In this post, we’ll mostly focus on the alternatives, but we’ll also touch upon why Craigslist shut down their personals section, as well as what happened to backpage.com. Thus, without further delay, let’s get started!
There has been a time when Craigslist Personals ruled the online dating scene. There was simply no competition. But as it happens with all good things, it ended abruptly with no sign of return. Although it ended with a sad outcome, the platform spawned quite a few alternatives that, in our opinion, came pretty close to the source material.
Top 3 Craigslist Personals Alternatives
- DoULike.com
- Bedpage.com
- OutPersonals.com
- Locanto.com
- Oodle.com
- Doublelist.com
- iBackpage.com
- Classifiedads.com
- Hoobly.com
- Adultsearch
- Seeking.com
Good Craigslist Personals Alternative
Now that we’ve covered a little bit of history, let’s move on to Craigslist Personals replacements. We’ll be covering all kinds of things about these sites, including but not limited to, the date they opened, the average amount of visitors, number of users, and why it’s a good replacement. In addition, we’ll discover whom each site is for, what said website does, and finally, what unique features it has.
1. DoULike.com
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Monthly active users: 600K+
So at number one, we have DoULike.com, and suffice to say that this is a very good website for dating purposes. With monthly 600K+ active users, this is a paradise for lonely souls. It has all the bells and whistles a dating website needs and adds a dedicated mobile app into the mix. Each profile is verified a number of times, meaning that you won’t stumble on fakes. Also, the website is practically for everyone, whether you are 20 or in you mid 50, chances are that you will find someone. Couple all this will high-quality filters and an outstanding matching algorithm, and you got yourself one of the best websites around. The website makes sure that you have a pleasant experience by providing constant updates. Highly recommended for everyone who likes quality and wants to spice their life up.
2. www.bedpage.com
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Daily visits: 5000
Active users: 260,000
Bedpage is perhaps the most underrated platform we’ve seen to date. It is a very good Craigslist Personals alternative as it not only looks similar but functions in the same way, minus the controversial sections. The website has more than 5000 daily visits and around 260,000 active users. The community over this place is quite huge and for good reasons. The site offers a nice set of customization options when it comes to ads. Just like Craigslist Personals, you get the ability to create personal ads that will target exactly the type of people you’d like to meet. The website is pretty much for everyone but keep in mind that you won’t find a lot of seniors here. The site keeps everything in check and there are no bugs or broken filters. This is a good fit for those of you who missed Craigslist Personals or don’t really care for fancy UIs.
3. OutPersonals.com
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Active users: 500,000
While the site does sound like a spiritual successor to Craigslist Personals, it’s key audience are homosexuals. The site sports a massive international community that is around 500,000 members large. The site continues to grow and more than 1,000 photos are introduced every week. The key feature of the website is the blog posting option which is something that many of us will find cool. You might not use it but you can still read what other users have to say, meaning that you can easily understand their position on something, as well as you can learn what they like the most. Also as an added bonus, the micro-blog system will help you adapt to the community much faster. The site continues to grow as more people join.
4. Locanto.com
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Registered users: 450,000
Daily users: 2000
Based in Germany, this online classified network has all kinds of sections that aren’t exactly dedicated to dating. People can easily post personal ads in sales, services, jobs, and real estate sections. And just like Craigslist, you get access to a personal section that has more than 450,000 registered users. The average amount of active daily users is around 2000, making it a perfect fit for people who have just started. The unique feature of the site is that it has a few cool categories for beginners. These include friendship, men seeking men, women seeking women, men seeking women, and vice versa. You also have sections such as casual encounters and missed connections. Thus, even if you are a beginner, you will surely find a community to join. Lastly, the site also offers a mobile application that can easily be downloaded on the Google Play Store.
5. Oodle.com
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Registered users: 350,000
Similarly to how Craigslist started, Oodle was also a classified ad site where you could find all kinds of posting. Before Craigslist Personal closed, Oodle was the only true competitor, which means that it also offers a very similar experience to CL. Indeed, just by landing on the website, you’ll immediately notice that there is a ton of different ads on singles, casual encounters, men seeking men, etc. And for good reasons too, it has more than 1000 ads posted daily. The register base is also massive, clocking in around 350,000 users. Yet, what separates the site from the competition is the fact that it lets you scan the web for personal offers. The site is also very reliable and safe as the moderation team tracks it 24/7. The best part about Oodle is that it suits practically all ages and tastes, there are no limitations and you will surely find someone to talk to.
