Online dating is a fun and easy way to meet new people. Maybe you have always been interested in trying it out. Or after days, weeks, months, or even years of heckling from your friends, you are ready to see what the hype is all about.
After doing your research on the technology blog and convincing yourself you are finally ready to try, you need to answer one question. Are you willing to pay for it or not?
Basically, online dating services either come as free services or paid premium packages. Each has its fair share of pros and cons. Below is a comparison of the two options regarding how things work, the benefits and the risks. That way, you will have all the information you need to make a sound decision.
Free online dating
When it comes to online dating, free services are as basic and easy as it gets. It is all about signing up, setting up your profile and beginning your search.
Signing up
Signing up is very easy on free dating sites. All you have to do is pick a username, fill in a few identification details, and you are good to go.
Some sites might require that you link your online dating account to other social media accounts. This acts as a quicker alternative to tedious verification for the service. It is also as a way to allow other subscribers to learn more about you if they are interested.
Your profile
Setting up your profile on these sites is also free. In this case, the two most common requirements are photographs and a description of yourself.
This is the part where you literally get to market yourself. You could put cute pictures of yourself and let people know about your love for dogs. Or you could take the path less traveled and post funny pictures to show how much humor matters to you.
Viewing other profiles
With free dating services, you get to view profiles of other singles at no charge. This allows you to browse for as long as you wish until you find someone that you are truly interested in.
Communication
Finally, the free dating services also allow you to reach out to people you are interested in and vice versa a no cost. It could be via text, email or even video chats.
For most people who actually find an interesting match, there is a tendency to take the conversation offline. It could be an actual date or phone conversations allowing you to take the relationship to the next level. If you are lucky enough to find a good match here, then this might just be your fate.
Pros
- Signing up is easy and fast as there is no verification step.
2. They have lots of subscribers which increases the pool you get to choose from.
3. You get to view as many profiles as you wish.
4. It is obviously the cheaper option and is therefore ideal if you simply don’t have that extra cash.
5. You do not have to risk anything financially in the pursuit of love just in case it doesn’t work out.
6. It is a good place to start if you are not ready for serious commitment.
7. It could actually work out for you allowing you to find the perfect match for an online dating success story.
Cons
- The lack of proper account verification could expose you to scammers and catfish accounts.
2. Free sites or free packages from semi-premium sites offer you very limited services. In some cases, they even limit the number of profiles you can view for free.
3. Not everyone on free services is looking for serious relationship. So if you are looking for an actual connection with a long-term commitment, you might get disappointed.
Premium online dating
Premium online dating services refer to online dating where you have to pay to get certain services. In some cases, you pay to get all the services available without exception. It is common with niche-based dating sites including international dating services as well as age gap dating sites.
There are also several general dating sites that offer both premium and free packages. In this case, you have to pay to get special benefits including unlimited access to the site’s services. Below is a little more information on how they generally work.
Signing up and verification
In most cases, premium services include a special verification stage during the signup process. This is meant to ensure that you and other subscribers are exactly who you claim to be. It is common in niche-based websites as a way to ensure that everyone gets exactly what they are looking for.
Professional tests and compatibility matching
This is common with premium dating services that find the match for you. Talk about saving you the trouble!
In this case, you pay to have professionals examine your profile and answers to personality tests to find you the perfect match.
Viewing profiles
In some cases, the website or app allows you to view the profiles and make the decision for yourself. Here, paying allows you full access to as many profiles as you wish without limitation. This is common with general services that have both free and premium packages.
Pros
- It facilitates faster and more accurate matching, therefore, increasing your chances of success.
2. It is more secure as verification helps eliminate scammers and fake accounts.
3. It allows unlimited access to quality services on the dating websites.
Cons
- It can be expensive with payments for many different services.
2. It has fewer subscribers for you to choose from.
Final verdict: Free or premium dating – which should you go for?
It all boils down to your priorities:
If you want only to choose from a pool of serious singles interested in long-term relationships, then premium dating sites are the way to go. they work with CRM.
If, on the other hand, you are just dipping your toes in the water to see what is out there, then you might want to hold on to your dollars a little while longer.
Whatever you decide, it is very important to understand that you can get success or failure from either option. The only difference is that the premium dating sites get you faster results whereas free sites are all about luck and patience. Read Saas blogs for amazing articles.
