Online Dating Services

There are TONS of dating and personals sites out there!

Dating / personals sites tend to fall into two main categories - what I call "All-in" sites which cater to all kinds of people - a nd "specialist" sites which are very specific and targeted - usually focused around either a sexual preference, location / nationality, or some other "niche" interest or group.

There's simply no way we could feature them all but we've made a comparison chart of some of the big ones. Have fun!

Screenshot / Link	Our Summary	Approx No. of members	Alexa Ranking (Dec 2008)	What's Free / What Costs?
match.com	"All-in" site - Aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers. Huge.	15 million	328	Free registration and very basic browsing. Monthly fees for full service.
adultfriendfinder.com	Massive site aimed at casual dating and "hookups". AFF is controversial - but part of the reason for this is because of its size. It has become so huge that, as with any other huge web site, there are people wanting to "game the system". Still, more options than pretty much any site out there - and they must be doing something right or they wouldn't be so immensely popular! Its immense popularity attests to the fundamental human truth that there's a lot of people out there who don't necessarily want commitment... not right now, anyway...	Over 31 million	48	Free registration and very basic browsing. Monthly fees for full service.
americansingles.com	As the name suggests, for people in the USA! Aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers. Claims that their goal is "to help you find real people for real relationships, romance, friendships and more."	"millions"	13,030	Free registration and very basic browsing. Monthly fees for full service.
date.com	Site for people who are "looking for friendships, love, romance and marriage. Aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers	millions	8040	Free registration and very basic browsing. Monthly fees for full service.
datehookup.com	"All-in" site - Aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers	?	5872	Free - basic profile must be created before you can browse.
eharmony.com	Aimed more towards LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers. eHarmony has a patented matching system which uses "scientifically-based predictors of long-term relationship success". Claims that an average of 236 members marry every day as a result of finding each other at the site!	?	1075	Free registration and very basic browsing. Monthly fees for full service.
fling.com	Adult-style site - aimed at casual dating. Claims to be "The hottest place to hook up." Haven't looked at this site recently but when I did - a while ago - it seemed to me to have a lot of fake profiles trying to get me to pay to look at naughty pictures on other sites. There are options for photo validation.	millions	336	Free registration, basic browsing and IM. Monthly fees for full service..
friendfinder.com	"All-in" site - Aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers. The "not-quite-so-casual" sister site to Adult Friend finder. There are a number of interconnected sites in the "friendfinder" family - each targeting a different user demographic.	Almost 2 million active	4032	Free registration and very basic browsing. Monthly fees to access full features.
mate1.com	"All-in" site - Massive, mainstream site aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers	over 15 million	3269	Free registration. Free profile reg. required to access browsing. Monthly fees to access full features.
okcupid.com	"All-in" site - Aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers. Claims to be "The Best Dating Site On Earth." When I viewed this site, in amongst the "above average" mug shots on the homepage, there was a picture of a very pretty girl with the tag line "I am a different kind of man than most." Whatever.	presumably millions?	1659	Another free site. Of course there are some cuties on the homepage - and of course you have to create a profile before you can start checking them out. Site features detailed questions / answers to help you find suitable matches.
perfectmatch.com	"All-in" site - Aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers	15 million	20,685	Free registration and very basic browsing. Monthly fees for full service.
plentyoffish.com	"All-in" site - Aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers. The mother-ship of free sites - this one appears to be remarkably free from fake profiles. Claims to create 800,000 relationships per year. Attracts people from all walks of life, and like match.com, has a large proportion of what I call "normal" people - not very exotic. Maybe you get what you pay for. One feature that is cool is that you can see who viewed you - it's fun to see who's been scoping you out. You can turn this off if you want though.	250,000-320,000 log in every day, they say	463	100% Free. Site has photos, profiles, forums and some basic questionnaire-based match features
singlesnet.com	"All-in" site - Aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers. Claims to be the "most visited online dating site" (according to Hitwise).	millions	752	Free registration and basic browsing. Limited time free trial, followed by monthly fees.
true.com	Aimed more at LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers. True prides themselves on their screening for felons and married people masquerading as single. Seems to encourage people who are taking the whole thing more seriously. Offers "scientific" compatibility testing.	"millions"	1382	Free registration and very basic browsing. Monthly fees for full service.
personals.yahoo.com	"All-in" site - Aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers. Absolutely huge and very "mainstream". Obviously, because the world and their dog has a yahoo account, this site doesn't necessarily filter for those who are making the most effort. At least with paid sites you get people who are more committed to the whole thing. So you may find yourself ploughing through loads of profiles - but there may be some cuties and diamonds in the rough.	gazillions	? (Yahoo is Alexa no.1 site)	Free.
passion.com	"All-in" site - Aimed at both casual dating and LTR (Long Term Relationship) seekers. Another one of the Friend Finder family. Does not approve of explicit ads.	millions	1134	Free registration with profile. Monthly fees.

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