More and more people are finding love online, but some still prefer the in-person meet. Whether you’ve been online dating for years or you’re virtual romance averse, there are alternatives to online dating. As long as you have an open mind (and heart) you can be a successful dater without feeling the apps. Here’s how:

• Alternative Singles Dating Services
• Singles Free Dating
• Alternative Singles Dating Sites

Free dating sites are useful when you want to begin a relationship, but don’t want to invest time in a relationship. To use a free dating site all you have to do is sign up and provide basic information. The site will display an available list of matches that meet your requirements. You may be surprised at the people you find. Set-apart Online Dating Alternative Made for singles who call on the name of Yah who are searching for their soul-mate. This is not a dating website or a website for 'hooking up'. Only those serious about marriage should join. Conscious Dating Network (CDN) is the oldest, largest, exclusively 'Spiritual/Conscious' and 'Green/Eco-Friendly' network of online dating sites with almost 20 years experience. Many of our sites are marketed by us, CDN, and by allowing third parties to market 'Privately Labeled Sites' it leverages our marketing efforts and attracts more.

Professional Matchmakers
What was once a luxury service for wealthy men, professional matchmaking services have grown with the times, catering their services to both men and women. A matchmaker’s core job is to find a suitable match for their client. They do this by matching their clients of similar romantic desires, values, goals, religious background, dating history with others in the matchmaker’s portfolio. Once the matchmaker finds a suitable match for their client, they set up a meeting. More often than not, clients go into the first date without having seen a photo of the other person. According to a survey by the Matchmaking Institute, only a third of professionals give clients photographic sneak peeks of their date. While professional matchmakers can be costly, you get more than the professional connection. Matchmakers typically guide clients through the dating process and offer feedback afterwards.

Speed Dating
It may sound crazy and ineffective, but speed dating events offer singletons another avenue to meet potential dates for a (slightly) longer format. Speed dating is, as it sounds, a large group of singles going on quickfire dates in a rotating musical chairs style event. Typically, the women stay seated and the men move from table to table when the timer is up. Singles get a short amount of time, usually a minute or two, to talk, introduce themselves, and see if there’s a connection. If there is, the two parties can exchange contact info and set up a normal, second date. You meet upwards of 15 people in one event, which can be a good primer for something more, but often it’s nothing more than a meeting. At least, you don’t have to worry about who pays.

The Right Place
Go where the singles hang out. Be creative. Sports bars are good for, well, the sportier, among us. Concerts and galleries are good for the pop culture enthusiasts. Timing and approach are key. Don’t go interrupting someone who’s in the middle of an intense workout, but maybe you can catch them at the smoothie bar on their way out. You can meet people anywhere. Read the body language and say hello. Make your own meet-cute.

Friends of Friends
Nobody knows you better than your pals, so ask for a helping hand (or a few). Ask them to match you with one of their friends. They know who’s single and they know the gossip. Have them flash around your social media profiles and see who’s interested. Chances are they know at least one potential match. Everybody loves to play matchmaker, and your friends want to help you. Having someone in your corner can definitely tip the scales in your favor.

Facebook Events
You know those emails that flood your inbox inviting you to this or that? Respond YES to every one. You never know who you’ll meet. If you’re not dating online, you have to show up in more places physically. Parties and events are great places to meet people because it forces you to be present with new people when your friend group feels like a deadend for potential dates. Any time you’re putting yourself out there, you’re increasing your chances of finding someone. So get out and mingle!

We live in an online world, but that doesn’t mean your love life has to. If you’re looking for something new but are committed to offline love, go find it. Your true love is waiting.

Subscribe to our newsletter

By clicking Submit you agree to Zoosk’s terms of use and privacy policy.

In case you missed it, your happy days of having casual sex with super hot dates over Craigslist Personals are over. Unfortunately, they are no more, as they’ve decided to call it quits. Many of their users are now asking themselves what to do now that their favorite service is not around anymore.

This service was around for quite a while and many users had numerous great experiences because of it. Now, all these users will have to find some alternatives to get their kink on. Well, it’s good to know that there are plenty of alternatives on offer. We’re going to go over what you should do now once the Craigslist Personals are out of the game.

People loved this service because they felt safe to do what they wanted the most, while anonymity was allowed and, in fact, guaranteed. Sure there are plenty of other dating sites that offer pretty much the same services, but no one can validate that they are good and will give you what you need.

We know how much you miss your favorite dating site already, so with that in mind, we made a list of potential replacement sites that might be up your alley.

