You're looking for POF [/pof-ultimate-guide/] reviews, so you’re probably wondering… “Does free = a waste of time?” Sure, free online dating sites can be sketchy - tons of fake profiles, singles who aren’t serious about dating, etc. So is Plenty of Fish [http://pof.com] any good, or are you better off trying your luck on OkCupid [/okcupid-review/]? Let VIDA's team of dating experts help you decide! We've been using Plenty Of Fish since it launched back in 2003, and have spent thousands and thousands of hours writing profiles, sending messages and using all the features to arrange dates for the clients we represent. It's a dating site we use daily, so we've seen firsthand how it's evolved over the years. You're about to benefit from all that experience as we break down the pros & cons, premium features, when you should upgrade, and much more. PROS & CONS OF PLENTY OF FISH POF is popular for a reason! PROS: * It has a huge user pool, with an enormous variety of singles - including the occasional (okay, very occasional) reality TV star. Patti Stanger [/patti-stanger/], the Millionaire Matchmaker of Bravo Network fame, met her long-term boyfriend on the site. * It's also one of the oldest dating sites out there. Markus Frind created it way back in 2003. * You'll find daters looking for just about everything, from a long-term relationship [/best-dating-apps/] to a hookup. * The sheer number of users makes it a great option if you live in a rural area or small city. * Unlike other free sites, basic features like messaging your Mutual Matches don’t require an upgraded membership. That being said, premium POF members can set a filter allowing only people who also have a paid membership to message them. * The advanced search feature gives you tons of filtering options, so sorting by specific criteria like “education”, “income”, and “religion” is easy. * There's both a desktop version and a dating app. * POF is part of the Match Group portfolio, so it's more legit than some of the other free dating sites out there. CONS: * As with any free dating website, you’ll have to do some heavy curating. Anyone can create a fake profile and dive into the POF dating pool, so expect to encounter spammers, scammers, escorts, and the like. POF now requires phone number verification, which helps cut back on the number of fake profiles. * Because it attracts so many users, competition for the most attractive singles on POF can be fierce. Keep reading for plenty of tips that will make you stand out from the crowd! * Match quality varies wildly, which is one of the biggest Plenty of Fish complaints. * You have to upgrade to view extended profiles, get rid of all the ads, and find out if a match read your message or not. * You also have to upgrade to see who viewed your profile under the “Interested In Me” [https://help.pof.com/hc/en-us/articles/360034153951-See-who-viewed-your-profile-through-Interested-in-Me#:~:text=POF%20features%20%26%20tokens,-See%20who%20viewed&text=If%20you%20are%20an%20upgraded,when%20each%20person%20views%20you.] section. This makes it easy to send icebreakers [/how-to-start-an-online-dating-conversation/] to anyone who checked you out that intrigues you. * There's no phone number for POF customer service, as all issues are handled via email through the help center [https://www.pof.com/HelpCenter/helpcenter_faq.aspx] page. * POF no longer lets users hide their profiles. If you’re looking for a dating app that only reveals your profile when you “like” someone, check out these options [/hidden-private-dating-profiles/]. POF REVIEW VERDICT: IS POF BETTER THAN AN APP LIKE TINDER? If you’re younger than 30, you’re better off sticking with a free dating app like Tinder [/tinder-guide/]. POF tends to be more popular with daters over 30 [https://www.statista.com/statistics/1114062/share-of-us-internet-users-who-use-plentyoffish-by-age/#:~:text=According%20to%20April%202020%20survey,group%20confirmed%20being%20current%20users.], especially those in their late 40s to early 50s. But if you’re in your 30s and up, or live in an area with a small pool of singles and don’t want to pay for online dating, POF is definitely a good option for you. Creating a POF profile and using all the basic features like search filters, messaging and POF Live are completely free. That’s one of the things people love about POF - if you don’t want to pay for an upgrade, it’s still a very usable, effective dating site. If you decide to try out POF, just be prepared to spend some time (okay, potentially lots of time), searching for high-quality singles you actually want to meet. IS IT WORTH THE COST TO UPGRADE POF? POF Premium [/pof-premium-vs-pof-plus/] costs around $30 per month, depending on the membership length. And these are some of the features Premium members can access: * See who likes you * Unlimited likes every day * Unlimited messaging * 50 First Contacts a day (First Contacts allow you to send a message along with your "like") * Username Search * See new members first * Priority placement in Meet Me * Extended profile viewing * Message read receipts * Include up to 16 pics in your profile * No ads POF BOOSTS & SUPER LIKES Both free and premium POF users can purchase Boosts and Super Likes. They can be spent to do things like boost your profile, send a Like+, be seen first by nearby users on the app and send priority messages. Sending a message with the priority feature will put it at the top of her inbox for 29 days, or until she reads it. Boosting your profile means you’ll get seen by more people for 30 minutes. These