A few years ago, if you wanted to find reliable listings in your area, all you had to do was visit Backpage and take your pick from the hundreds of providers listed there.
That all changed when Backpage shut down in 2018, however.
Since then, there have been numerous sites similar to Backpage that have tried to fill the hole left by the site, with varying degrees of success.
Below, we’ll look at 12 of the best Backpage alternatives on the internet today!
The 12 Best Backpage Alternatives for 2021
First look at the top 5 alternatives overall:
- Best overall, most attractive users – Seeking
- Backpage alternative with a twist – Ashley Madison
- Pay for dates on-demand – WhatsYourPrice
- Kinky sex & swingers – Adult Friend Finder
- Most LGBTQ+ friendly – DoubleList
Runner ups:
- Many quality listings – Eros
- Inexpensive providers – Bedpage
- Variety of sex workers – Adult Search
- Sexy regular people – Locanto
- Helpful categories – List Crawler
- Easy to use – Oodle
- Find a relationship – ClassifiedAds.com
Keep reading for the full reviews of all 12 sites.
1. Seeking — Best Backpage Alternative Overall
Pros
- Women outnumber men
- Allows you to build long-term relationships
- Mostly real women with very few pros
- Women are eager to make your acquaintance
- Free membership for women
Cons
- Not ideal for one night stands
- Geared towards wealthy men
If you’re not afraid to exchange cash for companionship, then Seeking is the best place on the web for you. It’s not a place to find escorts, though; instead, it hooks up sugar daddies with sugar babies.
That may not be something you had ever considered before, but it has some serious advantages. For one, it allows you to build a long-term, semi-monogamous relationship with a beautiful woman. If you have a problem with getting attached, don’t worry — that’s all part of the deal here.
The women here aren’t pros, either.
Most ladies on the site are regular women who are looking for men who are willing to take care of them financially. In return, they’re more than happy to take care of their man in other ways.
This Backpage-style site is definitely geared towards wealthier men, and this is the one hookup site on the internet where the numbers are actually in your favor.
2. Ashley Madison — Best Backpage Replacement for Discreet Hookups
Pros
- Perfect for married users
- Great for finding hot sex
- User base is heavy on anonymity
- Completely legal
Cons
- Costs money for men
- Could cause trouble if you get caught
You’ll find a very specific type of person on Ashley Madison: a married person, to be exact. The affair site is designed to allow people to find extramarital hookups on the down-low.
As such, you won’t have to pay the women (although the site charges men as much as $50 per month), nor will you have to worry about them wrecking your marriage. They have just as much to lose as you do, after all.
There are a lot of women on here, and they’re all eager to do things that they’re too shy to do in their marriages. You can get both a porn star and girlfriend experience on here, all with a regular woman.
3. WhatsYourPrice — Best Backpage Alternative for Dating
Pros
- Allows you to bid on dates
- Geared towards sugar daddy dating
- Lots of young women on the site
- Includes male & transgender users
Cons
- Need to spend money to stand out
- Not ideal of one-offs
What’sYourPrice divides users into two categories: “generous” and “attractive.” From there, the generous members bid for dates with attractive members. If you win, you get the date — simple as that.
Essentially, you become a sugar daddy.
As you might expect, the attractive members are much more interested in the size of your bank account than the quality of your character. In that respect, though, it’s not unlike Backpage, so it may be just what you’re looking for.
The majority of the women on the site are young, although they do have some mature ladies as well. You can also find attractive men or transgender users, if that’s more your style.
4. Adult Friend Finder — Best New Backpage for Kinky Sex
Pros
- User base wants to get laid
- Mostly free to use
- Caters to all kinks and fantasies
- No need to beat around the bush
Cons
- Site is clunky and outdated
- May need to use charm to stand out
Adult Friend Finder is a lot like a traditional dating site, except without much of the “dating.” It’s all based on finding like-minded people to hookup with — no fluff, no muss.
The site itself isn’t much to look at, and it’s kind of clunky to navigate. That’s a small price to pay for having a world of willing companions at your fingertips, though.
It can get raunchy here — and that’s before you enter the chat rooms. If all you care about is having dirty monkey sex, though, come on in — you’re among friends.
