Let's be honest, online dating could be the best thing that has happened in recent years. It's not just the coronavirus pandemic that makes us think this, as you might think. Yes, Covid-19 has definitely made its own major changes to the lives of modern people, but dating sites existed long before it. And, of course, they will remain after. 

Online dating is very important. It allows people to find new friends with similar interests, meet people around the world, look for a soulmate or simply expand their circle of friends. And given the crazy pace of modern people’s lives, the importance of the online dating format can’t be overestimated. But how do you find a platform where you can conveniently and safely meet other people? We believe that the best and most honest way is through user reviews.

In this article, we’ll not only take a look at the most popular online dating platforms, but also at what is being said about them on the web. It’ll be interesting!

Video chat sites for dating

Anonymous video chat sites (or applications) connect completely random users with each other. Usually there are basic search settings, but most of the selection is carried out randomly. That's the main feature of these web applications. Let's see which are the most popular today.

Chatrandom

A versatile video chat, on which in addition to basic functions, themed chat rooms, a separate chat with girls and even gay chat are available. In the reviews, users praise Chatrandom for the abundance of functions, the presence of a gender filter and the search for chat partners by interest. All this works, albeit not perfectly, but quite well. But keep in mind that some functions are available only for a fee, such as chatting with girls. 

Chatroulette

Chatroulette was the first classic video chat roulette in history and became massively popular at lightning speed. At first reviews about the site were almost always positive, then later users began to note the terrible moderation, the abundance of fakes, bots, exhibitionists, Internet trolls and other dubious personalities. At the moment, the developers are actively modernizing Chatroulette, but it will not be easy to recover from several years of neglect.

Bazoocam

Bazoocam can be viewed in different ways. On the one hand, this is a classic no-frills chat roulette that does an excellent job of its main task of connecting random people via video call. It even supports a video stream feature that viewers can connect to. On the other hand, Bazoocam also has far from the best moderation, the streams are mostly too explicit, and the site design, to put it mildly, is outdated. But there are simple online games that help stimulate communication with strangers.

Shagle

Shagle is a fairly minimalistic and easy-to-use anonymous video chat with no frills — only gender and geographic filters are available here. You can indicate not only that you are a man, woman or couple, but also select the option "Transgender". This is an important innovation that has appeared relatively recently. When it comes to Shagle reviews, users note the site's fast speed, fast connection, and general usability. But at the same time, there are questions about moderation and the accuracy of the gender filter, as it sometimes makes mistakes.

CooMeet

Almost every CooMeet review is about how good the gender filter is, and there are good reasons for praise. When a girl registers on the site, she must confirm her identity, so that when a man starts to use CooMeet, the system connects him only with real girls and never makes mistakes. All accounts are checked and verified. 

In the reviews about CooMeet many users praise the convenient minimalistic design of the site, well-designed applications for iOS and Android, and the free trial period. This allows you to try out all the functions of CooMeet without spending money on it. For many, this is one of the most compelling reasons to use CooMeet.

OmeTV

OmeTV is a very popular video chat site which, despite its minimalism, makes it quite easy to communicate with strangers. Here you can use filters by country and gender, and in the chat settings you can enable automatic translation of messages into the selected language. This, as users note in their reviews, is a very convenient function when communicating with people overseas. But at the same time, OmeTV has less than perfect moderation, and the site's functionality is not enough for many.

Dating sites

Dating sites use a completely different communication format. Many of them nowadays are more like social networks — functional, but they take up a lot of the user’s time. They are not suitable for everyone, but they also have important advantages. Let's take a look at a few of the leaders in internet dating.

  • Bumble


    • A very popular site, the main feature of which is that only a girl can initiate contact. This was done so that tens and thousands of men did not write to girls. In addition to everything else, this is a good protection against fakes and bots. This feature is not popular with everyone, but in general it makes dating more comfortable and safer.

  • Tinder. Tinder is one of the most famous dating platforms in the world. Its function is based on location, as Tinder looks for other users who are nearby. This is great if you want to find users you can easily meet offline. Tinder isn't as popular as it was a few years ago, but it still has a fairly large and loyal audience. This is especially true for mobile applications, through which it is really easy to get acquainted.

  • Vidaselect.com. This site is not as popular as the previous ones, but it is very unusual. As the developers themselves say, they use a combination of psychology and science to help meet the most suitable people. Vidaselect.com does not have as large and active an audience as the leaders in the dating industry, but its algorithms work really well. The site gives you the chance to meet a potential mate much faster.

  • Zoosk. A popular dating app with an audience of over 40 million. Zoosk uses interest-based and compatibility-based search, and also supports photo reality checking. Zoosk ensures that all photos correspond to the person's real appearance and are not taken from the Internet. Based on the reviews of the site, this really works. 

  • Okcupid. Functionally OkCupid resembles Vidaselect.com as mentioned above, but in this case, selection of a potential partner is carried out on the basis of various surveys. By answering questions and creating your own surveys, you help the system find the best match for you. OkCupid has been featured extensively in The New York Times, which is a good indication of the site's quality and popularity.

  • Badoo. Badoo's work is based on the mutual liking of users. Here you can create your own profile, fill it with information about yourself and photos, search for potential partners and communicate with them directly. Badoo is more like a social network in many ways than just a dating app. In general, the reviews about Badoo are positive, but users often complain about the abundance of ads and a slightly unstable mobile app. 

Why you should pay attention to reviews when choosing a dating platform 

Any developer considers their own dating app or video chat roulette to be the best. And they try to prove it in every possible way, praising their creation on the website, in the app store and elsewhere. But only real user reviews can show the real picture. Sometimes just one review about CooMeet, OmeTV, Badoo or Vidaselect.com can tell much more than an entire website. 

Look for reviews on the Web, see what other users write in app stores, and try to pay attention to both positive and negative reviews. This is the only way to get an objective opinion. Though of course the best way to understand what a particular site or application is like is to try it out personally.