6. Doublelist.com
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Registered users: 11,000,000
Another option you might find interesting is a website called Doublelist.com. This online space borrows some elements from Craigslist Personals but after all, most sites like Doublelist tend to share some similarities, aren’t they? If you check out some of Doublelist review pieces, you’ll notice that users particularly like it for a great UI, simple design, and reliability. In addition to that, the site has a couple of cool features, like letting users post their interests via quick Doublelist classifieds, Doublelist personals ads, and more. There’s literally everything you need for finding an online date.
The key audience of websites like Doublelist is the LGBT community, but there are also quite a few straights looking for a one-night stand. This means that safety and privacy are paramount for Doublelist services. Nobody wants others to know such sensitive details of their personal lives, so it’s a great thing that Doublelist took care of that. Overall, there are more than 11 million registered users because this website is completely free of charge. Can we refer to Doublelist as the new Craiglist? Maybe not, but nevertheless, this online space is extremely promising, and it has new people joining daily. You might want to check it out.
7. iBackpage.com
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Monthly users: 550,000
The last one on our list is iBackpage. This is also a free offering but unlike our previous entry, the site offers a premium user experience. In general, this site is for everyone but most features are tailored for casual encounters first. It also has a dedicated LGBT section that is very active and friendly to newcomers. The key specialty of the site is that it tries to find your partner using geolocation. This means that it will focus on your area of residence and if you want more performance out of the ad, you can opt for the premium plan, which is only $2 per post. This is a very affordable price, especially considering that similar sites usually charge triple the amount. As reported by the site, there are around 550,000 visitors monthly, and more than 10,000 ads posted weekly.
8. Classifiedads.com
Monthly users: 400,000
ClassifiedAds is a great Craigslist alternative, too. It’s one of the largest classified ads sites at the moment. More than 3 million unique monthly visitors go there every month. Their personals sections look very much similar to Craigslist with options like “casual dating”, “men seeking men”, “woman seeking woman”, “men seeking women” and vice versa. They even have “missed connections” ads, which has been a favorite of many people. ClassifiedAds is not a big ass company yet, it’s a small startup with 20 people making it work. But despite their size, they are slowly gaining popularity in classified online space. As you browse through the ads, you see dozens of adds for all tastes, from the ones looking for a sex partner with very specific requirements to those who just need someone to talk to. All in all, check out this site, you might like it.
9. Hoobly.com
Monthly users: 500,000
Another free local classified ad site that can be a good alternative to Craigslist is Hoobly.com. It has millions of classifieds on in many categories. Google says, their most popular category is pet advertisements, but there are also many other tabs. You can use this site to buy and sell various goods, look for real estate and put in on sale or for rent. The ads on this site are updated on a regular basis and it also lets users place their own ads with all the details and pics. However, there is no personals section. You won’t be able to look for potential partners on this site, at least for now. You may hit on a girl you’ve just closed the deal with, nobody will stop you if you’re feeling adventurous. But generally, this is a great site, but just not for dating.
10. Adultsearch
For all of you who have been looking for good craigslist alternatives, Adultsearch might be exactly what you need. This website is one of the many hookup sites similar to Craigslist personals. Here you can find adults of all ages and genders who will gladly get to know you and have a little bit of fun. Whether you are a woman looking for another woman, or you are a man who is seeking to have a great time with a woman of their age, it is guaranteed you will find someone who will catch your attention and provide you with an amazing time!
11. Seeking.com
Monthly users: 250,000
Seeking.com or SeekingArrangement can partially make a good alternative for Craigslist. If you’ve been using it to find a sugar daddy online, this one is going to be perfect. It’s basically a dating site where sugar babes are looking for their mentors. To join the community, you need to create an account, define your terms, state the expectations, add a profile pic, and start looking for an arrangement. The site promises that people find their ideal match in less than a week. It’s not exactly a classified ads platform, but it gets the job done. And it’s even better for the people who know exactly what they want. No games, everything is honest and straightforward, all is nice and clear. The site has lots of useful features and it gathers active members from 139 countries. If you’re up to this kind of relationship, give it a try.
What is Craigslist Personals? Why it Shut Down?
Now for those of you who don’t know, back at the day, Craigslist was a completely different website than it is today. It used to host a section called “personals” that were primarily used for dating purposes. Yet, back then the internet (and frankly, the world) was a different place and this section sparked a lot of controversies because of a few sub-sections. The most popular sub-sections dubbed “casual encounters” and “erotic services” are the ones that caused a lot of trouble. And this is quite puzzling considering that there were sections that seemed way more controversial than “casual encounters”.
