10 Best Netflix Dating Shows, Ranked

A show that audiences joked was “a win for the furries,” Sexy Beasts brings together contestants looking for love by wearing elaborate makeup and prosthetics resembling animals to hide their identities. Hosted by Rob Delaney, the format consists of one eligible single called the picker, who chooses three potential suitors based on personality and takes each of them on a real-world date. After the dates, the picker selects one of those suitors to be his or her love match. The contestants also have silly pseudonyms, such as “Emma the Demon” and “Ibrahim the Wolf,” as they awkwardly try to make love connections. While the concept is outlandish and camp, the show is ranked at the bottom of our list due to its low success rate and the fact that Netflix canceled the series after two seasons. But if you’re into shows where people dress up in costumes such as The Masked Singer, then this might just be the show for you.

Want to watch singles look for love with their brother or sister? Then Dated and Related is your show! Hosted by Too Hot to Handle‘s very own Melinda Berry, the show takes place in a luxury villa in the South of France as contestants go on a series of dates in front of their siblings in hopes of finding their soulmate and winning the $100,000 prize. Though the concept is unique, the contestants’ personalities are not compelling enough to make the show interesting. The relationships are flimsy, the drama is boring, and it seems as if the siblings are only there for social media fame as opposed to a genuine connection. So it’s safe to say the entertainment value is low on this one.

The OG reality dating show Dating Around kickstarted Netflix’s dating show programming in 2019. Each episode featured a single who went on five blind dates that were filled with awkward yet endearing exchanges. Once those dates were over, the single had to choose one person worthy of a second date. With no celebrity host or spicy challenges, the goal of the now-canceled series was to take an honest, non-scripted approach to dating in the real world. It was breezy and simple but also more forgettable compared to the other dating shows on this list. But we have to give Dating Around credit for giving hope to all of the hopeless romantics out there and for carving the path for the rest of the Netflix dating shows that followed.

If you’re a fan of Survivor, then you may be a fan of the South Korean dating show Single’s Inferno. As if fighting for love isn’t competition enough, Single’s Inferno makes contestants fight for their survival as well. Flirty singles are left stranded on a deserted island called Inferno, where they must hunt for food and water and compete in challenges to couple up. Once couples are matched, they are sent to “Paradise,” which is a fancy, luxurious hotel where they can form connections with one another. In addition to the survival aspect, the show includes a set of panelists who comment on the show, consisting of actress Lee Da-hee, comedian Hong Jin-kyung, rapper Hanhae, Super Junior member Kyuhyun, and YouTuber Dex. The concept makes for a suspenseful, shocking, and dramatic series led by a likable cast that’s entertaining on their own.

Who says dating shows always need to have horniness and cheesiness to be entertaining? Not Love on the Spectrum. This show offers a refreshingly sincere and romantic take on the journey to find love. Featuring a primarily autistic cast, Love on the Spectrum—which began in Australia and now has a U.S. version—follows singles on different levels of the autism spectrum as they navigate love, friendships, and relationships while working with dating coaches to find the one. Unlike most dating shows, there isn’t pressure to perform for the cameras since it’s not staged, and everyone is just as authentic as they are entertaining.  Even though it centers around people on the spectrum, the show is relatable to anyone who has experienced the often difficult and long road to finding a romantic partner. It’s no wonder it got renewed for a third season.

The Ultimatum: Queer Love is the LGBTQIA+ version of The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On. Similar to its straight predecessor, The Ultimatum: Queer Love follows five lesbian and non-binary couples on their relationship journeys. With host JoAnna Garcia Swisher guiding the couples, the concept consists of one person in each couple issuing an ultimatum to their partner—who isn’t ready for marriage—to get married. The couples then break up and date the other contestants for a week before choosing a new partner with whom to enter a “trial marriage” for three weeks. By the end of those three weeks, the contestants return to their original partners and enter another three-week “trial marriage” with them before making their final decision to either leave engaged, break up forever, or start something new with someone else. The couples on this show are aged 24 to 42, reflecting that the timeline to get married is different for queer couples than for straight couples. The show also portrays relatable relationship issues that resonate with queer audiences at home while providing lots of drama and a restoration of faith in love.

In Indian Matchmaking, Mumbai’s premier matchmaker, Sima Taparia, uses her decades of experience, traditional methods, and sharp insights to help singles from around the world find love in the form of arranged marriages. Her clients are from a range of backgrounds, including the U.S., London, and New Delhi, with a variety of occupations, such as lawyers, teachers, and guidance counselors. Taparia uses old traditions to help these singles find love in the modern era and get past common dating roadblocks like overbearing mothers-in-law, stubborn aunties, and mama’s boys. With a likable cast consisting of participants, the show offers engaging and humanist portraits of couples forced together by societal expectations more than genuine love. Some arranged pairs don’t seem like a match at first, but surprisingly warm up to one another and find that they are each other’s perfect companion. What more could you want in a reality dating show?

Brace yourselves because this just might be the raunchiest and horniest dating show to ever exist on Netflix. Too Hot to Handle tricks a group of young, sexy singles with a preference for casual flings into going on the show by masquerading as an entirely different show in which they’ll get to party and sleep with whoever they want, whenever they want. But in reality…that is far from the truth. In the hopes of winning the $100,000 prize, the contestants must refrain from all sexual activity (including kissing and self-gratification) for their entire stay on a deserted island for a month. Throughout the process, a watchful AI cone called LANA deducts money from the prize fund if anyone breaks a single rule. The greater the offense, the more money deducted. LANA also creates challenges for the contestants to help them form real connections with one another or with themselves. Whoever forms the deepest connection or goes through the most transformative journey of self-discovery wins what’s left of the prize money. Though the concept of refraining from sex for one month might seem over-the-top, Too Hot to Handle makes for a very entertaining watch as the horny contestants constantly break the rules and lose prize money in the most ridiculous ways.

Perfect Match is essentially Netflix’s own version of ABC‘s Bachelor in Paradise. It brings contestants together in exotic locations like Panama or Mexico from Netflix’s most-watched reality shows such as Love Is Blind, Too Hot to Handle, The Mole, The Circle, and more. Contestants include fan-favorites such as Harry Jowsey and Francesca Farago from Season 1 of Too Hot to Handle and Jessica Vestal from Season 6 of Love Is Blind. Through a series of compatibility challenges, eliminations, and re-couplings, Nick Lachey hosts to give these familiar singles a second chance at finding love. To win the prize of a romantic vacation, the contestants must be in a match from the time they enter the villa until the finale, in which past and current contestants vote for who they believe to be the perfect match of the season. Perfect Match offers audiences binge-worthy, breezy fun, and laugh-out-loud moments with familiar faces they can root for.

Ranked at number one on our list is Love Is Blind. With a reputation for being an honest dating show that values personality over physicality, Love Is Blind brings together singles who are ready for marriage and want to be loved for who they are rather than what they look like. Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey host as the singles take turns dating each other in pods. With a wall in between them, the singles are invited to fall in love and get engaged sight unseen in 10 days. Once they get engaged, they go on a honeymoon to ideally form a physical connection just as strong as their emotional one.

After they return, the couples begin their lives in the real world for four weeks until they have to decide to get married or say “I don’t” at the altar in front of their friends and family. Not only is the show engaging, it’s also notably more successful in creating lasting couples compared to other dating shows. The most recent season may have been a mess—who can forget the Megan Fox lookalike drama?)—but the show also brought together many couples that are still together today, including fan-favorites Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton. Sometimes love really is blind.