Frequently asked questions

Because pricing is set after you register, and often varies by age, location and device. Six of the eight platforms we checked publish no price at all on their own website. It is the norm in this category rather than the exception.

OkCupid, Bumble and Hinge all let you browse, match and message without paying - the paid tiers buy visibility rather than access. Match, eharmony and EliteSingles let you look but not message.

Pay-as-you-go platforms cannot: LuluDate charges per interaction, so there is no recurring subscription to cancel. The free apps - OkCupid, Bumble, Hinge - do not charge you at all unless you take a paid tier, and those do renew. Match, eharmony and EliteSingles are subscription-only and auto-renewing by default. Disclosure: LuluDate is a client of ours.

Worse for predicting what you will spend. A subscription is a known monthly figure; credits are charged per interaction, which means the operator earns more the longer a conversation goes on rather than the sooner it succeeds. Neither is a scam - but they create different incentives, and you should know which one you are in.

Look at who profits from what. Warning signs: you cannot see any price before handing over details; messages arrive instantly from unusually attractive profiles the moment you register; you pay per message rather than per period; and there is no clear way to cancel. None of these alone proves fraud, but together they describe a business that earns from your time rather than your outcome.

The subscription ones generally do, by default. Renewal terms are usually presented during checkout rather than beforehand, which is why we score how plainly a platform states them.

It varies and it is rarely identity verification in the legal sense. Bumble and Hinge offer selfie or photo verification, which confirms the person matches the photos - not who they are. Treat every claim as "this reduces obvious fakes", not "this guarantees a real person".

Because nobody can verify them. Every platform's published success figures are marketing, and scoring them would mean inventing a measurement. We score what is checkable.

LuluDate and InternationalCupid are the two genuinely built for cross-border matching. LuluDate starts you with free credits and never auto-renews; InternationalCupid has the larger network but publishes neither price nor billing model. Disclosure: LuluDate is a commercial client of the company that publishes this site.

Not on a platform you have not used yet. Long plans are where the per-month price falls and where cancellation complaints concentrate. Buy the shortest term first, then extend if it is working.

Five weighted criteria for one situation - a serious relationship across borders, without a subscription renewing behind you: whether anything auto-renews, whether it is built for cross-border matching, what you can do before paying, what verification is stated, and whether you can see the cost. Local casual dating gets a different answer, which is what the chooser is for.