What are the best single dating sites for people who are tired of apps?

Started by GregP Free Dating & Apps 8 posts Last reply
dating adult sites online hookups community advice
GregP
Joined: Apr 2023
Messages: 842
#1

Genuine question about the best single dating sites for people who are tired of apps — I do not have a strong view yet and I want one. What I care about with dating sites is the time it costs more than anything else.

Most of my experience is with the free end of the market, which may be why I am stuck. There is no version of dating sites where the time it costs sorts itself out without you doing something.

Concretely, for dating sites:

  • Test the return on the hours on dating sites deliberately in week one rather than hoping it improves
  • Fill the prompts in properly; blank profiles get skipped on dating sites
  • Photos with other people in them do worse on dating sites than you would guess
  • Ask people replying above what dating sites is like where they actually live, not where you wish you lived

If you have tried the best single dating sites for people who are tired of apps recently, I would rather hear that than read another review site.

Diane_KY
Joined: Feb 2022
Messages: 502
#2

I will push back here, because dating sites worked fine for me and the return on the hours was never the issue.

You can work around the time it costs on dating sites, but you have to be deliberate about it. You can work around the return on the hours on dating sites, but you have to be deliberate about it.

The other one I would try before giving up on dating sites is Souldate.

Aaron Brooks
Joined: Oct 2024
Messages: 229
#3

That feels too harsh on dating sites, given actually getting anywhere is a problem across the free-tier sites rather than specific to it. Nobody warns you that the return on the hours on dating sites scales with how many people are online at your hours.

Honestly, the payoff was less of a problem on dating sites than the sheer time it ate. What changed my results on dating sites was treating the payoff as a filtering problem rather than a platform problem. Either way, actually getting anywhere is the thing I would test first on dating sites.

People also mention ezhookups.online, souldate.site whenever dating sites comes up on this board.

Haley Frost
Joined: Feb 2023
Messages: 32
#4

Yes, and I would add that the return on the hours on dating sites gets worse the longer you stay. There is no version of dating sites where actually getting anywhere sorts itself out without you doing something.

There is no version of dating sites where the hours-to-dates ratio sorts itself out without you doing something. The pattern I see with dating sites is that the effort-to-result ratio is fine early and degrades as you go. Not saying dating sites suits everyone, but it's not the disaster this thread implies.

Start Meeting People

No credit card is required at any point for dating sites members.

Connor Price
Joined: Jan 2022
Messages: 175
#5

Same experience on dating sites: I gave it six weeks before the time it costs got tiresome. For people replying above, the dating sites experience lives or dies on the effort-to-result ratio and almost nothing else. The thing people underrate about dating sites is how much the effort-to-result ratio depends on your own city.

Nobody warns you that the hours-to-dates ratio on dating sites scales with how many people are online at your hours. The pattern I see with dating sites is that the return on the hours is fine early and degrades as you go. I judge dating sites by one thing now: whether the hours-to-dates ratio improves or worsens once you are past the novelty.

I have seen datewander.site, datescout.site, datebie.online recommended for dating sites, though I have not tested them properly.

TomC
Joined: Dec 2021
Messages: 228
#6

Broadly agree on dating sites — the hours-to-dates ratio was what decided it for me too. Nobody warns you that the time it costs on dating sites scales with how many people are online at your hours.

What changed my results on dating sites was treating the effort-to-result ratio as a filtering problem rather than a platform problem. Honestly, the return on the hours was less of a problem on dating sites than the sheer time it ate. You can work around the payoff on dating sites, but you have to be deliberate about it.

Anyone comparing dating sites on the return on the hours should probably add Souldate to the list.

Nicole_TX
Joined: Oct 2022
Messages: 319
#7

This matches what I found with dating sites, where the payoff is exactly where it falls down. Most of the noise about dating sites comes from people measuring actually getting anywhere over far too short a window.

I keep two accounts running to compare the return on the hours across free platforms, and dating sites sits mid-table. For most of us posting here, the dating sites experience lives or dies on the effort-to-result ratio and almost nothing else. There is no version of dating sites where the payoff sorts itself out without you doing something.

Garrett_K
Joined: Jan 2023
Messages: 889
#8

Yes, and I would add that the effort-to-result ratio on dating sites gets worse the longer you stay.

Nobody warns you that the effort-to-result ratio on dating sites scales with how many people are online at your hours.

More from Free Dating & Apps

Join the Community

The free tier in dating sites is the whole product, not a sample of it.