5 Best Alternative Dating Sites for Adults

We live in a world where everything is done over the Internet. That rule goes for dating as well. With the advent of Tinder, we saw a literal explosion of dating sites offering such a great variety of services that the average person has a hard time deciding what to go for.

Well, let’s start with the most basic thing. No matter if you are a man or a woman, you want a partner for casual sex, maybe even BDSM or threesome fun. Whatever the case may be, you will be glad to know that there are plenty of good hookup sites that will give you what you want.

1. AdultFriendFinder

AdultFriendFinder would be a good replacement if you want to have some adult fun, like a kinky threesome or even just a quick fling. It’s one of the most popular dating networks out there and you can commonly see advertising for it across the web.

Being that AdultFriendFinder has been around since 1996 and hasn’t gone under at any point really speaks about the quality of work the company does.

They have long experience with helping people hook-up in the online environment – probably the longest out of any online dating site. In 2007, they were included in the list of top 100 most popular websites in the US.

If you are looking for a dating website to use in the comfort of your home, then AFF is one of the top options for you.

2. AshleyMadison

If you are worried about discretion when using dating websites you might want to check out AshleyMadison. Whatever your reasons to want improved discretion, they claim that they can keep your information safe.

First of all, they recommend that you use a separate email address to create your account to ensure complete privacy.

This means that at no point in your interaction with the website are you asked to connect your Facebook, Instagram or any other public social media profile in order to gain access to website features.

Sharing your photos can also be a privacy issue in some cases, so they’ve introduced an option to blur or mask your photos and only make them accessible to those users you grant access to.

Another interesting feature is their quick reply feature. We all know that most initial interaction on dating sites (and on social media for that matter) starts with likes, faves, and similar quick interactions.

You can use quick reply to let users you like know that you would like to engage in more open communication. This way, you can filter out those you don’t like and encourage the ones that you do like to more direct contact.

3. BDSM.com

While we couldn’t really say that there is still a stigma when it comes to BDSM, we also wouldn’t really claim that it’s completely out in the open – so to speak. BDSM is kept in that moral gray area in most people’s minds and they are really not sure what to do with it.

BDSM.com is a very specifically oriented website that helps people with a taste for BDSM find like-minded partners. During your registration, you can set your gender and interest to be paired up with people accordingly.

If you are searching for a particular kink there are categorized groups on BDSM.com that are focused on specific fetishes. A kinky little website to explore your sexual freedom.

4. OutPersonals

This is another website primarily focused on networking homosexual guys. OutPersonals.com has an international community with around 500,000 members. By filling out your profile you get customized matches based on your set preferences. The community is very active and there are around 1,000 new photos every week.

One of the more interesting and unique features of this website is the built-in blog posting option and advice lines users may opt to share. Even if this is something that you might not be interested in doing, you can still benefit from reading other people’s blogs and advice.

This can help you adapt to the community better and get through that initial period of visiting a new platform with more ease.

5. Seeking

Finally, Seeking is for rich and successful people who are into hooking up for beneficial relationships. Things are really straightforward on Seeking – girls who want financially stable guys, guys who want girls who won’t play games with them.

We understand that not anyone will be into this kind of arrangement, but if you are, there is no reason for you not to use Seeking, as it is a well-established and legitimate website catering to people with specific dating needs.

As you can see, the web is far from deprived of options now that Craigslist Personals are gone. There are dating sites to help you find a relationship specifically tailored for you. When it comes to dating, it really all revolves around people and if you do enough research and experiment enough, you are bound to find something that suits you.

5 Best Alternative Hookup Apps to Craigslist Personals

Mobile apps for dating have a few advantages. First of all, if you want to keep a conversation going, you’ll have to read and reply to messages throughout the day. Doing this via mobile is much easier than logging on to a website from a PC or a laptop.

Furthermore, you can remain up-to-date with new people online and have a better chance of catching a particular person of interest while they are online.

The first one that comes to mind would be Yumi. When you think of a one night stand, you should think of Yumi.

1. Yumi

Yumi is the place where you can find a girl or a guy to have sex with and enjoy any sort of adventurous sexual activity that can cross your mind. It’s an instant hookup thing – you choose 1 of 4 default “Cards” on your screen, and click it to flip it over. There’s a 50% chance of finding your next casual encounter with each round.

From there, everything depends on what you want.

Almost all experiences are positive and success is guaranteed. The options are simply endless and literally any sexual fantasy you ever had might come true if you decide to give Yumi a try.

Finding dates online is the preferred way for young people to get together these days, but it’s a great option for more mature folks as well.

