“I typically recommend Match because I’ve found it gives you better quality,” says Jodi Manfredi, who writes online dating profiles professionally. Some experts argue that paid sites attract more serious users. Although our survey found that no dating site or app sweeps online daters off their feet in the satisfaction department, OkCupid is rated highest overall by respondents, and Grindr, a free app for gay men, is also near the top. Forty-eight percent said Match, a paid site, but PlentyOfFish (free) and eHarmony (paid) tied for second most popular, with 23 percent apiece.īut in terms of overall satisfaction, our survey found that free dating sites actually score a touch better than paid ones, probably because they're a better value. In the 2016 Consumer Reports Online Dating Survey, more than 9,600 people who had used an online dating service in the last two years were asked which one they had joined. If your goal is to get a date-or find a mate-are you better off with one type over the other?īoth kinds are popular, so you can’t go just by that. For every dating site or app that charges close to $40 per month, such as Match, eHarmony, or JDate, there are plenty of other popular ones like OkCupid or Tinder that are free. To pay or not to pay: That is the question.
