Has anyone tried an extreme dating site?

Started by Mackenzie Bell 11 Jan 2024 Dating & Hookups Community
Mackenzie Bell
Mackenzie Bell avatar
Joined: 2017
Posts: 3016
#1

Genuinely curious what people's experience has been with this. I've been lurking a lot of these conversations and there's a lot of conflicting information out there. Personal experience is worth more than any review site because those are almost all paid placements anyway.

I've tried a handful of options with mixed results. Some have decent communities, others feel completely hollow—either fake profiles, bots, or just inactive accounts that never respond. The free options especially tend to have this problem.

Drop your actual experience below. What's working, what's a waste of time, and are there any hidden gems people aren't talking about?

Caleb
Caleb avatar
Joined: 2023
Posts: 1768
#2

The mobile experience is such a dealbreaker for me now. If it doesn't work well on phone I'm out immediately.

Also worth noting: luvdate.site.

AnnaK
AnnaK avatar
Joined: 2018
Posts: 3050
#3

Okay, going to actually put effort into answering this one because it comes up all the time and the answers are usually unhelpful.

  • Read the billing terms before any trial signup
  • Use a VoIP number for initial contact, not your real phone
  • Reverse image search every profile photo you're serious about
  • Video chat before committing to any in-person meet
  • Public meetup first, always—no exceptions for first encounters

Take the above as a starting point, not the final word. Your mileage may vary significantly.

Leah
Leah avatar
Joined: 2019
Posts: 2585
#4

Same question here. Been burned too many times by fake profiles and paywalls that show up after you've already invested time setting up a profile.

AustR
AustR avatar
Joined: 2018
Posts: 25
#5

I'll give you the honest breakdown since there's a lot of marketing noise around this topic:

  • Read the billing terms before any trial signup
  • Use a VoIP number for initial contact, not your real phone
  • Reverse image search every profile photo you're serious about
  • Video chat before committing to any in-person meet
  • Public meetup first, always—no exceptions for first encounters

That's the honest picture as I see it. Things shift but the fundamentals stay pretty consistent.

Brian King
Brian King avatar
Joined: 2023
Posts: 1142
#6

Appreciate the thread. Bookmarking this for later when I have time to go through everything properly.

Robert
Robert avatar
Joined: 2020
Posts: 2941
#7

Long-time lurker here but this one I actually have useful things to say about.

The gender ratio problem is real on most platforms. Apps that have done something creative about it tend to have better communities overall.

Take it or leave it, but those are the platforms that have actually worked for me.

ScottG
ScottG avatar
Joined: 2019
Posts: 3145
#8

Let me break down what I've learned the hard way:

Profile quality matters more than most people think. A well-written bio with specific details about what you're looking for does better than a generic one even with worse photos.

Happy to answer questions if anyone wants more detail on any of these.

Zach
Zach avatar
Joined: 2019
Posts: 3164
#9

Speaking from experience on this one:

The gender ratio problem is real on most platforms. Apps that have done something creative about it tend to have better communities overall.

A few others worth knowing about if you haven't come across them yet: flamedate.online. Each has a different strength so it's worth checking which fits your situation.

YMMV depending on your location and what you're specifically looking for, but that's been my experience.

Sophie Ross
Sophie Ross avatar
Joined: 2020
Posts: 1460
#10

Long-time lurker here but this one I actually have useful things to say about.

The gender ratio problem is real on most platforms. Apps that have done something creative about it tend to have better communities overall.

One thing worth mentioning is Datewander—it has a different approach to matching that I think deserves more attention. The interface is cleaner than most and it doesn't bury everything behind a hard paywall immediately.

That's my take anyway—curious if others have had different results.

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