When you mention “dating sites,” the mind of the average person quickly jolts to the typical vanilla platforms, we all know, like eHarmony or apps like Tinder. On these platforms, you will find users looking for relationships or normative casual hookups.
However, in this hypothetical thought experiment, we can almost guarantee that you will rarely find someone who brings up a dating site targeted at users with more exotic sexual interests.
Nevertheless, if you think this perceived lack of kink represents the situation on the ground, you would be wrong. One 2005 survey carried out by Durex USA, reported that up to 36% of sexually active adults in the US use masks, blindfolds, or some other form of bondage and fetish equipment during sex.
And with the overwhelming popularity of the Fifty Shades Trilogy, you just know that this trend is on a steady rise.
On conventional dating websites, this aspect of sexuality is often completely ignored. These sites typically lack any option to help you find partners with your specific fetishes, kinks, and quirky sexual preferences. Here is where sites like alt.com come to the rescue.
Alt.com
Alt.com is an alternative dating platform that caters to the needs of members that are interested in more adventurous members that are looking for users that match their specific kinks and fetishes.
When you are tired of vanilla dating platforms, and you are ready to explore your sexual fantasies fully, sites like alt.com is where you turn. These adult dating websites are also an excellent place for newbies who are curious about these forms of sex.
Offering categories for everything from bondage, dominance, and submission, discipline, sadomasochism, alternative lifestyles and relationships, and niche fetishes, alt.com brings everything that you wouldn't find on your typical mainstream dating site.
With over 2.3 million registered members in the US alone, alt.com provides an extensive database of users with whom you can bond over specific kinks. Fun is the watchword here, as most users on the platform are singles, couples, and swingers looking to explore their fantasies with regular or one-time hookups with no strings attached.
In addition to the interactive community, with alt.com, you also get access to a massive stockpile of user-generated explicit videos, photos, and blogs.
The only requirement when using alt.com is that you are over the age of 18. The platform offers free accounts with limited functionality and three levels of paid accounts that can further enhance your experience of the site.
Alt.com Pros
Huge Database
With over 2 million registered members, alt.com has one of the largest databases of any adult dating site. According to DatePerfect, over 300k of these members are currently active. However, these numbers may fluctuate from time to time as the websites delete fake or scammer profiles regularly.
On alt.com, you gain access to a premier database of some of the kinkiest people in America. With this sizable collection of fetish hunters, you are sure to find matches irrespective of how niche your fetish is.
The majority of the site users fall in the 25-34 age range, and the bulk of them are from North America, the UK, and Australia.
Extensive Category and Filtering Options
To help you take full advantage of its massive user database, alt.com features an exhaustive array of categories and filtering options that are sure to help you find your ideal match.
With the platform search, you can find amateurs, mistresses, dominatrixes, furries, and lots more. The filtering options also let you sort by age, location, account type, and a host of other parameters.
Hyper-focused Niches and Profile Options
Alt.com is not just about finding the right people. The platform ensures that your ideal matches find you too. During signup, you can select from an extensive list of focused niches and likes to ensure your profile is associated only with the perfect keywords.
Enhanced Privacy
Privacy is a critical component of the alt.com website as the platform lets you adjust the visibility of every part of your profile as well as your activity feed.
Free Access to User Content and Forums
Unlike many other adult dating websites, a free account on alt.com is not entirely useless. A free account on the platforms gives you access to some user-generated content like live broadcasts, as well as a community forum that lets you connect with likeminded members.
Alt.com Cons
100% NSFW
If you are using visiting alt.com in public, keep in mind that you will meet some explicit content, and you should turn off sound as well. However, you know you are visiting an “adult” dating site. What else do you expect?
Clunky User Interface
One downside to having a site packed with features is that many pages on the alt.com website often look super busy, especially if you are on mobile. The heavy, dark aesthetic may not help its case as well.
Extremely Limited Free Accounts
Like with most other adult dating sites, there is a limit to what you can do with a free account on alt.com. Free accounts have limited access to search functionality and instant messaging, which are the prime features of the website.
Fake Profiles
Every dating site has to deal with this issue, and alt.com is no exception. On alt.com, you will find an abundance of fake profiles, and it may take some practice for you to discern them at first glance quickly.
