Free Dating Sites VS Paid Dating Sites, Which Is the Better Choice?

Free dating sites may be a good option when you first try out online dating so that you can look around. It helps you get an idea of the algorithms to match people. It also helps you figure out if this is something you want to try before investing money in to it.  There are many free dating sites out there. It may be a good start, but if you decide to look for something meaningful, you may want to rather use subscription service dating sites.  There are a number of reasons why paid for dating sites are better than free dating sites, especially if you are serious about dating or meeting someone.

Time spent on the site
One of the main differences that can be noted is that free sites tend to be full of advertising as your time viewing these is sold to advertising companies to keep the site afloat. These sites are designed to keep you viewing the adverts in order to maximize their income potential. This often means that the services are substandard. You are usually not able to access customer service if you encounter problems on free sites. There is usually minimal maintenance and old data is kept on the site for years. paid services do not need to rely on advertising to survive.

Available tools
The tools used for communication on the free websites are often basic and less effective than what you find on a paid service. Free services may offer basic texting or on-site mails. paid subscription services often offer video chat, email, calls and more. Due to the high cost of programming for various communication services, these are usually not available on free sites.

Search results
Search results on paid sites usually offer much more detailed choices so that you can define what you are looking for. This brings back the most relevant results and avoids you spending a lot of time scrolling through tons of profiles that do not suit your preferences. Free sites usually just base results on where you live, gender and in some cases age. On paid sites you can narrow things down to include age, religion, interests and more. On paid sites, the profiles are usually more up to date as well as people are paying for the subscription and usually ensure their profiles reflect who they currently are. Most paid sites also require profiles to include a profile picture and certain data are completed in order to be registered.

Site safety
Free sites generally allow you to sign up with no security checks and also do not guarantee safety on the site. This often results in scammers, bots, people who catfish (fraudulent profiles) and other undesirables.  While paid dating sites cannot guarantee safety either, less trolls and time-wasters would register on sites where they have to pay for the service. There is usually more support to ensure the removal of profiles of suspicious or abusive profiles. Many paid sites now also check identity via verification and not just rely on email verification.

Keeping your data confidential
Subscription sites usually have policies, firewalls and more in place to ensure that your confidential information is kept private. Your information is not generally sold for commercial purposes and the site is protected from hacking and leaks. Free sites do not usually have any of these sorts of protection in place, or only often very basic protection. They may also sell your data to advertisers to make extra funds from the website. Make sure you always check the privacy policies.

Response rates
As well as the profiles usually being better and less prone to be scammers, bots, trolls and other undesirables. The response rate on paid dating sites is usually much better.  People who are willing to pay for the service are generally looking for a meaningful relationship and a partner with an active attitude. This generally results in people responding to messages or expressions of interest a lot more actively. Studies done in this regard show that profiles on paid dating sites are 46% more active than those on free dating sites. The chance of actually meeting someone also increased by more than 37% as people on paid sites are there to meet . People on paid sites are less likely to waste your time.

In conclusion, if you are serious about meeting someone off a dating site and your time is precious, then it is worth your while to invest in a subscription to a paid dating site. Use free sites to get a feel for what online dating is all about, but ensure better safety, improved privacy and a better chance of a date from paid sites.