Overview

What’s better than a fling? You get all the passion and intensity of a romance, without sticking around long enough for the honeymoon phase to fizzle out. I joined Fling.com as a 35-year-old woman to test the site for myself. I found it to have an easy, streamlined signup, plenty of active members, and a free version that actually worked pretty well on its own. At the same time, I thought the site design was a tad overwhelming, and even after selecting a “no nudity” filter, many of the messages I received were explicit. But if that’s what you’re looking for, rock on!

There’s nothing quite like the first few days or weeks of being absolutely head-over-heels into someone. Romantic flings offer the fun of getting to know someone new without the strife, boredom, and conflict that can plague more serious relationships. 

Fling.com is all about short-term romance — the fun, the passion, even the butterflies! And many have joined the hookup site in hopes of escaping everyday stress and pressure. I wanted to see how it all worked, so I created an account and took a look around.

Read on to learn more about my experience on the site and see if this hotbed of activity might be right for you.

Getting Set up on Fling.com

I can tell from the jump that Fling.com is exactly what it sounds like: A casual dating site for singles to chat, sext, and see where their connections go. 

Like most casual dating sites, the signup process is super straightforward. It took me under one minute to complete.

Step 1: Compiling the Basics

I started by providing my gender. Initially, I was offered to select “man,” “woman,” or “couple,” and I was giving the site side-eye for not including nonbinary options. 

But I was wrong! There was actually a drop-down menu with further identities, from “trans” to “nonbinary” to “two-spirit.” Props to you for inclusivity, Fling.com!

Once I got that squared away, I put in my age, country, and location by ZIP code. Then I submitted my email and password, and my account was created.

Curiously, I didn’t see a field for my age or birthdate (did I miss it somehow??), and my profile set my age as 18 years old, birthdate January 1st, seemingly automatically. I had to edit my profile after it was live to let people know I’m not a teenager!

Step 2: Fine-Tuning My Profile

After the basics were in the system, I had the option to upload several profile photos and select an account name. 

Fling.com uses chosen usernames for identification instead of first names, which makes it different from more traditional dating sites like eharmony and Tinder. By choosing a nickname, a person can keep their real-life identity a secret more easily.

I ended up going with the name recommended by the site for me: AccurateRun152. I don’t know what it means, but it seemed good enough to get by.

Next, I could select up to 15 interests ranging from movie nights to sexting. These so-called hobbies were definitely a lot broader and raunchier than what I’ve seen on a more general dating site.

I wasn’t answering questions about my ideal date or family values; instead, I was deciding between “adventure,” “selfies,” and “affairs” to answer the prompt “what I like to do for fun.”

I was also prompted to select my ethnicity and body type. I never love when these questions are part of the signup process — it feels kind of shallow — but on a hookup site, it’s understandably a factor for some people.

Step 3: Setting My Parameters

Finally, I set what I was looking for on the site. Like the section for my profile, the prompts weren’t incredibly specific or nuanced. 

I could select the gender(s) I was interested in, how close they were to me, their age, and the relationship type I wanted.

The one question that I thought was clever and unique to include was whether I cared if a profile had photos (duh: I said yes). This set me up to find pretty robust profiles on the site instead of identical, blank users.

Then I set how explicit I wanted the content I saw to be based on three levels: No nudity, some nudity, and everything. 

I’m not really sure how the Fling.com algorithm determines the difference between a picture falling into “some nudity” or “show everything.” To be on the safe side, I set my profile to “No nudity.”

I really appreciated the filter option to keep unsolicited dick pics out of my purview, but as I’ll go into later, sometimes explicit content still made its way to me despite my drawing a “no nudity” line in the sand.

My Free Experience Was Great

At last, it was time to start scrolling! I’m going to be honest: Once I opened my homepage on the site, I was immediately overstimulated. 

There is a lot going on, and I found it kind of difficult to navigate. Plus, as soon as my photo went live, I was inundated with notifications about views, favorites, and messages.

At the top of my homepage, I saw a moving carousel of men. In some ways, this was kind of nice. It meant I could quickly look through profiles and see if someone caught my eye.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be curating the best photos. They were primarily close-up selfies, often at awkward angles. 

Below the carousel, I could see who was online at the same time as me. That’s a feature I always appreciate, especially on a hookup site. 

It’s nice to know you can start chatting immediately and aren’t falling for an inactive profile.

On the right side of the page, I could see all my notifications separated into four categories: All, Friends, Likes, and Comments. If someone liked my photo, messaged me, friended me, or commented on my page, it was all there. And it was pinging constantly.

I liked how easy it was to keep track of my profile’s interactions. Fling made sure I didn’t miss out on a chance to connect.

All told, I saw 12 profile likes, one photo comment, three friend requests, and five messages within two hours of my profile going live.

Daily Spotlight

Not all profiles on Fling.com get the same level of priority. Some profiles become the “daily spotlight,” getting a priority position on the homepage.

If I wanted my profile to get that level of visibility, I could pay to showcase it and maximize the odds of getting more matches (Fling said it’s 10x more likely to get a match). 

This is the primary benefit of getting a pro membership. Gone are the days of feeling unseen and hidden in an endless database — Fling will put you front and center.

Games

I’m not a huge gamer, but for those who want a different type of entertainment while online, Fling.com has a selection of classic games. 

It has classic computer games like Hearts, not really connected to dating. 

This is part of my issue with how many features are on this site. I’m not really sure why the games are here, but maybe some people enjoy the distraction.

If you’re more interested in gamifying your dating experience, the “match game” prompts you to click through at least 50 profiles in a day to unlock stealth mode, allowing you to look at profiles without notifying users. 

Personally, that seems definitely worth it, and I enjoyed that more than the random games on the site.

