 2019. On September 22, 2025, Meta said that hundreds of thousands of 18 to 29 year olds in the US and Canada create Facebook Dating profiles every month, and that matches among young adults were up 10% on the year before.
Everything on this page about Facebook Dating comes from Meta’s own help pages, Dating terms, and privacy policy, which we read on October 13, 2026, and from its announcements since 2019; each is linked where we use it. We didn’t create a Facebook Dating profile for this page. AseeksB publishes this page, and the alternative it describes is AseeksB.
Facebook Dating fits people who already use Facebook and want free suggested matches nearby, without a separate app, and who are comfortable with a Dating profile that sits on their Facebook account. Meta also builds in features tied to Facebook and its matching: crushes on Facebook friends and their friends, a weekly surprise match, and a dating assistant you can ask to find people, rolling out in the US and Canada.
A personal ad on AseeksB fits people who would rather say exactly what they’re looking for in their own words, choose who can see it by gender and age, and have people reply to the ad. It suits something specific or kink-friendly, keeps your search apart from your Facebook account and friend list, and works where Facebook Dating isn’t offered, such as Australia, though most AseeksB members are in the US.
The main difference is where you start. On Facebook Dating, you fill in a profile and Facebook decides whom to show it to. On AseeksB, you write an ad that says what you want, and you decide who can see it.
| Facebook Dating | AseeksB | |
|---|---|---|
| You start with | A Dating profile, built from profile questions | A written ad with a title, in your own words |
| Who sees it | People Facebook suggests you to | Only the audience you choose, by gender and age |
| First contact | A like, or one message on a photo | A reply to the ad, one message until you reply |
The full side-by-side is further down.
Facebook Dating is available from the Facebook app for Android or iPhone. Meta’s help page lists three requirements:
To start, open the Facebook app, tap Menu, then Dating, then Get started, and work through the profile questions; any of them can be skipped. Meta asks you to turn on Location Services first, because Dating suggests matches based on your distance preferences.
Where it is available. Meta’s list has 52 countries and four US territories: the US, Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and the US Minor Outlying Islands; Canada and Mexico; the UK, every European Union country, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein; every South American country except Venezuela; and Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Australia, New Zealand, India, and Japan are not on it. If you are in Australia, see our guide to personal ads in Australia.
Meta’s help pages give these reasons:
Yes. Meta calls it “a free dating experience within the Facebook app,” and when it added new features in September 2025, it said the aim was to help people meet “without having to resort to endless swiping or paying to unlock product features” (Meta, September 22, 2025). Meta’s help pages for Dating describe no paid plan.
AseeksB is free too: posting, browsing, and replying cost nothing.
You reach Dating through your Facebook account, but your Dating profile is separate from your Facebook profile. Meta says your Facebook friends and anyone outside Dating can’t see it, your Dating activity doesn’t appear in your Facebook Feed, and conversations in Dating stay in its Matches tab, apart from Messenger. You choose a gender identity (woman, man, nonbinary, or a more specific option for cis and trans women and men), and Meta’s privacy policy says you must give the gender or genders you are interested in. When Meta described Dating’s privacy in 2020, it said your first name and age come from your Facebook profile and can’t be edited in Dating. Your preferences for a match include age, gender identity, distance, “and more.”
There is no swiping. To show interest, you send a like, or tap one of the person’s photos and write a message. In Meta’s words, “The conversation starts when the other person responds to your message or sends a like back to you,” and until then, “You may only message a suggested match further once they reply or send you a like back.” So you get one message before the other person answers, much like replying to a personal ad on AseeksB, where you can send one message until the poster replies.
You can send a crush to a Facebook friend, or to a friend of a friend. Meta’s help page says they’ll be able to see that you liked them, and your profile appears in their Liked You tab.
Dating suggests matches based on your preferences, including distance. Since September 2025, Meet Cute also matches you once a week with a surprise match chosen by Meta’s matching algorithm; you can chat or unmatch, and you can turn the feature off at any time. Match Anywhere, available only to some people and not to new profiles, lets you add up to 2 more Dating locations and browse suggested matches there, and lets you control whether people who added your area can see you.
Meta announced the dating assistant on September 22, 2025, rolling out gradually in the US and Canada. It is a chat in the Matches tab that Meta says offers “smart recommendations and AI generated dating advice.” You can ask it to find people, as in Meta’s example, “Find me a Brooklyn girl in tech,” and it searches profile fields including job, education level, height, stated age, location, interests, languages, and zodiac sign. Your profile can turn up in other people’s searches too: Meta says “others may be shown your profile when they use dating assistant.” Using it means agreeing to Meta’s AI Terms.