5. Doublelist — Most LGBTQ+ Friendly Backpage Replacement
Pros
- Great alternative to Craigslist personals
- Does a good job of filtering out spammers
- Very inclusive of LGBTQ+ community
- Good for NSA action
Cons
- Not good for finding younger women
- Less active classifieds than other sites
If you miss the Craigslist personals ads, then Doublelist is about as close as you’ll come nowadays. In fact, it took off in popularity after those other classified ads got shut down.
The site is free for members to use, and they use phone verification to make sure everyone is on the up-and-up.
They also reduce spam by limiting users to two posts per day, with only four photos allowed at a time.
They have every category of user you could think of, including couples and several LGBTQ+ options. There’s truly something for everyone here.
6. Eros — Best Backpage Alternative for Escorts
Pros
- Catalog of escorts services
- Includes trans, male, and BDSM providers
- Can hook up with porn stars
- Free classified ads
Cons
- Geared towards urban areas
- No reviews on the site
Sometimes you just want a sure thing, and for those times there’s Eros.
Eros is a catalog of escorts, with listings in just about every state. It’s heavily geared towards urban areas, of course, so rural users will need to find an alternative (or take a drive).
They have quite a few categories to choose from, including male, trans, and BDSM providers. You’ll also find porn stars, college girls, and everything in between.
The free site is also mostly financed by models paying for ads!
Many of the escorts are verified as well, so you don’t have to worry about getting yourself into a sticky situation.
7. BedPage — Best Classified Website for Cheap Providers
Pros
- One of the best Backpage alternatives
- Categories for any adult-related activity
- Includes non-sex-based ads
- Most providers are cheap & local
Cons
- Not very active
- Many of the users are suspicious
BedPage advertises itself as a Backpage replacement, so it’s no surprise to find it on this list. It’s one of the best sites for replicating the entire experience.
Like Backpage, they have just about any adult experience you could hope for, including sugar babies and live sex cams.
You can even find a job in the adult industry here!
BedPage hasn’t quite caught on in the same way that Backpage did, though, so you won’t find as many providers to choose from. Also, many of the listings are suspicious, to say the least.
8. Adult Search — Best Classifieds For Variety of Sex Workers
Pros
- Absolutely loaded with female providers
- Also has male and trans providers
- Includes listings for sex shops and swingers clubs
- Lots of info on each classifieds listing
Cons
- Very little vetting of providers
- Site is clunky and hard to navigate
Like Eros, Adult Search is another escort listing site. It’s not as sleek, though, and doesn’t seem to be vetted as well. Use it at your own risk.
There are a ton of women on the site, but they also have male and transgender providers, as well as erotic massage therapists.
They’ll introduce you to more than just working girls, though. They also have listings for strip clubs, sex shops, bath houses, and swingers clubs.
There’s a fair amount of information in each listing, so you know exactly what you’re getting into ahead of time. They also have user reviews, helping you to weed out some of the less-desirable options.
9. Locanto — Site That is Popular With Escorts
Pros
- Huge site with a casual encounters section
- Mostly filled with inexpensive escorts
- Includes some regular people looking for NSA fun
Cons
- Mostly reserved for non-sexual activity
- Profiles are very sparse
- Meeting up may be risky
Locanto is a huge classified site, and the vast majority of it is reserved for non-sexual activities. However, they do have a casual encounters section that allows you to find a hookup with very little effort.
That section is filled with escorts, but you can also find the occasional civilian in there looking for some quick NSA fun. You’ll mostly find men on there, though, so if you’re looking for the ladies, bring cash or look elsewhere.
There’s not much meat on the profiles, making it hard to tell if the person in the ad is real or not. While you’ll save money with these escorts, you’ll also be taking some risks, so be aware of that ahead of time.
10. List Crawler — Most Helpful Categories Of Backpage Alternatives
Pros
- More personality than other Backpage alternatives
- Includes inexpensive providers
- Categories are helpful and interesting
Cons
- Lots of repeat models
- Tries to upsell you premium version
- Have to leave reviews to read reviews
List Crawler does exactly what its name suggests: it crawls a variety of independent ads sources to give you a listing of escorts in your area.
