The Best Herpes Dating Sites

Herpes is a widespread sexually transmitted disease (STD). In fact, around 12% of people aged 14-49 in the U.S. are infected with HSV-2, the virus that commonly causes genital herpes.1 Yet having herpes carries a stigma because of stereotypes about the infection and miseducation about STDs in general.2 This all has made it difficult for people with herpes to find success in dating.

Herpes dating sites aim to ease the difficulty. On these sites, people with herpes or other STDs can find potential mates who aren’t weighed down by hesitancy, fears, or misapprehensions, because they have an STD, too. They eliminate some of the strain posed by a diagnosis on budding relationships.

Using our guide, you’ll better understand how herpes dating sites function, what they have to offer daters, and which site will most support your love goals. For those in a hurry, here’s a quick look at our findings.

Our 2025 recommendations for the best herpes dating sites

• Best overall: Positive Singles
• Best budget pick: HWerks
• Lowest monthly membership: Meet People With Herpes
• Best for discreet one-on-one connections: Meet Positives
• Best for community support: HWerks

At Innerbody Research, we thoroughly evaluate every product or service we review, including herpes dating sites. We’ve invested the time to make profiles on all of these sites, to explore the size and quality of their dating pools, and to assess the performance of various site features accessible only to members. We also sat down with a professional matchmaker and relationship expert to discuss the ins and outs of dating with an STD.

Altogether, our team has spent more than 200 hours researching these sites, as well as studying various aspects of herpes infection and treatment. Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this guide is thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy.

Over the past two decades, we have helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

To evaluate the herpes dating sites in our guide, we focused on five criteria that we believe are the most important to potential users:

• Privacy
• Dating pool
• Cost
• Free features
• Herpes resources

We discuss our findings in the following sections.

Privacy

Winner: Positive Singles

Privacy is critical whenever personal information is in play, and even more so with regard to a sensitive health issue like herpes. Aware of this, herpes-oriented dating sites take many steps to protect your privacy, and every site has its own variation of privacy settings so you can take control.

Our winner for privacy is Positive Singles because of the number of privacy features the site offers:

• Users can report profiles that violate community terms of use and take steps to verify their own profiles by submitting a government-issued photo ID.
• Positive Singles protects your information from third parties by keeping it private — it explicitly states that it won’t disclose, rent, or sell your data.
• Purchases are kept discreet, appearing as “SuccessfulMatch” on your bank statement.
• If you delete your profile, your data will likely be gone from the company’s systems within six months.

One minor knock on Positive Singles’ privacy features is that its photo and profile visibility controls are only available to paying members, whereas sites like Meet Positives allow you to control who sees your profile and images for free.

Dating pool

Winner: Positive Singles

Successful online dating often boils down to odds: the more potential matches, the better your chances. At the same time, you can’t have a diluted dating pool, one in which too many users are unserious or too many profiles are inactive. That’s why, for this guide, we focused on sites that balanced large dating pools with selective processes, those that take measures to ensure their members are invested in the process.

Again, our winner was Positive Singles. It’s an extensive and popular site, with over 2 million active profiles and 2.5 million member conversations monthly.

But we’d also like to recognize HWerks in this category. While HWerks doesn't provide exact dating pool numbers, it takes strides to ensure that members are serious about dating (e.g., requiring a one-time, up-front lifetime membership fee of $56 before you can even create an account). This allows for a more exclusive experience with other members dedicated to seeking love.

Cost

Winner: HWerks

Most dating sites offer both free and paid membership tiers. Free memberships are limited to the barest of features, such that you typically can’t even message your match under ordinary circumstances. So, to truly compare cost values, we must look to the paid version of each platform.

Having done so, we can tell you that HWerks (which doesn’t even have a free membership option) is the most affordable herpes dating site in both the short and the long term. That’s because it entails only a one-time, up-front fee of $56. Nothing else. All of our other recommendations charge subscription fees every 1-6 months, and within a few months their total charges exceed what you’d owe to HWerks. To put it in perspective, lifetime access to HWerks costs less than three months’ worth of Positive Singles or Meet People With Herpes.