Trending

Fling.com isn’t only a traditional hookup site. There’s a social media aspect to the site, too. On the “Trending” page, I found plenty of users posting statuses about what they were up to. 

Sometimes, that was something tame and wholesome, like going to the beach, while other times it was more explicit content.

I think the trending aspect of Fling.com is a nice way to give users a solid sense of each others’ lives. 

Dating profiles can get pretty staged — not every day is your college graduation or a hike through the Grand Canyon — so including more current, casual photos gives matches a chance to understand who someone really is and what they really look like.

Paying $10 to Get Featured

On any platform you join, there are pros and cons to getting a paid membership. Really, just one con: The cost. 

But I see many upsides to paying for a membership, not least of all, getting more matches.

Something I really liked about Fling.com, though, was that I really didn’t feel like I needed to pay for my membership to get a full experience on the platform. 

I could message anyone I wanted for free, and I could see everyone. My profile was getting a lot of attention. I really didn’t feel like I was missing out as a free member.

That being said, I got some real benefits by paying to get featured. Remember those “daily spotlights” I was talking about earlier? Only paid profiles are highlighted. That’s instant visibility, and it can be a powerful way to attract attention.

I waited for a day when I wasn’t getting any matches, and then I went for the feature option. Ten bucks was enough to turn my luck around. Almost immediately, a notification popped up with a message, and it kept up a steady pace that was honestly impressive (and maybe a tad overwhelming).

Paid members are certainly easier to find on the site, so it’s a good lever to pull to get some traction, especially for men who might get fewer incoming messages than I did as a woman.

With Fling.com, it’s sort of hard to go wrong, whether you have a free profile or a featured one.

If you’re concerned about your ability to get matches on your own, I’d say it’s worth splurging for a paid profile. 

But if you’re happy with the likes and messages you’re getting, save some money and stick with the free version.

There isn’t a huge difference between the paid and free version of Fling.com, so a free membership should be sufficient for most users.

My Messaging Experience

My messaging experience was solidly okay. I received three messages and one photo comment within an hour of my profile going live, and by the end of the week, I had 15 messages stacked up. In terms of content, they definitely ran the gamut.

Some individuals sent me explicit messages, which isn’t necessarily a problem…. Fling.com is primarily a hookup site, after all. But it was a lot. It isn’t a turn-on for me when a stranger starts describing their fantasy or asking about oral sex right away.

One crude message talked at length about “filling in holes” and boasted a stamina that, if it weren’t entirely imaginary, would probably be a reason to go to the hospital, if I’m being honest.

If that’s what you’re looking for, go on with your freaky self. But if you’re more like me, be aware that there might not always be an on-ramp into raunchy content.

Of course, I also got some totally standard dating platform messages asking about my day and how I was doing. I appreciated those polite guys making a point to chat me up before jumping into sexting!

No matter what type of messaging you’re interested in, chances are, there’s someone who matches you on Fling.com.

I was glad to see so much diversity in my inbox, and it’s always nice when I can reply for free without messaging limits or timers constraining me.

Safety Features

Joining any dating platform comes with a certain amount of risk. There’s always the possibility that profiles are misleading or outright lies. When meeting up with someone IRL, you may find out they aren’t quite who they said. 

But there are protocols that sites can perform to do their part in keeping bad actors away. Some sites, for instance, use facial recognition technology to make sure their users are human and over 18. Others require government IDs.

I didn’t see much of that on Fling.com (though it’s possible some safety parameters are going on behind the scenes).

I think such safeguards are generally positive steps, despite the privacy intrusions, because they mean everyone with a profile is real. But little verification was necessary on Fling.com. I didn’t even need to verify my email, and users are discoverable by their handle, not their name.

To be clear, you do have the option to verify your account. But I had to open my profile to even see that it was an option, and a lot of the accounts I saw weren’t verified.

The verification required taking a live selfie or recording a short clip and submitting it for review. I could also choose to chat with a live agent, but that sounded very awkward, so I did not do that.

You can look at this two ways. If, on one hand, your priority is having as little a record as possible of your membership on dating sites, then the lack of verification is great news.

But if you’re more concerned with fake profiles on the site, the lack of safety protocols here might be alarming.

Personally, I think Fling.com is about as safe as any dating site where strangers come together with little vetting. It’s just worth keeping safety in mind while you chat with people on the site. Like any dating platform, don’t give out your financials, meet in public settings, and try to video call before you get serious with anyone.

What I Like & Don’t Like

I like how full and usable the free version of the site is. There were tons of active users, and I didn’t have trouble getting conversations started without paying.

I had good filters that I appreciated as well. I could say I only wanted to see profiles with photos, or I could decide to keep dick pics out of my purview (which I did). I felt Fling.com gave me a lot of options and control in the browsing experience, even providing little “Nice or Rude?” feedback buttons on my chats.

However, I will say the crowded site layout takes some getting used to, and I got turned around a time or two while trying to find matches.

My messages were certainly sexually charged, and even with my safety settings firmly stating “no nudity,” it was impossible to avoid all the NSFW content on the site. That might be a good thing for someone seeking sex content. For me, it was too much.

I also wasn’t too impressed by the quality of Fling.com dating profiles. They were low effort. Many had unflattering selfies taken in a bedroom or car. I know it’s a casual sex site, but at least get your camera angles right!

Fling.com Gets It Done Simply & Cheaply

Is Fling.com the most elegant dating platform I’ve ever been on? No. Did it offer me the best, most personalized matches? Definitely not. 

But it is a fully functional, well-populated site that functions perfectly well on both the free and paid versions, and there’s something to be said for that.

If you’re looking for love, Fling.com is not the first place I would search. But if you’re trying to have some fun — maybe, dare I say, a fling — it’s a great place to explore.