While the platform is quite active in deleting fake profiles, the interactive nature of the site, and the rapid signing up of new members, means that they are often behind the clock.
No Mobile App
Alt.com currently does not have a mobile app, and their site's cumbersome user interface can be a pain to use from mobile.
Using Alt.com
Signup
Signup is required on alt.com, as without an account, you can't do much on the platform. Signing up is a straightforward, albeit lengthy 5-step process that begins with verifying your email and includes a series of selectable options and fillable questionnaires to help you set up your highly detailed user profile.
The profile options during signup include multiple-choice selections, one-word-answer questions, and open-ended questions that help tailor your profile to capture all your sexual information, needs, and kinks.
You can signup to alt.com as a male, female, couple, or a group.
Based on our tests, we estimate that the entire signup process will take about 5 minutes for the average user. Furthermore, all of the steps detailed in the signup process are required before your profile goes live, and you can begin using the alt.com platform.
While signing up is free, alt.com makes it clear from the start that they want you to get on a premium subscription. Upon completing the signup process, your browser redirects to the membership order page from where you can buy gold or silver packages to gain full access to the site features.
Although you can choose to stay with the free options, the features available to you here are quite limited.
Search
The bedrock of any dating site is its search feature, and here alt.com delivers.
To access the search feature, click on the search widget in the top menu. Once you activate this feature, you will notice that the default search parameters match the specifics of your user profile, which is a neat touch.
Hence, merely hitting the search button will give you a list of users that match what you like and are within your chosen location preferences.
From here, you can adjust the sorting options by age, last login date, membership type, and so on. The search result updates automatically on each filter adjustment, and you can save your search parameters for future use as well.
Alternatively, you can ditch the search feature and choose to find new users using the galleries tab. Here, you can find a selection of users nearby, hot users, and newly registered users.
Connecting with Members
Once you have found the members you are interested in, you can move on to reaching out to start a connection.
One handy feature alt.com provides, is the ability to add users you like to a hotlist from where you can quickly begin contacting them. Using the contact messaging center, you can send messages and “flowers” to other users to get the conversation flowing.
Once you establish contact with members you like, you can send flirts, exchange pictures, live chat with them, or even video chat.
However, you have to sign up for a premium membership package to get access to the messaging center. Alternatively, you can visit the general adult chatrooms and forums that are available to both free and premium members.
Site Features
- Other features available to premium alt.com users include the ability to:
- Finding matching members with the cupid report feature
- See who viewed your profile
- Host or read public and restricted access blogs
- Post videos and broadcast live streams or watch them instead
Safety and Support
Alt.com takes the privacy and security of its users seriously, and the platforms provide a phone support line to members that is available 24/7. If you experience any spam, scam, or harassment on alt.com, you can report to the support line and have your problem dealt with promptly.
Pricing
Alt.com's premium packages are where all the value is on their platform. You can sign up for either the gold or silver packages to immediately immerse yourself into the wealth of alternative sex connections available on the website.
The silver package starts at 19.95 per month, with the three-month and 12-month packages offering significant discounts at $35.90 (equals $11.99 per month) and $107.40 (equals $8.95 per month) respectively.
The gold package, on the other hand, costs $29.95 for a month. The three-month package will set you back $44.97 (equals $14.99 per month) while the 12-month package goes for $161.10 (equals $13.43 per month.)
Silver members get full access to all the platform features except for blogs, groups, and magazine features, where you only get partial access. With gold membership, you get full access to blogs, groups, and magazine features, as well as extra-large photos and the perk of your profile ranking top in searches.
Furthermore, on all packages, you can buy other addons like Standard Contacts, Profile Highlight, and Points, to further accentuate your profile and user experience.
Alt.com vs. the Competition
The top competition for alt.com includes platforms like BDSM.com and BDSM Singles. While both sites offer a similar setup and pricing scheme to alt.com, one area where the alt.com platform surpasses them is in the depth of its user database.
Alt.com User Reviews
User reviews for alt.com split between positive reviews that praise the site's database and filtering options, and negative reviews complaining about fake profiles.
One user review states:
While Sandra retorts that:
However, reviews like this one, complaining about fake profiles is pretty standard:
