The best dating site alternatives to porn
This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.
If you like porn but want to make things a bit more interactive, these are some popular dating sites that will help you achieve that. There’s a little something for everyone, whether you’re looking to explore your kinky fantasies, make a lasting romantic connection, search for senior love, hook up, or want to keep things safely socially distanced and just chat.
And if free videos with easy-to-search categories like Pornhub offers are what do it for you, there’s options out there for you. While these sites are by no means perfect and some of them are pretty raunchy, here's the scoop on what you're getting yourself into.
What do you need to know about dating on NSFW sites?Keep in mind that “dating” on NSFW sites like Grindr and GetItOn is about as subtle as the names of the platforms: Users are there to find a connection for a night, a threesome, or an ongoing sex buddy situation — not a long-term partner.
Also, sites like this don’t operate without mutual consent and boundary-setting (and respecting). When you’re building out your profile, be specific and honest about what you’re looking for and wanting so you can find people who genuinely match up with you and your interests or fetishes.
Should you use a NSFW site for dating?If you’re looking for no-strings-attached sex, or just a sexting or Skype-sexing buddy for the evening, NSFW sites can be ideal for getting your needs met and getting straight to the point. “Dating” here is a very loose term — think of these as sites and apps for hooking up.
Users on these apps tend to be fairly direct — don’t expect a dinner invitation before you get asked over to their flat. If that’s not your cup of tea and you need a little more of the getting-to-know-someone before jumping into bed with them, these might not be the right sites for you.
What precautions should you take when using a NSFW dating site?If you’re on a site where you need to share personal information or choose a username, be careful about the information you’re giving out — and about what kind of information it is. Things like credit card numbers are vulnerable to hackers, and using your real name on platforms like these can compromise your safety if you happen to stumble upon the wrong sort of people on the sites.
Always choose a username that doesn’t have a relationship to your first name, and be careful about the personal information you share (like where you live, etc.).
What else is important to know when using a NSFW dating site?Besides not giving away any personal information, especially for things like anonymous encounters on cam or sexting sites, know the risks when it comes to sending nude or partially nude photos containing identifying details like your face or tattoos. While it’s against the law in many places to circulate private sexual images, that doesn’t stop people from doing it.
What is the best NSFW dating site?There are plenty of raunchy dating sites out there that should suit just about everyone, but we get that you probably don't want to spend all day perusing the options (or maybe you do). To help you find the best NSFW dating site for you, we have lined up a standout selection.
We've tried to find something for every type of dater, with popular sites like AdultFriendFinder and GetItOn making the cut. You just need to pick a favourite.
These are the best dating site alternatives to Pornhub in 2025.
- Highly active community
- A very open community of daters
- iPhone app available
- Features are pretty limited without a premium account
Calling all bears, twinks, otters, and more: OutPersonals give you instant access to thousands of the gay and bi personal ads, photos, and chatrooms so you never have a problem finding other men seeking men.
Members can upload steamy profile videos, browse photos of hot guys, or enjoy a little solo action via member curated blogs and an online magazine.
This is a site geared toward those seeking out sex, so you probably won't meet your soulmate here — or maybe you will?
- Monthly: £24.21/month
- Three-month plan: £13.46/month
- One-year plan: £8.08/month
- Thousands of online daily users
- Diverse sexual orientations as well as couples
- Confirmed fake accounts get permanently banned
- Most features only available to subscribers
- No mobile app available
If hooking up or sexting with someone is your goal, then a site like Passion has been designed to deliver just that.
Membership is free and it takes just minutes to sign up, so you can get to mingling with members and browsing steamy pics ASAP. Like other sites on this list, there are sexy videos and a blog feature that allows you to talk openly about what you're into — a great way to find other like-minded people — plus a live cam feature.
Passion has millions of members based all over the world, with hundreds of thousands online at any given time.
- Monthly: £24.25/month
- Three-month plan: £16.16/month
- Easy to find like-minded kinky people
- Watch adult video content
- A lot of active members
- Limited ability to view member profiles on free version
- Changing username requires payment
BDSM is a popular category on Pornhub, making this site a great alternative for those looking to make things a bit more interactive.
Free to join, you can specify exactly who you’re looking to play with. There are over 1-million Alt.com members to choose from, whether you’re looking for a date, want to play over cam, or get together in person.
Those looking for fetish play and fun will also enjoy connecting with others who share their particular kink. There are chat rooms, as well as thousands of member-generated XXX videos for your viewing pleasure.
