Which Dating Site?

Last update: April 2013

There are a large number of dating sites on the Internet, and it is difficult to decide which dating site or sites one must sign-up for to make the most of their online dating experience.

The following criteria apply when selecting a dating site:

• size (reach) of site-number of active members
• ease of use
• customer service and help
• search and screen capabilities

The most important consideration when selecting a dating site is its size: you want access to a large number of people. This ensures that you get the maximum value for your subscription fee, if any, and the time and effort spent in learning to use the site-you can contact a lot of people quickly and efficiently.

You should be realistic and not expect to find the love of your life or get "hooked up" right away after you sign-up for a dating site and start meeting new people-it will probably be least a few months before you get comfortable with meeting people online.

We have used our order flow and have access to industry data in coming up with these recommendations. Please note that a dating profile written by us can be used in any and all of these sites (paid sites and free sites).

USA

The paid sites winner in the US is Match.com -it has the largest base of users. Plentyoffish (pof.com), Tagged (tagged.com) and Badoo (badoo.com) are also good free sites with a large number of users.

Match.com-Free Trial

Match scores well on ease of use and customer service. It is well-designed, and there are a lot of "Help" buttons around to guide the user through. The screens and search capabilities (you can screen on age, physical attributes, distance from where you live, etc.) are excellent- you can come up with the list of potential candidates you want to communicate with easily and quickly.

UK:

Match.com(free trial) and  DatingDirect.com(free trial) are UK's most popular paid dating sites. Plentyoffish (pof.com), and Badoo (badoo.com) are also good free sites with a large number of users.

CANADA

Match.com is a large paid dating site. The free site Plentyoffish (pof.com) is also doing well.

Australia:  Rsvp.com, Aussiematchmaker and Lavalife are the largest paid dating sites in Australia.

New Zealand: Nzdating.com is the most popular paid site in NZ.

Ireland: Anotherfriend.com claims to be the largest paid dating site.

Europe: Meetic.com is a popular paid dating site in continental Europe. Badoo.com is a good free site for it's large number of users.

If you belong to a specific group based on religion, race, etc and would like to date only people belonging to that group, you have some nice options on the Internet. Sites like jdate.com (Jewish), christiancafe.com (Christians), asiafriendfinder.com (Asians) are examples. Open a trial account (often free) and see if you have a lot of people in your area using the website before signing up for a paid subscription.