TL;DR: Yes, most pick up lines land. Across 217,234 votes on the 588 lines with at least 50 votes on pickup-lines.net, 72.3% were upvotes, and 91% of those lines earned more upvotes than downvotes. Cute lines score best (75.5% approval), mean lines are the only category people reject (41.6%).
People love to say pick up lines don't work. Our voters disagree. Since 2013, visitors have cast 231,838 votes on the 1,369 lines in our catalogue at the time of this analysis (September 2026), and the numbers paint a pretty clear picture of what people actually want to hear. Spoiler: it's not an insult dressed up as a joke.
Methodology
- Source: up- and downvotes cast on pickup-lines.net since 2013 (231,838 votes in total).
- Sample: only lines with at least 50 votes (588 of 1,369 lines, 217,234 votes), so a handful of early votes can't skew a result.
- Approval: upvotes ÷ total votes. For groups (categories, lengths, formats), all votes in the group are pooled.
- Caveat: votes measure whether readers like a line on screen, not whether it got anyone a date.
Do pick up lines work?
For most readers, yes: the average vote is a thumbs-up. 72.3% of all votes on qualifying lines were upvotes, and 534 of 588 lines stayed above the 50% mark.
The spread is narrower than you'd think. The median line sits at 67.6% approval, and only one line in the whole sample cracks 80%. So "works" usually means "gets a smile," not "causes fainting." That's fine. A smile is the whole job of an opener.
Which type of pick up line gets the most approval?
Cute lines win, with 75.5% approval and by far the most votes per line. Mean lines lose, and they're the only category where downvotes outnumber upvotes.
| Category | Lines (50+ votes) | Approval | Avg. votes per line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cute | 119 | 75.5% | 909 |
| Coronavirus (archive) | 30 | 74.5% | 493 |
| Cheesy & corny | 57 | 74.2% | 222 |
| Dirty | 121 | 70.6% | 180 |
| Funny | 180 | 67.1% | 282 |
| Nerdy | 26 | 64.6% | 211 |
| Bad | 24 | 64.5% | 86 |
| Tinder | 20 | 62.4% | 143 |
| Weird | 11 | 62.0% | 85 |
| Mean | 17 | 41.6% | 167 |
Three things stand out:
- Sweet beats edgy. Cute and cheesy lines both clear 74%. People forgive a groan-worthy pun as long as it's kind.
- Dirty does better than its reputation. 70.6% approval, right around the site average. Readers clearly enjoy them as jokes, which is not the same as saying a stranger at a bar wants to hear one.
- Mean fails hard. 41.6% is almost 31 points below the average. Insults framed as flirting just don't read as charming.
Does the length of a pick up line matter?
Yes. Very short lines score worst, and approval peaks between 70 and 150 characters, roughly one or two sentences with a setup and a punchline.
| Length (characters) | Lines | Approval |
|---|---|---|
| Under 40 | 63 | 59.8% |
| 40–69 | 345 | 71.3% |
| 70–99 | 149 | 75.0% |
| 100–149 | 26 | 75.0% |
| 150+ | 5 | 73.5% |
The jump from the shortest bucket to the next one is over 11 points. A line under 40 characters usually has no room for a twist, so it reads like a random compliment or a non sequitur. Give the joke a setup and it has something to pay off.
Which pick up line formats work best?
Lines with a "because" or "cause" punchline score highest at 74.2%. Classic "Are you... / Did you..." questions come in slightly below the average.
| Format | Lines | Approval |
|---|---|---|
| Contains a "because/cause" punchline | 140 | 74.2% |
| "If I..." conditional | 42 | 72.3% |
| Contains a question mark | 272 | 71.0% |
| "Are you... / Did you..." question | 114 | 70.4% |
The differences are small, a few points at most, so don't throw out your favorite question. But the pattern fits the length data: a clear setup plus an explicit payoff ("...because you're impossible to find") gives people the full joke in one go.
What are the 10 most upvoted pick up lines?
Eight of the top 10 are cute lines, and three are "Roses are red" poems. Every one of them scores above 76% approval.
The hide-and-seek line is in a league of its own: 15,286 votes, about 6.6% of every vote ever cast on the site, and the only line above 80% approval. Across all 19 "Roses are red" lines with 50+ votes, approval is 75.8%, so the old poem template is basically a cheat code. Want more in this style? Our romantic pick up lines lean the same way.
Which pick up lines are the most controversial?
The most divisive lines split voters almost exactly 50/50. Among lines with at least 150 votes, these five sit closest to an even split.
| Line | Up | Down | Approval |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excuse me, I just noticed you noticing me and I just wanted to give you notice that I noticed you too. | 80 | 81 | 49.7% |
| The letter 'X' scares me [Why?] Because I never want to be yours. | 107 | 105 | 50.5% |
| If you were a virus you would be CUTIE-19 | 229 | 222 | 50.8% |
| I might be ugly but I'll treat you right! | 132 | 126 | 51.2% |
| You are the square to my root. | 79 | 74 | 51.6% |
The common thread: these lines ask the listener to do a little work. A tongue-twister, a pun you have to spell out, a self-deprecating line that could read as sweet or as a red flag. Some people love that. The other half hit downvote.
At the bottom of the pile are the outright insults. "You don't need makeup... you need plastic surgery" collected 655 downvotes and just 24.6% approval. Voters are telling you something.
What does this mean for your next opener?
Pick something kind, give it a real setup and a clear payoff, and skip anything that punches down. That's the data version of "be charming."
- Start with cute pick up lines if you want the safest bet.
- Use cheesy pick up lines when you can deliver them with a grin that says "I know."
- Keep dirty pick up lines for people who already like you, and mean lines for never.
Votes can't tell you how to say it out loud. For that, read our guide on how to use pick up lines, and if you're texting, check out pick up lines for texting.
Where does this data come from?
Every number in this study comes from votes cast on Pickup-Lines.net since 2013. Readers rate each line with a thumbs up or down, no account needed, and we publish the tally on each line's own page. We didn't survey anyone or pick favorites. If you want to check a result yourself, open any line and look at its approval rate, or browse the funny and cute categories, where the top lines are sorted by those same votes.