Meta’s Dating terms, last modified December 30, 2024, say Meta assumes “no responsibility for verifying the accuracy of the information provided by users,” and that it does not conduct “criminal background checks or other screenings (such as sex offender register searches).” Its safety rules for Dating ban misrepresenting who you are, including your name, age, or location, and selling, advertising, or soliciting goods or services. Its privacy policy says it may ask you to verify your profile if it detects suspicious activity on your account. On any app, a short video call before meeting is a simple way to check that someone is who they say they are.
On AseeksB, every photo has to show the poster, admins actively monitor posts, and you can report someone even after they unmatch. Supporters can also require a photo before someone can message them. More on our Safety & Moderation page.
From Meta’s help pages and AseeksB’s published rules, October 13, 2026.
| Facebook Dating | AseeksB | |
|---|---|---|
| What you post | A Dating profile, built from profile questions | A written ad with a title, in your own words; photos optional |
| Who sees it | People Dating suggests you to, and people whose dating-assistant searches fit your profile; not your Facebook friends | Only the audience you choose for each post, by gender and age |
| How a conversation starts | A like, or a message on a photo; you can write again once they reply or like you back | A reply to the ad; one message until the poster replies |
| Saying what you want | Preferences for age, gender identity, distance, and more | Categories (short-term, long-term, platonic, missed connections, or kink-friendly) and up to 5 of 90 role tags |
| Account | A Facebook account at least 30 days old, in good standing | An email or phone number; no real name needed |
| Cost | Free | Free; Supporter from $7.99 a week |
| Where | 52 countries and four US territories | Worldwide, though most members are in the US |
| Apps | Inside the Facebook app for Android and iPhone | iOS and Android |
For more on how a personal ad differs from a profile, see personal ads vs. swipe apps, and for how Facebook Dating compares with the other apps people try instead of Craigslist Personals, see our Craigslist Personals alternatives.
AseeksB is a text-first personal ads app for people who would rather say what they want than be suggested to strangers. It is kink-friendly and open to ENM and poly. You sign up with an email or phone number, so it isn’t tied to your Facebook account or your friend list, and no real name is needed.
A free account keeps one active post, with post views for messaging others that refresh every 24 hours. AseeksB Supporter, from $7.99 a week, adds up to 7 active posts, unlimited post views, a maximum distance for your posts, and the option to require a photo before someone can message you.
One honest difference: AseeksB ads can only be read inside the app after signing up. Every post makes AseeksB busier for the next person, so post what you’re looking for, and if there’s a feature you’d want, tell us through the app, from the profile tab; we’d love to hear it.
A personal ad in your own words, seen only by the audience you choose. Supporter adds more posts and more control when you want them.
Yes. Meta calls it “a free dating experience within the Facebook app,” and its help pages for Dating describe no paid plan. AseeksB is free too: posting, browsing, and replying cost nothing.
Open the Facebook app for Android or iPhone, tap Menu, then Dating, then Get started. Meta’s help pages say you must be at least 18, have a Facebook account in good standing that is at least 30 days old, and live in a country where Dating is available. Meta asks you to turn on Location Services first.
Meta’s help pages list these reasons: you are under 18, your account is new or inactive, you went against its terms or Community Standards, or you live outside the 52 countries and four US territories where Dating is offered. A mismatch between your Dating Location and your Primary Location, which a VPN can cause, stops new matches, and after deleting a Dating profile you wait 7 days to make a new one.
Not by default. Meta says your Facebook friends and anyone outside Dating can’t see your Dating profile. Two exceptions come from Meta’s own help pages: a friend you send a crush to sees that you liked them, and a match who becomes your Facebook friend can still see your Dating profile.
No. As of October 13, 2026, Australia is not on Meta’s list of places where Dating is available, and neither are New Zealand, India, or Japan. The list includes the US, Canada, the UK, every European Union country, Mexico, and most of South America.
Facebook Dating itself doesn’t use swiping: you send a like or a message, or pass. On Hinge, Tinder, and Bumble, a chat opens only after a match. AseeksB starts with a written ad instead of a profile: you say what you’re looking for, choose who can see it, and people reply to the ad.
In Dating, open Settings, select Delete Profile, and press Delete. This deletes your Dating profile but not your Facebook account; deleting your Facebook account also deletes your Dating profile. You can’t make a new Dating profile for 7 days.