Price is usually the biggest and number one barrier to entry for many people who want to sign up for online matchmaking and dating platforms. While most of the major dating sites today provide members with free memberships with some basic functions, many of the features you need to form a connection are often locked behind premium memberships.
Many dating sites and apps today are usually seen as free and affordable alternatives to expensive membership programs. However, even these sites also recently resulted in more users opting for more premium services. Dealing with the issue of paid membership fees for a service that is not even guaranteed to work, many singles often find themselves wondering if there is a chance for them to sign up for a reliable matchmaking service that offers all the features you can expect from a premium membership in a competitor’s platforms without extra costs.
The good news is that FreeDating.co.uk is the perfect example of this type of dating service. Originally launched in the market in 2005, the site markets itself as a completely free service that lets members communicate and connect with each other without hidden extra fees.
But even if all of this sounds great on paper, is FreeDating.co.uk as good as it claims?
Sign Up Process
It is an incredibly easy and simple process to sign up to FreeDating.co.uk. Once you arrive at their site, you will be welcomed right away with several boxes you need to fill in to create your profile. The platform is fairly simple and streamlined so you won’t have a hard time getting started with your dating journey. It is always a great escape from other sites that might not be too user-friendly.
All you have to do is fill in your gender as well as the gender of the person you want to date together with your postcode. However, there are a couple of caveats here. The first one is that even though members have an option to be interested in people of the same gender as yours, you are not allowed to choose several genders of interest. It means you will only be able to pick just one in the meantime.
The second caveat is the nature of the postcode. Based on its name, FreeDating.co.uk is a UK-only dating service, which means that other postcodes outside of the country won’t work. However, it also has a benefit because you can be sure that you will only be reaching out to members who live near you. Next comes the maximum and minimum age of the target demographic that interests you, as well as the number of miles that you want to be covered by your search radius. The last one is your password and email address, which are the two things you need to become an official member of the site. You will receive an activation email, which means the service takes the necessary steps to confirm that the accounts are owned by real people.
The entire process will just take you a few minutes. It is a great benefit since you can get a good idea of the site before you take a dive and create your own profile. After signing up, you can grow your profile further with the addition of more photos and details about yourself.
Pricing
It is completely free to use FreeDating.co.uk although you have to brace yourself to put up with the tons of ads that pop up on the site.
Membership
It is somewhat unfortunate that FreeDating.co.uk has one specific shortcoming and it seems that there is no way to get around it. The website has a smaller user base compared to other giant names in the dating world.
So far, FreeDating.co.uk has approximately 26,000 members which might not offer a lot of options if you think of the bigger matchmaking services with millions of members. Although some of you might find it a bit disappointing, the service is notably relegated to only the UK’s geographic area. It means that active members of the site are more concentrated. In addition, the service with its free nature can also mean that more members come and go at their whim.
The positive thing here is the gender distribution of the site. FreeDating.co.uk roughly has 44% female and 56% male members, a ratio that is quite good even for big-name platforms. Many users of the site are also after long-term relationships, with the user base generally consisting of people with heterosexual orientation. However, it only refers to the majority because the site also caters to various sexual orientations. In terms of age ranges, the site doesn’t provide much information, but it is known that it caters to all ages. It even seems like it also welcomes over 50 singles, which is another big plus.
Matchmaking
FreeDating.co.uk has a very simple matchmaking process based completely on looking for people in your local area that suits your age range and gender of interest. Searches are tied to the interests, and you won’t find a lot of options to help customize your search.
Contact
You can use the essential and basic contact options of FreeDating.co.uk but you won’t find any special or exciting features you might find on other paid sites.
The Bottom Line
FreeDating.co.uk is a good attempt to offer a premium matchmaking service but this time, without any associated fees. The only sad news is that the site seems to be having a hard time reaching its goal once placed side by side with the industry giants. Even though it does have all the basics you can expect from a dating service, it doesn’t provide any other features that set it apart from the rest of the cheaper dating services.
The barebones search tools, the total absence of matchmaking services, and the low count of members mean that FreeDating.co.uk comes shorter than many if not all categories. However, at the end of the day, it is often not easy to beat anything free. To sum it up, if you are searching for a free dating site but you don’t want to stick with the usual big and expensive names, FreeDating.co.uk is worth the try.
