Reviews of popular online dating websites...
With so many dating sites now available it can be difficult to know which one to choose - Here are some honest reviews written by people who have used them.
Before we start:
You'll find reviews of the dating website we recommend below, but first, here's some brief advice from our reviewers:
- Unless you're certain you like a site opt for the shortest subscription option first - better to spend £20.00 then £60.00 if you like a site than spending £60.00 and finding you don't.
- Always check the site's safety advise - all reputable sites have them and they are there for your protection.
- If you have friends who have used a particular site and recommends it then consider using that one.
- Be aware that most sites allow other people to view your profile and send winks even they have not paid a subscription, so don't be disheartened if you're winked but get no reply if you respond with a message.
Our reviews:
| On this page: Friends Reunited Dating Dating Direct Friend Finder Diamond Lounge Parship Speed Dater
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 Yes, you can find love on dating web sites! |
Value:
Price Guide: Around £19.00 for one month
This is our favourite. This site has been going for several years now and has plenty of active members and features.
- Plenty of members in all areas
- Instant chat facility
- E-card feature as well as the usual 'wink'
- Reasonably priced
- Contains a 'Daters Diary' area where you can see what other people are getting up to - a great read!
- Has a lot of members, mostly UK based.
We like this because it delivers what it promises - there is a good balance of ladies to men, and it has some nice feature like instant chat (This used to be 'flakey', but this has improved greatly in the last couple of years).
The messaging system is a delight to use - rather than having to look at each messages in turn like most sites you can view all the messages from someone your corresponding with in one window - really important so you can keep track of what you've discussed, which saves a lot of time (and embarrassment of repeating yourself) - other sites take note! The E-card facility is a nice addition - a bit like a cross between message and a wink, great for saying a quick hello, where you'll get a much better response than just winking.
- Plenty of members from all over the world
- Very attractive & responsive interface
This site has been going for a long time and has plenty of active members. The only reason we voted this site slightly lower than FRD is that there is no E-Card facility (it does offer some alternatives) and it's slightly more expensive. The website is very pleasant to browse and was the quickest of all to navigate.
If you are interested in contacting people in foreign countries this may be the site for you: There a thousands of members worldwide, and you'll probably find you get messages from all over the world. If you're only looking for dates in your local area that's fine - you can customise your search as much as you like and limit it to people in your local area if you wish.
We'll keep an eye on this one and if it adds new features it may make No. 1!
Value:
Price Guide: From £16.00 for one month
- Two Levels of subscription
- Base level subscription is the cheapest of the bunch
Site Review:
From our point of view this was the least favourite. It not optimised for the UK, as an example, measurements are in Metric - if you don't know what your height is in metres you're stumped before you even join! Distances to other members are also given in Kilometres.
This site has two levels of membership (the higher level is quite expensive at £25.00 for a single month) - the higher level only really gives you access to what you get at Friends reunited dating for their 'standard' monthly rate.
The only bonus we can see is that you can't send a wink to someone unless you subscribe, which should cut down on those annoying winks you get on other sites where the user can't do anything else because they haven't paid!
Value:
Price Guide: around £26.00 for one month
- For Professional people
- Very nice site design!
- Reasonably priced for facilities available
- Most forms of contact available (mail, mobile, chat etc.)
If you are a professional person this may be the one for you! Everyone must fill in a profile AND upload a photo to register, which makes it a more pleasant experience than many other sites if you've subscribed and don't like the idea of 'anonymous' users with no profile of their own and no photo looking at your profile. The are limited members in the UK, but as this is aimed at specific people so this is acceptable.
Considering the type of person this is aimed at it offers good value. If the photos are anything to go by the members on here are reasonably attractive and live up to the expectations of the site - if you are a higher earner it's well worth a visit!
Value:
Price Guide: around £35.00 for one month
- Very comprehensive questionnaire
- Matches you to your ideal partner
This is one of those sites which tries to match you to people who are a real match based on a very comprehensive set of questions. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to fill in the questionnaire and you are then shown a list of members who match your profile. This is great in principle, but it does mean that you don't see many other member in the way you would on other sites like, for instance, FRD, where you can view all other members whether they are a match or not.
Because of the way this system works it's not as popular as the other sites because you can't choose who you contact - the site chooses for you based on your profile. If you are looking for a long term relationship this is probably a very good idea and well worth a try - If you have 10 minutes to spare we would recommend becoming a basic member (which is free) just to fill in the application - the questions really get you thinking about why your previous relationships may not have worked.
Value:
Price Guide: Free, you pay per event, which is around the cost of one months subscription to other sites
- Meet people!
- Events all over the country
- Plenty of members
- Well established
As its name suggests, this is not your usual dating site, it is a site devoted to organising events and members pay to attend the event. If you to want to meet people as quickly as possible and are outgoing then this is the site for you. There is no registration cost, you just pay for an event if you want to go to one, and the prices are very reasonable. You can invite friends along to events as well, which is a good idea on your first date.
Overall this is a lot of fun - after an event you get to tick the people who you would like, either for friendship or dating, you are then given a list (hopefully!) of people suitable for friendship and those who have a mutual desire for dating - great!
As the cost of an event is about the same as a months membership with other sites if you attend one a month it works out about the same price.
We should also point out that this site also offers a more 'traditional' dating facility as well, we've not tested this - if anyone has please let us know and we'll consider adding a review.