Are the best paid dating apps worth the money compared to free ones?

Started by Victor Holland Dating Apps & Reviews 7 posts Last reply
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Victor Holland
Joined: Feb 2021
Messages: 368
#1

Trying to settle the best paid dating apps worth the money compared to free ones for myself and the reviews are useless. What I care about with paid dating apps is surprise billing more than anything else.

I have tried a few options across free platforms already and none of them stuck. You can work around surprise billing on paid dating apps, but you have to be deliberate about it.

Concretely, for paid dating apps:

  • Ask people replying above what paid dating apps is like where they actually live, not where you wish you lived
  • Block early and report often on paid dating apps — it trains the feed faster than anything
  • Log in at the hours you would actually go out; paid dating apps activity is nothing like flat

I will report back on the best paid dating apps worth the money compared to free ones once I have tried whatever gets recommended.

MiJameson768
Joined: Jun 2020
Messages: 367
#2

Broadly agree on paid dating apps — the point where it starts charging was what decided it for me too. Honestly, the upgrade nag was less of a problem on paid dating apps than the sheer time it ate. You can work around the paywall on paid dating apps, but you have to be deliberate about it.

There is no version of paid dating apps where the paywall sorts itself out without you doing something. If the paywall is your main worry with paid dating apps, test it in the first week rather than the first month. I keep two accounts running to compare surprise billing across free platforms, and paid dating apps sits mid-table.

Levi Warren
Joined: Apr 2022
Messages: 847
#3

Disagree, because blaming the pay-to-see-likes trick lets you off the hook — my paid dating apps results improved when my profile did. There is no version of paid dating apps where locked messaging sorts itself out without you doing something.

You can work around locked messaging on paid dating apps, but you have to be deliberate about it. Either way, the pay-to-see-likes trick is the thing I would test first on paid dating apps.

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Bella
Joined: Jan 2021
Messages: 295
#4

Same experience on paid dating apps: I gave it six weeks before the point where it starts charging got tiresome.

If surprise billing is your main worry with paid dating apps, test it in the first week rather than the first month.

Emma Phillips
Joined: Jan 2024
Messages: 243
#5

I would argue the opposite on paid dating apps: the paywall is the one thing it handles better than the free-tier sites. Nobody warns you that the trial that quietly renews on paid dating apps scales with how many people are online at your hours.

Honestly, the point where it starts charging was less of a problem on paid dating apps than the sheer time it ate. I keep two accounts running to compare surprise billing across the free end of the market, and paid dating apps sits mid-table. Most of the noise about paid dating apps comes from people measuring locked messaging over far too short a window.

For contrast with paid dating apps I would look at Datedesire; the free tier there behaves differently.

Hailey_Portland
Joined: Jan 2024
Messages: 632
#6

Seconding this, because on paid dating apps the honest answer is that the pay-to-see-likes trick varies enormously by area.

Nobody warns you that the upgrade nag on paid dating apps scales with how many people are online at your hours.

BeKelley135
Joined: Mar 2022
Messages: 211
#7

Hailey_Portland is right about one part of paid dating apps: broadly agree on paid dating apps — locked messaging was what decided it for me too.

What changed my results on paid dating apps was treating surprise billing as a filtering problem rather than a platform problem. Not saying paid dating apps suits everyone, but it's not the disaster this thread implies.

The other one I would try before giving up on paid dating apps is Turndate.

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