The Impact of Craigslist Personals Termination
Craigslist personals section was the place to be for quiet people who don’t even take selfies, not to mention the dating apps. These were men and women looking for someone without having to deal with tons of questions to answer, catchy usernames, profile pics, passwords all that. It’s also been a perfect place for bisexual people who were hiding this side of themselves from their spouses/partners. And when Craigslist shut down, it affected many people’s lives, clearly. But that’s not the biggest problem everyone complains about.
Personals section was closed due to a governmental regulation aimed at preventing sex trafficking. However, it also impacted lots of sex workers. The thing is, the world uses many US-based sites to run their businesses. It’s estimated by some sources that the shutdown of resources like Craigslist influenced around 10-15 million sex workers, and not just in the US but in other countries where this industry is legal. Too bad it ends this way.
Why Was Craigslist Personals so Important?
The reason why Craigslist Personals was so popular is that the service offered security as the system masked the identity of each person. Indeed, if there’s something users could count on, that was the fact that nobody knew who they are. This also added a thrill-like effect as it was always a gamble on whom you might land. Craigslist casual encounters were so popular that there was barely any criticism of the system too. Everyone enjoyed the platform, especially those who relied on anonymity.
Both doctors and high-level businessmen that had trouble meeting someone publicly loved the platform. Some described the system as the only place where they can even start searching for partners. And for good reasons too, for them, the platform was the only place where they could openly express their feelings. There is a good amount of people who actually met their soulmates and live together even today. Craigslist dating was a big deal, especially considering that nothing like it was introduced in the past.
What Opportunities did Personal Ads Provide?
There is no question that many gays found peace and comfort when it comes to dating on Craigslist Personals. To them, the system was a nice place to share not only their position but to find the like-minded people. Indeed, many formed communities were judgment-free, meaning that the platform was more than just a site where they could meet new people. It gave them a sense of belonging to a certain group.
Also, the site was practically a paradise for married men who were looking forward to trying gay sex. They didn’t have to risk revealing their identities so they also had zero trouble communicating with like-minded others. Another thing Craigslist Personals was good at is providing services such as sex workers, relationship building, and naturally, casual sex encounters. All this combined with high-level privacy made Craigslist Personals one of the best places to meet new people for flirting and sex.
Why Snapchat Can’t Be A Replacement?
First off, Snapchat was never built for meeting new people. There is no discover tab, and you won’t find a line to fill out personal information outside of your name. The main focus of the platform is to share photos and videos that you can modify with custom filters and masks. While it’s true that you can share snapshot photos with other social media platforms, you can only do so much with the app. It won’t be your Craigslist Personals replacement as it is more of a photo and video sharing platform than a dating one. So, TL;DR, it lacks the features a dedicated dating site has and the UI is simply not up for the task.
Why Backpage.com Shut Down Also?
The reason why backpage.com shut down is that it wanted to be the new Craigslist Personals. They had the same sections and even the UI somewhat resemble Craigslist but things were getting out of hand fast. Their casual encounters corner quickly gathered weirdos that advertise sex services. The government suspected that they were promoting prostitution and enforced pressure on banks that processed the transactions and warned the website to stop their activities. Yet, even so, the site continued to work and started accepting Bitcoins. Later, the CEO of the site was brought to court where the “Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act” or “SESTA” bill played a vital role in stopping the website from working.
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Bottom Line
Today you can easily find lots of sites that are great alternatives for Craigslist hookup and
offer quite an expected amount of features and possibilities for users. It is essential to find a trusted website or a trusted place to find your perfect hookup. For best results and a secured conversation, pick the site which resonates with your purposes and wishes yet has positive reviews and feedbacks among the users. Luckily we will list the best sites for trying casual dating out there and fill you in with all needed information! Just pick the one that suits you most and browse through thousands and thousands of profiles of people who are looking for the same!
All in all, there are many different alternatives to Craigslist Personals but these are considered to be the best. There is no definitive answer to which one is better as each of them has a nice install base and is being actively worked on. Thus, go with whichever you like. Although, before we leave, we’d like to stress that we should make one more distinction regarding websites. There are those that provide local dating options (i.e CL) and international matchmaking type of services. Many local dating websites offer paid services but don’t be discouraged about it. Since users invest in their profiles, you are more likely to get some results. A good example would be DoULike.com, which is a high-quality option with an immense user-base.
Our Editorial Team at DoULike understands the challenges of today’s dating scene. That’s why we offer guidance on everything from online profiles to in-person chemistry. With our tips, you’ll feel ready to take the next step in finding love.
