Is It Worth Paying for a Membership?

All but one of the dating sites we reviewed offer a free membership. Since the majority of dating sites are ‘for profit’ they charge for some of their services. Below are the advantages and disadvantages for both paid sites and free memberships, as well as the main differences between memberships that use credits vs those that are paid monthly.

Paid Sites vs Free Membershps:

Paid Sites

• You have access to all features of the site for the particular membership level that you signed up for.
• You can read other profiles.
• You can initiate contact with members although some sites don’t allow free members to read or respond to the messages.

Free Memberships:

• You can get an inside view of the site and see if it’s right for you before you purchase a membership.
• While you can post a profile, some sites don’t allow you to read other profiles.
• Many have restrictions on how free members can contact other members. Free members may not be able to read emails received, initiate contact, or use the chat rooms or instant messenger. Other sites allow free members to respond to messages and/or chat with other members who are online in the chat room or using instant messenger.

Pay Per Contact with Each Member (purchase credits) vs A Monthly Membership Fee

Credits

• You pay for the initial contact you make with members using the email message system or instant message.
• All members (usually) can reply to your email or your instant message (if online for the latter) for free.

Monthly Memberships

• You can usually contact as many people as you wish during the month – although there may be an upper limit to avoid abuse of the system. While you are free to contact whomever you wish, some sites don’t allow free members to respond or even read your message.
• Some sites allow all members (free and paid) to connect in the chat rooms (if available) or by instant message (if available) with other members who are online. The number of potential people online at any one time will vary greatly and is dependent on the number of members who use the site.

Check out our dating site reviews. We’ve done some of the research for you so you can quickly choose which dating site(s) you wish to join. Dating Site Reviews