Online dating, if you're looking for a female partner, is brutal. This is doubly true if you have female equipment down there, because 90% of the time, the only people who will approach you are guys and couples who are looking for their first threesome. (Because, ugh, of course that's how it goes.)

I ought to know. I was born female and am pansexual — and yes, I've tried online dating to find a girlfriend, too. I gave up because all I ever could find were creeps or ladies who never wanted to actually meet up. It is that bad out there.

That being said, if you want to give online dating a shot, you might as well try to do it on the most popular lesbian dating apps. By the numbers, these are the ones which girls who like girls tend to frequent the most.

Unlike others on this list, PoF is not a lesbian-only dating site. It's available for all genders. However, you have to pick if you like men or women. You cannot pick both, which means it's not bi/pan/poly-friendly. That being said, I've heard of men masquerading as women hoping that they'd end up getting a lesbian to date them.

Though creeps are an issue, Plenty of Fish is still one of the most popular lesbian dating sites on the net simply due to the sheer number of people on it, the easy location-based searching, and a pretty reliable matching algorithm.

If you have a Facebook, then your best bet is probably Tinder. This "swipe left/swipe right" app has gotten many people laid in its years, and surprisingly, it's one of the most popular lesbian dating apps on the market right now.

The good news is it's very bisexual-friendly and very lesbian-friendly. However, there's a big problem with Tinder. Whether the app means to or not, you will end up with male matches on your feed — regardless if you're even into men. This means dick pics and all the creep factors you could imagine.

The bad news for many ladies who find hot girls on Tinder is that most girls will not make the first move on this site because they don't want to look desperate. So, if you do check this one out, you might need to be the gal who makes the first move.

Her is rapidly growing as one of the most popular lesbian dating apps on the net, primarily because this is a dating app that really, truly gets girls. It's girls-only, so there are no men involved. It's also a very Facebook-like site that allows you to be as sexy as you want to be.

This dating app is pretty visual, even by most other dating app standards. You attract the ladies by preening on a newsfeed-style site. Girls link up, start dating girls, and if all goes well, you'll find a lesbian girlfriend soon enough.

On the downside, there's no blocking on this app — so harassment might happen.

Safety is definitely a concern with lesbians who want to date. After all, you never know who you'll meet via online dating. Hinge is a Tinder-like dating app that tries to make an effort to fix that by setting you up with friends of Facebook friends.

Hinge will only show you girls if you choose the girls-only option, and yes, it's kind of refreshing to know that you won't have to worry about ending up with a random creep. However, if you have a small circle of Facebook friends or an overly large circle of friends, this won't be of much use.

Even so, it's one of the most popular lesbian dating apps for girls who want to have a little familiarity in their dating... and one of the most popular for hetero, bi, and pan girls as well.

Bumble is one of the most popular lesbian dating apps out there, and it's also fairly large with women who are tired of guys always making the first move, getting aggressive, then being shocked that they can't get laid. Bumble requires women to make the first move — even if they aren't lesbians.

Obviously, this means that lesbians have no issue with guys creeping on them. That makes it lesbian- and bi-friendly. However, it doesn't really set itself apart from others on this list in any other way.

Conversation is still awkward and there's still a palpable vibe that you need to move fast with dating. Go figure.

This is a pretty popular dating app for all genders and sexual orientations, which is why we feel we have to include it among the most popular lesbian dating apps right now. However, just because it's popular doesn't mean that it's good.

If anything, this is one of the worst dating apps in terms of quality and matches. For lesbians and the general female population, the sheer number of hyper-aggressive creeps and stalkers are what make this app so appalling.

While they do have amenities that allow you to semi-hide from straight people, it's just not enough. An entire Tumblr movement called Enemies of OKCupid shows why this app is such a cesspool. Oh, and you'll find plenty of lesbians to avoid on there, too.

Though it's possible to potentially find love on this thing, it's basically a matter of "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter This Website" for many of us.