Most adults wish to have genuine companionship throughout their lives. Fortunately, dating sites make it easier to find a partner. Sites eliminate visiting bars, restaurants, clubs, or neighborhood parties. This review of the 5 best free dating sites talks about free trial sites when you're unsure if you will pay for services. Read the descriptions below and determine if they will match you with a person you desire at this point in your life.
Customer Service
- Match (paid) - Match facilitates more matches because you can get a free trial subscription and then decide whether to join after that to continue sending and receiving messages. You can talk to their support staff through chat or email. There is a phone number for billing issues.
- Tinder (paid/free) - This site is harder to get a hold of. You must wait for technical support personnel to respond after submitting an online form or sending a fax.
- POF (free) - This app is easy to join after you take a personality test. You must email to get help from their customer service staff and wait for them to answer for a while
- Flirt (paid) - This site has a site bot for support and a phone number for billing matters.
- Bumble (free) - This site only has a contact form for support. There is no phone number for billing issues.
*The winner is: Match - You get more types of support to fit your busy lifestyle.
User Behavior
- Match - You can get the opportunity to message people with an add-on feature. They can get messages from non-paid members. However, as a free member, there is no way to know who these members are until you click on each person's profile and attempt to send a message.
- Tinder - Swiping left or right is the only way to match. It is possible to rematch with someone because matches are based on your location.
- POF - Search based on many user demographics, including age, gender, zip code, smoking habits, etc.
- Flirt - Use the Like Gallery or the Online Now features to find users near you available for chats or email conversations. A paid user can also set detailed parameters for a search.
- Bumble - Like Tinder, you only match if someone also likes your photo. It is possible to match again with someone you unmatched from in the past.
*The winner is: Bumble has a more attractive design than the other apps and gives you a decent number of matches per day with your free membership, and if someone sends a message, you know they are definitely interested in you.
Value - Are Paid Dating Sites Worth the Money Compared to Free Sites?
- Match - This site has many local people profiles who signed up but never paid for the membership. Therefore, you can invest time in sending emails and get a low response rate.
- Tinder - At least you know that someone wants to chat if you liked each other's photos, but that doesn't mean you will meet. Many users have dozens of matches that they keep on their app without ever meeting face to face.
- POF - This site is popular for people who often chat on their computer, as they are always online. Once you get used to talking with the regulars, you are more likely to be interested in new faces, and that's where the site lacks.
- Flirt - This site has a simple design and screens profiles and pictures for fakes, so you're more likely to talk with a real person. But active user-base also means it might take others more time to turn their attention to you.
- Bumble– It free, of course, but on Bumble, only girls have the privilege to send the first message. If you're willing to wait, it might seem okay, but waiting can take a long time before someone notices you.
*The winner is: Tinder is the easiest site to message people on and see if they want to meet, and a paid version is not radically different from a free one but extends your reach significantly.
Is Free Really Free?
- Match - After a trial membership (usually 3 days), you need to select a paid plan or go away. That time is not always enough to decide.
- Tinder - Lots of uses just want to find text or sext buddies. There is a free version, but guys who pay have better success. Girls don't need to pay to find dates either way.
- POF - This "free" platform will suffice if women don't mind being bombarded by messages from scammers and creeps. To screen out the riff-raff and see who reads and replies and when they were last online, you pay.
- Flirt - It's free to join and look around, but subscribe to send messages. At least the deal is clear and understandable.
- Bumble - You get limited matches, but you can send messages in the free version.
*The winner is: Flirt's clear design and showing who is online, which means they're interested in a match.
As you see, each site has a set of advantages and disadvantages. But what's more important is that a seemingly "free" dating site can take a lot more of your time and money than a paid one in the long run.