That being said, some people would prefer a monthly subscription plan to a lifetime membership. To them, we’d recommend Meet People With Herpes, where a one-month membership is less than $30 (lower than Positive Singles or Meet Positives).

Free features

Winner: Positive Singles

Most dating sites let you use some features for free. Where they differ is the degree to which their free features allow the browsing and interaction needed to facilitate online dating. All of them limit their truly useful features (filtering searches, sending or reading messages) to premium membership tiers, but there are shades of accessibility between the top platforms.

Positive Singles comes out on top here because it permits free users to enjoy at least some of its conversation features. Specifically, with a free account, you can read and return messages if a premium member initiates the conversation. There are also other free ways to let other members know that you’re into them, as well as badges that indicate whether they’re premium members. So you can express interest nonverbally and potentially persuade premium members to spin a thread of communication you can actually access.

There’s the Flame feature, too, which functions just like Tinder. You swipe right or left on the app (or, on the web browser interface, click a heart or “X”) to indicate whether or not a person draws your interest based on a few images and a little bit of info. Both parties are notified when there’s a match, and if either is a premium member, they can initiate a conversation.

All of Positive Singles’ free features are likewise available on Meet People With Herpes (they’re owned by the same company), but you stand a slightly better chance of finding a match on Positive Singles because of its name recognition and a much larger user base.

Resources

Winner: HWerks

Many herpes dating sites offer features beyond the dating scope. HWerks stands out in this category because, while dating is an element of the site, its overall goal is to create a community for people with herpes. It presents opportunities to build friendships, network, and find community support through forums, a newsletter, FAQs about herpes, and support groups, both online and in-person. Other sites on our list — Positive Singles and Meet Positives — offer resources, too, but their offerings aren’t as robust.

For a quick reference, here’s a side-by-side and point-by-point comparison of our top herpes dating sites, plus one honorable mention:

Sometimes, you’ll see the terms “sexually transmitted disease (STD)” and “sexually transmitted infection (STI)” used interchangeably. They don’t mean the same thing, and there is still debate about which term is more appropriate.

For clarification, an STI can cause an STD.8 A “disease” presents symptoms, yet some infections are asymptomatic. Many people take issue with the word “disease” — its negative connotations contribute to stigma and misunderstanding about these conditions. The desire to reduce stigma causes some to prefer “STI” over “STD.”

In this guide, however, we use the term “STD” because that’s the term used by the dating platforms we recommend.

Strictly speaking, a herpes dating site is an online platform on which everyone in the dating pool has a positive herpes diagnosis (either HSV-1 or HSV-2, though some sites give the option for “unsure” if you don’t know which strain you have). Their specialized nature allows users to participate in online dating without facing the stigma that might surround their herpes diagnosis on more mainstream platforms.

But we can extend the definition to include general STI dating platforms, where the user base encompasses not only herpes but also:

• Human papillomavirus (HPV)
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• Chlamydia
• Thrush
• Syphilis
• Gonorrhea
• Another STD altogether

In this broader category, there might be some risk of facing stigma from people with non-herpes diagnoses, but users generally have the option (usually with a premium membership) to set search preferences based on which STDs they’re comfortable with.

As a prospective user of a herpes dating site, you usually don’t have to prove you have a diagnosis, but if you create a profile disingenuously and are discovered, your access will be revoked. And the community is always on the lookout for bad actors, with fast and reliable ways to report suspicious profiles to site administrators.

To learn more about similar platforms, check out our complete guide to STD dating sites.

Having a dating platform that caters to people with herpes obviously comes with some advantages:

Still, on the other side of the coin, a herpes dating site offers you a narrower opportunity to succeed in romance. It’s a matter of having a smaller pool of potential matches, as there are more people without herpes than with.

Moreover, because herpes is a complex infection, not everyone you meet on a herpes dating site will be medically compatible with you. Someone with HSV-1, for example, might not want to risk contracting HSV-2, and vice versa. So it’s easy to enter the online herpes dating scene with a false sense of hope.

Dating platforms generally offer similar features, but herpes dating sites stand out in few key aspects. In these sections, we cover both the common and the distinctive qualities.

Signing up

The sign-up process on herpes dating sites is pretty standard in that you’re asked to provide some basic information — age, location, gender. The distinctive element is that you’re also asked about your STD status.

