| 4,000,000 members | 28,400 monthly visits |
| 4/5 hookup chance | High Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification Facebook account |
| $14.99 – $19.99 subscription price |
I was never a fan of swiping-based dating services. They always seem too primitive, and there is no way actually to get ot know your date before meeting. However, Down Dating appears to be a whole new story. For one thing, it’s focused only on sex dating, not like Tinder, where hookups are only implied. Also, it’s transparent — users talk about their intentions upfront, which made me feel more secure.
That’s not to say that Down app is my favorite dating service. There are certain drawbacks; some might be serious enough to drive people away from the app. Let’s take a look at the bigger picture and see what the app has to offer — both good and bad — with five key criteria:
- Affordability: examining free plans and paid functionality;
- Audience quality: taking a look at the user pool and spotting fakes;
- Interface: deciding if the app is comfortable to use;
- Privacy and security: determining if the app has secure algorithms for data storage;
- Hookup chance: sharing my final results.
Let’s get down to the details of my Down app review — I have a lot to say.
Affordability
★★★★☆
Down Dating is a paid encounter app with a free trial version, available for a week. The basic account allows messaging users, browsing Feed, and updating personal profiles. Whatever features you need to find a date, you’ll be able to access them for free.
Down Exclusive is a premium membership for $19.99 per month. It allows connecting with premium members, using advanced search filters, viewing private pictures, and receive access to statistics.
A free trial version is available for a week. The basic account allows messaging users, browsing Feed, and updating personal profiles.
Audience quality
★★★☆☆
Down dating app is one of the most popular casual dating apps, with more than 1.4 million users all over the US, Canada, and the UK.
Gender distribution
The app is considerably more popular among men rather than women — the ratio is about 1 women to 4 men. This means girls will have an easy time finding a match, while guys will be up against the fierce competition.
Fakes and scammers
The app doesn’t have many fake users — Down Dating requires all new members to connect their Facebook profile to the page for its verification. The Facebook account won’t be displayed on your dating page, same as your Facebook friends won’t find out about your dating activities.
In my experience, the majority of users are quite active — I sent about 20 messages during my first dating session, and 15 of them were answered in a day. These are good odds for casual dating website — some sex dating communities are far less interested.
Interface
★★★★★
Down Dating app impressed me with its division between long-term and casual dates. I always wished Tinder or OkCupid would provide me a clear distinction between hookup dates and relationships — and in Down Dating, I can choose if I want to date a person or get down.
The Down Dating site’s interface is minimalistic and stylish. The Feed shows one user at a time, just like on Tinder, the only difference is the possibility to choose between sex dates and relationships.
The app allows you to see the list of all users who you liked. It’s one of my favorite features of the app — I can look back at previous choices and define my type.
Singing up
The registration requires users to specify their age, location, orientation, and write a short bio. For verification, I had to link my Facebook account to the profile. The app requests access to public information, a list of friends, albums — but promises not to publish the link on the app. The registration took me less than 5 minutes; there are no additional questions or quizzes.
Profile
The profile includes a short 1-2 sentence bio and several pictures. Users upload photos publically and create private albums that will be available to matched up premium users. They also have additional perks, like detailed statistics on whom they liked, followed, and messaged.
The profile isn’t detailed, so you won’t learn much about the date. On the plus side, you don’t have to reveal any personal information about yourself. The app encourages users to stay anonymous — they can even withhold from publishing real names.
Chat
After you’ve been matched up with the date, you can make plans in direct messages. The chat is minimalistic — you have text messages and image attachments — no real-time streaming or video chats. For me, it was purely for arranging date details rather than further driving a partner on.
To get access to messages, users have to match up. There is no way to match with someone who didn’t agree to a date or get down with you — the website offers solid spam protection.
The app allows you to see the list of all users who you liked. It’s one of my favorite features of the app — I can look back at previous choices and define my type.
Privacy and security
★★☆☆☆
The service’s privacy policy had me a bit alerted. Even though the website prides itself on being discreet, the team doesn’t shy away from taking a lot of information from Facebook accounts.
By linking a Facebook page to the dating profile, you would be providing the app with information on name, email, address, birthday, work history, education, location, pictures, relationship status, and friends’ lists, as well as their publically available data. It’s quite an extensive list, especially for a service that prides itself on being anonymous.
All collected private data can be used for research and advertising — which mane, you are providing all our Facebook data for targeted ads, not just for account verification. That’s not the safest data storage practice.
By linking a Facebook page to the dating profile, you would be providing the app with information on name, email, address, birthday, work history, education, location, pictures, relationship status, and friends’ lists, as well as their publically available data.
Hookup chance
★★★★☆
My Down Dating experience was overall successful — I found two guys for hookups and another one that I wouldn’t mind to be dating long-term. Getting these results took me about two weeks — at first, my matches weren’t serious about meeting and ended up ghosting me.