can be purchased individually or in packages. One boost costs around $5.00, 5 for around $18.00, or 10 for around $25.00. Super Likes can be purchased in groups of 3, 10, or 20. If you purchase more at a time the individual cost goes down. 3 Super Likes costs $14.99 and a package of 20 is about $50.00. IS A PREMIUM POF MEMBERSHIP WORTH IT? If you can only afford to pay for one dating site at a time, you might be better off spending that money on another site. For example, OkCupid’s upgrade options [/okcupid-review/] are a good option if you’re in your 20s and Match.com could be a good choice [/match-25] if you’re in your 30s. Match.com tends to attract singles who are much more serious about meeting people in person and ultimately finding a relationship. And in general the users tend to be more attractive on both Match.com and OkCupid. It's worth giving it a shot for free, but wait and see if you like it before paying for POF. It’s generally a good idea to test out 3 or 4 of the best dating apps [/the-7-best-dating-apps/] and sites [/7-best-dating-sites-for-men-over-40/] at once to see which one(s) work best for you. HONEST POF REVIEWS: WHAT REAL USERS ARE SAYING Next, let's take a look at what actual users have to say after using Plenty of Fish. On the App Store, the POF dating app has 4.3 out of 5 stars [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/plenty-of-fish-dating-app/id389638243?see-all=reviews], based on 1.7M ratings. One user felt it was a good app for dating, but also for networking: > "In the very beginning I was looking for someone locally to date. I didn't have much luck personally however I know many friends that have. It just didn't work out so well for me. I was about to just be done using it until I stumbled over to the streamer side of the app. This was a whole new world that needed to be explored. After a few conversations with some really cool people and a few favs later. I was hooked. I absolutely love speaking with my friends that I have made an inseparable bond with from all over the world." Another user awarded POF 4 stars overall, even though they had a few issues with the matching algorithm. As they explained, > "...the Your Matches should not be showing me a majority of users that ‘Wouldn’t Date a Smoker’ when one lists that they smoke often. It’s a total waste of my time to be reviewing these profiles to find at the very bottom the person wouldn’t date a smoker. Not to mention, this information is hidden to non-upgraded users, so if one is not upgraded, how much time are they wasting for the other person sending messages to someone that would never date them?" > > Other Plenty of Fish users weren't thrilled with the app, with one deeming it the "worst dating app there is." > > The reviewer took issue with the search parameters not being reflected in the suggested profiles feed, and said he deleted the app [/delete-pof/] within 1.5 hours of downloading it. > > Android users gave POF 3.6 stars [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pof.android&hl=en_US] on Google Play, based on 1.62M reviews. > > Some reviewers like this one were quick to point out the app's perceived flaws, such as only being able to message 1 person for free and constant prompts to upgrade: > > > "Everything is a paywall with a subscription model. Pretty much useless... Every other swipe it asks you to buy subscription... every other swipe it asks stops your swiping to ask you to upgrade. The app is barely usable this way." > > One user, who gave the POF app 3 stars overall, said it was possible to meet people but found the compatibility feature frustrating: > > > "You can meet people on here. It takes a lot of swiping left. However, I think the weird blocker they have that says, "Sorry, but XX is looking for someone different. Why don't you try some of your matches?". Um, some of those people were in my matches!! What people are "looking for" and what they end up wanting can often be two different things. Get rid of that blocker!! People can decide if they are compatible on their own." > > > > Other complaints cited by users included being shown matches far outside of distance preferences, and abundance of fake and inactive profiles, and glitches with the messaging functions. > > > > Over on Trustpilot, POF has 3.3 stars [https://www.trustpilot.com/review/pof.com] based on 50,000+ reviews. > > > > Several users felt the dating platform was more user friendly and a better experience 4 or 5 years ago. Many expressed frustration with the filtering criteria not working correctly, and being shown profiles that were not compatible with what they were searching for. > > > > And on that, lets take a look at those features! USING POF'S SEARCH FEATURES When it comes to finding interesting singles, you’ll love how user friendly the POF search engine is. POF has a username search, but it's for Premium members only. But POF has a robust set of free search features that will help you narrow down & curate your potential match pool. In the "Refine Search" menu, you can screen for the following criteria: * Gender * Age range * Intent * Ethnicity * Body Type * Education * Minimum Height * Maximum Height * Has Kids * Religion * Does Drugs * Smoking * Marital Status * Income * Wants Kids * Drinks * Longest Relationship * Within (distance radius) * Profiles * Sort (last online or newest member) * Zip Code Most filters have a pull-down menu where you can select from 5 or 6 different criteria. For instance, if you filter for body type, you get these options: When searching by age