With that done, most sites require you to verify your email address and mobile number. Some require more. For example, in our testing, both Positive Singles and Meet People With Herpes (MPWH) eventually asked for a copy of a government-issued ID.

Setting your dating preferences

Dating sites match you according to your preferences, so you have to take some time specifying the qualities you want in a partner. With herpes dating sites, such preferences include STD status along with gender, age, location, and interest.

The quality of a dating site is reflected in the matches it suggests based on your preferences. Our testing revealed that recommendations by Positive Singles and MPWH were consistently superior to those by other sites.

Creating a profile

Your profile is the frame through which you represent yourself to other site members, and the basis on which they form their impression of you. Some common fields you’re asked to fill out are:

• Hobbies and interests
• Lifestyle
• Appearances
• Aspirations, dating and otherwise (e.g., do you want kids?)
• Photos

And you can edit your profile whenever you want.

Among our recommendations, Positive Singles and MPWH have the deepest profile options, with nuanced questions to create more applicable matches and even a section to post your favorite STD-related jokes.

Browsing potential matches

Looking through profiles is part of the fun. You can search based exclusively on your preferences but also expand your search outside of such predetermined criteria. For example:

• Nearby people
• Suggested matches
• Members who have viewed your profile

Many sites also have a “swipe” setup like Tinder, whereby you can quickly indicate your interest in members among a stack of profiles. Of these, Positive Singles’ Flame feature is the most effective.

Support

On herpes dating sites, you’ll also find supportive and welcoming communities of herpes-positive people. They offer not only community resources and advice but also opportunities to make friends and seek care. These features can help members live fuller, healthier lives beyond dating.

While not every herpes dating site has the same sort of privacy policy, they generally take numerous measures to protect members’ personal information and, therefore, maximize their safety. Here are some of the privacy features you’ll see on the herpes dating sites in our top picks:

Sullivan tells us that mainstream dating sites differ from STD-based dating sites because they don’t provide the “safe mental space” of places like our top recommendations. Still, many people prefer the broader dating pools of platforms like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble.

If you choose to use a mainstream platform as an STD-positive person, it’s essential to disclose your STD status to any potential partners. There’s a lot of advice about how to approach this, but you should do whatever feels most comfortable for you.3

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Be direct. Let your match know that you want to share your STD status before having sex. Let them know the type of STD you have and any details you feel comfortable sharing about your past sex life.
• Avoid defensiveness. It’s easy to want to defend yourself when you feel judged. If you create an open dialogue about your STD status and safe sex in general, your match will hopefully respond without accusations or judgment.
• Respect boundaries. Give your match space and respect any decision they make regarding your STD status. They may make a decision you don’t like, but accept that they know what’s best for them.
• Answer questions. Someone not living with an STD might have many questions about what it’s like, how to stay protected, and transmission rates. Answer what you can and be open to doing some research to stay informed.
• Encourage testing. Talking about your STD status can open up a larger conversation about the importance of sexual health, including frequent STD testing. Learn about your match’s status and encourage them to get tested as well. To learn more about herpes testing and your best at-home test options, visit our comprehensive guide.

Best overall herpes dating site

Though Positive Singles doesn’t cater exclusively to the HSV community, our testing confirms that it’s likely to be your best choice. It’s a well-known and thriving community of STD-positive people, many of them living with herpes. It has the largest dating pool of any STD dating site, with more than 2 million active members and over 2.5 million member conversations every month. A testament to its quality is the 60,000+ success stories written by people who’ve found love on the site.

One of the best aspects of Positive Singles is that it offers numerous resources to help you make the most of the site and your experience as a person living with herpes. These resources include:

• Flame matching feature (Tinder-like)
• Live dating adviser
• Dating advice
• STD treatment stories
• STD care locations in the United States
• STD Q&A forum
• Member blogs

As a paid member, you’ll be able to narrow your search down to cities or zip codes and use the site’s search filters to look for members with a positive herpes diagnosis. Free accounts, however, can only filter by state and can’t search by specific STDs.

To learn even more, read our full review of Positive Singles.