Even though I am happy with the results, I am not sure I like the idea of Down Dating having access to all my data from Facebook.
Matching algorithms
Users select their matches by location, age, nationality, and ethnicity. The search targets matches in a nearby area, but users can edit the radius of the search in settings. To start messaging, both users have to “swipe” on each other in the same category. If I choose to get down with the guy, he has to agree to get down with me.
I found two guys for hookups and another one that I wouldn’t mind to be dating long-term. Getting these results took me about two weeks
Alternatives
Here is the list of my favorite casual encounter apps and sites that offer a similar or better sex dating experience. In addition, you can explore the overview of the best Backpage alternatives if you are looking for super-fast dating.
| Platform | Hookup chance |
| Pure | ★★★★★ |
| AdultFriendFinder | ★★★☆☆ |
| Elite Singles | ★★★★☆ |
| Badoo | ★★★★☆ |
| Instabang | ★★★☆☆ |
| 11 millions members | 300k per months |
| 4/5 hookup chance | High Sex Chance |
| low fraud risk | Verification email, phone, photo |
| $0.95 – $45.95 subscription price |
Find your hookup adventure in one hour
Pure users are looking for adventures. They value anonymity, straightforwardness, and intimacy with no obligations.
The application works quickly and simply — no long registrations or endless questionnaires, no social media links or photo albums. The algorithm uses end-to-end encryption and deletes profiles and chats in an hour after they start.
Upload your favourite selfie, find the person who turns you on and start texting. You have one hour to arrange an adventure together.
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FAQ
What is Down?
Down is a casual dating app where users can look for a one-time Down hookup and long-term relationships. The app looks for matches nearby and offers users to swipe on potential matches, choosing whether to “Get Date”, “Get Down”, or “Pass”.
What does selecting “Get Date” mean?
Choosing “Get Date” means that you wouldn’t mind starting a long-term relationship with a person, not just getting a sex encounter.
What about “Get Down”?
When a user decides to “get down,” it means agreeing to the sex date with no obligations.
Will I be notified if I select to Get Down with someone, and they select to Get Date with me and vice versa?
Yes, you will receive a notification, and you’ll be able to contact that person.
Will my friends see I am using the app? Will it post to my Facebook?
No, your Facebook friends won’t see that you are using the app. The only exception would be if you get matched up on the platform — then, you’ll find out about your Facebook connections.
How will I find out who wants to Get Down or Get Date with me? Will they be notified when I swipe on them?
No, they won’t be notified unless they swipe on you, too. As soon as both members haven’t selected each other, they won’t find out about any swiping activities.
I made a mistake and regret who I selected to Get Down or Get Date. How can I undo this?
You can look for the person in the search bar, find a profile. Then, click on the photo, and you’ll see the “Undo” button next to it.
What does swiping left mean?
It means that you don’t want to date that person, and he or she is less likely to see you in the Feed. If you swiped left by mistake, you can undo the action and decide to get down or get date instead.
What is my Down Score, and what does it mean?
Down Score provides a way to measure your popularity on the platform. It’s based on how many right swipes you get as well as on profile views. The more active you are on the app, the higher will be the score. The more points you have, the more users will see your page in their Feeds.
What are Nearby Picks (Daily Picks), and how are they selected?
These are personalized profile choices based on your swiping activity. The app determines your type and strives to offer similar pages.
Can I search based on location, relationship, sexual preferences?
All users have access to both male and female searches. You can also choose particular locations and sexual preferences in the filter. If you want to edit the search radius, go to your profile settings.
I received an email or text message saying someone wanted to Get Down/Get Date, but when I log in, I can’t see who it is. Why is that?
It’s a standard message which is sent whenever a friend sends an invite to join Down. It doesn’t mean any actual matches yet.
I love the idea and want my friends to join! How can I anonymously invite them?
You can send a friend an anonymous message by clicking “Spread the Love” button. Your friends won’t know that you were the one inviting them.
I keep trying to join and log in, but I can’t! Why is this happening?
This usually happens for two reasons: the user is either younger than 18, which is against the rules, or there is an issue with your internet connection. In that case, try reloading the app.
Where are notification emails from Down sent?
The notifications are sent to the email that’s connected to your Facebook account. You can change the settings and delete the address or provide another one.
As sad as it is, I think it’s time to delete my account. How can I delete it?
Go to the personal settings and erase your profile from the app completely.
The bottom line
I like Down Dating for its transparent approach to casual dating. Members can communicate their dating inventions right away by choosing whether they want to date or get down.
Also, the free version is functional — I was able to message users and look for matches — although I later upgraded to the full membership anyway. It’s no wonder that down dating app reviews are mostly positive — the app does its job fairly well.
However, I feel like the distinction between getting down and dating limits the user base, preventing people from meeting each other. Also, the idea of connecting my Facebook page with all the personal information doesn’t attract me. Down Dating has a nice concept, but the execution still requires massive improvements.