Yumi is a great place for those who want to experiment with their sexuality simply because this hookup site guarantees your anonymity and safety, just like Craigslist Personals used to do.

All it takes to start finding your potential matches is to log in, upload a picture of you and you are good to go. No personal data, no telephone number or email or Facebook account, nothing, just a picture and your gender identity, and you are free to give in and find your heart’s desire.

According to the users, Yumi is truly the best replacement for Craigslist Personals.

2. Happn

One of the more popular alternative choices that come to mind would be Happn. The first thing you see when you visit this site is the message saying that you can get a chance to find and meet people that you already know or have seen somewhere before.

They say that it’s the best online place for finding the people you met once or you saw at a party but never got the chance to actually meet them.

In truth, Happn is more for romantic souls than it is for those who are into casual sex. Most of these hookup apps just list people who are near your current location, but Happn offers a bit more than just that simple feature to make things bit more interesting. Happn lists people who actually crossed your path during the day.

So, if you saw a girl or a guy that you really like, there is a great chance to meet them via Happn. It’s crazy and exciting at the same time. The interesting passerby romantic fantasy is a very appealing one and, in most cases, it goes by unfulfilled, but Happn may actually help you turn those chance encounters into, well, something tangible.

You should be aware that most of us tend to build up these “perfect strangers” in our minds and you should probably attempt to keep an open mind when you engage with your passerby crush.

3. Grindr

If you are into finding men who are queer, trans, bi or gay, a perfect social networking app for it would be Grindr. Find your matching type, discover new things together, explore your sexuality and simply enjoy the experience.

Dating can be quite difficult for men who are searching for partners who’s sexuality isn’t something you can encounter commonly. This is especially true in situations where people live in smaller towns and don’t have access to a large and varied dating scene.

Due to this, the people at Grindr decided to bridge this gap and help people with a bit more exotic sexual preferences. Another big issue could be safety and privacy, as people with different sexual orientations may be under threat in some environments and this app can help them get in touch with each-other without facing any risks involved in public dating.

The app is easy to use and they have a lot of users so take your time and find a partner or partners that are to your liking.

4. Her

Well, it’s only natural that we focus on the LGBTQ dating app for women after we’ve discussed one for men. According to their website, Her has a community of over 7 million women with lesbians, queers, bois, femmes, and trans to fluid.

The variety of women in their community is quite extraordinary and variety is something any person trying to have a successful dating life can appreciate.

Along with providing a stable and safe dating platform for women of varied sexual orientation the people behind Her also organize events from time to time. Creating opportunities for their users to meet in person is something that dating apps and websites very rarely do but probably should do more.

Check out their website for more information and give it a go. You can’t really know if any app is a good fit for you until you’ve tried it – much like your sexuality.

5. SnapChat

While SnapChat isn’t primarily a dating app it is very much used as one by a lot of people.

Alternative Singles Dating Services

The reasons for this are numerous. First of all, there is a good balance between male and female users on SnapChat. According to Statista, 59% of SnapChat users are ladies and 41% are guys. Second, the messaging app, which is the primary use of SnapChat, is very fun to use.

It has a lot of features that are primarily focused to make the chatting experience interactive and dynamic. Everything from filters, animations to gifs and static images is aimed at keeping the chatters engaged and entertained. And finally, the option to set a 1 to 10-second expiration date on anything you send the other party makes it perfect for sexting.

Honestly, with this kind of option, it’s only a matter of time before one of you gets a little cheeky and sends something fun!

Due to these reasons, a lot of people tend to use precisely this app to chat up their love interest and engage in relationships, casual or serious, it’s up to you.

7 Best New Sites Like Craigslist for Casual Encounters

If you miss the way how Craigslist Personals section works and are looking for some similar replacements on PC, laptop or mobile, the following websites would be good choices for you.

All you need is to publish a posting and you’re on the way to meet your next casual sex partner. However, please note that some of them may require your personal email address or(and) phone number, so make sure your privacy is protected before registration.

Check out our top 7 picks like Craigslist for casual encounters and you are definitely going to find something suitable for your situation.

Singles Free Dating

Alternative Singles Dating Sites

The Bottom Line

Remember, regardless of which dating site or app you decide to go for it’ll take some getting used to and you need to show patience if you want to get good results.

Even though you are dating online in a more straightforward and direct manner, you are still communicating with people and the goal is that you both get what you need. If you start acting too haphazardly, you’re chances of getting into something romantic or sexy go down dramatically.

How Useful Was This Post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 4.8 / 5. Vote count: 1787

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?