Positive Singles pricing

Positive Singles is neither the most expensive nor the least expensive option among the broader range of STD dating sites, but it’s more expensive than many herpes-only dating sites. Here’s how the pricing breaks down in 2025:

Of note, Positive Singles no longer seems to require separate billing between the desktop and mobile app versions of the platform. Now you pay one fee and have access to both.

Best budget pick and best for community support

HWerks bills itself as a community of people living with herpes and HPV. Your membership includes not only access to the site’s dating pool but also community support features, such as:

• Chat rooms
• Forums
• Secret Facebook groups
• Local in-person support groups.

For all that, though, the platform interface is disappointing. Its landing page looks put-together enough, but the platform is middling once you’ve paid your way and the curtain is pulled aside. There’s nothing about it that’s especially well-polished. Still, it’s a step above the cheap designs we’ve seen from other STD dating sites.

HWerks pricing

HWerks doesn’t allow you to join without paying for a membership. This helps weed out people who aren’t serious about joining the community. But it’s only a one-time fee of $56, which is less than three months’ worth of any one of our other top recommendations. In quick time, then, HWerks is the most economical choice, especially if you want to use the platform for casual dating and not to find a long-term relationship.

HWerks uses PayPal and Stripe for online purchases. These are two well-known, secure companies for online transactions. Purchases show on your statement as HW Erks & Co., which feels like the bank statement equivalent of a pair of glasses and a fake mustache — no one is buying the disguise.

Best budget pick

All of the good things we’ve had to say about Positive Singles (and most of the less-than-good things) apply to Meet People With Herpes (MPWH). That’s because the sites are run by the same parent company (SuccessfulMatch).

There are very few meaningful differences between them, but one of those differences is the dating pool. MPWH is a herpes-only site, so its dating pool is significantly smaller than that of Positive Singles. That said, with 100% of users living with a herpes diagnosis, you won’t run into a situation where you click with someone who has a different STD and isn’t open to dating someone with herpes. In a manner of speaking, MPWH has already done the diagnosis filtering for you — a feature you have to pay for with Positive Singles.

Meet People With Herpes pricing

One of the other noteworthy differences between MPWH and Positive Singles is the price, with the membership costing less per month by up to around $4:

As with Positive Singles, pricing now appears to be unified across both desktop and mobile app versions.

Best for discreet one-on-one connections

Like Positive Singles, Meet Positives isn’t strictly a herpes dating site, but it does offer a few features that make it stand out as a good option for those hitting the dating scene with herpes:

Also, as a free member, you have more control over your exposure to the community than you’d get from competitors. Without having to pay for a premium membership, you can choose who sees your photos and profile.

If you want to pay for membership, you have two options: Premium Connect and Safe Connect Plus. Feature availability differs slightly between them, as this table illustrates:

Meet Positives pricing

The two Meet Positives membership plans come in at different price points. Here’s how much the Premium Connect plan costs:

And here’s the pricing for the Safe Connect plan:

HSV Singles is our honorable mention. It’s strictly a herpes dating site, meaning that all potential partners are living with HSV-1 or HSV-2. While this does limit the dating pool, it also creates a smaller, more exclusive community. Also, you don’t have to worry about selecting your STD status or your status preference for prospective matches.

The free version of HSV Singles is very limited. The most useful free feature is sending “flirts,” which is the HSV Singles version of “likes.”

The premium version is where all the truly facilitative features are, such as:

• Sending and receiving messaging
• Instant messaging
• Private browsing
• Access to all member photos
• Access to forums and chat rooms

All told, HSV Singles looks to be broadly in line with the top recommendations in this guide. So, why is it relegated to honorable mentions status? It’s because of the user experience. The pages are decidedly dated, and it undermines confidence in the company’s ability to protect your information or successfully find you a match. Ultimately, the site's performance is fine, but the interface is poor.

HSV Singles pricing

The cost for premium features is competitive with our top recommendations in this guide:

But the neat thing about HSV Singles is that it offers a five-day trial version of premium membership for just $5, granting you a taste of the full suite of features before making a longer-term commitment.

For online payments, the charge on your card will appear as DATINGCUSTSERV.COM. This may reveal the fact that you’re on a dating site, but it won’t give away the nature of that site.