range, keep in mind POF restricts you to messaging users within 14 years of your own age. So if you’re into the May/December thing and are looking for age gap dating, this site doesn’t make it easy. Changing your birthday isn’t an option, you can only alter that date (and your gender) within 2 weeks of signing up. You can either create a brand new account, or try a sugar daddy dating [/best-sugar-daddy-apps/] or cougar site [/cougar-dating/] instead. You can sort your results by “newest member of Plenty of Fish” or “last online”. Attractive singles on POF tend to get bombarded with messages, so sending messages to new users can give you a chance to catch their attention before their inboxes get overwhelmed. To save time, only send messages to users who were active on the site within the last few days, preferably within 24 hours. Sorting your results by last online can help ensure you’re not sending messages to men or women who rarely check in. For an in-depth look at all the filtering tools, check out our POF Search Guide [/pof-advanced-search-url/]! POF SOCIAL FEATURES POF Live! is a section where you can watch livestreams of other users, or go live yourself. There is a separate set of filters to control what content you see in this feed. To access POF Live! tap the heart with lines icon in the menu bar: The Live! section is also where you'll find POF Circles, where you can find Livestreams or play games like POF Cue'd Up. To access Circles, tap the intersection circle icon at the top of the screen. Cue'd Up is a "spicy" mad-libs style game you can play with other users. It's a timed event, and you can sign up for the next session by tapping the RSVP button. POF'S SHARE MY DATE SAFETY FEATURE Share My Date lets you keep your friends and family in the loop about your dating life. The feature makes it easy for someone to know when, where, and who you’re going on a date with. Tap the Share My Date calendar icon in your chat with your date and you can fill in all the details. Once you're done, hit "share" and you can send a link to anyone you want to keep informed. Don't worry about privacy - only people with the link can see your date page and the link disappears on its own within a week. Plus, your date won't have a clue you're using Share My Date. HOW TO GET STARTED ON PLENTY OF FISH You can download POF's dating app for iOS [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/plenty-of-fish-dating/id389638243] or Android [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pof.android&hl=en_US], or sign up at POF.com [https://pof.com]. You have to fill out a multi-section questionnaire, and almost all the fields are mandatory. After answering some basic demographic questions, you'll need to create a username and password. Make sure to check out the POF profile tips at the end, because you want your username to be an attractive one! Next you'll answer questions about yourself, what you're looking for on POF, and what type of people you want to meet. Once you’ve got all the questions out of the way, it’s time to focus on the real meat and potatoes of your profile. POF profiles are typically shorter than what you’d find on a more “serious” site like Match.com, but they’re no less important. 3 STEPS TO CREATING AN ATTRACTIVE POF PROFILE POF has a ton of users, which translates into pretty stiff competition. To catch the attention of the women you really want to attract, you'll need to put some effort into polishing up your profile. STEP 1: NAIL THE USERNAME AND HEADLINE The first step is coming up with a username, and to stand out on POF, you need a good one. Check out these 15 examples of irresistible POF usernames [/usernames-for-pof-okcupid-and-match/] so you can pick one that attracts women for you (or at least doesn’t repel them!) When she checks her messages, your username is going to make an instant impression - and if it’s a bad one, you can kiss your chances of a response goodbye. Do you really think she’s going to be intrigued by anything “BSman007” has to say? In addition to creating a username, you’ll also need to come up with a headline. Headlines are prominently displayed in her search results, so you can’t slack here either. When your headline catches her eye and actually makes her stop and think for a moment, she’s staring at your picture for that much longer. And studies [http://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2015/02/09/ebmed-2014-110101.full#ref-26] have found that increased exposure to a photo increases likeability. An effective headline needs to be creative and interesting, but try to keep the words simple and easy to read - researchers [http://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2015/02/09/ebmed-2014-110101.full#ref-26] discovered that using simple language is perceived as more attractive because people are instinctively drawn towards words that are easy to remember and pronounce. But “simple and easy to read” doesn’t grant you license to be lazy. Headlines like “Insert headline here” and “adfdasfadf” are instant turn offs. You don’t want to give the impression you’re not taking your profile (or dating) seriously, or worse - that you’re on the south end of the intelligence spectrum. Get inspired by these 15 best headlines for POF [/the-15-best-headlines-for-pof/], because if you sound desperate, boring, or lonely - she’s moving on to the next guy. STEP 2: WRITE A PROFILE SHE CAN’T RESIST It’s true that choosing strong photos is the most important aspect of setting up your POF account. But unless your looks are on par with Ryan