Online dating website reviews: Online dating - your views
Finding love online
If you're looking for love, our survey of online dating site users shows online dating is an effective way of meeting new people and finding dates.
Online dating success
More than half of all online dating site users we surveyed have been on a date with someone they met online since registering with an online dating site - and nearly a fifth have either married someone they met online or know someone who has.
One in six online dating survey respondents had a long-term relationship with someone they met through an online dating site. This is a significantly lower proportion than the one in four people who reported finding long term love online in our 2008 online dating survey.
Overall, around two fifths (38%) of online dating site users have either been in a long-term relationship with someone they met through an online dating site or know someone who has.
Your favourite online dating sites
Plentyoffish gained an above average customer score in our survey
Match and Dating Direct are the most commonly-used sites according to our survey, attracting 34% and 31% respectively of all those who'd used an online dating site in the last 12 months.
But high levels of users doesn't necessarily mean more satisfied customers. The most popular online dating service overall is gay dating site Fit Lads. It received a customer score of 59% and gained four star ratings in all of our survey categories except one.
The most popular general interest dating site is free online dating site Plentyoffish, which received a customer score of 57% and five stars in three of our survey categories - more categories than any other site.
At the other end of the spectrum, Person.com, Mate 1 and LoopyLove were ranked below average amongst online dating site users, with customer scores of less than 40%.
The online dating sites that yielded the most dates amongst users in our survey are Gaydar, Plentyoffish, Telegraph Kindred Spirits and Fit Lads, while those who have used Girlsdateforfree and Fit Lads are more likely to have had a long-term relationship with someone they met online.
Online dating satisfaction is low
Unfortunately, despite the popularity of online dating, users of online dating sites do not rate any online dating provider highly enough to warrant Which? Best Buy status.
The average Which? customer score for online dating sites was just 46%. Even the highest-scoring supplier – Fit Lads with 59% – was quite low compared to user satisfaction levels for other industries.
Take a look at our online dating ‘compare products’ page for a full breakdown of scores by online dating service provider for categories including ease of registering, value for money, success, features and number of potential dates.
Choosing an online dating site
Safety of personal data is considered to be the most important factor when using online dating sites – this is particularly important given that more than 70% of users think that lots of people who use online dating sites give false details.