- Monthly: £20.54/month
- Three-month plan: £12.35/month
- One-year plan: £8.58/month
- One of the most popular apps for gay, bi, trans, and queer men
- Excellent tools for communicating and filtering
- Users still have to assess legitimacy of other users’ profiles on their own
Top gay app Grindr gives you instant access to hundreds of gay and bi profiles of guys in your nearby area — and since it’s one of the most popular gay and queer apps out there, there’s a lot of members.
It works like Tinder in that you upload a profile with pics and a little bio, then you can see who’s closest to you and strike up a conversation and exchange pics — members can also leave voice messages in the in-app chat. The filters are great, too: You can find only people who have uploaded photos with their face and also filter by what other users are looking for.
The site is as casual as you want it to be — while plenty of men use it for hookups, many have also found partners on it.
- Monthly: £8/month
- Three-month plan: £5.65/month
- Six-month plan: £4/month
- One-year plan: £3.20/month
This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.
Dating is a competitive game, and you should do everything you can to give yourself a chance of success. Looking your best and smelling fresh is a good place to start, but nothing shortens your odds of success like signing up to a dating site.
The problem with this tactic is that there are just so many dating sites out there to consider, each with a different set of features that will suit some people better than others. It's difficult to know which site is best for you, and you could easily spend hours researching all of the sites on offer without a definitive answer.
We know that you don't have time for all of that, so we've set out to make things a little easier for you.
What are the benefits of using dating apps?By subscribing to a dating site, you're shortening your odds of finding a connection. It's as simple as that.
Dating sites and apps let you get your information out there to a massive network of like-minded individuals, and provide the opportunity to test out a potential relationship on an app before actually meeting in real life.
Subscribing to dating apps and sites is also a way less intimidating way of meeting someone compared to a face-to-face situation. If you find the idea of meeting people slightly terrifying, these apps can help you face your fears from the comfort of your own home.
Is online dating worth the hassle?Sentiments aside, we have some hard data to back our reasoning for Why Online Dating Is Worthwhile™: Statista predicted that the online dating audience will grow to 53.3 million by 2025, compared to 44.2 million users in 2020. A study from Stanford released in 2019 asserted that online dating is officially the most common way for couples to meet, rounding out at nearly 40 percent of couples having first met online.
This pre-pandemic prediction came before the COVID-era dating app sign-ups surge. Though people are eager to get back to doing as many things IRL as possible now, dating apps are still a great place to find someone, whether you want a relationship or are just looking to get nasty.
And yes, though there are algorithms that dictate what profiles pop up on your screen, we firmly believe that the stars aligning still comes into play. After all, the person who signs up on the app and is looking for love at exactly the same time you are is up to fate and the universe, proving that online dating romance is very much alive and well.
Because it's not 2007 anymore, the need for mobile-friendly online dating isn't just a millennial thing — people over 40 don't have time to sit around at their home desktops, either. Dating sites that are older than most members of Gen Z (like Match and eharmony) have been forced to give serious attention to their smartphone counterparts if they don't want to be outgrown.
However, that statistical promise still requires patience and a game plan, the game plan is choosing the dating app with features that best fit your lifestyle — and the lifestyle of the type of person you're looking for. Are you looking for an app strictly for sex or an app more serious than Tinder but less serious than eharmony? Or maybe, you'd just really love to find an app where queer women aren't relentlessly sexualized by creeps and pestered by unicorn hunters.
Should you use free dating apps?The good news is that there are a lot of free dating sites and apps out there, and the likes of Tinder and Hinge are good examples of free apps with massive networks of users.
The bad news is that a lot of free apps simply don't cut it. You get what you pay for with dating sites and apps, and for the best experience with the greatest possibility of finding exactly what you're looking for, you are going to have to cough up the cash.
You can still find something worth your time with a free app, but if you're looking for compatibility tests, chat rooms, videos, and a greater level of control, we recommend upgrading. Paid sites provide access to premium features that give you the best chance of finding something special.
What is the best dating site?We're sorry to break it to you like this, but there isn't a single dating site that is better than the rest. Instead, there are a lot of sites and apps with similar features and packages, and the best option for you really comes down to your own set of preferences.
To make the decision process a whole lot easier for everyone, we have lined up a selection of the most popular sites in the dating game, including leading sites like Match, and Eharmony. All you need to do is pick a favourite from the bunch.
These are the best dating sites in 2025.
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