Gosling, a terrible profile will torpedo your chances of meeting high quality women. On POF, the bulk of your profile is the “About Me” section. There’s also a space to list your interests. Remember, this is one of the most popular free sites in the world, so seizing every opportunity to capture her interest is essential. To meet the hottest women on POF, you need to bring your A-game - or hire a professional writer [/how-to-hire-a-personal-dating-assistant/] to create an irresistible profile for you. If you leave your profile blank, that’s a missed opportunity to inspire her to connect with you. Most guys find it’s difficult to write about themselves in an attractive way, so you should check out "how to write a perfect POF profile [/pof-profile-examples/]" next. It’s packed with tips and even a few “First Date” ideas, but for now here’s a quick Dos and Don’ts primer to get you started: DO: * Show rather than tell. No one wants to read a boring list of adjectives, so instead of writing “I’m adventurous, daring, and love to travel”, describe that time you went bungee jumping in Costa Rica. * Make it 70% about you, 30% about her. If it’s all about you, that’s a turn off - she’ll assume you’re a Me Monster and move on. But if it’s all about her, you come off as desperate and eager to please. Research [http://thescienceexplorer.com/brain-and-body/researchers-find-simple-behavior-could-make-you-more-attractive-others] has shown 70:30 to be the golden ratio. * Follow this easy profile writing formula: DON’T: * Forget to proofread. That’s right, spelling and punctuation matter. A lot. A recent Match.com [http://mashable.com/2015/02/04/date-of-the-union/] survey revealed that a whopping 88% of women reported judging men based on their grammar. Singles surveyed by POF agreed - 58% [http://blog.pof.com/2018/08/is-there-anything-worse-than-bad-sex/] of them said they can’t live with poor grammar. * Bring the drama. Everyone has past relationships that ended for a reason. She doesn’t want to read about your exes, or your personal issues whatsoever, in a dating profile. In fact, skip anything negative altogether, and just focus on the positive. * Swear, make offensive jokes, or generally come off like a jerk. She gets enough of that crass “humor” in messages from all those losers who don’t know how to write opening lines for POF that actually work [/pof-opening-lines-that-work/]. She definitely doesn’t want to read it in your profile. STEP 3: UPLOAD SOME KILLER PHOTOS This ain’t your first rodeo. You know you need solid photos to attract hot women. You can have the most kick ass username, headline, and profile on the entire planet, but if you pair it with a terrible primary photo [/profile-pic/], you’re sunk. POF allows basic users to upload up to 8 pictures, or 16 if you upgrade. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Stick with a range of 3 to 6 strong photos. It’s difficult to showcase all the facets of your personality with just 1 or 2 images, and almost impossible to look equally good in more than 7. Photos follow the “weakest link” adage - you’re only as good as your worst picture - because guess which one she’ll remember most? Check out this full tutorial on choosing your best online dating photos [/online-dating-photo-tips-for-guys/]. But if you’re looking for some quick advice, here are the essentials on selecting pictures: * Look like a hot prospect. This isn’t about physical looks - it’s about the image you’re conveying. Choose photos that let her know you’ve got a lot going on in your life. Hobbies, pets, friends, family, interesting travel pics… of course you want to choose photos where you look as attractive as possible, but what’s going on in the frame is important as well. * Get feedback. It’s difficult to keep an open mind when it comes to evaluating your own pictures. Gather opinions from your friends, preferable female ones. It makes sense to use the pictures your target market are most attracted too, right? You can also post them to Photofeeler.com [https://www.photofeeler.com/] for some truly unbiased critiques. * Be interesting. Don’t just go with an array of 6 bathroom selfies. Not even your mom wants to see that. Remember - she’s going to imagine what it’s like to hang out with you when she’s scrolling through your pics, so make sure you’re a guy she wants to hang with. Once you’ve got your photos uploaded, you’re off to the races. THE BEST WAY EVER TO MEET SINGLES ON POF With such a huge user pool, you’ve got to work extra hard to get noticed by the most attractive users. Free doesn’t equal easy, unfortunately. Having an arsenal of copy & paste icebreaker messages you can send to anyone who interests you will save hours upon hours of time. That’s why you might want to check out these examples of POF opening lines that work [/pof-opening-lines-that-work/] right now. But even with a stash of go-to icebreaker messages at your disposal, sifting through all those profiles to find a perfect 10 is going to take time. Why not consult an expert and develop an online dating strategy before you jump in the dating pool? VIDA [https://www.vidaselect.com] has been helping guys like you find their dream woman since 2009. Our experts handle everything from start to finish - writing your profile, choosing your photos, even exchanging messages with the intriguing local women you want to meet most! All you have to do is show up for the dates. It all starts with a free 20-minute consultation that might just change your life! Click here to find out more... [https://www.vidaselect.com]
