In the wake of the Backpage shutdown in 2018, Bedpage rose from the ashes, promising users the same functionality with none of the legal risks. The personals site even copied the format and layout of Backpage, making it the obvious successor to the defunct classified ads site. But complaints about scammers and fake ads have more people turning to Bedpage alternatives.
These sites and apps give you anonymity and security as you search for local hookups, providing a comfortable space to explore your desires. Whether you’re looking for a sexy chat or a casual meetup with a stranger, these platforms offer willing partners without judgment!”
- Relationships: Hookups Only
- Match System: Search by location, interest, more
- Our Experts Say: Make no mistake: this site isn’t about making friends, it’s about finding hookups and casual encounters. No adult site has a larger or more active user base of those seeking discreet fun. Our Review »
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
Adult Friend Finder launched only a year after Craigslist, and the site continues to outshine other platforms that try to take up where Craigslist left off when it comes to finding sex. Like most Bedpage alternatives, you can post a personal ad on AFF and even browse profiles and ads without revealing your identity. You need to sign up to participate in chats and forums and have a premium membership to send private messages.
Adult Friend Finder offers more than just classified ads. Its chat rooms and forums are packed with adult content, featuring photos, videos, erotic stories, and chats. If you’re in the mood for something spicy while searching for your next romantic partner, AFF has a wealth of options for you.
- Relationships: Hookups, Casual Dates, Affairs
- Match System: Search by age, location, appearance, and more
- Our Experts Say: With its massive user base and advanced privacy features, Ashley Madison is the #1 site for discreet hookups, dates, or relationships. Our Review »
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
Although it’s not a classified ad site, Ashley Madison is a popular alternative to personal ads, since the affair dating platform offers anonymity and encourages users to be upfront about what they desire. Privacy tools like photo-blurring and password-protected photo vaults, along with the panic button and browser history clearing, all mean that you can seek out a partner discreetly, whether you’re married or single.
Ashley Madison also encourages users to be honest about what they seek. Part of the profile setup includes telling others what you seek. Do you just want to chat? Are you looking for a consistent hookup, or something else? That makes it easy to filter potential partners based on shared intentions and keeps you from wasting time chatting up someone who wants more than you’re willing to give.
NaughtyCharm
- Relationships: Hookups, Chats
- Match System: Search by encounter, location, and more
- Our Experts Say: NaughtyCharm is a premier hookup app where you can feel comfortable expressing your desires. Plus, it’s free to join, browse, and flirt.
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
NaughtyCharm encourages its users to do exactly what its name suggests: be naughty, wild, and X-rated with videos, photos, and written content. The hookup site offers a fun-loving, judgment-free atmosphere that makes it easy to let loose and fly your freak flag high. You can also seek the right potential match to make your fantasies come to life.
Unlike anonymous ad boards, NaughtyCharm offers anonymity and security: the basic membership comes with features such as Safe Mode, which allows you to control who can contact you. The premium membership bundle provides access to even more safety and security features, including automatic browser history clearing, incognito mode, and full encryption.
SparkMeets
- Relationships: Hookups, Casual Dating, Chats
- Match System: Search by location, age, and appearance.
- Our Experts Say: SparkMeets is a dating website that provides a fast track to a romance with a flirty partner. The network has private chats, search filters, and safety features to help spark real connections. Our Review »
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
SparkMeets is about as old as Bedpage, and the two sites share a similar approach: complete transparency about what everyone is there for. SparkMeets users are looking for a hookup, plain and simple, and the site respects that goal by keeping the tools and features intuitive and basic to make finding the right partner easy.
Instead of writing an ad, you build a basic profile and start browsing other users in your area. SparkMeets offers simple search filters for age, location, and appearance to help you find the right prospects. Basic members can even send up to five messages per day for free. Premium membership comes with a ton of additional perks, including unlimited messages, read receipts on sent messages, browser history clearing, and even higher visibility in searches to help you get to your next hookup even faster.
- Relationships: Hookups Only
- Match System: Search by location, interest, more
- Our Experts Say: A hookup site specializing in casual encounters, secret affairs, live chats, and member videos, FriendFinder-X skips the awkward “dating” stage of a relationship and fast-forwards straight to the sex. Our Review »
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
Although plenty of online daters are apprehensive of FriendFinder-X, the hookup site is completely legit and has much to offer for anyone wanting to get laid anonymously. The site’s members don’t feel the need to keep things polite and proper, so adult content thrives on the platform and includes erotic stories, photos, videos, and even live cam shows. You’ll find ads for adult services alongside free ads for people looking for hookups, so you have plenty of options, no matter your tastes.
