Are free dating apps good for meeting women?
Don't be fooled by the term "free" when it comes to online dating. Free dating apps are good but have their limitations. Do they work? Yes, but I have issues with these so-called free dating apps.
My biggest issue with free apps is they aren't completely free. Sure you can create a bio and contact a few women, but many sites limit what you can do. They don't have hidden fees, but if you want to use these apps completely you must pay for full access.
There are plenty of free dating apps; Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, Plentyoffish, Coffee Meets Bagel, and the list goes on. If you're a member of any of these apps, you likely encounter things you aren't expecting which may irritate or frustrate you, or straight up make you angry.
Free dating apps are good for meeting women, but here are some issues I have with them.
Frustrations with free dating apps
My biggest frustration with free dating apps is they are not entirely free. You sign up expecting you can contact any woman on the site, but it's not always the case.
Here are some examples of so-called "free" dating apps. First, let's look at Hinge. You can start conversations with women on Hinge until you reach your limit. Yep, you don't have an unlimited amount of "likes" on Hinge and must pay to continuously contact women.
Hinge requires a paid membership to have unlimited likes.
Bumble has a free set up and allows you to swipe women, but to fully use Bumble you have to pay for a full membership. Do you want to see all the women who swiped right on you? You have to pay. Do you also want to extend matches by 24 hours? Bumble gives you 1 for free, but anything more you have to pay.
Bumble requires a paid membership to see who likes your or extend matches for 24 hours (They give you one daily extend for free).
Plentyoffish requires a paid membership to contact upgraded members. My problem is POF shows you these women in your matches with no indication on their profile that you must be an upgraded member to contact them.
So, you see an attractive woman and click on her profile and get this pop up:
POF requires a paid membership to contact upgraded female members.
This trick POF does drives me nuts; I'm seeing women in my search and matches who I cannot contact unless I have a paid membership. I understand why POF does this trick; to encourage you to sign up for their paid membership. POF should somehow indicate upgraded female members profiles with some indicator which lets you know you can't send a message unless you have a paid membership.
Another problem with POF is they send you messages showing you women who like your profile or add you as a favorite. I get a flood of messages like this to my email account:
POF sends you links to women who "favorite" or "want to meet you," but if you're not a paid member, you cannot see their profiles.
If you want to see who added you as a favorite, guess what? You must pay!
POF requires a paid membership to see which women added you as a favorite.
POF instantly shows a popup informing you that you can't contact an upgraded member, Badoo does something that's plain aggravating. The most frustrating thing about Badoo is allowing you to write a message to some women, but when you hit send you get this pop-up:
Pop-up you may see when sending a message to some women on Badoo.
I've basically wasted my time creating a message and get the pop up above. It drives me nuts. I put in the time to read a woman's profile and craft a great message but get this pop-up.
And then there's OkCupid. OkCupid informs you women "like" you, and sends a pop up like the one below telling you to join the "A-List" so you can see who likes you. Note how OkCupid encourages you because "You're a total catch!"
OkCupid encourages you to join their A-List to see which women like you.
The problem with OkCupid is if you want to see who "likes" you, the A-list requires a paid membership.
You must pay to see which women like you on OkCupid.
Tinder is another example of a "free" dating app, which isn't always free. The problem is Tinder limits how many women you swipe daily. Once you reach your "swipe limit," you get this pop-up, prompting you to sign up for Tinder's paid membership giving you unlimited "likes."
Unlimited swipes on Tinder require a paid membership.
You also get this if you want a "rewind swipe" on a woman you accidentally swiped left; meaning you can correct your mistake and swipe right on her profile.
Final Thoughts
Are free dating apps good? Absolutely. You can meet women on them, but all share the same limitation; to use their "full-service" you have to spend money. The costs vary and generally are in line with paid membership sites like Zoosk and Match.com.
Apps like Tinder and Bumble are good for meeting women, but I think paid dating sites are better. "Free" apps tend to attract low-effort users while on paid dating sites, the women are more invested in meeting someone because they are spending money on a membership. Nobody likes spending money and getting nothing back.
I delve extensively on paid versus free dating sites on this blog post, Why Paid Dating Sites Are Better Than Free Sites For Meeting Women.
Share your thoughts below. Are free dating apps good in your experiences?