Every person who decides to find a perfect match online faces two dilemmas:
- Which online dating site is it better to use
- Whether to use a free of charge or a paid service
Here, you are going to learn about the difference between free and paid online dating sites and why it is better to choose one rather than another.
Remember, there’s no such a thing as free lunch
If you think that you do not pay anything when you use free online dating sites or apps, you are making a massive assumption.
Sure, you don’t pay a penny for using free sites, apart from the connection to the network. However, you pay these sites with your free time. Usually, such sites have lots of advertisements on them, and your time is sold to the companies which advertise your product.
Directly speaking, free sites get money from advertisers for the time you spend on their platform.
By contrast, paid online dating sites are more specific and there you do pay but usually only for the services that you use and for the security they provide you with.
Difference #1. Variety of communication tools
Typically, free dating sites are limited in both functionality and services that they offer. The same is for communication tools. There, including popular apps like Tinder, you will find only texting and, perhaps, email available.
On the other hand, paid online dating sites offer more options for users. All the live chats, phone, and video calls do not exist just like that. They need programming behind them. And creating such tools costs money, so, apparently, you know what you are giving the money for.
Difference #2. Safety
Free dating sites are free and usually have no serious commitment to their users. At the same time, they give no guarantees that you won’t encounter a bot, scammer or a psychopath.
Paid dating sites neither can give 100% guarantees against that. However, they create special security policies, according to which customer support is obliged to eliminate any suspicious user from the site.
Also, lots of online dating sites with paid services make sure all the ladies, before they register on the site, go through a verification process. Their identities are checked, and they also pass an interview with dating experts who check out their intentions.
Even if you encounter any scammer on a paid dating site, its administration usually refunds you your money. However, each case is individual, so before you register, carefully read the site’s terms of use and security policies.
Difference #3. Confidentiality
Free dating sites might not promise you to protect your personal data from leaks and disclosure (remember, advertisers are usually involved in the case, and your info might be sold to them for commercial purposes) .
That’s not how it works on paid dating sites. There, you might be safeguarded from disclosure of your personal information to third parties and even form hacker attacks. But the last one, sure enough, is rare even for paid sites.
Difference #4. Quality of other members’ profiles
Paid dating sites normally demand their users to complete a questionnaire about their habits, interests in life and so on as well as a description of a perfect match. Also, some sites of this kind require users to upload exclusively high-quality photos.
Free sites cannot boast with any of this. Users’ profiles there are usually minimalistic, and their top-photo might be a bad-quality “restroom” selfie.
So, as you can see, there’s always a choice available for you. If you want to be sure about the high level of security and diversity of communication tools, go for paid sites.