Where FriendFinder-X really shines is in the kink and BDSM communities. The site offers search filters based on various kinks and fetishes, and provides a free “purity test” to help you explore and display your kinks to other users. But even if your tastes are fairly vanilla, you can find willing partners by browsing profiles based on location, body type, ethnicity, age, and other preferences. You can even get into some swipe-based fun on the site’s Hot or Not section, where you quickly review profile photos and swipe right to make your interest known, and left to set the potential partner aside. Keep in mind that to chat one-on-one with other members, you’ll need a Gold membership.
MenNation
- Relationships: Daters & Hookups
- Match System: Search by age, zip code, more
- Our Experts Say: MenNation is a well-established gay dating and hookup brand, having been founded in 1996. It’s totally free to join, view profiles, receive matches, and flirt. Our Review »
- Browse Free: View Photos Now
MenNation is far from a new name in the hookup world. In fact, the gay dating site launched in the 90s, alongside Craigslist and Adult Friend Finder. That might explain why MenNation takes an even more liberal attitude toward X-rated content on the platform, encouraging users to indulge their exhibitionist fantasies in their search for hookups and deeper connections and community. All MenNation members have access to the videos, photos, steamy chats, and forum posts the site has to offer, free of charge.
MenNation also understands that not all gay and queer men are out of the closet, so the gay hookup site makes it easy to stay anonymous. You can select which details you want to give out, and even browse profiles without signing up to get an idea of who’s in your area looking for a hookup. Basic membership comes with all the tools you need to get laid, but a premium MenNation membership offers plenty of perks, including Buzzmode, which lets you remotely control another user’s sex toy while they perform with it on a livestream.
7. Plenty of Fish
Plenty of Fish has a lot of pop culture cred, but it’s still easy to seek out the connection you want without revealing your identity on the free dating site. In fact, one of the main complaints from former POF users is that the bar is so low for new profiles that fake and catfish profiles proliferate on the site. While that can make finding a legitimate local hookup more challenging, it also means that you can easily remain anonymous.
Even with the challenge of fake profiles, many people have successfully found casual encounters through Plenty of Fish, thanks to its creative features and free communication tools. There’s no cost to reach out to other users, but a premium membership provides extras like ad-free browsing, read receipts, and higher placement in search results to simplify finding your next partner.
8. OkCupid
When OkCupid launched in 2004, the dating site set some ground rules: every core feature and service should always be free, everyone should be welcome, and data-based matchmaking is the way to finding dating success. Although it’s a mainstream platform, OkCupid’s welcoming, judgment-free atmosphere makes it a bastion for the kink, polyamorous, and LGBTQ+ communities. It is also an ideal alternative to online personal ad boards.
Instead of writing an ad, you identify your preferences and desires in your profile, from your interests and kinks to your relationship goals (or lack thereof). If you just want something casual, no one on OKC will shame you for it, and its filters give you plenty of methods to find like-minded partners. Once you find the right match, you can send messages for free and communicate as long as you want without paying any fees.
9. Doublelist
Doublelist qualifies as a Bedpage alternative because the site is a classified ads page, not a dating platform. You can place ads on Doublelist for products and services or stick with the personals section to find the romantic or sexual partner you’re looking for.
The personals site frequently takes top billing in lists featuring alternatives to the now-defunct Craigslist personals section — and for good reason. While users must agree to adhere to the Doublelist code of conduct, the ads can get fairly wild and pretty specific, so no matter how niche your interests, you can find a willing partner. The site setup also allows you to remain anonymous, while verification systems keep bots and scammers off the site.
FAQs: Are Backpage and Bedpage the Same?
It’s easy to see why you might think Backpage and Bedpage are the same thing, but they’re different sites. Backpage shut down in 2018, and the site’s founder continues to face legal woes from several prostitution and money laundering charges.
After Backpage shut down, Bedpage quickly appeared, copying its style and format. Even though the site faces challenges due to numerous ads from sex workers, it still operates today.
Can I Find Dates on eBay Classifieds?
This used to be a fairly solid option, especially for anonymous connections and hookups. eBay classifieds saw some success in the early days of the site. As the auction site became more specialized, the personal ads became less relevant, and now there’s only a defunct comments section where the old dating and personal ads used to live.
What Happened to Craigslist Personals?
Taking its cue from the crackdown on sites such as Backpage, Craigslist Personals went the way of so many internet curiosities, disappearing in 2018. The classified ad platform even used to have an adult services section until 2010, which allowed various professionals to advertise their services.
The Craigslist team saw the writing on the wall when the U.S. government passed FOSTA/SESTA in 2018, targeting sex trafficking. To avoid legal issues, they swiftly shut down the personals section. Luckily, many spiritual successors to Craigslist Personals have emerged, ranging from classified ad sites to more explicit adult dating platforms.
Dating Services Like Bedpage Make Fast Introductions
If you want to stay anonymous while you’re looking for your next hookup, sex dating sites and apps make it easy to satisfy your needs. From classified ad pages to straightforward hookup platforms, these services help you get straight to the point without revealing your identity.
Check out some of these Bedpage alternatives and get right to your next sexual escapade!