It has more personality than other escort listings sites, which may or may not be a selling point for you. Regardless, thecategories are helpful and interesting, with sections for independent providers, those who are open to car fun, and more.
They also have extremely inexpensive escorts available in their “Max 80” section, which caps donations at $80. It’s up to you whether or not to trust those providers, but they’re there if you’re interested.
11. Oodle — Easy-to-use Backpage Alternative
Pros
- Very straightforward Backpage alternative
Cons
- Not much activity
- Many ads take you to third-party dating site
- Most users are looking for actual relationships
Yet another community classified website, Oodle manages to be even less flashy than Craigslist. It’s very straightforward and user-friendly — and that extends to the personals section as well.
There’s not much activity in this section, and what entries exist tend to be legitimate. It’s not a great place to find escorts, but if you check the site regularly, you may just find someone looking for short-term fun.
However, if you click on the ads, most of them take you to Meetup4Fun, a third-party dating site. As such, it’s not one of our favorite sites for quick and easy hookups.
12. ClassifiedAds.com — Best Free Classified Ads for Finding Love
Pros
- Personals section includes casual dating option
- UI reminiscent of Backpage/Craigslist
Cons
- Heavily geared towards heterosexual encounters
- Not ideal for finding one-night stands
- Intended for long-term relationships
As the name suggests, ClassifiedAds.com is basically an online version of the classified ads section you’ll find in your local paper.
They offer everything from used cars to pet supplies, but their personals section is what will likely draw you in.
It’s all geared towards heterosexual encounters, although they do have a casual dating section that’s more wide-open.
You aren’t likely to find a one-night stand here, though, as it’s designed for lasting relationships.
Backpage Alternative Websites FAQs
What Happened To Backpage?
In 2018, a pair of laws were passed designed to punish web services that were thought to facilitate sex trafficking.
As part of this new reform, Backpage and its affiliates were seized by the Department of Justice and its founders were indicted on prostitution and money laundering charges.
While shutting down Backpage was thought to have a slight effect on sex trafficking, that effect was temporary, as traffickers simply moved to other websites.
Are These Classified Ads Sites Legit?
Depends on the website, as well as what you mean by “legit.”
More established hookup websites and Backpage alternatives, like Seeking, aren’t likely to scam you. Whether you get in trouble when you actually meet up with other users is another story, and that likely depends on your own street smarts.
In terms of legality, that’s a gray area.
Anytime you exchange cash for companionship, you run the risk of running afoul of prostitution laws. To date, though, there hasn’t been much of a push by any federal agency to prosecute users of sugar daddy sites or Backpage alternative websites.
Of course, any site where there’s no money exchanged between the users, such as Ashley Madison or Adult Friend Finder, is completely legit.
Will I Get Arrested For Using An Alternative To Backpage?
Again, depends on the site. As a general rule, the less expensive and shadier the providers on the site, the more likely it is you’ll run into trouble with the law.
Providers of high-end escort services, like Eros, are usually ignored by law enforcement, although that’s not the same as being legal.
Cops don’t usually care about what people do behind closed doors, provided it’s consensual; it’s when the activity leaks out onto the streets or involves unwilling participants that they begin to get interested.
Do I Need To Pay To Use These Backpage Alternatives?
Some of them, yes.
Many sites, like Ashley Madison and Adult Friend Finder, can be used for free but require paid upgrades to access certain features. Others, like DoubleList, are completely free to use (but you may have to pay other users for companionship).
Is Using These Free Classified Sites Safe?
That largely depends on how you use them.
It’s unlikely you’ll get into any trouble for using any of the sites, but you could get into hairy situations when you meet with providers from them. It ultimately depends on how safe you are and how much common sense you use.
The Best Sites Like Backpage on the Internet Today
When Backpage was shut down by the feds in 2018, it left a hole in the internet for anyone looking for the best escort sites or similar providers. A few years later, sites like Seeking and Ashley Madison have become great Backpage replacements for people who want some online anonymity.
Not all of these websites are created equal, of course, but if you’re looking for the easiest way to find an attractive partner — and you’re not afraid to spend some money to do it — they should give you all the options you need. Good luck!
The post The Absolute Best Backpage Replacements: 12 Sites Similar to Backpage appeared first on The Village Voice.
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