I looked into online dating. Here’s what I found

Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 12:56 pm

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So i looked into online dating today (5/11/2020). You might be asking why? It was sort of my homework for this week. My therapist suggested it. Boy, let me tell you I’m not missing much as it seems. You can read a bit more about my mental health here. You can also see the video post as well.

Anyway now that i got that all out of the way let me share what i found.

The Search

I did a general Google search for dating sites. Of course it brought up the most popular ones. I narrowed it down to ones that i could use for free or at a low cost. So that was narrowed down a bit further. I took it from there. I also opted to search for reviews as well.

The sites I viewed

I viewed the typical ones that are popular these days. Coffee meets Begel, OKCupid, Plenty of Fish (POF), and Zoosk. These either offered what seemed to be free or low-cost memberships. Of course, this may not always be the case. I’ll get into that later.

Coffee Meets Bagel

From what I could tell from the website and doing my online search this site/app works best if you live in a large city such a L.A.

The site has a decent interface in terms of info for a possible new user yet they don’t have a clear pricing plan or a way to browse and example of the app’s interface. The app is in the Apple app store and Google play.

I was sort of surprised by the lack of info the page has. It gives you a basic and some what generic (in my opinion) overview of what they do. They also have a join free button. When you click this it takes you to the next page asking if you’d like to join using Facebook.

So for me this was a bit of a turn off. I’d rather have some info before just signing up blind for a site. They do have a help section but again nothing out of the ordinary.

In terms of pricing, they have something named beans. I guess they are in-app purchases you can make for certain features. Again I’m not 100% clear on how this works. The price list ranges from $1.99 USD to around $25 USD. You can read more about this via the Apple store app page

I can say this much I had a ton of reading about the cons of this site/app. As with any dating site, it looks like there are scammers, catfishers an the like. I found three sites that had some great info. I”ll share the links below.

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/coffeemeetsbagel.com

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/coffeemeetsbagel.com

OkCupid

So OkCupid was similar to Coffee meets Bagel because the website is very basic and expects you to sign up with no real info in terms of extras or upgrade pricing. They do have a help section that details certain features but when you click on the link the page doesn’t load I had an error message.

Just as with Coffee meets Bagel OkCupid is in the app store and google play. The Google Play page does mention ads and in-app purchases but doesn’t offer a price list. However, the app store page does list that packages range from $10 USD for one month to $30 USD for six months. I don’t know when the last time this information was updated so prices may vary.

As with the previous post many users found it to be a hit or miss dating app.

Here’s some links i came across you may want to check into.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/dating_services/okcupidcom.html?#sort=recent&filter=none

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.okcupid.com

Plenty of Fish (POF)

I remember Plenty of Fish from years ago. I knew someone who used it and she found a bunch of guys who weren’t worth the effort in my opinion. Some were just too needy or had past relationship issues. Some just wanted to hookup. I never understood any of that but hey if that works for you good luck with that.

POF is free to join and free in general but they do have upgrade options. The site was pretty plain once again. It directed you to join or login if you’re currently using the site. It also had the standard quick snippet info of what most users want to know that, of course, directs to join.

POF is part of the Match.com family as is OkCupid and a few others. I didn’t know this until i just checked the Google Play app page. The app store page has pricing for upgrade plans.

The pricing is from $39 USD for 3 months to $90 USD for 12 months. The 6-month plan is $60 USD. Of course, there is always the free plan. I don’t know how recent the pricing is or if you will need to upgrade to access select in-app or site features.

I did notice that their site a list of most major US cities. You can’t really view much because they want you to join the site.

Again as mentioned before I’ve heard pros and cons about the site. But here’s a few links that might make for some interesting reading.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/dating_services/pof.html

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/pof.com

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/pof.com

Zoosk

zoosk was the last site I looked at. i remember the silly ads they had a few years back with the talking heart. Again like the past sites i visited this one was pretty plain. Just basically had a join now section. Expecting you to join the site unseen. I found out via the app store they do have something called Zoosk coins.

Zoosk coin purchases can be used by free and paying members. They range from 50 coins for $5 to 750 for $50 USD. You can see more about the zooks coins via their info page.

Overall like POF the site is free but you can upgrade for more features and probably have more people see your profile.

Here’s a few links that I found that might be worth reading.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/dating_services/zoosk.html

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/zoosk.com

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.zoosk.com

Are dating sites worth the money?

Since I didn’t sign up for anyone I would say that will be up to you. I don’t think i’ll be using any of these sites anytime soon.

But again you can do your own research and see which may work for you and your budget.

What I learned

I learned that most of these sites basically hope you’ll join thanks to word of mouth or at suggestions of friends. None of them seemed to have any real clear info about upgrade options or payment info. Okay I admit maybe they did but I wasn’t going to fill out a bunch of forms just to find out.

Another things I learned is that people sure are judgemental. Granted that’s life but some of the site info i read people really went off the deep end. I saw one guy rant about how all the woman who used one of the sites were all old and fat. I thought gee I wonder what this person looks like.

As with any website there seems to be the fair share of scammers and catfishers. Others claim that some sites may recycle accounts that have been closed. So I know this much if you plan to join any dating site just do your homework first.

Like I’ve shared before I get enough scammers via social media I don’t need to deal with them other places too. It was a fun few hours. I think I enjoyed reading more of the site reviews because people share honest encounters or bad experiences that may not be known to everyone.

If you decide to use a dating site or app just be cautions and look for the red flags such as people asking for money or wanting to share What’s App numbers or other types of info like that.

At this point I think I’ll stick with things the way they are. I’m not saying people haven’t found love via dating sites and apps but I just don’t think they are a fit for me.